Much has happened since the last post from Manistee, MI. We got out of Manistee on Sunday, 8/22/2009 and went to Grand Haven, MI in 4-5 foot quartering seas. Not a very comfortable ride for an 80 NM trip. Monday we left with “Potest Fieri” for South Haven, MI but, because of the weather window we went across Lake Michigan to Kenosha, WI. Tuesday we arrived in Chicago, and picked up a mooring in Monroe Harbor. A great spot right downtown, or so we thought. The wind came in from the east at 15-20 knots on the second and third night and it was like sleeping in a washing machine. We decided to get out of Dodge. We left Friday and went down the Chicago River right through the heart of Chicago. This was a great experience.

We had fun in Chicago during the day and saw many interesting things. We had dinner at Morton’s one night and a very nice dinner the second night at the Columbia Yacht Club, a reciprocal privilege.

The next hurdle we have had to deal with is the Corps of Engineers (COE) “Fish Barrier”. This engineering marvel is designed to keep “Asian Carp” out of the Great Lakes. It was to be “tested” on August 17th. They then, without any notice, decided to keep it up and running while doubling the current flow.

The effect of this was the COE banned transit through the barrier for any boat that was not made of steel or some other metal. Fiberglass boats are banned from crossing the barrier for fear of “Injury or Death”. Of course you can get through if you disconnect all your batteries and are brought through by a commercial tug. This tug is under contract with the COE and the transit cost is $600.00. We are presently tied to a river barge above the barrier awaiting our turn to be ripped off.

While we visited some great harbors in the lake and meet many great people we are glad to be out of Lake Michigan as the weather and wave action is was tough.

We are now proceeding to the Mississippi River. This is a downhill ride till we get to the Ohio River. This will be relaxing as opposed to all the conditions we encountered in Lake Michigan.

Stay tuned.

Latest Update

Well the end of August is fast approaching and we are still on Lake Michigan. We are presently huddled down in Manistee waiting for the weather to calm down so that we can continue our trek to Chicago. With a bit of luck we can get to Chicago before the lake freezes over.

We arrived here on Wednesday evening and will be lucky to get moving again by Sunday. The wind has remained above 15 with gusts over 30 and the Lake is running over 6 feet. We are doing this for fun not survival.

August has been a very exciting month for us as Julia and Evan presented us with our third grandchild, Isabelle Marcele Campbell, who arrived on the 11th at 6:41 AM. Isabelle was Evan’s grandmothers’ name and Marcele was Julia’s grandmothers’ name. All three are doing great.

We drove back to Massachusetts on the 11th to meet the newest member of our family and we arrived back in Michigan on Monday. Tuesday we were delayed again by weather in Leland and were not able to leave until Wednesday morning.

Stay tuned for progress updates.

It has been 11 days since the last update and we have been to several interesting places. We spent a few days on the Canadian North Channel at a couple of spectacular anchorages.

We returned to the US on July 30th and cleared customs at Drummond Island, MI, Since then we have been to DeTour, MI, Cedarville, MI, Hessel, MI, St. Igance, MI, Mackinac Island, MI, Harbor Springs, MI and now are in Petoskey, MI. All of these northern Michigan towns are summer resort communities similar to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. While the Massachusetts resorts have homes from the 1700’s Michigan’s date from the 1800’s.

We have found out that the eastern shore of Lake Michigan has few natural harbors however the State has built “Harbor’s of Refuge” about every 30 miles along the coast. The marinas are first class and charge $1.20 per foot.

The lake is very impressive and the waves can come up very quickly giving you a nasty chop. The weather has been chilly with rain today and predicted for tomorrow. They are calling this the year of no summer up here. Where is Al Gore when you really need him?

We finally have a new computer so here are some pictures, in no particular order of places we have been. We have traveled 1637 NM, about 25% of the trip so far. All is well

We are presently in Little Current, ONT on the North Channel island of Manitoulin which I think is the Indian word for “Boondocks”. The weather was blowing up today so we decided to stay in port and get some other obligations completed.

The weather has been cool so swimming has been limited though the water is warm. The scenery is spectacular and they say, with no reason to question, that this is the best cruising area in the world. We have been able to anchor in many secluded coves, and, on a clear night the night show of stars is the same as being offshore in the ocean as there is no light pollution

We have been having problems with uploading pictures but will do so as soon as we get the computer problems straightened out.

Tomorrow we are off moving west towards Mackinac Island, MI which we should be at by Thursday if the weather cooperates.

We are now in Parry Sound in Georgian Bay, which is the eastern shore of Lake Huron. There are some 30,000 islands in this bay with many coves and inlets that have not yet been surveyed for depth therefore if you decide to explore you do so with great caution. The further we travel northwest the more remote the area becomes.

Internet coverage up here is few and far between although we still have cell phone.

The scenery up here is fantastic and quite similar to the coast of Maine with the trees coming done to the waters edge and a glacially formed rocky shoreline. There are three distinct differences between the two. Georgian Bay does not have a 12 foot tide, lobster pots or fog.

We left the Trent Severn on Friday after a leisurely passage. Judi was not pleased with the Kirkfield lift lock or the Big Chute marine railway. At Kirkfield you drive the boat over a road via an aqueduct into a pan of water suspended ~50 feet in the air. It seems you are going to drive right out into space when you enter. They then put another foot of water in the pan and you start the trip down as the pan on the other side goes up.

At Big Chute a strange looking contraption that runs on cables and rails comes into the water, you drive the boat in and they suspend the boat in straps similar to a travel lift. They drive out of the water, over the crest of the hill and descend 51 feet to the river below. As you go over the top it is similar to going over the top on a roller coaster and then descending into a splash down at the bottom. To say the least it was a unique experience.

We are some 1286 NM from Plymouth and it is about another 350 miles until we are back in the US.