Mackinaw City to the North Channel

NOTE: Due to restrictions on Internet service and potentially huge costs, we add pictures later

We were supposed to leave Mackinaw City on Sunday but the weather in the morning was awful so we stayed all day Sunday. I worked until mid-afternoon while Kermit and Paul waxed the entire back end of the boat. They were waxing machines, the whirl of the power buffer vibrating throughout the boat. It sure looks nice! We debated about putting the name on the back but decided to wait until either the wind died down (it never did) or we met up with our other friends.

Maeo spent the day sitting on a bench trying to ignore a bout of sea sickness she picked up while watching a movie in the v-berth. It was so windy the boat was a-rocking so much it made Maeo sick. She likes sitting on the benches anyway. She talks to just about everyone. By the time we left strangers were coming up and chatting with Maeo like old friends.

I decided to wash the carpet cover in the salon. I’d seen Judy do it before on One September so why not. First though I got the instructions from Judy so I didn’t mess up. The machines are only $1.50, a real bargain. I inserted my money, the little soap packet and the canvas carpet cover and went to explore the hollering going on in the boaters lounge. Three couples were yelling at the Argentina / Germany world cup soccer final! I had no idea the game was on and mostly don’t have a clue how the game is played but they were really into it and had been for some time. They invited me to join them. I hovered on the outskirts. Then I saw one of the ladies removing her laundry from the washer and realized I had put my stuff in a machine on the other side of the room. OH NO!!! I put everything in a dryer!! I rushed over, lifted the lid and quickly pulled the entire project out of the dryer. It was warm but not ruined. The little soap pod was still intact so I pushed the whole thing into a washer and hoped for the best!! Then I went to join the gang watching the end of the soccer tournament. I needed a drink!

We planned to grill out Sunday evening so I walked to the grocery store to purchase steaks. Maeo walked part way then waited on a bench to people watch while I ran to the store. About 5pm it occurred to us that we might not have enough propane to grill so off I went to the hardware store. Closed. Then to the party store. Nothing. K to the boat. Well, maybe we can get enough propane out of this last can. And we did. The boaters from the soccer game gave me no end of teasing for not staying to party with them! They sure were fun. All in all it was a great day!

By the way, I took the now wet carpet cover out of the washer and back to the boat. The trick according to Judy is to lay it down damp. It dries in place and now looks pretty good. We decided next time we would spray a pre-treatment on the spots to make it look even better. I guess a canvas carpet cover saves a lot of wear and tear on the carpet. It is a good idea.

A few words about ice cream. We have had ice cream almost every possible place we can get it in just about every city we come to. Paul found a place at Mac City where a $3.50 single scoop is actually about a pint of ice cream. Pretty good ice cream too. We visited several times. Let’s see how long we can keep up this pace.

We left Mackinaw City on a glorious clear sunny morning Monday 7/14 bound for Thesselon Ontario. As we prepared to leave at about 8am we heard the crew on a boat whooping and hollering across the dock. Darn sail boaters… I waved since they seemed friendly (you can never tell with sail boaters sometimes – just a joke!!) Turns out they just finished third in the Huron to Mackinaw sailboat race. That was this weekend!! 

We send big congratulations to the crazy crew of Absolute (with an “e”) on their excellent performance!

Grand Hotel - no we did not pay
$10 to walk across it!!

This sailboat race is really something. Every year the race alternates from Huron to Mackinaw Island or Chicago to Mackinaw Island. I suspect the distance from Chicago to Mackinaw is longer but the challenge is similarly difficult. Cross a huge great lake without stopping going as fast as possible in any condition the water gods throw at you. Someone is always awake. To make the boat run faster usually these sailboats remove every convenience from the inside except planks for beds a cooler with some food supplies (and the Champaign to celebrate) and the sails. The race starts on Friday (7/12) and ends on Monday (7/15). Absolute, finishing at the front of the pack arrived at Mackinaw Island at about 3am on 7/15. These sailors on Absolute looked cold, exhausted and exhilarated. They wore heavy warm raingear and hung their wet clothes over the boom to dry. I suspect alcohol was involved that morning.

We left about 8am, got fuel at the state dock next door. We planned to get fuel at Shepler’s ferry fuel dock for $4.09 but a big sail boat was already on the fuel dock waiting. We figured we would have to wait until at least 10am to get fuel – too long. So we went next door to the State Marina and fueled up with 164 gallons for $ 4.45. That was 81 gallons in the port tank and 83 gallons in starboard. Then we took off for a long journey of 71 miles to Thesselon Ontario in the North Channel.

The sailors who yelled at us!

The water was clear and flat. It was wonderful.

As we passed Mackinaw Island we saw dozens of sails – the rest of the race fleet!! We waved and hooted only to have some surly boaters yell at us for leaving a wake. We were traveling at the high speed of 7.6 knots, almost as fast as the sailboats, leaving a tiny wake in a wide channel where the ferries run at 25 to 30 mph. Such nice people!! Must have been grumpy because they knew they already lost to Absolute!

DeTour Passage Marker

The rest of the journey passed uneventfully. The water was clear and flat except for an occasional swell that got Maeo a little seasick again. Bonine to the rescue!!

Coming into Thessalon - see white board with red line?
That is a range marker

After Mackinaw Island, the next landmark was Detour Passage by Drummond Island then head north east through the passage into the North Channel.

Thesselon is on the north side of the North Channel at the west end. This is a lumber town with mills still operating. Paul discovered that Baldwin Pianos takes maple out of this forest area because it gets the best sound in pianos. It doesn’t look like a gritty lumber town. The marina has new docks and very clean, spacious rest rooms.

You enter the marina using range markers. For our non-boater friends, range markers are pretty cool. One big billboard size block of wood sitting in the hills has a big red stripe down the center top to bottom against a white background. Another billboard size block of wood with a similar red stripe on a white background sits at the harbor entrance. As you enter the mouth of the harbor you line up the two billboards until they make one large stripe. That tells you that you are heading in the correct direction to enter the marina.

There are rocks everywhere covered with iron so they look rusty. It is really beautiful.

Bill and Eve on Just BilEve

Kermit is "helping" Paul with electrical work

Bill and Eve on Just BilEve

We saw Just BilEve right away with their new boat, a 54’ Navigator Pilot House, a long and wide boat built for cruising. It is beautiful. It was great to see them again. We will be traveling for 10 days with Just BilEve, Dave and Nancy on Miss Nancy and two couples, Ron and Julie and Jim and Karen who will be chartering a trawler in Gore Bay. But Just BilEve and Good Karma in Thessalon.

We toured each other’s new boats and ooh and aahed about the space, the set-up, the living space.

The rest of the afternoon the guys worked on electrical problems at Just BilEve. Good thing we have an electrician on board!! Paul discovered that the electrical pedestals are wired poorly so the 30 amp to 50 amp splitters cannot be used because only 110 volts are present at each pedestal. Except for our pedestal.

Good Karma, true to its name, took the only pedestal in the whole marina that works properly. We know this is the only pedestal that works properly because Just BilEve moved to a new dock without properly functioning electric. Then Paul took the tester and tested every dock in the small marina to confirm that ours was the only pedestal that worked!! That Good Karma luck shines again!

Maeo cooking up a storm - best Pad Thai ever

Since Good Karma is the only one with electric, we ate on our boat. Maeo made a scrumptious pad Thai We ate heartily!! Almost no leftovers. Just BilEve had no power so we loaned them blankets. As I have said before, it is COLD.

It rained all day on Tuesday so we decided not to leave Thessolon to anchor out as we planned. We stayed at the dock. I couldn’t find our rain gear so I was grumpy. I hid in my little office and wrote business blogs all morning.

At noon we all donned rain gear (or wind breakers for those of us who misplaced rain gear) and trudged into town. You don’t really need a map. Just walk up the road to the main street and there you are. We ate a good lunch at the local pizza house. The ice cream was intriguing. Everything is a little different in Canada. Eve had puntaine, the famous French Canadian variation putting brown gravy and mozzarella cheese on French fries. I tried one. Delicious! What a great idea!

They had some unusual ice cream flavors. Vanilla is not just vanilla; it is French Canadian Vanilla. I wanted to try the Crouching Tiger ice cream but didn’t have room. What do you imagine Crouching Tiger ice cream is? We figured it had a dark stripe in it, maybe a fudge stripe in white ice cream, maybe some pieces of fortune cookies crunched up in it. We were wrong. Orange Ice cream with black licorice stripe!! Doesn’t that sound intriguing? Before this trip is out I am going to try it!! It sound perfectly disgusting.

After lunch we separated. I went with Eve to the library to use the computers. Eve brought her computer to check out some work issues. I used the library computer to catch up on LinkedIn. I must have been asleep at the wheel because in the last few days I accumulated over 20 invitations!! I am now officially over the 2000 connection mark!! I am so proud. 

Paul, Maeo, and Kermit went to mail post cards to the grandkids then went to the hardware store to pick up a few things. The clerk was really funny. When Paul came to the check out with a 5 gallon gas tank (for added gas for the dinghy) the clerk said, “Now you know we don’t have gas in this town”. Isn’t that sweet? Maeo is still giggling over that comment!

This town gets a “best grocery store” award. It was bustling and friendly. Always need to pick up a few items when we get a chance.

When it stopped raining in the late afternoon Maeo made chicken soup out of the bones saved from a roasted chicken earlier in the week. It was awesome!! We invited Bill and Eve over to warm up. After dinner the guys went over to Just BilEve to work on a leak Bill discovered in the aft deck shower. I don’t think they got it fixed yet.

After another really cold night in the 30’s we left Thessalon at 8am bound for Gore Bay to meet the other boaters in our little group. We have bright sun, following seas, and quiet. We can barely see land, with an occasional rock island jutting out of the water. Kermit is driving and the rest of us are reading quietly. It is a wonderful, relaxing vacation.

Wednesday morning 7/16 was clear, a good day to travel. Actually we did not want to get out from under the covers it was so cold. It had to have reached 30 degrees last night. But got up and headed out at 8am. Our target today was Gore Bay ONT. We are scheduled to meet Julie, Ron, Jim and Karen this afternoon when they pick up their charter boat. Another boat, Miss Nancy should be pulling in today too. 

The trip over was uneventful with following seas the entire way. We pulled into Gore Bay a little before 3pm. Everyone read or napped during the journey. I spelled Kermit once for a nap. The scenery is water and trees on land in the far distance. Not much else to report. 

Next: Meeting the rest of the group in Gore Bay