South towards Chicago

NOTE: I did get pictures posted of the "Big Chute" in the Trent Severn section and several pictures posted in the Georgian Bay Section. Not real happy with what happened to the layout but your lucky to have any pictures at all! Make sure you go back and look at those two sections.

On Sunday, July 22, we left Hilton Beach and headed south back into US waters. Will took the car and his kids and drove to St. Ingnace, MI and we took the boat through Drummond Island customs and onto St. Ingnace, where we all met up again for the night. We came across the western end of Lake Huron and past Mackanaw Island.

The majestic Mackinac Bridge from about 5 miles away in Lake Huron. This bridge carries interstate highway 75 accros the Straights of Mackinac and connects lower Michigan with the UP, and defines the beginning of Lake Michigan.

On Monday we again hop scotched the boat and the car to East Jordan, MI, which is at the far south end of Lake Charlevoix. Will went to visit with the contractor rebuilding his cabin, his kids spent the day with Mary's kids, and then Will and his kids caught up with us for the night.

On Tuesday, Mary brought her kids and they all moved onto the boat with us. Will gave us a night at the East Jordan Inn, a delightful B and B. The other 6 spent the night on the boat. On Wednesday night we really tested the sleeping accomodations on the boat when we joined the other 6 for one night. We did prove that 8 on the boat is too many! On Thursday morning, Will and kids headed of to the Detroit area, and Thursday afternoon Mary headed south to Ann Arbor, leaving Elisabeth and Anya with us for a few days. Today, Friday July 27, we moved the boat to Petosky, MI and are in their very nice Municipal Marina.

On Sunday, July 29 we moved to Charlevoix and on Monday Jim and Katie Johanson, Pete's parents met us and picked up Elisabeth and Anya. Once the grand kids were gone we headed out to Beaver Island, a neat little community on a laid back island. We spent two nights there, biking around the island on Tuesday.

Wednesday we went further west to a small island, High Island and anchored for the night in a small cove.

On Thursday we proceeded south to the tip of Leeanau Peninsula, which forms Grand Traverse Bay, to the little town of Northport, MI. As we came into the harbor we were greeted by two other "Loopers" who we had traveled some with in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. We all enjoyed dinner together after some wine aboard Odyssee.

Yesterday we went down to Suttons Bay for lunch and then anchored out for the night. Today, Saturday August 4, we anchored all day in Bowers Harbor near Mapleton, MI.

This last week we have visited other towns and bays in Grand Travers Bay. These included the towns of Traverse City, Suttons Bay, and Elk Rapids where we are now on Saturday, August 11. We spent nights anchored behind Lee Point and Old Mission Harbor.

Tomorrow our daughter Mary and her two girls will join us for a week in Door County, WI.

We've had a great week in Door County, WI. Was very windy from the NW when we left Elk Rapids on Sunday, August 12, so we only went accross Traverse Bay to an anchorage at Northport. On Monday things calmed down some and we did make the crossing over to Washington Island, at the far NE tip of Door County, where we spent the rest of the day and then anchored for the night behind Detroit Island.

Typical shore line near NE corner of Door County

Tuesday we again had a stiff wind from the SW but we ventured down to Ephraim, our favorite spot in Door County. Tueday evening we went to an old fashioned fish boil served family style. We spent wednesday biking through Peninsula State Park, climbing the lookout tower at the NE corner of the park, visiting the light house at the NW corner of the park, lunch in Fish Creek, and back to Ephraim. Someone forgot to remind us that biking 20 some miles towing a trailer with two little kids in it was A LOT OF WORK! But the old body worked pretty well!!

The finishing touches on the fish boil!

When we woke up Thursday morning the wind was blasting from the North, but as the morning passed, the wind started to die. At 1:00 PM we left for Sturgeon Bay in a dead calm, but with a wave still rolling from the North. We anchored that night in Sawyer Harbor and managed to find a rock with our starboard prop in 7' of water. When we hit, I turned both engins off and set the anchor. I checked the depth with a lead line and I had 7' everywhere I checked. I deployed the dingy and checked the water depth in all directions and I found it was deeper to the east so planned on going to the east when we left in the morning. We anchored in a SE breeze with a forcast to go to the NW and blow, so I set a second anchor so we wouldn't drift over what ever we hit. Then I put on my dive gear and went down to survey the damage. One blade was bent on the tip about and inch in from the outside radius. Got out two hammers, a large channel lock, and a file. Was able to bend the tip back most of the way but couldn't quite get the nice tip shap restored. When we powered up this morning we had a vibration in the starboard shaft at about 1500 RPM. The wind was really blowing again from the NW with 5 to 7' waves predicted out in Lake Michigan, so we elected not to cross back to the Michigan side until Saturday when the wind is forcast to be light from the east and waves of 1 to 2'. So found a place to pull the boat and they let me change out the props. That is complete, the boat is back in the water, and we are planning to cross the lake to Frankfort, MI tomorrow.

We had a smooth crossing to Frankfort on Saturday. We will be here until Tuesday morning, August 21, when we plan to leave and head south to White Lake, MI.

We left Frankfort on August 21, stopped in Manastee for the night, went on to Ludington for the afternoon on Wednesday and spent the night in Lake Pentwater. Tied up for the day on Thursday, August 23 in Pentwater, MI, a neat little town. Did some provisioning, went to the free band concert at the park that evening, and spent the night. Friday we continued our trip to White Lake and a visit with the Nelson's.

On Monday, August 27, we crossed the lake to Port Washington, WI. It was not a good day. The wave prodiction was 1-2' from the SW. As we left the east side the waves were more like 2-3', just tolorable. As we got about 20 miles from the western shore, the Coast Guard directed us to listen to a weather bulletin on channel 22. We did and learned that a squall line was predicted to come off the west shore at Port Washington with high winds and rain. At about 12 miles out we could see it on our radar and about 6 miles out it hit, building the waves quickly to 5-6'. We could no longer maintain our westerly course, stuff was all over, the trash compactor came out, the salon table was sliding around, one leg on the sun deck table collapsed and it was sliding around. We tried going straight into it, barely managable but not productive at getting to shore. We went straight down wind, quite comfortable and we could quarter the waves some to move a little closer to shore. So we ultimately tacked our way in, slowly up wind than down wind, with each down wind we would get closer to shore. Took us an hour to finally get through the breakwater and into Port Washington. Not fun! We broke two lamps and scratched the salon floor. This was the fourth time since being on Lake Michigan that the forcast had been wrong, the NOAA weather service is really having trouble figuring out what the weather and waves are going to do with these small low systems moving across the stationary front that has been laying across the lake for the last few weeks, and we got caught in unpleasent waves.

Claria decided she needed a break, she didn't need to do any more boating on Lake Michigan! Our daughter Mary has just moved into their new home in Dexter, MI, so Claria has gone to the Detroit area to help take care of grandkids so Mary can get some work done.

I moved the boat to Milwaukee on Wednesday, August 29, and spent 5 days seeing many of my old P&H buddies and sailing friends at Pewaukee Lake. Sailed two races on Ron Schloemer's A Boat, always a fun ride on those 38' machines! Yesterday, Monday September 4, Ron Schloemer and I moved the boat to Kenosha, WI.

The Illinois river has been closed due to flooding. It is just now staring to allow traffic to move again, and the commercial traffic that is backed up has first priority to get through. Consequently, transiant dockage in the Chicago area has been hard to find. Things are starting to open up, and we will probably try to move the boat to Chicago on the weekend and start down the rivers on Monday or so.

Claria returned to Chicago on Friday, September 8, I picked her up and went out to the Schloemers new home near Lake Geneva for the weekend. Watched some of the E boat regatta at Delavan Lake, seeing several friends from Minnesota and Michigan who had come to race. On Sunday Schloemers drove us to the boat in Kenosha and we moved it to Chicago where we are docked at the Chicago Yacht Club for a couple of days.

On Wednesdasy, September 12, we were tourists in Chicago. This included a 2 1/2 hour Segway tour. What a blast to drive a new Segway, nothing to it!

From here we start down the Illinois Waterway.

Into the North Channel

Make sure you keep checking back to the Trent-Severn and Georgian Bay pages, I will be able to get the rest of some great pictures we have posted when we get back to the states and my phone again works as a modum. Speaking of pictures, the "ships Photographer" has already taken over 3,000 pictures, and we are only 3 months into our Odyssey! I must say though, we are unable to capture the beauty of this area on disc. The North Channel starts where the Northwestern part of Lake Huron is split by Manitoulin Island. The water to the North is called the North Channel. Officially we entered the North Channel when we passed through the Killarney cut on Tuesday, July 10. As we went through we stopped for fish and chips at Herberts where they serve fresh White Fish out of an old converted school bus fast food style. What a treat. The first night in the North Channel we anchored in Covered Portage Cove and weathered a storm front that moved in through that night. It is Thursday, July 12. Will has returned and we are in Little Current. We are at an internet cafe trying to post the pictures of the "Big Chute" on the Trent Severn page, with only moderate success. I think I need to wait until we're back into the states and I can again use my phone as a modum. Yesterday we came over to Little Current in a gale, 35-40 know winds on our bow. At one stretch there was an 8 mile stretch for the wind to build up 4.5 to 6' waves. The Hatteras performed like a Hatteras and we blasted through the stuff at about 15 MPH, throwing water completely over the boat. Sure glad we weren't behind canvas and had a glass wind shield and good wind shield wipers. The last few days and nights we have been meandering through the islands and into the coves at night. These areas have included Mary Ann Cove in Baie Fine, the Pool at the end of Baie Fine where we hiked up to "Topaz Lake", eating a few wild blue berries along the way; behind East Sampson Island, an area that has just recently been charted and yet to be visited by many Canadians; and Bell Cove. On Sunday, we went into Kagawong where the municipal marina is next to a beach where the grandkids could unwind and we could walk up to Bridal Veil Falls. Monday had us back in the islands and coves including Between the Benjamins; behind Lousi Island; and Shoepack Bay. It is now Friday, July 20. We came in to Blind River yesterday and are at their municipal marina, a very nice facility with a very friendly staff. Will is going back to get his car in Espanola and will meet us tonight in Thessalon. Friday night we spent a pleasent night at the Thessalon Municapal Marina. This morning we moved the boat and car to Hilton Beach on St. Joseph Island at their municipal marina, another very nice facility. Our plans are to cross back into the US at Drummand Island, MI. tomorrow, Sunday July 22.

Running Georgian Bay

Make sure you view the last post on "Into the Trent-Severn Waterway" before you continue on this page.

We entered Georgian Bay on Monday, June 25 and spent the first night anchored behind Beausoleil Island. On Tuesday we went to Penetanguishene to reprovision and meet with Karen and Bob Jantz, who lead the loopers on a floatila through Georgian Bay at the end of July each year. They gave us lots of information on some of the better spots to see in the 30,000 islands of Georgian Bay. So on Thursday we started up the small boat channel, stopping at seven small bays for either lunch or the night. In places we were running 10' off the face of rock walls in 40' of water, or running through channels that were only 30' wide, no room to meet an oncoming boat.

Typical waterways in Georgian Bay.

On Monday, July 2 we pulled into the town of Parry Sound to do some reprovisioning and laundry. We will leave on Wednesday to visit some more islands on our way to Britt.

We did leave Parry Sound on Wednesday, July 4, and motored through more narrow channels between the rocks. Ended up in Regatta Bay, anchored out for the night. We'd meet a group of boaters in Parry Sound and they were rafted up together in Regatta Bay also. They invited us to their camp fire that evening, so we celebrated the 4th with new Canadian friends around a camp fire in one of the most beautiful places in North America.

Thursday we meandered around some more rocks and dropped the hook in Hopewell Bay with some Canadian "loopers".

Friday we went to the town dock in Point Au Barrel Station where we met son Will and his two kids, Evan and Chloe. We have the kids alone for five days while Will flies out to Portland, OR to interview for a job opportunity when they return from India. This is with a company he has been doing some consulting for now in India, so he knows them quite well. Point Au Barrel has no services so it essentially like being on the hook. The name of this channel comes from the days they marked the entrance with a barrel, and yes, the barrel is still there with a new modern light house behind it.

Today, Saturday we wondered through some of the narrowest channels yet, one only being 16 ft wide. We got through with out a scratch, but I was steering the boat with the engines and not the wheel. We couldn't have made some of the turns with a single screw unless it had a bow thruster. We had one engine in reverse for several of these turns to spin the boat.

As we entered "Hang Dog" Channel, Evan and Claria were standing on the bow looking for rocks. Evan looked at Grandma and said, "how is grandpa going to get past this rock?"


Claria responded, "he'll follow the bouys one at a time and follow the red arrow, you watch!"


As ODYSSEE rounded the last corner of the rock and was heading for the left turn at the next green bouy Evan replied, "you were right grandma, grandpa is really a good boat driver."

We are at Wrights Marina in Britt where we will pump out and fuel up. Once we leave here we'll be on the hook for four nights before we met up with Will again at Little Current, at the start of the North Channel.

We had some interesting nights out on the hook in some beautiful places.

We will again be out for several days, keep checking!

Into the Trent-Severn Waterway

Well, we've discovered another misconception in our communication system. Our North American Plan doesn't work so well in Canada. Last time I looked at a map of the continent, Canada was part of North America. Trying to sort out the problems with Alltel. We're amungst their first customers with this North American plan and there seem to be some bugs.

So, we are putting this post on our site at a internet cafe in Kingston, Ontario. We've been here three nights now, got here Tuesday afternoon, June 5, and this morning , Friday June 8, the wind is blowing hard from the SE. The forcast is for the wind to shift to the SW, then W to NW and die this evening. We were planning to go to Trenton today, but a SE sea would be on the side and uncomfortable. If the wind shifts to the SW as predicted this afternoon, it will be on our nose and not so uncomfortable so we will go to Picton, about halfway to Trenton. Once we are at Picton we are behind a series of islands so wind will no longer be an issue.

We will be posting on this page for about three weeks as we work our way to the NW towards Georgian Bay, so keep looking on this page as you follow us over the top of Toronto.

We have WiFi at the dock so we can post some information. We did leave Kingston at about 1:00PM on Friday and had an easy ride to Picton, Ontario. What a neat little town, and a well protected harbor. On Saturday, June 9, we went the rest of the way to Trenton and up to the top wall of lock 3 for the night. Today we came through several more locks up to lock 13 and are currently in Cambellford, Ontario at Old Mill Park, tied to the wall.

This will be a short post, I'm sitting on a bench at a "Hot Spot" I found, and I can't hardly see the computer screen in the sun.

It is Monday, June 18, and we have spent the weekend at the Pigeon Lake Yacht Club in Bobcageon, ON. We were last here in 2002 racing our M-20 at the North American Cham,pionships. Have seen many old friends. Expect to go sail on an M-20 this afternoon, with Joe Bowland, to help him turn up the boat.

Yah, we're sitting at the Orillia Municipal Marina in downtown Orillia, Ontario, and we have a "Hot Spot", so I'll try to update our progress. It's Thursday afternoon, June 21. I did get some sailing in at the Pigeon Lake YC, both on an M-20 and again on Monday evening in their E Boat race. We left Bobcageon on Tuesday morning, stopped at Fenelon Falls to get a hair cut, and went on to lock 35, near Rosedale, where we spent the night on the upper lock wall. This is the top of the system, 598' above Lake Ontario, 843' above sea level, the highest place in the world you can drive a boat from the ocean. Wednesday was windy, so only went as far as the breakwater wall at the eastern entrance to Lake Simcoe. It was rooling pretty big on the lake so we elected to wait until this morning before we crossed the lake, was much better this morning, but is blowing hard again. We will probably stay here until Sunday morning, and then head towards the "Big Chute" marine railway that takes us up about 20' and then down about 30'. This schedule puts us into Georgian Bay on Tuesday, June 26.

While still in Orillia, boats started arriving on Friday from various ports within a 50 mile radius to celebrate "Christmas in June". We had no idea how crazy things would get, but by noon on Saturday all the slips in the marina were full, all 252 of them, and people were madly decorating their boats with Christmas decorations. They judged all the decorations at 7:00 PM Saturday evening, awarded prizes, had a raffle drawing, and then at about 9:00 the party began, with much fun being had by all until about 3:00 AM. Sunday morning the decorations came down and everybody started for home. We let them get a head start on us, really didn't want to go through the remaining locks with them. We finally left at about 1:30 PM and went 34 miles further towards Georgian Bay, anchoring for the night in Lost Channel, just above "Big Chute".

On Monday June 25, we pulled anchor and went the last 4 miles to Lock 44, called "Big Chute". As you can see, this lock is actually a cart that goes up and over, a net drop of 59'. This system was developed to keep the migration of the parasitic sea lamprey from infesting the Lake Simcoe fishery. For you crane guys reading this blog, Hepburn built the cart, ABB built the winch and adjustable frequency control, and Motorola supplied the radio control which operated from the cart. The winch imployes "single failure proof" design. Here's how it works;

Boat drives on, boat comes out and over the top restained in straps.

Down the back Into the lower side water

Large SeaRay going over ahead of us

On we go, over the top, down the back side

Back in the water on our way at the lower level

After passing through one more lock, we were in Georgian Bay. What a fascinating canal system.

Side trip down the St. Lawrence

After attending a church service at a beautiful old Presbyterian Church in Sackets Harbor on Sunday morning, we proceeded north to the St. Lawrence River. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued about 3:00 pm so we started thinking about a place to spend the night. We went in behind a breakwater at Cape Vincent and spent the night at their town dock.

Monday morning, June 4, we bicycled around town, met the volunteers at the Chamber of Commerce and Tibbetts Lighthouse only to leartn they both spend several months on Fripp Island every spring. It's a small world! We left about noon and proceeded down the St. Lawrence River and stopped at Heart Island where Boldt Castle is. George C. Boldt, millionaire proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, set out to build a full sized Rhineland Castle for his wife. His wife died at the age of 42 and George never finished the castle. The structure stood empty from 1904 until 1977 when the Thousand Island Bridge Authority assumed ownership and is restoring the magnificent structures for the enjoyment of the present and future generations. Included as part of this site is the Boldt Yacht House a very large boat house with four slips under roof that are 128' long with the center bay being 64' high to house the family steam powered yacht. If your interested in more details go to www.boldtcastle.com.

Monday night was spent at the town dock in Alexandria Bay, NY. Tuesday we checked into Canadian Customs at Rockport, Ontario and had a beautiful ride to Kingston through the Canadian Thousand Islands.

North onto Lake Ontario

On Tuesday May, 29 we left Seneca Falls and back tracked on the Erie Canal until it joined the Oswego Canal. We went as far north as Phoenix, NY where we spent the night at the city dock with free water and power. On Wednesday we went the last 21 miles to Oswego, NY where we had a scheduled lay over to change oil and reprovision before heading across Lake Ontario. On Friday we left about noon, after visiting Fort Ontario, to head out to the NE in fog towards Sackets Harbor. About 2 hours out I noticed that the oil pressure in the starboard engine was low. Shut it down, went below to find that oil was leaking from the oil filter. Continued the trip up to Henderson Bay on the port engine. Anchored for the night in Henderson Bay. Today, Saturday June 2, we came the reast of the way to Sackets Harbor where we are at Navy Point Marina. We have fixed the oil leak and spent several hours this afternoon viewing Fort Thomkins and Sackets Harbor Battlefield. This was the first site for the US Navy while we were tring to defind ourselves from the British in the War or 1812. The British were invading from Kingston, Ontario which is just to the north on the other side of the St. Lawrence River. It will be interesting to see the forts in Kingston and get the Canadian side of the story. There is lots of history in this part of the country. We will leave tomorrow an head up to the Thousand Islands for a couple of days before we enter Canada.

Side Trip to Seneca Lake

After leaving Brewerton on Saturday, May 26, we continued west on the Erie, instead of turning north on the Oswego Canal. As we go through the next few locks we are climbing again. Further west we turn south on the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, go through one lock and then turn west towards Senica Falls, went through a double lock, and arrived in Senica Falls where we spend the night tied up to the town wall where they have free overnight stay with complementary power and water.




Double lock on Cayuga & Seneca Canal open for us to enter.

On Sunday we continued west on the canal through one more lock and entered the north end of Senica Lake. The run down the lake is 26 miles, we put the boat up on a plane and arrived in Watkins Glen at about 2:30 pm. We deployed the bikes and rode to Watkins Glen State Park to see the spectacular waterfall which has cut a gully 400' deep and two miles long during the last 12,000 years. The water that goes over this falls, dumps into Seneca Lake, which dumps into the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, which dumps into the Erie Canal, which dumps into the Oswego Canal, which dumps into Lake Ontario, which dumps into the St. Lawrence River, which dumps into the Atlantic. This process takes 25 years from the time the water flows down the falls in Watkins Glen.

The falls at Watkins Glen State Park, it's impossible to capture what we saw on film!


















Looking north up Seneca Lake from Looking south towards Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen. from about 8 miles up the lake.

Today, Monday, May 28 we are again on the town wall at Senica Falls. Waterloo, NY is only 3 miles to the west and it was at Waterloo that Memorial Day was first declaired, this was a pretty happining place this weekend. Tonight however there are only three boats that will spend the night.

ODYSSEE sitting at the wall in Seneca Falls.

Tomorrow we proceed back east to the Oswego Canal on our way up to Lake Ontario.