One of the tasks on the list while we are at home has been to organize the photos taken along the
way. Shutterfly sent a coupon for a free book, so in a flurry, this task got done.
Here is a link to the book.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AatXDJu4aN27iw&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET
While Alpena was a welcome port in our run across Lake Huron and is a charming town, it was decided to move the Infinite Sea a little closer to home (30 minute drive vs 60) for the work we will do on her while we are home. Between boat jobs and house jobs, this is not going to be a very restful or relaxing break, I’m afraid.
So, it was arranged for my daughter, Kelsey, to drive us up on her day off, then the next day, my folks joined us for the run down to Tawas Bay where the boat will stay first on the hard, then in the water for the next few months.
Mom soon got her “sea” legs.
It was a great day to be on the water, next to no waves, sunshine, not too hot, not too cold. We did a lot of catching up and got to see “home” from a whole new angle.
The boat perched precariously close to the launch ramp overnight and was pulled the next day and moved to a spot close to water and electric so that we could begin preparing the bottom for new paint, Jerry’s will replace the cutlass bearings and stuffing boxes, the list goes on.
Yes, there’s enough water under the boat, just.
Before and after. Port side polished, starboard to go
Miles Today: 65 Total Miles: 2368 Total Locks: 77 States: 10
A long discussion before we headed to dinner had us thinking the best plan for us was to run to Tobermory. This meant skipping the rest of Georgian Bay for now. After the stress and confusion of the day before, it wasn’t a tough decision. We plan to return and do the North Channel which is reported to be wider channels and similar beautiful scenery.
Sunrise over the marina.
So, at the crack of o’dawn-thirty (5:30 AM) we were scrambling about to cast off and head out. The reward was a beautiful sunrise. The water was flat as glass which made for a smooth run. Before lunch we started talking about not stopping, but proceeding straight for Alpena Michigan, where we’ve arranged to leave the boat while we take a break at home before resuming our journey later this summer.
Pretty water
We saw a sunrise, a sunset, and a moon set (what were’s the moon going??) Luckily we didn’t run long in the dark with the long northern summer days.
It didn’t hurt the decision that the radio station we found was announcing a weather alert for Georgian Bay Sunday. If we stopped, we might end up waiting for several days before we got another window this good. So, we checked the wave predictions, did some fuel calculations, ran over the charts again, and decided to push on.
Twenty-one hours later at 2am we arrived in Alpena. We would never have thought of coming in in the dark if we both weren’t familiar with the harbor. What we didn’t anticipate were all the private markers in addition to the channel markers. Alpena is home to a good number of wrecks, many of which have been found and are now marked for diving. It is also a port for Lafarge Corporation with their own channel and dock on the water. We had red flashing markers all over starting miles out. Just a little stressful. Thank goodness for the new electronic charts with your GPS position and magenta lines, it did cross my mind that we would make the news if we became another wreck in Thunder Bay ( one of us would be known in the community, sure to make the news in a small town), we managed to dodge the unlit markers and find the lit ones we needed, get the boat tied up, call customs and get a few hours sleep.
There will not be many posts for the next few weeks as we enjoy family and the cottage. I may post boat projects and our adventures in the North Channel, but I will spare you the knitting group news etc.
Miles Today: 175 Total Miles: 2306
Locks Today: 0 🙂 Total Locks: 81
States: 10 Countries: 2
Midland is known for the murals that dot the town. Also for cheap taxis we were told by our taxi driver.
Travels of the Infinite Sea 