Day 67

Howling winds and the rapid deployment of the USCG rescue boat have made us glad about our decision to come immediately to this safe harbor in Manitowoc. We are quite snug in this place. This. Morning we toured the Maritime Museum. I t was excellent and included a tour of the SS Cobia a WWII submarine. A little less polished than the boats I was on.

So here we are and I have to say that unlike many adventures the treat is not at the end of the trip. Indeed, the treat was the trip itself.
We burned about 500 gallons of Diesel fuel.
We travel 1711.1 miles.
We went through 149 locks. Two of the were pan dishes that lifted us up and one was a railroad like ride called the  "big chute".
We used 250.2 hours of engine wear.
We used 2 quarts of diesel oil.
We had no major problem with the enforced togetherness and , in fact, have gotten quite used to being alone with each other for weeks at a time.

We suffered indignities and setbacks without an angry word . Situations like breaking the radar mast, a failed GPS , a two way communication system dropped into Rice Lake, ruining a propeller on a rock, engine stalling and crashing into a multimillion dollar yacht and  a couple of gales at sea.
Did I mention the burning up of the exhaust water injector. all these are a part of the boater's life. A strong faith in the Supreme Leader helps in situations like these.

We started with dear friends Scot and Lucinda and finished alone.  We reconnected with an old college chum, Natalie and husband Jim and they are now high in the dear friends category. In every port we made new friends that shared their boating stories and travel tips with us. Many of them will be life long friends.

Many were the small towns that charmed us. The star was Charlevoix. Both of us voted  it magnificent and number one. Others worth high honors included Orillia, Ontario; Westport ,NY and  Westport, Ontario; Perth; Mackinac Island was wonderful and of course Ottowa and Montreal are huge and very special. There was only one town that really turned us off and that would be the desolate, decomposing town of Whitehall,NY birthplace of the USN.

We are anxious to get back to our family and bungelow in Rome. Yet we are anxious too, to reusme the nomadic life next June when the water softens up again. Overall an amazing first bucket list accomplishment and worth every minute of our time.

Day 66

SUCCESS , THE TRIP IS OVER UNTIL JUNE 2013.
We had hoped to arrive in Manatowic between the 6-8th. The weather patterns said no way. Original plans had us going to Sturgeon Bay, miles to the North. From there we would work our way down the eastern coast of Lake Michigan to Manitowoc. Severe weather for the next 7 days made us feel lucky to get this one open day so we took Lydia the whole way to Manatowoc. The trip was boooooooring and seemed to laaaaaaaaast forever. There was nothing to see but water. Then a fog bank at least added something to worry about. We came in to port about 3 pm having left in the cold dark morning about 6 pm.

Manitowoc is nothing to write home about (although That is what I am doing).

Lydia will winter here until June.. She will have minor health issues addressed.

The blog will likely smolder until June. If there is any desire for us to keep it up please let me know. I plan just one more issue that will summarize some of our accomplishments this summer.

For those following us we thank you for your support and interest. May God bless you all.

Day 65

Due to the threat of big waves and strong winds we decided to come all the way to Frankfort, MI yesterday. We had planned to stop at Leland to make 2 short trips. After 9 hours we were glad to get safely into Frankfort, MI at Betsie Lake. Frankfort is cute and very small. We will spend most of today walking around and bicycling. The weather is brisk and sunny and a bit windy. In other words a perfect fall day for anything but motoring across a fresh water ocean. 

We had planned to go over to Sturgeon Bay for a few days, but the weather pattern would trap us there too long. Waves over the weekend are predicted at 12 feet and gale force wind for 3 days in a row. Alternate plans then call for us to make a longer passage to Manitowoc tomorrow. If successful we will have arrived 3 days early on a three month long voyage. Since we are meeting Ashley in Chicago on the 12th we will have a few days extra. Most days we will be either working on cleaning and dressing up Lydia for the winter or perhaps renting a weather resistant form of transportation and touring Door County Wisconsin.

I have finally found out why I was unable to blog pictures to you. I am sure that the blog would have been way more interesting. It us because Blog-spot does not support Apple photos in their raw form. It was not my incompetence. I have , however, just found an independent blog support system that promises to allow me to continue my present blog address and send apple pictures to it. Thank you Mr. Scott Hastings Bradshaw for your hot tip.  Wish me luck.

Tomorrow's trip is gutsy. Wish or pray for our success and safety.

God bless the followers.
B&M

 

Day 63

As usual, this is the best place . Lovely town, tree shaded streets, huge lake that is safely protected from Lake Michigan. Probably one of the most charming towns in USA. Perfect weather did not spoil the effect. The streets are all tree shaded with beautiful homes.everything is immaculately clean.

This morning we walked out to the Nazarene church. We thought
 it would only be about a half mile. Well it was three miles. Fortunately a nice man gave us a ride back and included a wonderful tour of the village.This afternoon we entertained several new boater friends .There are  quite a few people who seem fascinated by our small tug. One couple was a Dr. And hi wife who also own a Ranger 25. They also go on Christian medical missions and to boot, she is a social worker specializing in adoptions. What are the odds of those coincidences? We really enjoyed their company. Meeting nice people is part of the boating experience.

Later we bicycled around this gorgeous place. We took pictures of the streets and beautiful Lake Charlevoix. We were politely corrected in the pronunciation. Ia is called Char le voy.

Day 62

Yesterday we made it to beautiful Beaver Island., also called the Emerald Isle of Lake Michigan. Avery small but pristine Island in the middle of nowhere. The restaurant was several miles away, so we called them and they sent a car over, driven by the under chef, who picked us up and then went right back to cooking our meal. Whitefish dinner was delicious.

Today we motored over to the astounding town of Charlevoix, MI. Marti likes it here so much that we will stay an extra day. The ride over was about 35 miles, but lumpy with a 2-3' sea pushing on our port stern all around. Eventually we will have to cross the whole lake  which is a bit daunting. We will likely cross over from Frankfort to Sturgeon Bay  and the weather will have to be perfect.

Day 60

Blogging has been difficult as there is minimal cell phone service and wi fi at Mackinac Island.
The past two days yhave been idylic. Flat seas, clear blue skies and we were staying at the Island House Hotel on beautiful Mackinac Island. There are no cars here, just horses and bicycles. Marti and I decompressed and prematurely celebrated the almost completion of the trip. Getting here from Drummond Island was a piece of cake with near perfect sea conditions.

In one day we passed Mowat Point, Scott Bay, Robert Point and Martha's Sweet Shop. All these are participants of all or part of the trip.

Today we toured Fort Mackinac, and also saw a 250 old bark tepee that housed the first Catholic mission o  the island. It was founded by Father Marquette who later explored much of the midwest territories with Father Joliet. Both these men have major cities named after them.

Then we toured the butterfly museum. It was wonderful to just be among so many colorful butterflies that flitted everywhere, including Marti's head and my arm.

We had planned to stayn one more day, but the weather window says best to move on. Tomorrow we leave for Beaver Island, St. James Harbor. Lydia has been photographed constantly on this trip and especially here in Mackinac.

Day 58

Back in the US of A. Flat water all day. Beautiful fall day with sunshine and crispness that denotes a change in the scenery. Drummond Marina in in the boonies, but safe. We rented a car for $12 and will drive to "town". The staff at the marina promised us that the town has a pub, a church, a grocery store and a post office and that is all.