More Huron

Monday, August 28, 2006
Up at 5:30 AM and on the water at 6:00 AM. We traveled sixty miles in 9 ½ hours. It was cold; hats, gloves, socks, jackets required all day. But the wind was kind to us and we had a good motor-sail. We docked at Presque Isle in Michigan. We were in a heavy fog the last several miles; Mike and his GPSMap 492 did a great job. This is another Michigan marina run by the DNR. Mike thinks this should be called Walden’s Lake. He’s in his element in this remote area with the water, flowers and surrounding woods.
Marina
45º 20' 25" N
83º 29' 10" W
1-989-595-3069
Monitor Channel 9

Tuesday, August 29, 2006
What did we ever do without this GPSMap 492. Mike consulted with a local charter operator and we decided to wait for the fog to lift a little before we leave Presque Isle. We were eventually able to leave Presque Isle in the fog with Mike navigating with the GPS by following our route into the marina back out of the marina. I sat on the bow (my choice) with a horn and an extra light. It was another long, cold day. We were in a dense fog for over an hour, listening for the sounds of the freighter foghorns every two minutes and watching for fishermen. The sky and lake looked as one. We finally arrived at Cheboygan Marina and met some very nice people with quite luxurious powerboats.
Channel into Cheboygan County Marina:
45º 40' 01" N
84º 27' 22" W
1-231-627-9931

We dined at The Old Boathouse on the Cheboygan River and Mike spotted a dock he thought would be a good place to leave our boat while we retuned to Chillicothe to take care of some business. Next morning we took the boat to the Lund dock (waited for a drawbridge) and headed to the Pellston, Michigan Airport to pick up a one-way Hertz and then to Anchor Point to pick up my car and then to the Toledo Airport to return the Hertz and then to the farm. Yes, this certainly is relaxing !!!! This intermittent style of cruising has its challenges.



Tuesday, September 5 & Wednesday September 6
Here we go again! We rented a one-way Hertz out of Columbus, transferred the wooden stands that will hold the mast when we take it down in Chicago from my car to the rental along with other various items including warm clothing and left for Cheboygan. A mere
9 1/2 hours later we arrived at our boat. We stayed in Cheboygan all the next day while Mike did a little maintenance on the boat and I enjoyed a local Internet café. Dinner at Mulligans was very good and just a short bike ride away.

Thursday Sept. 7, Friday Sept. 8, Saturday Sept. 9
Up and on the water at 6:30 AM to leave for the Mackinac City Municipal Marina just 3 hours north and missed the 6:45 drawbridge so we left at 7:15 and arrived at Mackinac around 10:30AM. The weather surprised us with a thunderstorm. The lightening is somewhat scary on the water. We had plenty of time to explore the area. The downtown business district has all the amenities imaginable within walking distance. There are numerous shops (14 fudge, ice cream and carmel corn shops) and ferries to Mackinac Island. We were surprised at the tourist atmosphere. We both grew up in Niagara Falls and some of the souvenir shops were reminiscent of those days when Niagara Falls, New York thrived as a tourist attraction. We dined out, rode our bikes and hoped for good weather. We spent a second day and third day in the City Marina due to weather. I’m anxious to get off of these lakes. At least the marina had a Laundromat. We watched the Ohio State Texas game Saturday night at the Keyhole Bar and shared a table with some fun Harley bikers that were on a ride they make every year. Three scotches and a huge plate of French fries later Mike asked me if I was ready to leave (Finally...some fun). We both had a good time but we needed to get to bed early as we had a challenging day ahead of us.
Marina
45º 46' 55" N
84º 43' 12" W
1-231-436-5269