YESTERDAY September 7, 2008

As we left Mackinaw City and passed under the Michigan Straits bridge, we moved from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. It was good to return to the Mackinaw City Marina where we had stayed earlier this summer in the MacGregor. Again we found the staff to be most helpful and pleasant and it was sunny! The attractive office worker kept calling Tom "Captain" and he just beamed!

On the next leg of our journey we did not have any intermediate ports available if we wanted to stop early. We started about 7:30 to make sure we would reach Charlevoix even if we had delays along the way. We passed under the Mackinaw Bridge along with a barge being towed by a tug boat. They had right of way and not because they were so much bigger and traveled about the same speed we were going.

For three hours we motored west into the wind, then rounded the point and sailed south along the coast. It was so good to be sailing again with clouds but NO rain. We raised the Spinnacker but shortly had to drop it because we were sailing too close to the wind. The wind increased to 20 knots, the waves heightened and the wind direction swung to the south. We actually had to tack to reach the entry canal top Charlevoix Harbor and Lake.

Charlevoix Harbor is reached by crossing under a draw bridge that is opened every half hour. We planned to make the 6:00 raising but as we approached the bridge both motors stopped! We glided to the cement side wall and were able to tie up about 100 feet from the lowered bridge. Needless to say Tom was not pleased. He finally discovered that the lines that raised and lowered the motors had gotten entangled in the propellers when he put Cantrina in reverse which caused a couple fuses to blow!!!

It took a couple hours and a few phone calls before Tom fixed the problem. He had a cool swim
working under the boat times two (motors). We called the bridge lady and she personally raised
the bridge for just one boat - us! A lot of bystanders were very interested in us but no Mechanics or Marine Workers.We were so happy to be able to drop our anchor and call it a day! Ten and one half hours sailing plus one and one half hours repairs - 45 Miles Today.

lYESTERDAY September 7, 2008

Hopefully Last Update September 5, 2008

After an up and down night with rain pelting our roof, we slept in to 10 a.m. We were the only transient boat in residence at Rogers City Marina so it was very quiet! During the wee-hours Tom used a less busy computer time to work on the Blog.

When morning arrived, it had stopped raining but it was "grey" out. We left about 10:30 motoring north in 2-3 foot waves in 15 mph winds. Sounds a lot like the past few days but today we will turn NW. With all the humidity generated by the 15 hours of rain, Debbie became a human defroster frequently wiping the windshield. The humidity was so thick you could practically cut your way through it! That was inside the cockpit. . . .

At 2:00 as we continued in a NW fashion around the east top edge of Michigan, the sun broke through the clouds and everything was beautiful again. We decided to continue on passed Hammond Bay Harbor Marina ending out the day about 7:30 at Cheybogan. Nine hours and 35 miles.

Although we had called ahead to see if space was available at Cheyboygan County Marina, we decided to drop anchor in a boat turnaround area on the other side of the entry canal behind a Coast Guard working ferry. The CG boat did not move and did not ask us to leave. We had a very pleasant dinner and night aboard.

Another Update September 4, 2008

A good night's sleep works wonders. Today we can sail, not motor. But, of course, we had to cover the rest of the route out of Thunder Bay directly north into the wind by motor at 3-4 mph before we could raise both sails and head northwest on a broad reach. Although it was cloudy, we felt so fortunate to find such a wonderful boat that even the rain that arrived halfway through the afternoon did not dampen our spirits.

As the afternoon wore on, the waves increased, some as high as our boat (5 to 6 feet)! Catrina reached right along. Debbie felt nautically competent with the help of her two assistants, GPS and Autopilot! Tom frequently praised the PDQ over his previous Gemini.

Nine hours and 44 miles later we sailed into Rogers City Marina, ate dinner at the Lighthouse

Restaurant, finished stowing our gear, check the forward storage areas and found them dry and caught up on our computer correspondence while listening to the outside wind roar and the raindrops fall on the bimini. Tom is a quick learner and after having to pump water out of the storage areas yesterday, we definitely closed them securely today. We also coiled and tied down our shore electric line. Yesterday as the waves increased, it appeared in front of our cabin windows like a long yellow snake!

Update Continued September 3, 2008

After a very informative and pleasant afternoon/evening with Pat and Mark, we spent our first night aboard Catrina and arose early. We took off from East Tawas with lots of sun but barely a breeze. Oh, well, we were in great spirits and the happiest people in the world!

Within a few hours the weather changed as we headed directly into the wind north along the Lake Huron Coast--the sun disappeared, the wind intensified to 15-20 plus knots and 2-3 foot waves rushed by. On went the motors (we have two) and we bobbed along at 2-5 mph. Isn't this great! Waves crashed over the foredeck, up the cabin windows and finally up onto the roof. What an adventure! The boat really handled the weather well.

Finally, after 11 hours and 55 miles we tiredly found a few islands east of Alpina where we could drop an anchor out of the north wind. The anchor would not hold on the rocky bottom. Tom remembered an Anchor Buoy mentioned on the charts. We found it between the two islands. We tied up on a blinking light!

After dark Debbie served a great dinner to a man who was almost too tired to eat and who went to bed shortly afterwards!

Many have inquired about the "nut" which was probably left by someone with a sense of humor or management checking out the maid service. What was missing was the bolt!

Another Update September 3, 2008

Catching Up Sept 2

Today Tom and Debbie entered their "Live Aboard Phase of Life" when they accepted ownership of Catrina from Pat and Mark at East Tawas MI.

This 1994-95 PDQ32 Classic Catamaran was in pristine condition. After scrubbing her spotless and fully equipping the boat including wine and a "nut" in Debbie's bed (not Tom), Pat and Mark treated us to a delicious Rib Dinner before saying farewell to their Catrina. They had spent the last fourteen summers visiting every port in the Great Lakes. It was their Blog about this Adventure that Tom discovered and decided to contact them. We look forward to having Mark and Pat visit us in Florida.

!!.