Kim Jo IV: 7/3/11

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Tuesday; Sault Ste Marie, 2nd day: Our plans have changed. Due to a death in the family we will not be blogging for the next 2 week.

July 3 and 4, 2011; Sunday and Monday:

Sunday, Harrisville Harbor Marina, MI to De Tour Village Marina, MI: We got off to a beautiful sun rise and morning. There was a slight breeze and just a little ripple on Lake Huron. It was such a beautiful day that after we were underway for a while we decided to go straight to De Tour Village and skip our original planned stop at Presque Isle, MI. It ended up being a very long day; 11.1 hours and 103.5 miles but it was worth it. It saved us 1 day and about 30 miles and at $4.70 a gallon we were happy with that. We both were pretty tired but we knew we would have a short day tomorrow.

CO's comments: I am glad this day is over with.

N45 50.880
W83 53.957

Leaving Harrisville Harbor on 7-3-2011

De Tour Village Marina-gas dock

De Tour Village

De Tour Passage on the St. Mary's River

Monday, De Tour Village, MI to Sault Ste Marie, MI: Another beautiful day with blue skies and just a light chop on the St. Mary's River. The river got even nicer as the day went on and by 10:00 it was smooth a glass; this area is breathtaking. Keith said it was too bad that it freezes here in the winter otherwise he would consider staying here. We got here about 13:00. This is another marina that is over half empty due to the economy. It is sad to see. Keith changed the oil again and I washed clothes. Our plan is to anchor out the next few days along the Lake Superior shore line after going through the Sault Ste Marie Lock tomorrow morning. The City of Sault Ste Marie had their 4th of July fire works tonight right here at the marina; this is our 3rd time seeing fire works.

Leaving De Tour on 7-3-2011

A real Boat House on the St. Mary's River.
We were told it took 2 years to get the
hull up on the hill and they are still
working on the renovation

Freighter traffic at Sault Ste Marie

George Kemp Marina at Sault Ste Marie

N46 29.991
W84 20.230

CO's comments: It was sure nice to be back on a river and not have to be concerned with high winds and high waves. I think I like river travel better than lake travel. Besides, you have better scenery.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Friday and Saturday, July 1 and 2, 2011

Friday, Harbor Beach Marina to Harrisville Harbor Marina, MI: It was another calm and smooth ride on Lake Huron today. It was sunny with a breeze; can't ask for any thing better. I was a little nervous about crossing Saginaw Bay because I heard it could get rough but it was mild with 1 foot or less for waves. We were in wide open water today and we could not see land in any direction. Almost like being back on the gulf. A short time after the sun came up we started noticing quite a few flies in the boat and we didn't have any yesterday. Before we knew it there were hundreds of them and to top it off they were bite flies; I must have been bitten 50 times or more; they hurt! We had 2 fly swatters going and couldn't keep up. When we finally got to our marina and after getting settled in I went to the store and Keith stayed back at the boat and sucked them all up in the vacuum. Unbelievable!

N44 39.538
W83 17.183

Saturday, Second day at Harrisville Harbor Marina, MI: The weather was too bad for us to go today, so here we are again, waiting. There were huge thunder storms and we could see them out on Lake Huron. There was a lot of thunder and lightning but we did not get any rain on shore. It's hard to sit and wait it out, but it is the best thing to do. The Town of Harrisville is celebrating the 4th this weekend. There was a parade this morning and plenty of Arts and Crafts and tonight there will be fireworks.

CO's comments: One sail boat left port at about 09:00. I began to think, maybe we could have gone. A half an hour later he was back in port. The wind calmed down about noon and it looked good. Then about 14:30 the wind picked up again and there was a squall across the lake that lasted for 2 hours.