Changing the Burgee

Having completed the Great Loop we are entitled to fly the 'golden burgee'.  The American Great Loop Cruisers Association provides a 'white burgee' with a rendition of the loop map on it for those starting out on the journey;  this flag let's other loopers know that you are 'in the club'.  Once you have 'crossed your wake', i.e., you've completed the loop, you may fly the 'golden burgee' to indicate that you have done so. Today we had a ceremony for the changing of the burgee.  Lenore penned and sang a song, to the melody of Taps, as the white burgee was replaced with the gold.

Here is the song:

The loop is done
Oh, what fun
On the lakes, on the sea, in the sun
We did the locks and the docks,
Miss Hattie's home

We made great friends
Who liked to share
They help you out
Without a doubt
When winds aren't fair

All is well
No more to roam
Miss Hattie's home

See the ceremony (videographed by Brian Hartman), go to the link: Changing the Burgee

We want to extend our special greetings and thanks to those loopers with whom we made such good friends:  Martin Elliot and family, Yachtsa Dreamin, for the calm and cool radio voice in tight locking situations and for being the most intrepid family cruisers; Beth and Jim Gamble, SV Heron, for understanding when we waked you;  Roger and Vebbie Griffith, Hattitude, for helping make our stay in St Petersburg that much more fun;  the Brits we met on the Tenn River, who came from Tunisia to do the loop; Admiral Nelson, Océano, for turning us onto the Navionics Chartplotter for iPad;  Hugh Grant and Sheri Purcell, Hush-a-Bye, for welcoming us when we constantly turned up like bad pennies and sharing fun from Pirates Cove to Peterborough (about 3,000 miles worth);  Bill and Bobbi Haag, Mist, for graciously inviting us to join the group through the entire Trent-Severn experience;  Dave and Sue Wright, Mañana, for letting us squeeze in with them through the T-S locks, for showing us what Georgian Bay has to offer, and for sharing family time.

And we want to again thank all our 800-dock friends for following us on our blog and welcoming us back to Michigan City.  We look forward to cruising with you all in the coming years (just remember to wait for Miss Hattie, she's built for comfort, not for speed).

The Loop was wonderful trip and experience; we recommend it to all.

We're Home - YAY!

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend with the Hartmans.  It was a sort of a psychological soft landing for the end of our trip.  Brian and Jan rented a cottage on Spring Lake, just up the river from the Grand Haven marina where we kept the boat.  We had a hole in our harbor reservations so we stayed on the hook in Spring Lake Saturday night and went back to the marina on Sunday after a short cruise on Lake Michigan.  It was a fun filled weekend - lots of eating, making merry, dinghy riding and enjoying the Grand Haven sites.  We all shoved off on Monday.

The ride down to South Haven was a bit bumpy at first but by the time we arrived the lake was lown, with 1-2 foot rollers.  This bode well for an early shove off and final cruise to Michigan City on Tuesday.  At about 16 miles out, we gained sight of the Michigan City power plant - a welcomed view after 334 days away.  We announced our near arrival with multiple text messages to family and friends.  Since it was Tuesday after the holiday we expected that we would just slip into the docks unnoticed by any, but alas we were greeted with a welcoming committee - Earle, Don, and Gene - blasting a horn as we entered the marina.  What a pleasant surprise!

Sometime in the next couple of weeks we plan to have an "end of voyage" ceremony on the bow of Miss Hattie, changing the white Great Loop burgee for the gold, an indicator of having finished your 'first' loop.  (Lenore likes to quote May West for anyone who asks if we'll do it again:  "They say you only go around once, but honey, if you do it right, once is enough").  Look for one last post to follow with pics from the closing ceremony

Here are a few stats from the trip:
334 days away from our home port
    180 days in marinas
             *including: 30 days in Clearwater beach;  30 days in St. Petersburg;  20 days in Fort Myers
    120 days on the hook
      34 days on-the-hard or in a boatyard for service (includes a 2 wk trip by car over Thanksgiving)
17 states, 2 countries (haven't counted the towns/cities)
104 locks
5,556 miles
2,900 gallons of fuel
$19,932 total cost (marinas, fuel, laundry, pumpouts, car rental)
$12,832 net cost (2016 MCPA dock fees and 2015/16 winter storage fees not incurred)

Ludington Light

Jan, you look mahvelous dahling

first sighting of Michigan City

Happy to see you MC Light

Our favorite Light

5500 miles behind us

Welcome Home Miss Hattie, photo by welcoming committee

We did it!

     

Comin' Home to Lake Michigan

Last we left you we were contemplating going to Hessel, MI - in the Les Cheneaux Islands - weather permitting.  We had visited there 2 yrs ago when we brought Miss Hattie over from the Detroit area and we wanted to stop there and sample the fare at the new culinary school.  There was no problem, we entered the Les Cheneaux through the 'middle entrance' and went past one of our favorites sites, the eccentric house on Dollar Island (they bought it for $1), see pic. We did indeed eat at the culinary school - review:  'they're still in school'.

Then we set out to St Ignace, another of our favorites on the last trip.  Well, the weather was just barely permitting for that short hop (18 miles) - we had head winds and waves of 3' with occ 4'ers, but since it was directly on the bow it wasn't a problem.  We did shore chores, shopped, did wine tasting and listened to live music while there for 2 days.  A good stop!

We have always said:  the most dangerous thing to have on a boat... a schedule.  Well, we had made plans to be in Grand Haven for the holiday weekend, getting together with Brian and Jan.  So, we decided to make the move down to Charlevoix from St Ignace - it turned out to be a long but uneventful day - just nice cruising.  It was good to be back on Michigan Lake!  We anchored in the Charlevoix harbor for one night.

From Charlevoix we went to South Manitou Island.  A very nice cove that protects you from winds in all directions but SE - it was great. The water was crystal clear, the shore was round stone and sand, the island has no inhabitants except campers who came over on the ferry.  We wish we could have stayed longer but the winds and waves dictated differently.

We next spent 2 nights on Portage Lake, another pleasant anchorage but in a much more populated area.  We spent time cleaning Miss Hattie and touring the lake in the dinghy.

Now we're in Ludington, a truly interesting and pretty harbor.  The SS Badger, the last of the coal powered steamships to ply the waters of Lake Michigan - it makes a daily trip to Manitowac, WI and back, carrying cars and people.  The ship is 410 ft long and is at least 4 stories tall;  it's docking maneuvers are quite impressive, using an anchor to pivot around into place.  While here we met up with some loopers we first met back in November on the Tenn-Tom waterway and we spent two hours coaching prospective loopers on the ins and outs of making the trip.  Ludington is definitely a great harbor and town to visit - don't pass it up on your next trip north.

We'll be going to White Lake next - a couple of nights on the anchor - and then on to Grand Haven.  After the holiday weekend we expect to travel just a few days - getting back home in Michigan City around Sept 7-9.  YAY!

Lenore's favorite animal, the black bear

Dollar Island, Les Cheneaux Islands

Dinner at the Culinary School in Hessel, the wine was good

moderately high seas on the way to St Ignace

St Ignace

Honey, I think we took a wrong turn

Mackinac Bridge

Yoko, the bonsai, goes to Charlevoix

Sleeping Bear Dune

South Manitou Island, one of the baby bears

Big Sable point light

SS Badger, Ludington, MI

Georgian Bay

Dave and Sue Wright took us to our first Gerorgian Bay anchorage, Wana Keta, a cove on Little Beausoleil Island.  It has a Provincial dock and camping site.  Dave, his cousin Chris, and Chris' parents all docked, along with about 3 other boats - we anchored, b/c we wanted to save the $35/nite and it was better being out in the bay anyways.  After 3 nites and 4 days of playing with those folks and enjoying the surroundings, we moved on to a beautiful spot called Port Rawson Bay.  It was wilderness camping, without the bears or deprivations of camping.

Oh, did I say bears can't swim Lenore?  Look who is swimming from island to island - there must be berries over there.

The views were spectacular, the fishing was spectacular, the water was spectacular (clear and 75°) - we hated to leave.  Next stop, Parry Sound - neat little town - it had large Great Lake cruise ships and seaplanes that took off about every half hour (it seemed). The seaplanes offered scenic tours with a dinner stop at a famous, water-access-only fish restaurant, Henry's (that we passed up because of bad reviews). 

Two more anchorages, the second of which was Bustards Islands Harbor.  See for yourselves - once again: "Spectacular"

Next stop:  Killarny, a small town that until 1960 did not have a road into it.  All the facilities have docks, including the liquor store, and there is a small town airstrip.  The Sportsman's Inn Marina Resort was a neat marina/inn/restaurant.  There was a guy there who was canoeing from Vancouver to Cape Breton, NS - he started out in April and expects to finish by October;  he has a set of wheels in the canoe he used to drag it over the Rockies.

Two more anchorages, the second of which was Meldrum Bay.  The small, small town of Medlrum Bay (pop. 41) has a marina, an inn with restaurant, a small campground with dock, and a closed general store.  The water was crystal clear and the shore was made of limestone shale.  The restaurant at the Medrum Bay Inn was a gem, with food as good as any Chicago restaurant we've experienced.

Today, we checked into the US Customs at Drummound Island, Yacht Haven and now are anchored in a cove at Harbor Is, just a couple miles north.  Weather permitting we'll go to Hessel, MI tomorrow - but we may have to wait out some storms.

Dinghy tour with Sue and Dave

time for ice cream

Inukshuk (the first nation 'garden gnome')

Wana Keta beach with shade for the elders

Camp Kikikiwitcha for boys and girls at Wana Keta

Pickeral (pike) from Port Rawson Bay

Parry Sound

Da Bear can swim

Loon

Rocks of Northern Georgian Bay, Bustard Islands

Dinghy expolorer, Bustard Islands

Dinghy expolorer, Bustard Islands

Fisherman Bob, Bustard Islands Harbor

17" Bass, Bustard Islands

Killarney, Sportsman's Inn Marina

crossing Canada by canoe, awareness of the troops

what a difference a day makes (after the tornado)

tornado forming west of Little Current (it got bigger while we we

Moonrise over Meldrum Bay, bella luna!

Meldrum Bay Inn (entertainment)

Meldrum Bay Inn 

placid North Channel cruising

Trent Severn 2

When we were about to start our voyage through the Trent-Severn Waterway, we met Dave and Sue at the fuel dock in Trenton.  They have a beautiful aft deck trawler, Manaña, that they brought back to life after it suffered hurricane damage in the Gulf.  Dave was the one who told Bob we'd be stopping for the night after only doing 8 miles - and 6 locks.  He was right.  And then we pretty much traveled with them and another couple, Bill and Bobbie Haag of Mist.  It was great fun to have others to share our experiences with and it was especially good that Dave and Sue acted as our guides - Orilla, some two-thirds up the system, is their home port. While in Orillia we enjoyed getting together to dine with the the Haags and the Wrights and with Tim and Theresa of Home Office.  We had met Tim and Theresa at various place along the way - in a lock, in a port - and it happened that they were docked next door to us for the 4 days we spent in Orillia.  Tim drove us around town to help us do our 'shore chores' and Theresa treated us to a night of song and guitar music - front row seats, doesn't get any better.

Here are some more pics from the Trent-Severn

Big Chute rail car and cable system

The Big Chute (that the rail takes us around)

Man-made canal.  You call 'securité, securité ..... ' before entering.

Dave's family: Sue, mother Maureen, Dave, Loretta, and Stephen O 

Tim and Theresa, Home Office, lunch outing in Orillia

Dave, Sue and Kobie Wright of Manaña

Back in the USA

We haven't been able to blog for a while because the WiFi has sucked when we were in port and because we tried not to be in port very much while going through Georgian Bay.  Today we reentered the US and signed in at the Customs Station at Yacht Haven, Drummound Is, MI;  it is now manned by official, jack-booted Customs and Border Patrol personnel who boarded the boat and conducted a search!  (Good thing we stashed the limes and lemons!)  We are now in another anchorage just a few miles north, Harbor Island;  it's lovely, but no where near the spectacular beauty we enjoyed in Georgian Bay.

I'm publishing this blog without pics.  The ones that follow will be loaded with scenes from the past 2 weeks.

Trent Severn Big Chute Rail Portage

If you'd like to see the whole process of the Big Chute rail crossing on the Trent Severn click on the Big Chute video link that is below the archive list and hit PlayAll when the YouTube site comes up.