Lake Huron Fury!

I'm lucky to be writing this blog after yesterday's 34-mile passage to Mackinac Island here! We were out in terrible weather on Lake Huron, taking its fury head on for 9 straight hours. This picture doesn't really do justice to what we faced, because the swells were three to six feet ALL DAY LONG, and spaced near enough to each other that we had to slow to about 4 mph. That's why it took us 9 hours, and we struggled to keep the boat straight into the swells to prevent us from swaying wildly and unsafely.

Rick and I took turns at the helm, because it was exhausting to fight the wheel every moment and to focus on each coming swell that lifted us up, plunged us down, and splashed water everywhere, even up to the flybridge. The headwind was so strong (we learned later it was gusting to 40 mph) we had to keep the front plastic window down the entire way. And, we left first thing in the morning thinking we'd eat breakfast on the way, but it was way too rough and none of had a single bite of any food until we got to Mackinac Island at 4 pm. That, of course, added to our fatigue and stress.

We all collapsed (figuratively) when we finally arrived and tied up to the marina dock. We admitted to each other how scared we were for those entire 9 hours, because it WAS scary out there in Lake Huron's fury! As an indication of how we felt, we all wore our life preservers the entire trip after the initial hour. I was mad at myself for going out in that weather. It was calm when we departed at 6 am, but once out in the main open lake, it got bad quickly. Papa was watching over us, especially considering that we could make way ONLY directly into the wind and swells (since we would likely capsize if we tried to head in any other direction), and directly in front of us for the entire 34 miles was our destination - Mackinac Island.

Going back to the beginning, since I last posted, we left our anchorage in the quiet cove on our way toward Lake Superior last Friday the 13th. It took us longer than I had figured to reach the town of Sault Saint Marie, where the locks are located for getting into Lake Superior. We finally did, late in the day, and it was such a big deal for Cheryl, Janet and Rick since this was their first locking experience.

The big differences for me were: 1) it was so huge! The chamber was at least 20 times larger than any other lock I'd been in, since they need to hold the super-sized Great Lake freighters ("Lakers"); 2) we had a large audience! These locks are a tourist attraction, and there's a viewing platform along the lock with camera-toting fans. We entered the lock just as we arrived, right behind a tour boat with yet more people watching me. At least I did okay and didn't crash into the wall; and 3) there were no cables or ropes to grab onto. No, the lock operators tossed ropes from way up high down to Rick at the bow and Janet at the stern. By the time we rose to the level of Lake Superior, there we were face to face with the tourists all taking our picture as we were taking THEIR picture! Kinda funny!

Then off we went out into Lake Superior, a 33-mile cruise over to Whitefish Point where we wanted to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. I was wondering, of course, how the "seas" would be out on famous Lake Superior, and at first it was pretty calm and okay. I used the auto pilot, and could take pictures of the huge Lakers passing us, such as the one in this photo. But then the seas got big, living up to the lake's reputation. Lucky for us (He's always looking after us!), the big swells were coming directly from behind us. They pushed us along directly to our destination, a small harbor built straight out from the beach south of the Point.

It was a struggle at the helm, but also kind of fun as the boat climbed the back of each swell and then surfed down the fronts. To be going faster than the swells, I had to "speed" along at 2500 rpm (normal is 1600) and with the tailwind, we were blazing along at 12 mph (lightning speed for Breaking Away). But with the rough seas, I was fearing that Friday the 13th was having its effect on me afterall.

This photo shows Breaking Away docked at the tiny harbor near Whitefish Point. By the time we reached the harbor, it was getting a bit scary with the very strong winds and the size of the swells hitting us from behind. It was a huge relief to finally enter the protection of the harbor behind two huge breakwaters. But then came the next challenge - to dock safely with the strong wind. Luckily (I use that word a lot, don't I?) I had called ahead to the Shipwreck Museum to inquire about tying up in the harbor, and they had given me permission to use their reserved dock since their boat was not there at the moment. As I entered the harbor, I realized there were only about 10 docks, and right in front of me was one of only a few empty ones. I couldn't see if it was the correct one for me or not, but with the strong wind, I needed to tie up to something right away or else I'd have been washed to shore in no time.

It all worked! I got cleanly into the space, and the wind pushed me right up against the dock! Boy was I ever relieved I was done and safely tied up! And once we walked to the front of the dock, we could see it WAS the spot they had said I could use. The waves were crashing against the breakwater and splashing high up and over, the way you see in hurricane photos. It took me a long time to get unwound, but Happy Hour helped! I then started wondering whether the next day's weather would allow me to cross back after we visited the museum. Little could I imagine that a couple days later I would be in seas worse that what we'd just experienced.

Here's the lighthouse at Whitefish Point and the Shipwreck Museum buildings we walked to the next morning. It was still very windy when we first woke up, but it died down as the morning wore on, as predicted by the forecaster. The museum was totally interesting about how that area is known as The Graveyard of the Great Lakes, and there have been 300 wrecks nearby. It made me want to hurry back to the boat and get going while it was still calm outside. But even then, the museum talked about how quickly conditions can worsen on the Great Lakes, so I was wary.

Before we left, we decided to take a quick swim in Lake Superior. We saw others doing it, and they said the water was warmer than they could ever remember. It WAS warm, at my most northerly spot on the Great Loop adventure.

Once we departed, we could not believe what a difference in the water from the day before! Totally calm and smooth. I just set the auto pilot, and relaxed! Lakers passed us again, and here's a picture of one and you can see how calm the water was.

This picture shows a Laker leaving the lock next to the one we were waiting to go into to return back to Lake Huron. These Soo Locks have three locks side by side so they can handle all the big Laker traffic. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the Laker in front of us to lock down (they fill the entire lock chamber with no room left for the likes of me), and then when I entered the lock, I was the ONLY boat in there! The entire tourist audience was staring only at us! I'm again glad I didn't screw up in front of everyone!

When the lock gates opened, we made a quick left turn and went to a marina directly across in the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie. Right next to us was this moose! We've been watching for a moose for the entire two weeks, and this was as close as we got. After a wonderful dinner in a restaurant for the first time in about a week, we walked around the town and enjoyed a cool evening.

The next morning (Sunday), we started by cruising all of a half mile across the river to the other side and being inspected by U.S. Customs. Two officers drove down to the marina we stopped in, and checked our passports and wrote down all sorts of stuff about us and the boat, and then for $27.50 they let us proceed.

We cruised a LONG way, finally reaching where we'd stopped for fuel a few days earlier - De Tour Village, Michigan. The wind was picking up and hitting us from the side, but at least we were protected by islands and the mainland, so the swells weren't large. We were planning to stop in De Tour Village only to pump out the holding tank and do some shopping, but the wind was so fierce and the forecast so bad, that we decided to stay there for the night and not get closer to Mackinac Island as originally planned.

It got completely calm during the night, and was still calm the next morning, so we departed toward what should have been a 5-hour trip to Mackinac Is. Then the seas got real bad real quickly, just as we'd seen at the Shipwreck Museum. This picture shows, in a pale sort of way, the rough waters we were navigating.

Here we are, finally eating some food in Mackinac Is at 4 pm after starving all day since it was too rough to eat. We were holding on the entire time as the boat pitched wildly up and down and side to side for those 9 harrowing hours.

Meeting us at the dock were two Nestle friends, Bob Foley and his wife, Linda Young. They watched us arrive from their hotel window right on the bay, and could see how exhausted we were. Later we got to visit and walk around the town together, and have dessert. Today and tomorrow we'll all have fun together and I'll post their picture in my next blog entry. Janet and Cheryl have to depart from the airport here on the island tomorrow.

See ya next time!