Monday 18th June
We left Buffalo the night before at 6pm and cruised
overnight to Cleveland OH. The wind had picked up a little in the morning and
it was a little bumpy as we neared the harbor, so the skipper took us in the
Eastern entrance of the 5 mile long breakwater to get to the river that we were
to moor at for the day. This was on the west side of the river, opposite the
city – so not a lot to do unless you took transport over there. However, on the
way in we did see the vessel Niagara, a US warship going back to the
revolutionary wars, and a B-17 “Flying Fortress” (another WW2 bomber) overflew
us as well and landed at the small airport we passed on the way in along the
breakwater. I got pix of the Niagara, but was too slow to get the B-17 – so
you’ll just have to take my word for it (although another passenger got a pic
and said he would email it to me)
We left Cleveland at 10pm that night after a pump-out and
refuel (we pump out at every port as the ship can’t go too long without doing
so, with the number of passengers aboard).
Tuesday 19th
Another overnight passage had us at Wyandotte, MI by
morning. This cutsie little town is in the Detroit river, just south of the
City of Detroit so there was a tour to the Ford factory and museum that Dennis
went on, but we didn’t. Instead I walked to the laundromat a mile or so away
and did a pile of much needed laundry.
Later that day, the skipper announced that he had decided
to leave Wyandotte at midnight, instead of 6am the following morning, as he was
concerned that a front moving over Lake Huron may give us some uncomfortable
conditions on the 30 hour transit of the Lake to Mackinac Island. I figured on
playing some guitar that night, but couldn’t find my thumbpick. I then
remembered putting it in my pocket the night before (along with my songlist),
so I checked the shorts I had worn – which, of course, had been through the
wash at the laundromat. The songlist was papier mache in the pocket, and the
thumpick was gone – obviously now resident of the 2nd washing
machine from the front door of the Wyandotte coin laundry.
The earlier departure was a disappointment as I had
wanted to see the river and Lake St Clair, but we would now be transiting them
in the early hours of the morning. However we would be going down the St Clair
river and past Sarnia (Canada) by dawn, so I planned on rising early to get
these.
Wednesday 20th
I rose at 5.45am and found we were still in the St Clair
river, around 2 hours from the entrance to Lake Huron. This river flows very
fast – around 2 -3 knots – and some quite large ships use it as it is the main
thoroughfare between Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron to the Welland canal
and St Lawrence seaway.
Around 8am, we passed under the bridge between the USA
and Canada at Sarnia and entered Lake Huron. This where we had had to go in
2012 to get a 3 week extension on our permission to stay in the USA when we first started the Loop (see “ further
down the blog”
Since there would not be much to see for the rest of the
day, after breakfast I put my mind to the thumbpick issue and decided I would
try to make one. So with the materials of a plastic picnic knife from one of
the hotels we had stayed and a bic lighter from one of the ship’s staff, I
managed to craft this implement – which may not look flash, but works.
The skipper’s fears of bad weather proved unfounded as
the wind dropped and by mid afternoon, the lake was oily calm, and this continued
all night as we headed towards Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island.
Thursday 21st
However, by the time we arrived at St Ignace for a pumpout
before proceeding to Mackinac (no pumpout facilities there), the wind was
blowing around 15 kts ENE – which is a cold wind over here! It kept up for the
short trip to the island and stayed until mid afternoon. Not only does Mackinac
not have pumpout facilities, it also does not have any motor vehicles. What it
has instead is horse drawn carriages and lots and lots and lots of tourists.
There was a ferry coming in about every 10 minutes (some 2 or three at a time)
and they all seemed to be full. The township is small and mainly made up of
tourist stores, tour agents and fudge shops (for which the island is renowned)
– a bit like Waiheke on steroids!
 |
| Leaking sump??? |
That night we were treated to a Gordon Lightfoot "Tribute" singer - who, of course, did the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" as one of his songs. He was actually quite good
Friday 22nd
We were due to leave at midday, but again, the skipper
decided to leave early to take advantage of the current good spell to get
across the open water on Lake Michigan. So we first went back to St Ignace for
another pumpout, fuel up and to load on a new clothes drier to replace the one
that died yesterday (there was a shortage of towels caused by that). We got
underway at 10am and passed under the 5 mile long Mackinac bridge which crosses
the Mackinac Strait and officially separates Lakes Huron and Michigan.
The Ship is known as a “thousand footer”, or “Laker”, as
they are too long to go through the locks in the Welland Canal, so they just
ply the Great Lakes delivering goods to the ports on them – a lot of iron ore
is shipped to the smelters around the lakes by them.
It turned out that the skipper needn’t have worried about
the conditions, because it was flat calm again all day and during the night run to Manitowoc WI. Around 3am (although we
were not awake to appreciate it) we (showing as the green line) crossed the start/finish (Magenta) line of our Great
Loop journey. This was a line drawn between Sturgeon Bay WI and Frankfort MI,
where it officially began in 2012.
Saturday 23rd
Another warm sunny day – many of the passengers went to
the maritime museum and submarine “Cobia” (one of 28 that were built in
Manitowoc) directly behind the ship. We had seen it when we were last here, so
instead we took a walk downtown and to a small farmers market before stopping
at a famous (in Manitowoc) ice cream shop for the obligatory sample of the
goods.
Manitowoc is the harbor for a steam ferry that runs
across to Ludington MI, several times a day. Its the only coal fired steamer
left on the Great Lakes.
We departed for Chicago in fine calm conditions at 4pm,
but immediately turned back as one of the crew had been left behind. An unusual
sight on our departure was that of a recreational vessel being towed in by a US
Coastguard vessel –normally they refuse to do this duty and leave it to private
companies like Towboat US.
Sunday 24th
Another POP (plate of porridge) trip overnight to Chicago
and the end of the cruise. We arrived at 6.30am and slowed right up to take
advantage of the photo opportunities given by the conditions. We tied up at
Burnham Harbour, just south of the city downtown, the place where I stayed with
Donna and Alan Huber On their Carver 466 "Alchemist" while shopping for Loopy Kiwi. It
was also overlooked by the apartment of the AGLCA's "Harbour Host" where we went on Labour day in
both 2011 and 2012 for a Loopers Rendez-vous.
This cruise was 1450 miles long and we have technically
“crossed our wake”, even if there is a piece missing in the middle (and it was
in a different boat). We leave for Denver tomorrow and I should be able to get
this posted to the blog there, as it has been pretty awful trying on the ship.
Then off to the Wild, Wild West!
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