Tuesday, June 28, 2011

We Made it off Lake Superior

Our last few days on Lake Superior could not have been better!  We departed Marquette on Saturday morning in route to Munising, Michigan - a short trip of 45 miles.  The weather was warm and the seas were calm for our journey.  Munising, population 0f 1500,  is the last stop we can make before departing Lake Superior.  When we arrived, we were surprised that this was the day for the annual Munising Bay Arts Festival.  Festivities included local arts/crafts along with local performers and bands performing in the pavilion.  Good time had by all!
Local kid band performing for the locals!
Practice, practice, practice
 We also had the distinct honor of being invited to one of the most memorial events we have experienced since being on any of our trips!  One of the local ladies - in her late 80's - was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and has very limited time remaining.  As one of her final wishes, she asked all her friends and family to come in assigned costumes and perform a play she had written about a local folklore of the surrounding islands.  She wanted to see her play acted out on stage.  In the picture below she is the older lady on the left with white top and black hat.  Everyone, including her, had a great evening and all seemed to have a lot of fun - including us. 
The Last Act
Sunrise as we departed Munising

East Channel Lighthouse
 We knew the following day would be long - over 130 miles to Sault Ste Marie - but the weather was perfect and the views of the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore as we departed Munising were great.  These naturally carved rocks were created by the wind, water, and ice of Lake Superior and is a 37 mile long masterpiece of color and rock formations.  The pictures we took do not do the view justice.  You almost have to see them to appreciate the beauty.
Miners Castle

Lovers Leap
 The remainder of the day and the trip was uneventful.  When we finally rounded Whitefish Point we still had another 50 or so miles before leaving Lake Superior.  Whitefish Point was made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot ballad about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald some 30 years ago.  This was the point that the Captain was trying to reach before being hit by a 50 foot wave.  We actually followed the same shipping channel as the Fitzgerald but, fortunately, did not see any waves.(After departing Lake Superior we downloaded "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on the IPod and listened to the lyrics)
Lighthouse at Whitefish Point
 After 13 hours on the water, we finally arrived in Sault Ste Marie, locked through the Canadian side of the locks, and docked at a marina on the American side of St Mary's River.  We refueled and departed on Monday morning for the half mile trip across the river to the Canadian side.  We cleared customs and plan to stay here for a few days before departing for the North Channel.  We don't anticipate having any Internet access over the next week or so so will try to do another posting before we arrive in Georgian Bay.  We will try to update as soon as possible and anticipate great pictures of this section of the trip.
Good Bye Lake Superior



View from St Mary's River
as we approached The Soo

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Marquette, Michigan

House/barn near the lower
entry to Lake Superior

Light House marking entrance
to lower Keweenaw Waterway

For all our southern friends and family - you would not believe how cool it gets in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in June. Brrrrrr!



We traveled from Houghton to Marquette on Sunday, a trip of 85 miles. 
The weather was cool, cloudy, but the winds were calm.  Although the sun never broke through the clouds, we were able to view some spectacular sights along the way.  All in all, a great trip. 
Huron Island Lighthouse
The only other vessel we spotted on the trip
to Marquette

THIS is the first day of summer?

Thankful for auto-pilot

Today, June 22 (the 2nd full day of summer) it is 50 degrees, a little breezy, and has been raining all day.  However, we both had a number of "projects" to do on the boat to keep us busy and were still able to walk into town to do some shopping and sightseeing between rain intervals.  We had actually forgotten how much fun we had exploring new surroundings especially when the weather forces you to stay in one place longer than expected.  We got the bikes out and, in spite of the misty rain, took Lucas to see some sights.

Lucas is not spoiled!
We both got a good workout

Not much of a Yacht Club
(Note 3 grills on left side and dink on right)
 
Because of the unseasonal cool weather, along with rain and wind, we have decided to stay in Marquette until Saturday, travel 45 miles to a marina in Munising (which is surrounded by Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore), then leave Sunday for a long day of travel and lock through the  Sault Ste. Marie locks into the St. Mary's River and Canada.  The weather is predicted to return to normal starting this weekend with highs in the mid 70's and clear skies allowing us to see many of the picturesque shorelines between here and the locks.  We are looking forward to putting our fleece sweaters and rain gear away for awhile.

Knot Busy in Marquette

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Departing Pikes Bay Marina

Lighthouse on Raspberry Island in the Apostle Islands
Hole in the Wall on Oak Island

We have been at Pikes Bay awhile - last fall when we bought the boat and this year as we prepared her for out trip.  We have come to appreciate the surroundings and the people and realize why these folks consider this paradise.  We have met some great boaters and the entire staff at the marina have been very helpful to us "southerners".  Jon and Gloria Gottshalk, previous owners of our vessel, have become friends that we hope to see again.  I worked very close with Paul the mechanic the last few weeks, learning a lot about the boat while we installed an inverter/charger, fuel flow meters, impellers, changed oil, etc. and talked a lot of NFL football.


View as we departed with
Madeline Island on the Port
Departing Pikes Bay Marina
Our original plans were to depart Pikes Bay Marina in Bayfield on Thursday, June 16th, but Lake Superior fog forced us to postpone our departure a day.  We were able to depart on Friday the 17th in light/patchy fog but the water was calm and we encountered on/off fog most of the day.  Our destination was 75 miles east on the lake to Ontonagon Marina on the Ontonagon River.  The south side of Lake Superior is mostly Indian Reservation and National Parks so it is very sparsely populated. We were looking forward to seeing the high cliffs and natural forests but unfortunately, the fog prevented us from seeing much but an occasional view as the fog would lift.  Our travel speed of 8 - 10 MPH put us at our destination late afternoon.  We were pre-warned that this marina was small, old, and shallow and it truly lives up to reputation.  The channel buoys marking the entrance to the marina were <20 feet apart and our beam is 15 feet - a tight fit with 4 - 5 feet depth.  We were churning the bottom!  After tying up in a slip, I registered with the harbor master and was told we were the first transient boaters of this season.  Can't imagine why!!



The Captain on the Bridge
(who had nothing to do with the seat covers)


Porcupine Mountains
Early Saturday morning we checked the weather on multiple web sites and received mixed results.  One site predicted 10 MPH winds, sunny day.  Another predicted winds 15 - 20 MPH with gusts up to 30 MPH.  Guess which was correct.  We departed early for the 55 mile trip, continuing east on Lake Superior.  The first hour or so was great until the winds increased and the water became more and more choppy.  Although "Knot Busy" is able to handle these conditions without much problem, it does make for an uncomfortable day.  However, we arrived in Houghton, Michigan on the Keweenaw Waterway early afternoon.  Our intention was to stay for one night but, because of deteriorating weather, we will stay at least one more day.  The weather today, Sunday, June 19th is 53 degrees, strong winds, and raining!  Hard to believe that friends and family in NC are complaining about the heat, we are both dressed in layers including rain gear.  The Houghton/Hancock region is an industrial/former mining community that was settled by Finns when copper mining was strong on Lake Superior.  As we traveled here, many of the homes on the waterway proudly displayed American and Finnish flags.  Many of the street names and store names are Finnish - Pia is feeling at home here.

Not by plan but we arrived in Houghton on the annual celebration of the connecting bridge between Houghton and Hancock.  There were many activities along the waterway and a fireworks display on Saturday evening in spite of the weather.  We have no doubt that the weather will improve soon as we continue our travels east out of  Lake Superior to the North Channel and Georgian Bay.
Houghton Skyline from the water

Much celebrated lift bridge
Fireworks on Saturday evening
in Houghton



Pia and Lucas on a rainy cold day

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Our New Adventures on "Knot Busy" as we travel from Lake Superior to NC

Gold Loopers
"For the foreseeable future, we will be back in Cornelius with long overdue chores at home as well as preparing "Still Busy" for lake life.
 We look forward to our next adventure on the water and are already planning this event. Stay tuned!!!
Lucas - our  new "Deck Paw"
Lucas asleep on watch

The quote above is from our last blog submission in April 2010 as we completed The Great Loop in Charleston.  When we posted this comment, we really had no idea what our next adventure on the water would be nor how many "long overdue chores" we had at home to complete.  So 14 months after completing our trip of a lifetime, we are off again on our "new to us" boat.   In August 2010, we made a trip to Lake Superior and purchased a 1990 45' Californian that we have renamed "Knot Busy".  She is a fresh water boat that has spent most of her travels on the Ohio River, St. Croix River in Minneapolis, and Lake Superior.  After spending a few weeks aboard her last fall, we put her in winter storage with plans to return this year to make the voyage from here to the Carolina coast.  On May 26 after 9 months in storage, we relaunched "Knot Busy" and moved her to Pikes Bay Marina in Bayfield, Wisconsin.  The last few weeks have been devoted to redecorating the interior (Pia has had 9 months to plan) as well as some needed mechanical updates, we are about to begin our voyage.  Our plans are to depart Bayfield in the next week or so, travel 5 - 6 days across Lake Superior into Lake Huron, North Channel, Georgian Bay, Trent-Severn waterway, Lake Ontario, Erie Canal, Hudson River, and then down the eastern seaboard home.  Our trip should take about 4 months and we will spend most of our travel time in Canada revisiting some sites we were saw on The Loop as well as exploring new sites.
We look forward to keeping you updated on our travels and hope you will take the time to make comments on the blog as you see appropriate.  We will attempt to include as many pictures as possible so you can share in our adventure and both of us will also provide pictures updates on Facebook.

"Knot Busy" in storage
Just as she was relaunched after 9 months inside










Renaming Ceremony
Aft Deck
Salon