ONBOARD ODDYSEA

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2011

2011-09-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

We moved the boat this morning for the last time this season. It was a bittersweet feeling as we traveled the two miles to the boat yard where ODDYSEA will spend the winter tucked away in the back of a large heated shed. Next spring we will make our final journey home to Minnesota.

The day was spent preparing to leave her for the winter. We return home tomorrow to friends and family. We are ready.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH

2011-09-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

We are starting the process of leaving the boat so spent a good deal of the day with chores.

We knocked off in the afternoon and headed to the Lakefront Brewery. Which strangely is not located on the lake. Anyway they supposedly have the best brewery tour around.

Upon arriving we were greeted by Larry, Moe and Curly. Now this is art!!!

The Lakefront brewery was started and is owned by two brothers, Jim and Russ Klisch. What started as a hobby back in 1987 has grown to an over 17,000 barrel a year industry.

They have a unique philosophy about their tours. Most breweries make you wait till the end of the tour to sample their product. Russ and Jim believe there are 3 main reasons people take a brewery tour: drink beer, be entertained and to see the place.

So Lakefront provides samples of their various beers at the start of the tour, they share jokes along the way and still manage to explain the brewing process and the history of Lakefront Brewery.

Ross refilling his glass from one of the tanks.

Kidding.

Not being a Milwaukee Brewers fan I was not familiar with this but it is Bernie Brewer’s chalet. I guess Bernie was the team mascot and whenever the Brewers hit a home run Bernie slid down a slide into the mug of beer. When the Brewer’s built a new stadium, Russ Klisch bought this and put it in the brewery.

And what brewery tour in Milwaukee would be complete without the theme to Lavern and Shirley playing while the bottles go by?

Milwaukee has been an unexpected treat of a stop for us.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2011

2011-09-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

We spent a good portion of the day at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The structure of the museum is art in itself. On top of the building is something called the Burke Brise Soleil. It is a movable sunscreen that has a 217 foot wingspan. 72 steel fins open and close it 3 times a day. We could not wait to see this in operation. Wouldn’t you know it? It was down for maintenance today.

This is the view from inside the museum. The window overlooks Lake Michigan and the the ceiling if very high with the vertical windows all the way to the peak.

This glass sculpture looks very much like one on the ceiling of the Mayo Clinic back in Minnesota.

The main exhibit contained objects from a compound within the Beijing palace of the Emperor. During 1736 to 1796 he had 27 lavish buildings constructed on 2 ½ acres in a secluded area of the palace. The compound has only recently been reopened. They did not allow any photography (rats) so you will just have to take my word that it’s good to be emperor. The objects on display were exquisite.

So we went from viewing objects that must having taken incredible training and talent to create, to this!

Andy Warhol. 1964. Screen print on wood. I wonder what the value of this is? Is it art? Or copyright infringement?

Oh c’mon. Rocks?

In a rack?

This is art?

Ok, I have a niece and nephew in grade school that can do better than this!

I realize I don’t have a “trained” eye but...

There was some pretty cool stuff in this collection though. This is all made of buttons.

After the museum we headed down to the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk runs along three different sections of the Milwaukee River. There are restaurants and brewpubs along those sections and water taxis that service the area.

For my zombie aficionado readers, this walkway was featured in the remake of the movie Dawn of the Dead. This time the story takes place in Milwaukee.

Oh the stuff I can find on the Internet!

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2011

2011-09-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

After serious consideration of whether to travel to Milwaukee today or not, we decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. The forecast is for 1 to 3 foot seas increasing to 2 to 4 later today. After today the forecast is not good until at least Saturday. We fly home on Sunday so feel a bit under pressure to get to Milwaukee.

The wind and the waves were coming from behind. Once in a while the boat would suddenly speed up as we found ourselves “surfing” down a large swell. That was actually kind of fun. But the waves were getting larger and at one point we felt we were losing control of the boat as we surfed along the edge of a swell. Not fun. We slowed our speed and all was fine.

We made the right decision to travel because the wind continued to increase and blow to beat the band. We are staying in the municipal marina and it is next to a large park and walkway. The walkway took us up and over the road. Once at the top of the hill we were in what was once the Italian district of Milwaukee.

Now it is occupied by fun little coffee shops, restaurants and retail shops. Don’t you love the sign this hardware store has? We needed a few things so went in. Our clerk was wearing a Hawaiian shirt under his store vest. Fun neighborhood.

We stopped for a cup of joe at a funky little coffee shop. We sat outdoors and watched the locals walked by. I would describe the neighborhood as full of young, hipster type people.

One of the shops we went in had juggling equipment and lots of gag gifts, among other things. Many other things!

Rubber chicken anyone?

The area was originally the section of Milwaukee that was predominately Italian. There are still many Italian restaurants and a fabulous Italian family operated grocery store called Glorioso’s.

There's not much Ross enjoys less than grocery shopping…usually. I actually had to go looking for him in this place. He kept saying “this place is so great!” Can you believe it? Ross?

We had planned to eat dinner out but picked up some fresh sauce, sausage/broccoli raviolis, bread and a bottle of Chianti. It was fabuloso.

This building is so beautiful I decided to take a photo and figure out its history. Well, its history is that it is and always has been a bar. During the 1880’s to 1907 Milwaukee’s leading breweries went all out in competing for outlet sites for their beers. This building was built by the Pabst company and it would have served only Pabst product. Not many of the original outlet buildings of the breweries remain.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH 2011

2011-09-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Planned on sitting out the wind for another day here in Sheboygan. About 11 a.m. the forecast changed and we made a sudden decision to leave for Port Washington. We figured if it were too nasty on the lake, we’d come back to the marina. We are starting to feel time constraints with having to be in Milwaukee by the weekend. Milwaukee is where we will leave the boat till next season. It is also where we fly home.

The trip went fine. We walked up town and came upon the Visitor Center. It is known as the pebble house. Someone spent a great deal of time finding many stones of approximately the same size, shape, and colors. The gal here gave us all sorts of recommendations and also several coupons.

After wandering around we decided to stop at place called Beanies and use the 2 for 1 margarita coupon we had been given. Aren’t the swings at the bar cool? It was a really good margarita by the way. So good that Ross watched the bartender make it so we can try to duplicate it when we get home. She made it from scratch instead of a premix. I don’t know, maybe it was sipping it while on a swing that made it taste so good.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5th, 2011

2011-09-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Roscoe’s Birthday!!!

We arrived in Sheboygan yesterday and will spend at least today and possibly tomorrow here. Yesterday when we arrived at the breakwall, we could see many people fishing along it. These guys had evidently decided to camp there. Personally I don't think I'd sleep very well just worrying about the wind or a big wave coming along and washing me and my little tent into the drink.

The wind has picked up again. Locals have told us that you can pretty much count on a three-day blow once it starts. So far, that’s been pretty accurate.

Yesterday we biked around a bit. With it being the holiday weekend not much is open. Our plan was to go to dinner tonight to celebrate Ross’ birthday but the Italian place he wanted to go to was closed for Labor Day. So we got on the bikes and peddled the 6-mile trip to Piggly Wiggly and back to get something for dinner. It was a nice ride through Sheboygan. The homes are very well maintained and landscaped. It was a cool ride though with temps only in the 60’s and a steady cold breeze. Made us wish we had stocking caps on!

The wind was howling from the Northeast making for a spectacular wave show along the jetty. If those guys still had been camping out by the lighthouse, they would have been washed away.

Fixed the ribs we picked up at the Pig for dinner and watched the movie The A-Team on the TV. Hard to beat Mr. T. (although in the movie he doesn’t wear all the gold chains, hope I didn't ruin it for you)

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2011

2011-09-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

For dinner last night we ordered pizza delivery to the boat. Thinking ahead, we ordered an extra large. That way, once underway this morning, we could enjoy our hands down all-time favorite breakfast of cold pizza!!! Mmmmm. (although cold take out Chinese runs a close second)

About 15 miles into the trip the fog rolled in. For quite a while we could see maybe 100 yards at most. The boat has a feature on the radar called MARPA. If Ross sees a blip on the screen as the radar sweeps around it he puts the cursor on the blip and clicks on it. This acquires the target and the radar will track it and tell us the target’s speed and direction in relation to our boat. That way we know how close it will pass to us and how soon. We came very close to one boat and still couldn’t see it, but we could hear its foghorn.

We sounded ours back, but sound is deceptive in the fog. The MARPA “dangerous target” alarm was sounding so we knew were very close to the other boat. Suddenly it appeared out of the mist. We were less than 100 yards apart. Gotta love electronics!

We arrived safely in Manitowoc. As usual our guardian angels were working overtime because shortly after we were snug as bugs at the dock the fog really socked us in.

Rather than just sit on the boat in the misty gloom, we decided to ride the bikes around in it. I could bore you with the history of the town of Manitowoc and how they built submarines here during WWII, but I won’t. We’ve toured so many museums at this point in the Loop that I’ve become a bit jaded.

So I will share with you the coolest story about Manitowoc. This article from a website called Roadsideamerica says it best.

SPUTNIK CRASHED HERE

It was with much fanfare that the Soviet Union launched Korabl-Sputnik 1, dubbed "Sputnik IV" in the West, on May 14, 1960. It carried a super-secret 7-ton payload including, it was rumored, a life-size "dummy cosmonaut." The Reds were so proud that they put their newest satellite on a postage stamp. But five days later, when its re-entry rockets were fired, something apparently exploded. Instead of a triumphant return to earth, Sputnik IV (and the dummy) drifted into space. This time there was no fanfare. The Russians said that they'd never planned to bring it back anyway.

Sputnik IV stayed in its useless orbit until September 5, 1962, (Ross’ 9^th birthday!!) when it fell screaming from the sky over Wisconsin. All 7 tons, including the dummy cosmonaut, burned up in the atmosphere -- except one 20-pound hunk of metal. That piece crashed into 8^th street.

(a brass ring was embedded here to mark the exact spot where Sputnik had fallen)

The hunk had been embedded three inches deep into the asphalt of 8th Street, just off the centerline, for an hour before patrolmen Marvin Bauch and Ronald Rusboldt noticed it from their squad car.

They thought that it was a piece of cardboard and ignored it. An hour later they noticed it again, stopped to move it, and found that it was too hot to touch. They then thought that it was a piece of slag from a local foundry that had fallen out of a dump truck. They kicked it to the curb.

It wasn't until noon that Bauch and Rusboldt associated what they had seen with the reported breakup of Sputnik. They returned to the spot and found it, still in the gutter, more than seven hours after it had fallen. A check at the fire department with a Geiger counter showed no radioactivity, so the lump was shipped to the Smithsonian.

Nine days after the crash, satisfied that what they had was essentially just a hunk of metal, the Americans offered most of it back to the Soviets. The Russians huffed and puffed and finally accepted, carrying away the hunk in a box.

Not to let a good piece of space junk go to waste, the locals here celebrate Sputnik Days every year in September. There is the crowning of Miss Space Debris, a cosmic cake decorating contest, a cosmic costume contest, food, music and all sorts of things. The event is billed as wacky, tack, hokey, fun and ridiculous. Wish we’d still be here. Sounds like our kind of event!

We did tour the Maritime Museum and I must say it was excellent. Included in the admission was a guided tour of the WWII submarine COBIA. I never paid much attention to submarines so I was amazed to learn that when submerged they were powered off of 252 of these huge black battery cells! Trick was they had to surface every so often to run their diesel engines to recharge them.

Another fact that wowed me about the subs is that it was a very select group of sailors on them. 93% of applicants failed the cut. Each crewmember was tested on his knowledge and operation of every single piece of equipment on board! When “battle stations” was called, the closest crewmember took over the operation of the nearest station.

I also learned about torpedoes and that the fuel for their engines was 180 proof grain alcohol. Yikes. If the torpedo wasn’t needed, the “fuel” would be drained from it. Not to be wasteful, the sailors would save it. There was usually a rudimentary still of some sort on board that they would run it through and then mix it with pineapple juice. This concoction was known as “Torpedo Juice”.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2011

2011-09-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

We pulled out of Egg Harbor with hopes of making it to Sturgeon Bay. Although the wind and wave forecast made us think we would probably be turning around and heading back into Egg Harbor.

All in all it wasn’t a bad trip and we made it to Sturgeon Bay just as the winds were starting to shift and a severe storm was heading our way. We were tied up and snug as a bug when it arrived.

We’ve had folks ask us if hurricane Irene has caused us any problems. The answer is no, but if we were still trying to make our way through the Erie Canal…lets just say that’s where you’d be sending our mail for a long time.

The flooding there has washed away lock houses and bent up critical components making the locks unusable. Many Canadians take their boats down to the southern states for the winter. If they haven’t started that trip already I’m thinking they are stuck in Canada for the winter. Some of the Loopers we know have not completed the canals of the Erie and are caught in between. This may be a trip ender for them.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2011

2011-09-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Another short day of travel brought us to the charming town of Egg Harbor.

Mostly just did boat chores and relaxed. We walked up town to get some lunch and settled on trying the Shipwrecked Brew Pub/Inn. Promoted as Door County’s only microbrewery we figured we better have a brewski.

The pub’s history and ghosts are evidently well known in these parts. Not that I would ever question the reliability of information printed on the back of a menu, but… The pub was built back in the late 1800’s and evidently there are tunnels and caves beneath it. Al Capone and his gang used to come up here when they needed to disappear for a while. Capone would use the tunnels to make a fast get away if need be.

In the 1920’s two IRS agents came here to arrest Capone. They evidently got “lost” in the tunnels and were never seen again.

Capon had an illegitimate son named Jason who was going to turn Capon over to the authorities. Before it happened though, Jason’s body was found hanging from the attic rafters of the inn. His death was believed a murder rather than a suicide. It is said his ghost use to appear on the roof.

Walking back to the marina we noticed that there was going to be a concert in the park at 5.

So about 5 we went back to the park to spend an incredibly perfect summer evening listening to a blues trio, sipping wine and wiggling our toes in the grass. Summer went way too fast!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31ST, 2011

2011-09-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

It was a short 16 miles from Washington Island to Sister Bay as we hop down the western shore of the Door county peninsula. The weather continues to be beautiful.

We walked around the town. It has a very strong Scandinavian flavor to it. We decided to have lunch at the Sister Bay Café.

Today’s special is a lefse wrap with brat, kraut and cheese. The hostess asked us if we knew what lefse was? We answered “ya, you betcha.” She laughed.

Because we have learned it is best to travel early in the day on these waters before the wind picks up, we had the entire day to waste. So why not go bowling? We had the place to ourselves and it was like stepping back in time to the 60’s.

I don’t think I have ever broken 100 when I have bowled, so check out line 5. That’s MY score. I finally beat Ross at something!!! I told him it was because I was lefse powered.

If you ever pass through Sister Bay a must stop is Al Johnsons. If only to take a photo. Al started the restaurant in 1949. He married a gal named Ingert in 1960.

It was Ingert’s vision that changed it from a place where you could get a plate of meatballs and a slice of limpa bread to the Scandinavian experience it is today. The trees and garden have grown up around the building hiding the amazing detail from my photos. The shutters around the windows are all carved, as are the support beams.

Al was known for his sense of humor and booming laugh. Each year his buddy, Wink Larson, would give him some type of strange birthday gift. One birthday Wink walked through the dining room with a goat named Oscar. Oscar had ribbons tied to his horns and a sign that read “Happy Birthday.” Al loved it. I’m sure it caused quite a commotion in the dining room.

In 1973 the Johnsons had a log building assembled in Norway, taken apart and shipped to Sister Bay. Once in Sister Bay, they reassembled the structure around the existing restaurant. The roof had a special underlay so they seeded it with grass.

And up went Oscar on the roof! Oscar and Al are both gone now, but Al’s family still run the restaurant.

Each night the goats climb down this slanted ladder on the back of the building and go home in Lars’ (Al’s son) pickup truck. Spend the night in the barn and then are back at work in the morning, causing traffic jam as people spot them on the roof.

They have on occasion fallen off the roof. But neither man nor beast was ever hurt. The roof is now equipped with “goat cam”. So no matter where you are in the world, you can check out the goats during daylight hours. Oh, and the goats only work during the tourist season.

This is the link to Goat Cam in case you want to check it out.

We did eat dinner here and of course ordered the Swedish meatballs. The female wait staff is dressed in traditional Swedish garb. The interior of the restaurant is exposed log with wooden carving. Beautiful. We did get our slice of limpa bread, along with an assortment of crackers, which we ate with lingonberry jam. Not certain what lingonberries were, I figure I better check it out. Turns out that it’s a staple food in Scandinavian cuisine. It’s very plentiful in the forested areas inland in the Scandinavian countries. It has very good keeping qualities and is high in vitamin C. It has been popularized in North America by the store IKEA where it is sold in large quantities, including buckets! I’ll have to check that out because it was good jam. Not sure I could eat up a bucket full though. I thought the lingonberry had a mild, sweet flavor similar to a cranberry but not that tart.

So there you have it. Our Scandinavian experience in the scenic little town of Sister Bay.

TUESDAY AUGUST 30TH, 2011

2011-08-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!!!!!

Today we traveled from Fish Creek further up the Door county peninsula to Washington Island. Washington Island has one of the oldest Icelandic and Scandinavian settlements in Wisconsin. Before then, it was inhabited by the Potawatomi Indians.

The waters off the island are known as some of the most treacherous on Lake Michigan. Shallow shoals combined with strong currents from different directions along with the wind make this an area where hundreds of wooden ships have wrecked. The French named this area “port des mortes”, or door of death. Door County is named after this area.

It was a quiet ride over to Washington Island. No problem with the door of death. (thank goodness) We had cell service so I could look up info on the Internet. Ross and I were wondering about the Whitefish we ate the other night at the fish boil. Turns out they are very healthy for us and are higher in Omega 3 oils than even salmon. So hopefully that counteracts all the bad oils from the melted butter we drenched it in. They are primary bottom feeders and eat crustaceans, snails and insects. I wonder if they eat zebra mussels? There are oodles of Whitefish and since they tend to be on the bottom the nets that the fishermen use to catch them are not a hazard to boating.

We took a bike ride once we got to the island. We happened by the Washington Island Post Office. It’s for sale in case anyone is interested. Price has been reduced from $169,000 to $159,000. There are many, many properties for sale on the island. The economy and real estate market has hit this island pretty hard I’m guessing.

This is a beautiful Stavkirke built back in the woods a ways. The name stavkirke means “church of staves”. It is a replica of a wooden stave church built in Norway around 1150. This replica was hand built by locals in homage to their Icelandic and Scandinavian heritage. It was completed in 1995. It still smells like fresh cedar wood when you walk in.

Close up of the 3 carved dragonheads.

At the base of the alter is carved the words HAN ER OPPSTANDEN. I researched the translation of this. It is the Paschal greeting of Christ is Risen. I couldn’t make a definite determination as to if the words are Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian so I’ll just say Scandinavian.

There is an evening prayer service held here once a week.

The ceiling of the church.

MONDAY AUGUST 29TH, 2011

2011-08-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

Our friends left for Minnesota early in the day. It has been so much fun spending the past few days together!

Ross and I are no longer under such a tight time frame since crossing to the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, so we decided to stay in Fish Creek an additional day.

We spent a quiet day catching up on boat chores. I did laundry, Ross changed fuel filters, we both took a couple of naps. There’s nothing like a good old lazy day once in while.

Ross checked his email and had a note from one of our followers. (you know who you are!!) He pointed out that I had been slacking on my blogging duties. Well hey; in my defense I’ve been having way too much fun with my friends to be doing my homework.

We had been told that the Whitefish chowder at the Cookery restaurant was not be missed, so we walked up town and had a bowl for lunch. They were right.

On the walk back to the marina we stopped at the market and bought a package of Nueske’s apple wood smoked bacon. Deone had left us with some homegrown tomatoes. Our first of the season. This means BLT’s for supper!!!

Just before arriving back at the marina we noticed this HUGE green caterpillar trucking through the grass as fast as it could go. Any of you who know Ross know how long his fingers are. So this gives you an idea of the size of this guy. It is a type of Sphinx caterpillar. Those are a type of moth you sometimes see about dusk and may think is a hummingbird.

SUNDAY AUGUST 28TH, 2011

2011-08-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

The guys had a tee time at 8 am so Tami dropped them off at the golf course. Then we gals walked up to the White Gull Inn for breakfast. We had heard they are very famous for their cherry stuffed French toast so we figured we’d check it out. When we arrived we found out it was a 45 minute to an hour wait. Better be danged good French toast if I have to wait an hour.

Well, it was. Here’s Tami with hers. It was Texas toast stuffed with cream cheese and spices and covered with cherries. Oh boy!

While we waited to get in at the White Gull, Deone wandered around and ended up next door at the Episcopal Church. They had this charming gate of the 3 fishes, which was at the entrance to the churchyard. The churchyard was full of gardens so there was no keeping Deone out. The church ladies were in the process of setting up tables for their coffee hour so Deone went over to visit. The church was tiny so they had their fellowship time out in the gardens.

After breakfast we went out shopping. One of my favorite shops was one that sold various flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegars. You could sample any of them and then they would bottle any you wanted to purchase.

For dinner we all headed back to the White Gull Inn. It’s not the only restaurant in town by any means, but it’s supposed to have the best fish boil around. We arrived early enough to watch the show of the fish boil. They get a hot fire going around a cast iron kettle. Cut up potatoes are put in the kettle first. After about 10 minutes a couple buckets of white fish fillets are poured in.

Along with a “pinch” of salt.

The kettle is then boiled for a few minutes to cook the fish. Then kerosene is thrown on the fire to cause sudden intense heat, which makes the kettle boil over. When it boils over, it takes with it the oils from the fish. White fish is a very oily fish.

The kettle with the potatoes and fish in it is raised from the kettle and carried inside.

After the waitress demonstrates on Tami’s fish as to how to debone the hunk of fish, we are left with a teakettle, yes a teakettle, of melted butter.

Deboning the fish was not as easy as the waitress made it look.

The traditional fish boil meal is small red potatoes, whitefish, coleslaw, bread, melted butter, tartar sauce and CHERRY PIE!!!! It is all you can eat, except the cherry pie. Dang.

SATURDAY AUGUST 27TH, 2011

2011-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

When we check into marinas, they oftentimes give us a packet with local information, maps and coupons. The marina here in Sturgeon Bay gave us just that and included was a coupon for 10% at a local bakery. So we were off first thing to bring back fresh baked goods for our friends. Loaded up with tasty pastries and a coffee cake we headed back to the boat. On the way back we remembered we forgot to use the coupons. So typical for us!

Ross and the two Marks (Heimer and Ward) headed out on the boat for Fish Creek. We gals were going to shop our way there. And there was no shortage of shops along the way.

The flower gardens up here are phenomenal.

The guys arrived in Fish Creek about 10 minutes before we gals. We headed up town to check out a few of the many shops.

Peninsula State Park is just outside of Fish Creek. The have an outdoor amphitheatre and we all decided to go see the play LUMBERJACKS IN LOVE. It was a comedy/musical that we all enjoyed. And it was a perfect night to be outdoors.

On the way back to the boat we stopped and ate dinner at Julies Café. Rib night! And we sat outdoors. It was a bit cool, but winter is coming so we have to take advantage of every chance to be outdoors.

FRIDAY AUGUST 26TH, 2011

2011-08-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

The weather report is for small seas and light winds till mid morning, so we headed out into the pitch dark of Lake Michigan around 4:30 a.m. Only a sliver of a moon so you couldn’t see a thing…unless you looked up! The night sky was incredible. With no artificial lighting around, it was like being in a planetarium. There was no missing the Milky Way. And the Big Dipper was so low in the sky that the last star in the handle was just about the horizon. I was supposed to be keeping a lookout for lights on other boats, but I kept finding myself staring up at the night sky. It was mesmerizing.

Dawn did finally come.

It was an uneventful crossing of the lake. This photo is of the entrance to the channel at Sturgeon Bay. It is a very significant place to us as it is right here that we are “crossing out wake”. We started out at this spot when we first bought our boat. And somewhere around 6300 miles later, we are back. Hardly seems possible.

Since we have now crossed our wake, we can take down our white AGLCA burgee and now fly the gold burgee. The gold burgee signifies that we have completed the Great Circle Loop of the eastern United States.

Our good friends, the Wards and Heimers, from back home drove out to Sturgeon Bay to celebrate with us.

They met us at the marina and took us to the Door Peninsula Winery and Distillery.

They make flavored wheat vodkas here. This is what the still looks like. Kinda looks a ship from outer space. And since this is cherry country, they do make cherry vodka.

We tasted a number of wines at the wine bar. It was fun to sample so many different flavors. They had a dessert wine that tasted like chocolate cherries. Not sure this is true, but according to them you get the same great health benefits of cherry juice from their wines. Only with more fun!

Our friends stopped along the way today at a well know meat market named Nueskes. Famous for their applewood smoked meat products. They picked up smoke pork chops for dinner tonight. And since sweet corn would taste perfect with it, we were on a mission to find some. A couple of closed roadside stands later, success!!

Tami and Deone

We had to get a bit creative in carrying all the corn back to the boat.

Can’t you just smell these pork chops? Man, where they delicious.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24TH, 2011

2011-08-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Ojibway say that many years ago, in a place now called Wisconsin, lived a mother bear and her two cubs. One day a raging forest fire forced them to swim across Lake Michigan. It was a very long swim. Soon, the two cubs grew tired and fell behind their mother. When the mother bear came to the shores of Michigan, she climbed the high bluff and watched for her cubs. Her cubs were in sight of the shore but too tired to make it and drowned. The Great White Spirit, who watched over all the animals, turned the cubs into the islands of North and South Manitou. Exhausted and knowing that her cubs were now safe, she fell fast asleep. The Great Spirit covered her with sand to keep her warm as she still watches over her cubs from her spot atop the giant hill made of sand. We call her Sleeping Bear Sand Dune.

We were able to rent a car for the day so thought a road trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park was in order. Our friends Richard and Carol from SALT N SAND joined us. Just last week on Good Morning America they announced that this park was voted the most beautiful place in America (if you can see it) by their viewers. Figured we better check it out.

We took the scenic drive. This is a photo of Glen Lake from one of the scenic overlook stops. Amazing isn’t it? Did I mention earlier about the pea soup thick fog?

We bagged the scenic drive and headed to Glen Haven. Glen Haven has restored buildings of a once thriving community. A man named D. H. Day came here in 1878 and had a tremendous impact on the area. He looks like he didn't get cold wearing this coat, but I couldn't help but wonder how much it would have weighed?

His business was providing cord wood to the steam powered ships. With the advent of coal burning engines, he switched his business to a sawmill and shipping lumber. The deforested areas he turned in to farmland and had one of the finest pure bred Holstein herds in the state. During the early 1900’s he imported 5,000 cherry and apple trees, thus pioneering the areas first orchards.

He built this cannery not for processing fish,

but for canning fruit.

We had packed picnic lunches so sat at a picnic table overlooking Lake Michigan. The sun came out and the fog started to lift so we thought we’d give the scenic drive one more chance and took off.

Along the way we stopped at the Dune Climb. This picture is from the top. The start of it was about 150 feet, and steep! A 25% grade. We had to stop a couple of times to catch out breath. It was a very windy day but luckily for us it rained last night so we weren’t being sandblasted with flying sand.

This is Ross and Richard on the way back down.

Richard was curious as to how much of an impact the people climbing up and down on the dune had? When we reached the bottom his wife Carol took us over to a display that answered the question. This measurement beam was placed the edge of the dune in 1985. So it looks to me like the dune has been advancing about 2 feet per year.

We did the Scenic Drive loop again and I retook the first photo. It was still a bit hazy, but you get the idea.

TUESDAY AUGUST 23RD, 2011

2011-08-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in Frankfort, and the wind is a blowin’

First thing on the agenda this morning…the bakery!

There is a great bike trail that passes next to the marina so we decided to ride off a few of the bakery calories. Our plan was to bike against the wind first so it would be an easier ride back. It felt like we were riding against the wind. But when we turned around to go back there was no mistaking which way the wind was coming from. And we were pedaling into it! By Wednesday night the lake is predicted to have gale force winds. So no lake travel tomorrow.

As we biked along, we could see a couple of boys up ahead of us. They had something big hanging from one of the handlebars and seemed to be struggling with it. As we got nearer, we could see it was a huge salmon! They told us they had “hooked up” with several but this was the only one they landed. And no net by the way. Ross asked them what they used for bait. They told him they use a certain kind of yarn that looks like fish eggs when it’s in the water. The boy told us he would clean it by himself but he probably would have his mom cook it. It warmed our hearts to see these two kids on their bikes, tanned to the color of a baked potato because they had spent the summer outdoors instead of in front of a video game.

Who needs a big fancy fishing charter when all you need is a fish pole and yarn????

After happy hour at SALT N SAND, some of us walked up town Dinghy’s restaurant. Ribs are the specialty and most of ordered them. Richard opted for the smoked turkey leg. Looks good doesn’t it?

MONDAY AUGUST 22ND, 2011

2011-08-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you use duct tape to keep your refrigerator door closed…..you just might be a redneck.

Or, you learned your lesson about Lake Michigan yesterday and today it will be a different story.

We left early and only had seas of less than a foot and a slight swell. What a treat after yesterday’s travel. At one point we noticed the starboard engine missing. After listening to the engines for close to 700 hours now, you immediately notice any change in their rhythm. And its not a sound you want to notice when you are out on Lake Michigan. Turned out to be a wire that had vibrated loose on the fuel solenoid causing it to miss. Captain ‘scoe had it fixed in a jiffy though. Whew!

We are noticing the shore line is becoming very sandy and there are dunes in some areas. We are getting closer to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Park. We hope to rent a car and drive there at some point in the next few days. Stay tuned.

The weather forecast is for wind and big seas the next few days, so we will hunker down in the town of Frankfort. Back in the 1800’s a guy built a house here and built a wooden fence around it to keep the snow from drifting over his house. The locals referred to it as Frank’s fort. The name stuck.

There are loads of shops and places to eat, so we can’t complain about having to ride out weather here. This town even has the fountain of youth. Or so we have been told.

Great, just what I need. A six foot three baby!!!!

Our walk around Frankfort took us the shoreline.

Gorgeous beach.

We’re starting to think Christopher Columbus is stalking us. We have forgotten how many times we have seen these ships since starting the Loop. The NINA and PINTA really get around.

We invited all the Loopers over for social hour.
From left to right is John (PASSPORT), Kris and Larry (BLUE SKIES), and Theresa (GREAT ESCAPE)

Richard (SALT N SAND), Ross and Donald (GREAT ESCAPE)

Mary (PASSPORT) and Carol (SALT N SAND)

John (PASSPORT) and Kris (BLUE SKIES)

SUNDAY AUGUST 21ST, 2011

2011-08-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

We left Northport and headed to Leland, Michigan. The marine forecast we for 2’ waves or less. What they REALLY meant to say was 6’ seas on the beam!! Which meant we had to zig zag back and forth across our course rather than have the waves rolling us from side to side. It also meant Nance got seasick! We would pound directly into the waves for a time, then turn and somewhat surf the boat on the waves as they came at us from behind. Oh boy, did it feel good to finally get in the marina and tied up.

The Leland Harbor Marina is one of many harbors of refuge on Lake Michigan. What this means is no boat can be denied access. Often time’s boats are rafted (tied to one another) together, but room is always made. There are safe harbors of refuge about every 20 miles along the Michigan coastline between Frankfort and Chicago. Lake Michigan is not a place to be when the wind comes up.

Once on terra firma I felt fine. The marina is right next to an area known as Fish Town. It is full of shops and eating places now, but at one time these wooden shanties housed such fishing industry business as ice and smoke houses.

In the 1800’s this little river was known at the Carp River. Now it is called the Leland River. It was the access to Lake Michigan for the many fishermen who made their living off the lake.

The wooden spool like structures are what the fishing nets would have been wrapped around to dry on once they were cleaned. They would have been turned by muscle power, and I imagine would have been very heavy when wet.

Now a day the nets are wrapped around a spool by a machine and cleaned by what looks like a fire hose.

We ate lunch along the Leland River. I wanted Ross to move over next to the flowers for a better picture but he was not cooperating. Models are such prima donnas.

SATURDAY AUGUST 20TH, 2011

2011-08-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Northport yesterday to find the ODDYSEA had been taken over by spiders in our absence. Ish! We spent the day cleaning inside and out, reprovisioning and spraying nooks and crannies with Ortho Home Defense spray. Take that you arachnids!

Much to our delight we finally connected up with Loopers Richard and Carol Nick of SALT N SAND. They are harbor hosts in Cape May, New Jersey who started the Loop this summer. We first met them when we passed through New Jersey last summer. We walked up town and ate dinner at Stubb’s.

We are headed on the same course for at least several days so it will be fun to travel together.

SATURDAY JULY 30TH, 2011

2011-07-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Our final day of travel on this leg. A short 26 miles from Charlevoix to Northport, where we will leave the boat for 3 weeks while we go home. The sun was shining and Lake Michigan was calm.

Much to our delight, we discovered that our Looping friends Erin and Ron, from RUNNING ERINS, were also arriving today at this same marina! Last we saw them was in a small town in Canada where they were stranded, waiting for work to be done on their prop. Two prop shafts and one new prop later, here they are.

We walked up town and ate supper at The Garage. I never asked, but I think it had been used a garage at one time.

There was a large garage door that was up and opened that part of the restaurant up to the outdoors.

It was a beautiful night so we sat outside to eat. We had a great time catching up

FRIDAY JULY 29TH, 2011

2011-07-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

Ross changed oil on both engines and the generator this morning while I caught up on the blog. With those projects out of the way, we decided to take the rental car and go check out nearby Harbor Springs and Petoskey.

Our first stop, since we hadn’t eaten lunch yet, was the Polish Kitchen in Harbor Springs. I had read about it on the website Trip Advisor. It was most definitely authentic Polish food. I base that on my observation that everyone working there spoke Polish. Not that I know what Polish sounds like, but I know they weren’t speaking Chinese. Located in a little strip mall, the menu was written on a large chalkboard. No clue what most of it was. This was going to be fun! We ordered a combination platter and shared it. Many different tastes. The only thing we recognized was the stuffed cabbage roll and the kielbasa. We were glad we stopped here.

The town of Harbor Springs seems to be an upscale tourist town. Pretty beach area.

And a dog park.

Stopped at a roadside cherry stand on our way to Petoskey. According to the kid working the stand, cherry season is almost over. It generally runs from around the 4th of July to the first of August. I’ve never been a big cherry fan, but I could eat these till I got a tummy ache.

Since being in Michigan we have seen many beautiful polished Petoskey stones. At one time warm seas covered this area. The Petoskey stones are the fossilized remains of coral reefs that glacial action deposited in this specific area. So 350 million years and a rock polisher later, they’re dangling from my ears.

THURSDAY JULY 28TH, 2011

2011-07-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

First thing this morning I rode my bike down to the neighboring marina to take a photo of this sailboat. It is the WINGNUTS. A 35 foot sailboat that capsized last week in a sailing race from Chicago to Mackinac Island in which two people drowned. It capsized with 8 crew onboard about 12:30 a.m. during a storm with 64 mile per hour winds. They were wearing life jackets and tethered with safety harnesses to the boat. 6 of them were able to unhook their safety straps and be rescued. 7 other boats racing abandoned the race and came the rescue of WINGNUTS crew. The boat was lost sight of.

A few days ago Ross and I heard a radio conversation between a boat and the coast guard. It was very eerie to listen too. The boat had come upon a partially submerged sailboat with it’s sails still up and life jackets floating in it’s companionway. They were finally able to see it’s name and identify it as the missing WINGNUTS.

Ross lined up a rental car from a local place so we can explore inland for the next couple days. Our destination was Traverse City, Michigan to check out a film festival. The rental car had over 99,000 miles on it and was making some suspicious sounds but it did get us there and back.

Ross had researched the festival so knew we could park out at the university and then ride the shuttle bus. Worked out great. Buses ran every 10 minutes or so and you could get on at off at the various venue sites to watch films.

As we wandered along window shopping, we came upon these one of a kind dresses. This one made from popcorn boxes would have been the prefect dress for the film fest. And the cherry necklace is defintely in season right now.

You could smuggle movie candy in with this one. Notice the pop bottle cap bodice. Wouldn’t you love to see someone wear these dresses at the Academy Awards?

The film festival is very popular and tickets to many of the films sell out weeks in advance. They have standby lines for the no show tickets so we thought what the heck, and got in line. Things were looking good that we would get in, but the theatre filled just as they got to us.

We did get in to see two other films though before the day was done. It was a fun, interesting day. Good thing we love popcorn because I think we ate more today than we’ve ever eaten in our lives.

WEDNESDAY JULY 27TH, 2011

2011-07-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Today we explored Charlevoix. Yes, it’s a French name. So it is pronounced Shar-laa-voy. Pretty sounding, isn’t it?

I think the flower box on the roof must be part of
a city beautification project.

It’s very touristy here so lots of activity and shops. My favorite part though is what is referred to as the mushroom houses. They look like something out of a fairy tale.

Earl Young began designing them around 1918. He used the glacial boulders of the area in all his works.

The curved, wavy roof line is typical of all the Earl Young homes.

As is the frosted stone cap chimneys.

I suggest clicking on this one to enlarge the photo so you can take a close look at the garden.

We ate lunch here at the Weathervane restaurant. Originally it was a grist mill, but redesigned by Earl Young.

In the dining room is a fireplace with a 9000 pound boulder in the center of it. Located in the lower right hand corner of the hearth is a meteorite.

This meteorite is iron and weighs as much as the center boulder in the fireplace.

Stopped at another fish shop. This time they were cleaning the day’s catch in the back. Smelly job! Perhaps that’s the reason they are so fast? They want to get out of there.

It’s a popular spot and the line to purchase fish was out the door. We stood in line and bought one of the few remaining containers left of the smoked whitefish pate.

TUESDAY JULY 26TH, 2011

2011-07-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast was iffy in regards to wind and waves, but we decided to head out and and try it. It was wild at first and we both thought we should head back to Mackinaw City if it didn’t calm down. The waves were 4 to 6 feet and very close together. It is too hard on the boat to take such a pounding.

We noticed two kayaks and a small motor craft out in the lake. As we passed closer we could see someone in the water swimming. I imagine it was someone training and that was the safety crew. The water temp by the way was 68 degrees. I can think of better hobbies!

The waves and wind eventually calmed down but it was a long day as Ross had to reduce our speed to make the ride tolerable.

MONDAY JULY 25TH 2011

2011-07-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

The weather is still holding and we have another beautiful day.

Today we decided to go explore Colonial Michilimackinac. It is the restored remains of the original fort that was moved out to Mackinac Island 1780.

It was originally built by the French in 1715 as a supply depot for fur traders. The French had a great working relationship with the Indians as they understood the Indian culture, respected it and worked within it. During the spring and summer months, supplies and trade goods would arrive at the fort. Then in the fall and winter, the traders would go out to the Indian villages and trade for furs. The French always gave a gift of some sort before trading would start. It was the Indian way.

After the French and Indian war the British took over the fort, along with the French territory of Canada. The British still operated the fort, but as a trading post rather than a supply depot. No more going out to the villages. The Indians were expected to come to the fort. And no more gifts first! It was the king’s way or the highway.

This didn’t sit well with the locals. There were large numbers of Indians at the fort to trade, and they would daily play Lacrosse outside of the fort. One day the ball just happened to enter the fort through the gate. The soldiers didn’t think too much of it as the men kept chasing the ball and seemed to continue the game. Too late, the British had been duped. The Indians killed quite a few soldiers and captured the officers. The fur industry was a huge part of the British economy at this point so the British conceded and they went back to playing by the Indians’ rules.

The fort is still in the process of being restored. This is one of the excavations at present. Like I said earlier, most of the structures were taken apart, hauled to Mackinaw Island and reassembled. But the stone foundations and chimneys remained to give a good indication where things were. Before leaving the fort for good, the soldiers burned what ever was left so the Americans couldn’t use it.

One thing that didn’t burn completely was the powder magazine. All the gun powder had been removed but the magazine was reinforced with heavy earth on the top of it. As the timbers supporting the walls and roof burned, the weight of the earth collapsed the roof and smothered the fire beneath preserving the charred remains of the floor and timbers.

The soil in the fort? Well its not. It is like sand at the beach. What little vegetation grew would have been trampled by people walking around. You drop a coin, a ring or anything at the beach and its gone. Hundreds of items have been sifted from the sand so far. Everything from buttons to coins to thimbles to squiggly silvery things. For the life of me I couldn’t imagine what those grey worm shaped things were. Turns out they were lead pencils. Never would have guessed that.

It is a living history museum so you can watch how things would have been done back in that era. We watched as this lady cooked a blueberry cake in a dutch oven. She arranged hot coals in the fireplace and then covered them with a think layer of ash for insulation. Next she nestled the greased pot in the ashes and then poured the batter in. Put the lid on and added coals on top and covered the coals with ash.

Ross asked how she knew it was done. She said she looks when she thinks it’d done. Makes sense. But since she told us only the men had timepieces, how would she know when to check it. I mean what on Earth could the men be doing that required more accurate timing than baking? She pointed to the wide planks on the floor and told me she didn’t need a timepiece. She had started to cook it when the light shone on one plank and knew to check it when the light was on another plank. The perfect sundial, and way more accurate than any timepiece they had. Women are so clever!

Oh, by the way.
The blueberry cake was great.

Enough history. We peddled our trusty, although now rusty, bikes back to the boat. We made one stop along the way at Bell’s Fishery to buy some smoked salmon.

SUNDAY JULY 24TH, 2011

2011-07-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Moved from Mackinac Island a short distance to Mackinaw City on the mainland. Just hung out all day at the boat.

This a map of most of our trip this leg so far. It is a bit fuzzy I'm afraid. Seems my little camera that has served me so well is going kaput.

SATURDAY JULY 23RD, 2011

2011-07-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Started the day with breakfast up town. Ross had pancakes with this groovy peace sign stamped in them.

Today we explored Mackinac Island, beginning with the fort. It was built by the British during the Revolutionary War and was originally at Mackinaw City, on the mainland of Michigan. Believing it vulnerable to attack by the Americans, they dismantled the fort and moved it piece by piece out to Mackinac Island and reassembled it over the course of 2 years. Americans took control of it after the war, but lost control in 1812 when the British snuck up from the other side of the island. Oops. The 60 American soldiers were seriously outnumbered so they instantly surrendered. That was the start of the War of 1812.

The white rectangular building with the pointed roof on the left is the West Blockhouse, built in 1798. The small rectangular openings in the walls enabled soldiers to view out at the surroundings. You can easily see the view of Lake Huron they had from here.

The view out of one of the blockhouse view holes.

This is the McGulpin House. When the fort moved out to the island, the people at their own expense, had to move their belongings if they wanted to stay near the safety of the fort. This is one of those houses. They took it all apart and most likely dragged it across the ice in the wintertime and then reassembled it. I wonder what they lived in while that process was happening.

In this photo you can see how the logs were cut to fit together like Lincoln Logs. Each one was specifically cut to fit into the next. If you look close in the center of the photo toward the bottom, you can see 5 hash marks cut in the log. This was some sort of code so they knew which log fit where when they put the house back together. Despite most likely being illiterate, they had a language of their own figured out.

This is what I thought was the most interesting place in Mackinac, only because of the history connected with it. I remember learning about it in grade school. This is the American Fur Company Store. One day back in 1822 a young French Canadian trader named Alexis St. Martin was in the store. Someone’s gun misfired and this kid ended up with a fist size hole in his side and stomach. A Dr. Beaumont treated him. St. Martin’s wound healed, but not completely. There was an opening from his stomach to the outside. Remember this story? Dr. Beaumont started to try digestion experiments. He would attach bits of various foods to silk thread and then deposit them St. Martin’s stomach through the opening. Much of what we know today about the digestion process came from Dr. Beaumont’s findings.

That’s all well and good, but it appears Alexis was not a willing partner in the experiment. Dr. Beaumont seemingly took advantage of the illiterate St. Martin by getting him to sign a contract to work as the Dr.’s servant. Some of the experiments were painful for Alexis. Dr. Beaumont published his findings in 1838, became famous and moved to St. Louis. He wanted Alexis to go with him but he went home to family in Quebec. Smart move on his part. Anyway, 20 years after that Dr. Beaumont died from injuries related to a slip and fall on ice-covered stairs. Alexis St. Martin lived to be 83 years old. When he died, his family delayed the burial of the body till it began to decompose. Sound gross but they did this to prevent doctors from performing an autopsy. Plus the Army wanted St. Martin’s stomach for study at an Army base.

On to happier thoughts. We walked up The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island prestigious place to stay. Its so fancy that they stop you and make you purchase a $10 ticket to even walk on the property if you aren’t a registered guest. (it was $7, inflation I guess)

It was built in 1887 as a summer retreat for the wealthy tourists who came here to vacation. There was a lack of “proper” accommodations here. So the transportation companies financed a hotel. A crew of 300 carpenters built the hotel in 4 months. The opening of The Grand forever changed the face of tourism on the island.

When the hotel first opened, the rooms were priced from $3 to $5 per night. Today on the weekend the rate for a deluxe, lake facing room will set you back a mere $728 dollars plus 21.5% tax. A small, lake-facing room is $600 a night, plus tax. But hey, there’s no tipping allowed.

If you don’t like horses, or their smell, don’t come to Mackinac Island. They are everywhere. So I'm loving it!

These guys are draft type horses. Placid, very strong and dependable. They would be the tractors around here.

These two appear to be sleeping on the job.

These are carriage horses. I believe them to be a breed developed in England called Hackney. It began as a cross between a trotter and the Arabian. The breed is elegant looking with a very showy high stepping trot. Bred to trot at high speeds for long periods of time they make the perfect carriage horse. This group would be considered the limousine around here.

And none of them wear biscuit bags. There is a small army of guys peddling around on bikes with a container, broom and shovel in the back. I guess it’s a job. But as Ross commented, “ya, but it’s a horse sh*#% job!”

We toured a blacksmith shop. There are many different types of horseshoes. Some are even corrective shoes. The one in the center of this picture would be used in the winter. The pointing things would face away from the hoof and give the horse traction in snow and ice.

This is a thick, black polymer of some type. It is nailed on over the steel horseshoe. They sure do have large feet!

This is what it looks like on the horse’s hoof. It works to not only to keep the metal shoe from digging up the pavement, but works like a tennis shoe for the horse. Walking on pavement is very hard on horses’ hooves and also jarring to their joints. This black rubber cover cushions the horses’ step. They have to have them removed every 3 to 6 weeks, depending on wear. A farrier will trim the hooves and then put the steel shoe and rubber shoe back on.

FRIDAY JULY 22ND, 2011

2011-07-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Once again we had flat water for an open water crossing. Ross keeps telling me we will have to pay the piper at some point. I’m not liking that!

Shortly after leaving De Tour Village we passed the De Tour Reef lighthouse. Constructed in 1931 it marks the entrance to the St. Mary’s River, which connects Lake Huron with Lake Superior. If any of you are lighthouse keeper wannabees, there is a program that you can sign up for and stay on this lighthouse for 3 days and 2 nights. Here’s the link you can click on for info and to apply.

Link to the be a lighthouse keeper

A loon who popped up close to us. Gives you a good idea as to how calm the water was.

Mackinac Island. Left here by the glaciers receding some 12,000 years ago. Now a tourist Mecca. It is slow paced and relaxing. Everything is geared toward the tourist.

There are no motorized vehicles allowed. Not even riding lawnmowers. You walk, bike or ride.

Now this is my kind of biker rally!!

And my kind of horsepower! Everything is unloaded off of ferries and delivered by horse and wagon. From supplies to UPS deliveries.

Around 1885 the resort industry started to grow here. It was the place for the wealthy to come and spend the summer. Horse drawn carriage is how they got around. When the “horseless carriage” first arrived on the island there was uproar as the noise from them frightened the horses. The drivers I’m guessing also could see the handwriting on the wall as far as losing their jobs. So they went to the city council and there was a ban on all motorized vehicles on the island. The horse is still king here. They don’t even have to wear “biscuit bags”.

Fudge is synonymous with Mackinac Island. Back in 1887 a guy name Murdick opened a candy store. One of the many sweets he made in his shop was fudge. It was a hit and now there are fudge shops about every 10 feet along the main drag.

We sampled some fudge in one store while watching this guy as he worked his magic.

Didn’t buy fudge, but Roscoe bought some orange/pineapple ice cream.

Here’s picture of a hydro jet ferry. I looked at the schedule of the 3 main ferries that run back and forth to the island. There are at least 155 scheduled ferry arrivals here daily! And these are not small ferries. That’s a lot of fudge.

We ran into our Looper friends from GULLWING, so of course went out to dinner.

THURSDAY JULY 21ST, 2011

2011-07-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

Before heading out this morning we went for a bike ride with Dave and Linda Tuls. They know the area well and took us on a scenic route for the out of shape. It is a lovely area and we could see why they keep coming back here. I survived the bike ride and we really enjoyed visiting and spending time with them.

It was a short trip today to De Tour. Only 8 miles. We have started to see Freighters and Lake boats again as De Tour (which in French means “turning point”) is located on the St. Marys River. This river joins Lake Huron so it is known as the turning point to Lake Huron.

This Laker is heading up the St. Marys to Sault Ste. Marie where it will pass through the locks and enter Lake Superior. The other direction would take it into Lake Huron.

We will spend the night at the De Tour Harbor Marina.

A walk down the dock brought us past this U.S. Customs and Border Patrol boat. Check out these bad boys! 1200 horsepower on a rigid inflatable? This would be fun to go for a ride on.

This is the most creative watercraft I have ever seen.
It is a hot tub boat! Complete with motor and
registration so it can go anywhere.

And yes, it is a “hot” tub. Notice the woodstove door and chimney. The door to the stove is gold colored and to the left of the base of the stovepipe. We could smell smoldering wood as we got close.

Glad to see they do have a fire
extinguisher on board.

We walked up town and toured a little museum by the ferry dock. It was hot so we sat in the breeze and watched the ferry unload and load. Ross counted 32 vehicles go on. That included a small semi and a car with a trailer. Those guys know how to pack them on. It was fun watching vehicles come flying down the street at the last minute trying to make the ferry. Most of them made it on, but they filled and pulled away. Leaving the last two cars to wait an hour till their return.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the marina. Ross and I tend to buy box wine while boating so we don’t have to deal with glass bottles. I promise this will be the last time I whine about Canadian prices. A box of the cheapest wine is Canada is around $40 with tax. At this store we bought a quart of milk, a dozen eggs, potato salad, jar of salsa, bag of pretzels, 2 bags of Chex Mix AND a box of wine for a total of $33 bucks and change. God bless America!!!

Close to the marina is this carving from a tree that was struck by lighting in early 2000. It is called the Passage Keeper. The tree itself was referred to as “one of De Tour’s witness trees”. Having absolutely no idea what that meant, I asked the lady at the museum. Well, she had no idea either. So once again the Internet had the answer. Surveyors in the early years used trees to mark corners of sections and quarters. The survey data was carved in to the tree.

We enjoyed dinner on the boat and an colorful sunset.

WEDNESDAY JULY 20TH, 2011

2011-07-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

We awoke to fog. Undaunted in our plan to go home we switched on the dual radars, set the autopilot, and with eyeballs straining into the mist we pointed the ODDYSEA towards the U.S.

We were in and out of fog the first 2 ½ hours. When it got really thick it made me wish I hadn’t watched that show on the Weather Channel the other night called Super Fog.

Other than the fog, the conditions were good for crossing North Channel. It is 20 miles across at its most unprotected spot where it is exposed to the Mississagi Straits, which is exposed to Lake Huron. We had a slight swell and a bit of chop but nothing much.

Shortly before arriving at Drummond Island, Michigan, where we will clear U.S. Customs and spend the night, Ross took down the Canadian courtesy flag and replaced it with the quarantine flag.

We started to look for cabins flying the American flag. It was quite a while before we spotted this one. As I snapped this picture Ross commented that it was on La Pointe Island. Significant to me because La Pointe is my mom’s maiden name and her ancestors emigrated from France to the U.S. via Canada. Who knows???? Hey, I have a lot of time for my mind to wander as we slowly make our way.

We cleared customs, no problem. (thank God they let us back in!)

To our great surprise our Looper friends Linda and Dave Tuls from PERFECT TIMING were vacationing here. They keep their boat in Grand Haven, MI but come up to Drummond Island each year on vacation. We first met the Tuls back in the fall of 2009 when we all were just beginning the Loop. Our paths have crossed numerous times since and it was wonderful to see them once again. They invited us for a visit on their boat and we enjoyed catching up. For any of you who know the Tuls, yes the kitty is still hanging in there and she is still 20.

TUESDAY JULY 19TH, 2011

2011-07-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

It was a calm day and the water was flat calm. Lucky for us it was overcast or we would have fried as we traveled today. The trip was uneventful and we stopped for the night at Gore Bay.

Our plan was to leave in the morning and head to an anchorage at Bear Drop harbor. After Bear Drop we would head across the wide unprotected part of the North Channel to Drummond Island where we clear customs and enter the US again. The weather is predicted to get windy so it’s possible we may be stuck at Bear Drop for a few days. So off we walked to the grocery store to stock up, just in case.

Nothing to speak of for photos today but this blog needs a splash of color so here’s some flowers we saw on our walk.

Canada may have cheap prescription medications, but I think that’s the only thing that’s cheap. We shopped around the grocery store for the items on our list. Before we left the states we were advised to “provision, provision, provision”. Its not because there isn’t anyplace to shop….it’s the prices. Milk is over $6 a gallon. A dozen eggs are well over $3. A pound of butter is over $6. Chicken must be considered the filet mignon up here, as boneless, skinless chicken breasts are over $9 a pound! I picked up a package of 2 chicken breasts and the price was $12.93. I put them back. Looking at the prices, we decided to just go home.

So the plan is to leave at first light and travel 78 miles to the U. S. of A!!!! (and to cheap chicken)

MONDAY JULY 18TH, 2011

2011-07-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

This morning Ross and I walked up to the Anchor Inn in Little Current and sat in on the Cruiser’s Net broadcast. Roy Eaton is a retired gentleman who each morning at 9:00 hosts a radio broadcast on VHF channel 71. He reads the marine forecast for various areas and then gives a bit of world news.

He then asks boaters in specific areas to radio in their boat name, location, and if they are headed someplace.

He and his group keep track of everyone who radios in. He also relays messages from one boat to another who are out of radio range of one another. In the event of an emergency, Roy can track down boaters fairly quickly as he has a good idea as to where to start searching.

At the spring Rendezvous we listened to his talk about the North Channel, which is where we have been traveling. It is fun to meet him and listen in on one of the broadcast. We now have a true appreciation for what he does each morning. How he can filter out the boat name from some transmissions is amazing. Many folks have horrible radios and the static and feedback is painful to listen to.

After the broadcast we headed out toward the Benjamin Islands. Our little trio is going separate ways today. GULLWING headed to Gore Bay and RUNNING ERINS is unfortunately waiting to be pulled to learn the extent of the prop damage. But I have a strong feeling we will all cross paths again.

It was only 18 miles to the Benjamins, and a lovely anchorage.

Many boats are anchored in here and there’s lots of swimming and jumping off the rocks going on.

It’s a popular vacation spot. We could see many people hiking the rocks.

We did have a thundershower roll through and got a good drenching, but it cooled off and we had a pleasant evening. And no bugs!

SUNDAY JULY 17TH 2011

2011-07-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

It was a tranquil morning back in The Pool. We all wanted to get an early start so we were busy pulling up anchor by 7 a.m. It took quite a while to accomplish this task as the anchor chains are full, and I mean full, of weeds. And the only to get them off is by pulling them off by hand, or with the boat hook.

We finally were on our way and navigating slowly through the rocks to leave The Pool and return to deeper water in Baie Fine. We were almost out when RUNNING ERINS radioed that they had run aground. We waited while they threw out their anchor so Ron could dive and take a look. He reported back that one of the props was seriously bent. Luckily they have twin engines and a bow thruster so could still proceed and navigate the tricky spots.

Our little group hung together and limped the 25 miles to Little Current where there are facilities to lift their boat and work on the prop.

We all waked up to The Anchor Inn for dinner. Prime rib was the special so several of us ordered it. And guess what, it came covered in brown gravy!! Afterwards we walked down the dock and happened upon and ice cream shop. Ross got the last of this flavor in his cone so asked for the bucket. (and a spoon) Hey, you don’t ask, you don’t get!

SATURDAY JULY 16TH 2011

2011-07-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

We started off the day with a communal breakfast on the dock. Here’s Bill from GULLWING cooking up the blueberry pancakes. Seems warming the berries brings out their flavor and sweetness. They were perfect for pancakes. We filled out the meal with bacon and scrambled eggs.

Today we are all headed to an anchorage called The Pool. It is at the very far end on the right of map. Traveling from Kilarney (the red dot in the lower right corner) we traveled to Frazer Bay. Crossing Frazer Bay we entered Baie Fine (the long narrow waters to the the right of Frazer Bay) and traveled 8 miles to the end. If you click on the photo it should enlarge enough for you to make out The Pool at the very end.

GULLWING leading the way as we enter Baie Fine.

We watched carefully and made out way through the rocks without any mishaps. It is a beautiful little spot back in here. This spot is where Ralph Evinrude (ya, the motor guy) and his wife, singer/actress Frances Langford had a little cabin. She used to tour on USO tours with Bob Hope. Ralph and Frances lived in Florida but used to love coming up here and spending the summers. They would arrive in their crewed 118 foot steel DeFoe from Florida. The cabin here was very modest and the generator from their boat, Chanticleer, powered the cabin.

We were warned about the weeds in the Pool so the advice is to let your anchor and chain drop but don’t pull back on it to set it. Just let it work its way down to the bottom. So after waiting to see if we had a firm hold, which we all did, we took the dinks (the dinghies) and headed to shore for a hike to Lake Topaz.

Lake Topaz is a “dead lake”. Made so years ago by acid rain from nearby coal fired industry. It is perfectly clear and has an aquamarine color to it.

It was a long, hot hike and the swim was refreshing to say the least! Here's Ross and Erin cooling off.

FRIDAY JULY 15TH 2011

2011-07-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

Our day began with a walk to the Gateway restaurant for breakfast with Phyllis and Bill. Notice below the sign that you can also get nautical charts here, along with food.

The giant caramel roll was a must have. It was really, really tasty. But still not as good as yours Mom!

Today we are taking an adventure in the dinghies. We are still traveling with our companions from GULLWING and RUNNING ERINS. We all packed coolers and headed to a cove called Covered Portage where there are suppose to be blueberries.

The scenery up here is so spectacular. Photos just don’t do it justice. It’s all on such a grand scale that no matter which direction you look it is breathtaking. The quartzite mountains are so harsh and rugged looking but the pines soften the look. What those pine trees could possibly be thriving on is beyond me.

We beached the dinghies and started climbing a path to the top of ridge. Berries were few and far between until Ron found the mother load! It’s blueberry pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.

The low bush (and it is low) wild blueberry bush is 6 – 10 inches high. I think short bush would be a better description. The berries are the size of a pea and not very sweet or flavorful when we tasted them.

They better make good pancakes because it was backbreaking to bend over and pick them.

Our berry hunt brought us up on top of one of the quartz hills. Behind Ross you can see Frazer Bay in the distance. We crossed it yesterday coming to Killarney.

We gathered several cups worth and decided we had enough so climbed back down and ate our sandwiches. Heading back to the marina you can see the hill we had climbed to the top of.

For supper we went up to the bar at the marina with Bill and Phyllis. We noticed something on the menu called Poutine. None of us knew what it was so we decided to order it and find out. Turns out that its French fries smothered in brown gravy and white cheese curds thrown in for a little added cholesterol. Turns out it’s a dinner staple originating in Quebec, so of course the name is French. And being French it isn’t pronounced the way it is spelled. It is pronounced “poot sin”. Go figure. It is so popular throughout Canada that it is even served at Burger King and McDonalds.

After dinner there was a singer with a keyboard for entertainment so Erin and Ron joined us. The singer took requests so we had fun calling out tunes. Here’s Phyllis bustin’ out and showing us her moves.

Ron joined the singer and they did a duet of Desperado. It was a fun night.

THURSDAY JULY 14th, 2011

2011-07-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Today we are traveling to Killarney. This is the Pointe Au Baril lighthouse at the entrance to Georgian Bay. The weather forecast is for light winds so we left the small craft channel and went out into Georgian Bay to check things out. Conditions seemed perfect so away we went.

As we got on the bay side of the lighthouse we noticed this barrel up on a pole.
As the story goes, early fur traders lost a canoe near this point. Their canoe included a barrel of whiskey that was found by stranded traders the next spring. After a drinking spree the barrel was left on the point as a beacon. French mariners were soon calling it Pointe au Baril. Later this marker was improved to include a lantern in the barrel that would be lit by the first fisherman returning inland to light the way for the rest of the boats. What would those people think if they could see the electronics we navigate by now?

It was a smooth trip but pretty boring as we are a long way from land for most of the day so there isn’t much to look at besides water, and more water. Coming into Killarney you immediately notice the change in topography, as the large hills are white quartzite. They are 3 ½ billion years old and believed to have once been as high as the Rocky Mountains are now. Wow!

Killarney is a quaint little village.

We are spending a couple of days at the marina at the Sportsmen’s Inn. The guy in the blue shirt is named Dave. He’s a local. Being familiar with the area waters he offered to brief the captains on anchorages. Local knowledge is always the best!

For supper we all walked down to the Herbert Fisheries. It is the place to eat. Only thing on the menu is fried walleye (although up here they call it pickerel) and french fries. That works. The place is an old school bus permanently parked and from this they crank out the fish dinners.

Lots of picnic tables to sit at, but we still had trouble finding an empty one. Busy place.

WEDNESDAY JULY 13TH 2011

2011-07-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Once again it is breezy but we are only a traveling a short 18 miles. We bucked a headwind for the last part of it to reach our anchorage in the Shawanaga old picnic area. Or as Ron from RUNNING ERINS calls it, chimichanga.

Ross listens on the marine radio for the weather forecast. He frantically scribbles down numbers being said as he listens. Its sounds to me like a secret code. And it is, sort of. You need a chart to decipher the numbers. It is a series of 5 numbers and each number corresponds to something on the chart. Today’s forecast was given as “1, Georgian Bay, 5, 8, 1, 0". Deciphered it tells us that it is the forecast for the
(1)Great Lakes, Georgian Bay area, (5)forecast for the next 18 hours, (8)wind is from the North, (1)at 11-16 knots, (0)weather condition is fine, mostly clear.

The bottom in Shawanaga is sand and we hooked the anchor on the first try, unlike yesterday. But we won’t talk about that.

It is a quiet little spot to anchor, but I think we are all ready to move on in the morning to someplace else a little farther up the pike. We took the dinghies to shore. It’s a nice sandy beach and Ron went swimming.

Lots of interesting colored rocks. I found one that looked like it had a face on it. I thought maybe we could claim it had the face of the Virgin Mary on it and sell it for a bundle on Ebay. But when Ross commented it looked like the face of Charlie Brown I figured my plan probably wouldn’t fly.

We have seen formations of rocks piled on many islands along the way. Do they mean anything significant? Were they a warning? Were they put there by the ancient elders? All I know is they sell replicas in the stores in the shape of earrings, refrigerator magnets, candle holders, you name it. I captured this rare photo of an island elder using rocks to form the symbol for “Beware, this island has stinking, biting black flies.” No wait. I guess that’s just Bill from GULLWING.

TUESDAY JULY 12TH 2011

2011-07-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

A nice morning and since it won’t be long day of travel due to weather, we gals headed up to the market we saw advertised. It was in a park and filled with arts, crafts and food items. We did a lot of looking but not too much buying. Erin bought some cinnamon dipped mini donuts that were advertised as nutritious and high protein. Can’t pass up healthy foods! She shared, thanks Erin.

We did a lot of sampling at a stand with summer sausages, cheeses and smoke fish. Made our purchases with plans for happy hour.

Our trip has slowed to a snail’s pace because of the wind forecast. We only went a short 10 miles to Kilcoursie Bay where we will anchor for the night. It is part of the Killbear Provincial Park, an extremely popular national camping area.

Understandably so as the water is clear, the beaches are sanding and the scenery is breathtaking. We were told by a local that Canada opens up the camping permits for this area on one day in April and the permits are all gone in about 10 minutes. That guy’s entire family gets on their computers at the same time trying to apply for permits.

The moon rising over what Ross and I deemed Poo Island. It seems to be the spot to take your dog because they can be turned loose to run, sniff and do their thing while master waits in the dinghy. We noticed one Springer spaniel having the time of it’s life running and jumping from rock to rock, free of it’s leash. It looked so happy!

MONDAY JULY 11TH 2011

2011-07-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

We left in the morning with GULLWING in the lead and RUNNING ERINS behind us. It’s a hazy day and it gives the scenery a feel I can only describe as Alaskan. Most of my photos from today didn’t turn out very clear because of this.

This is some of the most picturesque area we have traveled so far up in Canada. I wish this photo had shown it clearer. This is GULLWING navigating the Seven Mile Narrows.

When you see all the cottages on the hundreds and hundreds of island you can’t help but wonder how they get stuff out there. Well, here is one way. This type of boat has a flat front that drops down and forms a ramp. We have seen these all over up here. Notice he’s going full blast?

Looks like someone is getting a new frig and stove delivered. Notice he’s also going full blast? I think motors in Canada only have two settings, full blast and off.

The weather forecast was for strong afternoon storms so we all ended up heading to a marina in Parry Sound. Big surprise, they were wrong and the storms never developed. Won’t be the last time.

Ross and I went exploring the town of Parry Sound. It is the home of world famous hockey player Bobby Orr, considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He was one of those players who never wore a helmet. Vanity maybe? Those were the days of guys with big hair. He played for the Boston Bruins 10 out of his 12 years in the NHL.

It is a good size town with lots of shops and restaurants. We stopped at a cute place named Christine’s and ate lunch out on the front porch.

Walking back to the marina we passed several of these bear relocation traps. If a bear is causing a problem they can drive the trap to the area, crank up the wheels, lift up the trap door and put the bait in. Once they catch the bear they crank down the wheels and take him for a road trip to his new home. Haven’t seen any bear up here so far. But we are warned to keep a look out for them if you go to shore on the islands exploring.

Many folks up here have floatplanes to get around. There is a service located in Parry Sound that will fly you around. For instance, you can fly to Henry’s for lunch and back (I’m guessing about a 20 minute ride) for about $170 a piece. But hey, it includes a fish dinner.

FRIDAY JULY 15TH 2011

2011-07-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are currently in Killarney, Ontario. The Internet here is only just strong enough to post some text, but forget about loading pictures! We'd be home before the first one even loads.

The weather has been fabulous, the bugs haven't carried us away (yet), and the scenery is incredible.

When we get somewhere with stronger signal I will do all the back posts.

Today we are taking the dinghy to a little cove that was recommended for picking blueberries. The locals tell us that this is the peak season. So if we find some and don't have to wrestle any bears to bring them back, we will have blueberry cobbler on the menu tonight for dessert!

SUNDAY JULY 10TH 2011

2011-07-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

After leaving the boat in Midland, Ontario for the past 3 weeks, we returned from Minnesota just a couple of days ago and are more than ready to head back out on the Loop. It is a beautiful summer day in Canada! You can say what you want about winters up north, but during the summer months there is no place nicer.

Being it is Sunday there is still plenty of boat traffic. One thing about Canadians, they drive their boats fast. All the time! No matter where they are or how close they are to you. They have absolutely no disregard for their wake. Several times today large cruisers blew past us or met us and didn’t slow down a notch. They don’t slow down for kayakers or even when meeting other boats in tight quarters. It’s mind blowing.

The radio chatter has picked up dramatically. It was so quiet when we traveled the Trent Severn that this seems so out of the ordinary. It is a weekend though and everyone is trying to keep in touch.

We are traveling through what is called the Thirty Thousand Islands. It is incredibly scenic. Photos just don’t do it justice. Thousands of rock islands are scattered about with pine trees on many of them. How they can grow there I can’t imagine.

There are hundreds of cabins on islands too. Here are a few examples. This would certainly be some peace and quiet.

I did some checking on the Internet as far as prices go and a cottage on your own private island will set you back about ½ a million. I did further checking to answer my main question. Yes, they have bathrooms and no it doesn’t go in to the lake. They have a holding tank or their own septic if space allows. Hey, questioning minds want to know.

This is a grocery store we passed. It is accessible by boat and you can see the docks to the right where the shoppers are tied up.

After 38 miles we arrived at our destination, and to the smell of hot grease and fried fish. Henry’s Restaurant is a well know place for their fish dinners. Since it was lunchtime on Sunday it was the happening place. Folks were arriving by boats and floatplanes. Since they offer overnight tie-ups we’ll spend the night. There is a service out of Parry Sound that flies you in for dinner. The flight probably takes 20 minutes one way. Cost is around $160 Canadian and doesn’t include tax, tip or fuel surcharge. Just in case anyone is wondering.

Henry’s is located on Frying Pan Island. Don’t you just love the name? And so perfect for a fried fish place. The nearest town is Sans Souci, which in French means without cares.

Much to our surprise we ran in to some Loopers we met in spring of 2010 at Fernandina Beach, Florida. It was at that marina that the pistol shrimp made so much noise during the night that we could hardly sleep. Phyllis and Bill of GULLWING have an adorable pug named Savannah who is quite the boater despite not liking the water.

We also met Ron and Erin from RUNNING ERINS who are from Ft. Myers Florida and also doing the Loop.

After happy hour at a picnic table overlooking the lake we wandered up to Henry’s for dinner.

There was no shortage of food and we left with our cholesterol levels up a point or two.

Our waitress models her Henry's T-shirt for us.

THURSDAY JUNE 16TH 2011

2011-07-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

THE BIG CHUTE

A gorgeous morning as our friends, and fellow Minnesotans, from the SOUTHERN BELLE help cast us off. They will be right behind us in the Big Chute so we have traded cameras and will meet up on the other side to retrieve then. So these photos were taken by the captain and crew of the SOUTHERN BELLE.

The Big Chute Marine Railway is the only one of it’s kind in North America still in use. Here’s a bit of back-story on it. In 1914 there were contracts for 3 locks to be built. Two were completed but WWI began and there was a shortage of manpower and resources. The marine railway was built as a temporary solution. Finally in the 1960’s they got around to dealing with the temporary solution and were going to put a traditional lock system in. Only by this time, the Lamprey eel had arrived to the Canadian waters as far as the bottom of the Big Chute. The eel had already caused a devastating impact on the fishing industry and they didn’t want it to get any further into the water system. So they built a bigger and better marine railway. To this date, no lamprey has hitched a ride all the way to the other side.

The Big Chute is a modified railroad car with straps in it like those in a boatlift. The water here is crystal clear so you can get a good sense of what the railcar looks like and see the sets of straps.

The park rangers who operated the Chute drive it along the rails into the water and direct us exactly what to do. Ross maneuvered the ODDYSEA over a set of the straps, which are then lifted and tightened to the point were the boat is balanced on her keel.

The Chute is driven by a system of pulleys along rail tracks. It seems to function a lot like the cable cars of San Francisco. Except for the going in the water part.

The props are lower than our keel, so the boat needed to be positioned in order that they could hang off the back. We’d be going nowhere fast if they got squished.

Here’s our view from the boat when we are at the highest point.

It is approximately a 60 ‘ drop down to the other side.

The railway car enters the water on the opposite side. Driving in far enough that there is enough water in it to float us and allow us to drive away.

Ross firing up the boat and pulling out.

Parting ways with the SOUTHERN BELLE at the bottom of Big Chute.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 15TH

2011-06-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Departed Orillia with the plan to stop short of the Big Chute for the night and tie up at the Government docks. We took one look at those when we arrived and continued on to Big Chute.

Geologists claim the bottom at the north end of Lake Couchiching rises 1 foot per century. What I find fascinating is the reason this is happening is the land is rebounding from the pressure put upon it some 12,000 years ago by glaciers!

The predominant species of birds on this lake appear to be cormorants. We saw this island from a distance and thought it looked frost covered. As we got closer we could see the trees had many cormorants in them. Almost every square inch of the trees and island was covered with their droppings.

We spent part of the day on Lake Couchiching. It is a big area of water, but not without it’s rocks. There is a section of buoys here that the locals refer to as “the bowling alley”. One can understand why. It reminded us of my dad’s expression of “keep ‘er between the fence posts”.

The day was going well until we had to stop and wait for this decrepit old railroad bridge to be open. It is normally open and wouldn’t you know they were working on it. A 15 minute wait turned into half and hour. Not a big deal, but this is a narrow area we are in not much margin for error to have to hover around in.

While waiting we did see quite a bit of wildlife. A muskrat swam by and also this huge snapping turtle. We could see the start of a beaver lodge. I think the builder was evicted earlier because none of the sticks looked very fresh. You can understand why we wouldn’t want to get our props tangled in this.

When they could finally swing the bridge for us it made a deafening, metal on metal screeching sound. I believe the bridge is at least 100 years old, and I’m thinking someone forgot to oil it.

We passed though areas today that look just like the boundary waters of Minnesota.

This shot is as we entered McDonald’s Cut. This is an example of the many narrow rock lined cuts that took so long to complete in order to make this area navigable. The work would all been done by hand, and probably some explosives as there was no machinery in 1905 when this was done.

Another not so very fun spot that Ross had to navigate the boat through. It’s the Flat Rapids. They perhaps don’t look like rapids, but the water was swirling and squirrelly making it difficult to control the boat. And you can see from the picture, he had to keep it to the left of the green markers. Which put us very close to shore! You will have to double click on the photo to see what I'm talking about.

We were relieved to arrive at the Big Chute for the evening.

After the long day of boat driving, the skipper needed ice cream!

Before.

After.

Our fellow Minnesotans in the SOUTHERN BELLE showed up also and we had the entire docks to ourselves.

This was the view at dusk that we shared off our back decks.

TUESDAY JUNE 14TH, 2011

2011-06-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

A bright sunny day.

The locks don’t open until 9 a.m. which makes for a relaxing start to the day. Just before 9 we pulled out of Bolsover and headed for Orillia, which is at the north end of Lake Simcoe

Today we had 5 locks to go through. Many of the locks are out in the middle of farm country. Notice the dirt path along the waters edge.

Many of the tenders at the locks run from to lock to lock at this time of the year. A path runs along the water way and they travel it by golf cart.

The locks came in quick succession, then it was out in the big water of Lake Simcoe. This is water Ross and I feel comfortable on! Add to it the sunshine and the water only having ripples, well we were loving it.

We have been traveling on and off with the SOUTHERN BELLE. Chris and Kerm Wold of St. Paul own her. It’s been fun having some local Loopers to be with. Kerm’s sister, Mary Ann, and brother-in-law, Cecil, are with them. And ya, you betcha its fun to get together for happy hour don’t ya know?

They were a little ways behind us coming out into Lake Simcoe. Kerm asked us over the radio if we had stopped and reversed the engines to get rid of weeds. Ross responded yes. Kerm said there was a mass of chopped up weeds about 30 feet across! Dang weeds. No wonder they slow the boat down.

MONDAY JUNE 13TH, 2011

2011-06-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

On the move again. Today’s journey took us from Bobcaygeon to Kirkfield.

If you look at the map you will see that today we passed through the lock at Rosedale. It was a lift of only about 4 feet, but this put us at 840 feet about sea level. From now on when you follow us on the map you’ll notice the V indicating the lock is going in the opposite direction. From here on we get lowered in the locks. Remember that you can click on any of the pictures to make them larger.

After spouting off the other day about the Canadians and how they don’t fly the flags of other countries, well folks I now have to eat my words. But eat them I will, and enjoy every bite!

The trip today was 38 miles. Much of it was very stressful boating through canals so narrow that often the evergreen branches brushed the sides of the boat.

There are rock walls on either side and we were on pins and needles most of the day expecting to hear the props hit something.

With the canal being so narrow, the last you want to do is meet a boat. Muchless two. Ross just held the boat in a spot where it was just little less narrow than the rest of the canal. We held our breath and let them pass.

After slowly traveling the canal you come upon the Kirkfield lock. It seemed like a big giant standing there after being in the narrow shady canal.

It is like the lift lock at Peterborough, only this time we will be going down. So we drove into the upper pan. Creep factor was off the charts!!! If you look directly ahead of the bike handles in the photo you will see the canal where we are headed. Way down below! (you may have to click on this photo too in order for it to be large enough to see what I am referring to)There were no malfunctions with the lock on the way down so we made it safely. Believe me, our imaginations where running wild with “what if’s”.

We left the giant behind and continued back on a narrow canal. We figure they must have built the lock first and then only had enough money left to dig a very narrow canal.

Once through the canals we had to wind our way through a shallow extremely weedy lake. The props would have so much weed wrapped around them we would barely be chugging along. Ross would run them in reverse to throw it off and we’d be moving again.

And then there was Hole in the Wall bridge!!!!

We read that it is very shallow in this area. So shallow that we pumped the holding tanks, ran our water supply down and haven’t taken on fuel so we sit higher in the water.

The depth only got down to 1.8 feet so we had plenty of room! As long as you don’t hit the bottom, there’s plenty of room.

We were glad to arrive at our destination and relax.

SUNDAY JUNE 12TH, 2011

2011-06-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

We are on our way to the Burleigh Lock. Our plan is to travel today as far as Bobcaygeon. First we must pass through Hell’s Gate. We didn’t have any problem. Just went slow and kept her between the markers. But just to be on the safe side, Skipper sent me up on the bow to keep a look out for rocks.

Just before getting to Hell’s Gate we passed this church on a rock island. It is the St. Peters-on-the-Rock Anglican Church. Built in 1914 it still holds services each Sunday during July and August. There’s a dock for cottage boats who attend.

It is beautiful up here. I have probably said it already, but it reminds us very much of northern Minnesota. Here’s a just a few of the cottages we saw today. Not only are the “cottages” incredible, but the gardens, landscaping and stone work look like something out of a magazine.

We kept ourselves entertained looking at the many mansion-cottages. Wow!

One of the very narrow spots we had to pass through.

We passed this house on Stoney Lake. Designed by some fancy smancy architects called GH3. It's all made of glass. The inside walls and everything. Again, I ask why???

We arrived in Bobcaygeon early enough in the day to walk around and check things out. At the marina they told us Bigleys is THE shoe store. Everybody goes there. So we figured we better go there. Didn’t buy anything and continued on our way. But the store has been family run since 1911 and is known for the immense number of shoes they carry along with clothing and over 12,000 swim suits.

Wouldn’t you know it? Ross and I ran into another Biker Rally! Maybe it’s an omen that we are supposed to get Harleys, but I can’t imagine so. I can barely be trusted to ride my bicycle without wiping out.

Not that I’m an expert by any means, but I feel I’ve been at enough Bike Rallies now to see that there would be a huge market here in Canada for airbrush painting and customize work. The ONLY bike we saw with any customized painting on it, (and it wasn’t anything too fancy) people were taking photos of and oowing and aawing over it.

SATURDAY JUNE 11, 2011

2011-06-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

The lock at Burleigh Falls is still not open, so we are stuck here at Youngs Point. Things aren’t all bad though, a blues fest starts here today at 11.

The Blues Fest is on the grounds of the General Store right next to the lock and canal. How convenient is this?? The sun is out and the people are coming with coolers and lawn chairs.

Brian’s Not Just Blues Fest is in honor of a guy name Brian Holmes who owned the General Store here. He died in 2003 from cancer. He must have been a much loved man because volunteers raise thousands of dollars every year in his name for charitable organizations.

This year the proceeds go to the Gainey
Foundation. Not being a sports fan, Ross explained to me that Bob Gainey is to hockey what Harmon Killebrew is to baseball in Minnesota. He was at the Blues Fest and auctioned off some hockey jerseys. Anyway, the foundation is in honor of his wife who died of a brain tumor. And in honor of his daughter Laura who at the age of 25 was a crew member on a tall ship sailing from Nova Scotia to the Grenadas. It was late in the year and the ship was caught in a bad storm during which she was swept overboard and lost. Not wearing a safety harness or life jacket. Very sad. The Gainey foundation supports environmental arts programs for youth.

People had a great time and stayed all day, despite the pouring rain at one point.

The music and food went from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This guy was one of my favorites. I think he’s singing the blues because the only clean shirt he could find to go with his plaid shorts had stripes. This guy has got to be a bachelor who doesn’t live at home because no woman would let him out of the house wearing this combination.

Late in the day we found out the power had been restored to the Burleigh Falls lock so we will moving on in the morning.

FRIDAY JUNE 10TH, 2011

2011-06-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

We left Peterborough with a plan to reach Burleigh Falls by the end of the day.

That plan was cut short when we learned the hydro (power) still wasn’t back on at the lock in Burleigh Falls from the storm the other night. Our second lock of the day was the Peterborough lift lock. It’s the largest hydraulic lift lock in the world. Built between 1896 and 1904, it was one of the world’s largest concrete structures. And that’s just concrete, not reinforced concrete. Reinforced concrete was just starting to be used at this point and most engineers were very skeptical of it.

I can only describe this lock as amazing! There are two large chambers, or tubs filled with water. We drove in to the lower chamber and tied up. Then they fill the chamber that’s way up in the air with an additional foot of water. This foot of water adds 144 tons of weight to that chamber. Being it weighs more, it lowers and raises the chamber we’re in. There’s some hydraulics going on too, but I don’t begin to understand that enough to explain it.

Once we were in the chamber on the left side of the lock, it looked like this.

Its fast and only took us 10 minutes to go from bottom to top. 65 feet. Here’s what it looked like out of the back of the lock up at the top. Pretty amazing, eh? (did you catch my Canadian accent there?)

This is a link to a YouTube video if you want to see the lock in action. If you click on the underlined part it should bring you directly to the YouTube video of the PETERBOROUGH LIFT LOCK

We stopped for the night at Youngs Point and tied up along the lock wall. Maybe the Burleigh Falls lock will have power tomorrow and we’ll be able to move along. If not, we’ll wait. There is not power here for us, or Internet so we feel out of communication. The boat ahead of us on the wall is from Toronto so they are able to call the lock and find out what’s happening and then they share info with us. Just have to go with the flow.

THURSDAY JUNE 9TH 2011

2011-06-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today’s lesson: Canoes and the Canadian frontier.

We spent the good part of the day doing boat chores. Toward mid afternoon we decided to take a walk and check out the Canoe Museum.

The museum began at the beginning, as we know it anyway. The Canadians refer to their native population as First Nation or aboriginals. No offense to anyone but I will refer to them as natives. Only because I am a poor typist and native is easier for me to type.

Being from Minnesota I figured all canoes looked like the Ojibwa canoe. Shows what I know. This map shows the bow shape of various canoes depending upon where they lived in Canada.

The Ojibwa canoe was made of a frame of white cedar, maple, beech and ash with a cover of white birch bark stitched together with spruce roots and coated with a mixture of spruce gum mixed with bear grease and charcoal.

This one is styled like a Kayak and has a flat bottom. Gwich’in tribe.

It didn’t take long for the first Europeans who came to Canada in 1603 to realize how unfit their vessels were for travel on the “turbulent rivers and heart stopping rapids” of the country. But the canoe was a perfect design.

Luckily for them, the natives shared not only their knowledge of canoe building but also of the canoe routes. This is a hand drawn map from 1810 drawn by a native Canadian for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

What started it all. Beaver skin hats.

The natives did the trapping. But it was the Voyageurs who did the traveling and the trading. Bringing back the furs to Hudson Bay. Which ultimately went to England where they used the soft undercoat of the beaver to make a felted man’s hat.

The Voyageurs had no time to stop to hunt or fish so half their cargo was their food. I’m sure you’re wondering what they ate? Well, it was pemmican. And here’s the recipe:

Buffalo meat cut into flakes or thin strips
Dry and then pounded to a pulp
Put pulp on a large piece of hide
Add boiling buffalo fat
Add Saskatoon berries (optional)
Then sew up bag and seal with tallow

Like me, you probably are wondering how it tasted. Well it was described as this, “take the scrapings from the driest outside corner of a very stale piece of cold roast beef. Add to it lumps of rancid fat, then garnish with long human hairs and short hairs of dogs and you have a fair imitation of common pemmican”. Maybe the Saskatoon berries would help? Just a thought.

Voyageurs need 5,000 calories a day to work efficiently. At 50 paddle strokes a minute and 30,000 in a day I can certainly see that. 5,000 calories is the equivalent of 11 Big Macs. Ross wondered if they went to the “paddle through”.

The Voyageurs traded many things but one of the most famous are the Hudson Bay blankets. The value of the blanket was determined by it’s size and weight.

The stitching on them designated the size and weight of the blanket without having to unfold it. The stitches did not designate how many beaver skins it was worth. Beaver skins varied in quality. The higher the quality, the more it was worth in trade for blankets.

Carvings from caribou bone. The ones with the whiskers are really something.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 8TH 2011

2011-06-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Today’s journey took us from Hastings to Peterborough. We had a pretty stiff headwind all the way across Rice Lake but when we turned to go up the Otonabee River the water became flat.

The river, and much of the water around here is filled with seaweed. I get the shivers when I look in it. Several times today the low water depth alarm went off. Which sends our adrenaline pumping! It was the mass of weeds under the boat triggering it. Every so often Ross brings the boat to a stop and puts it in reverse to spin the weeds off of the props.

We always have our VHF radio on, but there is little if any radio chatter. The canal system being a national historic site, doesn’t allow radios. They keep in contact with one another with cell phones. Most of the boats in the area are pontoons, fishing boats, or runabouts and they rarely have radios.

We came upon this workboat changing out one of the marker buoys. First they measured how deep it was to the bottom with this pole.

Then they measured the pole and measured a length of chain.

They will attach the length of chain to a new red marker buoy and then attached the other end to the block of cement. The crane will lift it into the water. We were long gone by the time they got to that point.

We saw lots of wildlife today. Ospreys, herons, kingfishers, loons, fish feedind and lots and lots of geese.

This group of parents and their babies were in the middle of the channel and not happy when we came along. The parents finally led the babies toward shore but not without protest. The parents were bobbing their heads up and down and some were lowering their heads down and squawking. (at Ross, not me! )

So here’s your goose facts for today. The females return to nest in the same area that her parents nested in. They eat A LOT!! And spend up to 12 hours a day eating. Which may explain why they spend probably 12 hours a day doing you know what. They are the most “talkative” animals after humans and the babies start to communicate with their parents while they are still in the egg.

They don’t mate until they are 2 to 3 years old. This group didn’t have any goslings to protect so flew away as we came near.

The Canadians LOVE their flag and there’s hardly a cottage we see without one, or several red and white maple leaf flags flying. That’s why when we spotted this flag we had to do a double take. The stars and bars?? Being a bit bored at this point in the day, we came up with several scenarios as to why. My favorite being is this is the cottage of a draft dodger from the 60’s. Bit colder here in the winters down south though.

Like I said, they are proud of being Canadian and for that have my great respect. We have yet to see a flag from some other country that perhaps one of their relatives left because it offered them nothing. They seem to consider themselves Canadian, period! Not Swiss Canadian, Norwegian Canadian, Swedish Canadian, etc. Even folks we have talked to who emigrated recently from another country. Americans could take a lesson.

We arrived in Peterborough, Ontario early in the afternoon. It was hot and muggy out. We took the bikes off the boat and took a tour around as our plan is to stay a day or two. As we were heading back the weather turned from no wind to a blast that hit that almost knocked you over. The dirt was swirling through the air and people ran for cover. We could hardly see because of the sand and grit in the air. We took cover in a pub (how handy!) with others escaping the storm. After a day of sunscreen, heat and boat travel, the grit was caked on us. Yuk. And a sideline for any of you beer drinkers, a tap beer up here is $6 bucks!!! Most of the cost is probably taxes. They have a VAT tax (value added tax) up here of 17%.

The storm caused quite a bit of damage to the area. One town was to be without power (hydro) for several days. Many trees blew down taking out power lines.

TUESDAY JUNE 7TH 2011

2011-06-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when we checked in to stay along the canal wall the gal in the office told us what was around in Campbellford. Ross didn’t seem to interested until she pointed to a large photo of baked goods at the local bakery. He set the alarm for us to get up early enough to check this place out and still leave as planned.

It was a short walk over a bridge to the opposite side of the town. As we crossed we could see the ODDYSEA floating peacefully next to the world’s largest two dollar coin.

We were not disappointed in the bakery.

And went a bit crazy. We ended up with a bag of goodies plus a container to hold the tarts. Mmmmm.

It was another nice day weather wise and a short travel day. Only 20 miles and 6 locks from Campbellford to Hastings, where we'll spend the night.

The red V symbols on the map represent locks. Notice at the Chutes at Healy Falls there are 3 red V’s. This is called a flight of locks. The 3 locks raised us a total of 76 feet.

You can see in this photo the water line mark on the tall blue gate in the front of this lock. We go in and are lifted to that mark. Those gates then open and we go in to the next chamber and are lifted again.

Ross figured as of today we have been lifted 365 feet since leaving Trenton.

The scenery today looks very much like Northern Minnesota with pine trees and cabins. Although they are referred to as cottages here and the owners as cottagers. There are not many folks around yet as school doesn’t let out here till late June.

The lock tenders usually know we are coming ahead of time as they call ahead to the next lock. Once in a while they forget. Since they don’t carry vhf radios you can’t radio them that you want to lock through, so you tie up next to the blue line (which you can see in the lower left of the picture) and then toot your horn 3 times. They generally come running. If not, you get off the boat and walk up to the office and ask. Whichever side of the canal wall the blue line is painted on tells you which side of your boat to prepare with fenders and lines to lock through. The tenders are very friendly and always come and visit with you.

We arrived in Hastings in the early afternoon so had plenty of time to wander around the town. We even had time to walk up to the grocery store and buy some Fiddleheads!!! They sell for $4.99 a pound. We picked out what we thought would be enough for the two of us and the total came to 99 cents. Cheap enough if they turned out to taste terrible. No idea how to prepare them, but we figure you can’t go wrong sautéing anything in a little butter and adding salt and pepper. They tasted like mild asparagus. And yes we would definitely eat them again!!

Tonight’s entertainment was rigging the fish poles. We gave them a test run but it wasn’t the best spot to be fishing. It was very convenient though.

MONDAY JUNE 6TH

2011-06-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

A wonderful early summer morning. Pleasant temp, bright blue sky and faint breeze.

Our plan for today is to start our trip up the Trent-Severn Canal. This canal runs 240 miles west from Trenton to Port Severn on the Georgian Bay. The locks only operate from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. so it will make for short travel days. We had some time before leaving so road the bikes to the grocery store for some bananas and eggs. I spotted these strange looking things while in the produce department. Fiddlehead Ferns. I wanted to buy a couple to try, in the interest of the blog. But the captain was in what my Looper friend, Cindy Shue, would call the “chop, chop, lets roll mood.” So I can’t report on what they taste like. I did some checking on the Internet and they are a powerhouse of nutrients. They are the curly part of the Ostrich Fern just as it emerges from the ground. Who knew?

The locks are very narrow on the Trent Severn. They are 23 feet wide and our boat is 15 feet wide. We need to purchase another pass to travel through this series of locks. So once the boat is raised in the first lock Ross hopped off the boat and walked across the walkway of the lock to the other side and purchased our pass.

Most canal lock gates are operated by hydraulics and the push of a button. These gates are maple syrup powered! The lock tenders rotate these “sweep arms” around, which in turn cranks open the lock gates.

We traveled 30 miles today and 12 locks. Here’s a map of where we were. Trenton is in the lower right corner and Campbellford is in the upper left corner. you can click on the photo to enlarge the photo.

I got really excited when I noticed these 3 swans in along the shore. I waited to take another picture and it seemed like the one had been feeding underwater quite a while. And hey, the other two hadn’t moved either. I’d been hoodwinked! They were decoys.

But shortly afterwards I saw this family of swans. It must be a nesting area for these beautiful birds because we saw many, many swans all day long.

This was our last lock of the day. It is called a fleet of locks in that after we went in this lock and the water filled to raise us, then the gates opened and we moved in to another lock and again were raised to a total of 48 feet total.

Shortly before getting to Campbellford we saw these young guys enjoying the warm weather. There was a rope ladder so they could climb up this tower. I wonder if their moms knew they were out there?

I asked them if the water was cold. Two said no, but one shouted yes!

We tied up for the night along the wall at Old Mill Park in Cambellford.

On the suggestion of one of the lock tenders when he heard we were staying in Campbellford, we walked up to have ribs at Rubbs. We had planned to eat dinner on board, but after a long day in the sun I was glad not to have to make a meal and clean up. And the ribs were nummy.

Walking back to the boat we came across Canada’s largest two-dollar coin. (try to contain your excitement) The artist of the coin is from Campbellford. Notice the cup and spoon in Ross’ hand. He has now expanded his ice cream taste testing internationally.

SUNDAY JUNE 5TH

2011-06-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to me!!!!

The day started out cloudy and cool but the sun came out and it was a glorious day. We rode out bikes about a mile to a little store where we could purchase fishing licenses. We have high hopes of having a few fresh walleye meals as we travel through Canada.

Ross goes to Canada goose hunting with his buddies each fall so is familiar with many of the things that seem foreign to me. Such as what the heck licensed dining is? I thought it meant the place was checked by the health department. Nope, it means they have a liquor license.

The American dollar not being what it used to be, we stopped at an ATM machine to get some Canadian money.

Electrical power here is referred to as “hydro”.

We are staying in a little marina called Carters. It’s very close to town so a short walk to the post office, restaurants, grocery store and liquor store. As Americans we are very limited as to the amount of alcohol we can bring into Canada. We walked down to the liquor store, which is operated by the government. The taxes in Canada are something else! A bottle of our favorite scotch back home is about $21. That same bottle in U.S. dollars here is approximately $32. Seems everything is taxed in Canada.

Ross figured out how to use Skype on the computer so we were able to call home for only 2 cents a minute. Sweet. We get charged something like 2 dollars a minute to use our cell phones.

For my birthday dinner we walked a block to Tomasso’s. We were told it’s the best place in the area to eat.

Ross ordered their special spaghetti. It had everything but the kitchen sink in it and he was in heartburn heaven.

SATURDAY JUNE 4TH

2011-06-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

We were ready and waiting by 7 a.m. for the last lock on the canal to open. Once we pass through this lock the next stop is the opposite side of Lake Ontario. With all the work we had done on the engines and them failing the first sea trial, our confidence level in them isn’t very high. Worse case scenario is we sink. But at least we’re in fresh water now so there won’t be any critters in the water swimming around viewing us as snacks. On the downside though is the water temp is only 42 degrees!

As we waited for the lock to open, we watched these IDIOTS making their way out on a railroad bridge that crossed the canal. Now it’s a Saturday morning before 7 a.m. Only explanation we could come up with as to why guys would be stripped to their skivvies trying to build up courage to jump from a bridge was they’re still all drunk from the night before. The lockmaster must have called the cops on these morons when he got to work because two police cars showed up right after this.

The New York canal system was originally built as a commercial passage from the East to the Midwest. The canals are narrow and now only used by pleasure craft. So to fund the canals users purchase a pass. Ours is valid for 2 days and cost 20 bucks.

It was a rainy day but Lake Ontario was very calm so it was an easy crossing. Did I mention that it was cold?

Our destination was Trenton Ontario. As we crossed into Canadian waters we had to put out our quarantine flag to show that we had not cleared Canadian customs yet.

The rain had stopped by the time we reached Trenton. Once we got tied up in the marina Ross took our passports and went to clear customs. I can not even get off on the dock until the customs are cleared. There is a phone number to call in. You answer their questions (how many people, how much liquor, firearms?, has anyone been convicted of a crime, how long staying...), give passport numbers and boat documentation number. You are then given a "report number" which we wrote on a piece of paper and taped up on our window. We found out that this is not the first time our boat has been to Canada as they had the registration number in their system. Oh, and FYI if you've had a DUI in the past 10 years you aren't allowed in to Canada. There may be a way to apply for entrance ahead of time but it involves paperwork and a lengthy process.

Once we cleared customs Ross took down the yellow quarantine flag and put up our Canadian courtesy flag. We will fly it most of the summer until we pass back in to the U.S.

This sailboat was tied up near us and we were fascinated watching them "step" their mast. Sailboats need to unstep their mast in order to pass under all the low bridges on the canal system. It was quite a process. This guy cranked a winch that raised it. They told me that many people have it done with a crane.

Half way up.

Almost there.

Voila!

FRIDAY JUNE 3RD

2011-06-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

On our way by 7 a.m. Felt very good to leave Winter Harbor behind. That place was….well, Tarzan said it best, “bad Ju Ju”.

We passed through 7 locks today, stopping short of the last lock before entering Lake Ontario. I was not on board earlier when Ross passed through the locks of the Erie Canal. Our friend LaFoote was along for that and I wish he was here now!! This was all new to me, and after being off the boat for so many months I felt very rusty doing things that had been second nature. Ross told me this lock had cables. Okay. Whats that? "Just loop the line around the cable and then cleat it back on the boat". Sounded simple enough. Except it was windy and you have to lie down on your belly to even come close to the level of the cable. Who came up with this idea? I'm sure it was lockmasters who find it hysterical watching the contortions of the poor Gilligans on their boats.

This was the view from one of the locks. Looks like a mini Niagra Falls. Thats a lot of gallons pouring over the edge 24/7.

This is the same lock as we were leaving.

Please God
let the lock gates hold!!!!

We tied up along the canal wall in the town of Oswego, New York. This is our last night in the U.S. for quite a while.

There are two other Looper boats tied on the wall with us. The ANNIE LEE and the TAHOMA. We all walked up town and had dinner together at the Azteca. A Mexican restaurant.

THURSDAY JUNE 2ND

2011-06-05T04:39:00.001-07:00

About mid-morning they came to take the boat for the sea trial. This time the engines passed! So tomorrow we finally, finally get to start back on the Loop.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 1ST

2011-06-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

Started the day with high hopes of being able to leave tomorrow morning. So we got busy cleaning the boat, re-provisioning, laundry and getting the dinghy off the bow and back into the water.

The story is, our parts didn’t come in till it was too late to get them put in and take the boat out for a sea trial. So I guess we can’t leave tomorrow as planned.

TUESDAY MAY 31ST

2011-06-05T04:36:00.000-07:00

We returned to Winter Harbor from Boston as the canal is open and the Oddysea should be ready to go. They still needed to take her for the sea trial to check the engines though.

We arrived in Brewerton to see the Oddysea headed out for her sea trial. We were standing on the dock when they came back in. Several of the injectors had seized up so we’re back to more parts and more waiting.

FRIDAY MAY 27TH TO THE 30TH, 2011

2011-06-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

BOSTON

Did he ever return,  
No he never returned  
And his fate is still unlearn'd (poor old Charlie)  
He may ride forever  
'neath the streets of Boston  
He's the man who never returned

Remember this song, made famous by the Kingston Trio back in the late 50’s? It originally was a campaign song for the 1949 mayoral election in Boston. The then mayor raised the fare on the M.T.A. and it went in affect during the middle of the day. So anyone on the train had to come up with an extra nickel to get off. You can now purchase a “Charlie Card” which is like a debit card, so now you can always pay the fare.

Our hotel is 12 miles from downtown Boston so we boarded the “T” and rode it into Boston.

I couldn’t help but noticed the tattoos on a young guy’s arms as he sat down near us. I asked if I could see them and take a picture. He told me he had them done in Portland Oregon, which was his home.

As we walked up out of the subway station we noticed this gigantic teapot hanging outside a Starbucks. Which seem to be everywhere in Boston. It actually had steam that came out of the spout. Must look pretty neat in the cold weather.

We walked down to the Boston Commons. It is a large park and it was a gorgeous day so full of people.

These are Swan boats on the pond in the Commons that you can take a ride on. They are pedal powered and I think the people who work on them use this job to get in shape for the Boston Marathon.

These are hundreds of U.S. flags set up to honor Memorial Day. Very neat!

We signed up for a tour along the The Freedom Trail. This Lobster Back (what the colonists called the British soldiers) was our guide.

He took us to the Old State House. Built in 1713 it was the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770. Which really got the colonists riled up. The Declaration of Independence was read to Bostonians from the balcony in 1776.

Faneuil Hall saw many meetings and protests about England’s control over the colonies. On the top of the hall is a grasshopper weathervane. Abner Doubleday didn’t invent baseball for another 60 years so they couldn’t ask suspected spies “who won the World Series?” Instead they asked what was on top of Faneuil Hall. Any true Bostonian would know the answer was a grasshopper.

Another stop on the Freedom Trail was the Granary Burial Ground. Lots of familiar folks here. Sam Adams is buried here.

So is Paul Revere.

“Listen my children and you shall hear….” Blah, blah, blah about Paul Revere. Who can forget the poem by Longfellow that immortalized Paul Revere’s midnight ride? I grew up thinking it was historical fact. Not. It was written 40 years after his death by a poet who was marrying into the Revere family and wanted to score some points. Seriously. Paul was actually one of 4 or 5 riders who were secretly riding to warn about the troop movements of the British. Since it was a secret ride, there wasn’t any yelling going on. And in particular, no “British are coming!” The colonists considered themselves at that point to be British too, so they wouldn’t be saying that. Actually Revere got stopped and questioned by the British Army. They took his horse and Paul had to walk home. They didn’t teach us that in grade school. He did complete the first part of his mission though.

This is the church steeple where the two lanterns were hung indicating that the army was moving by sea.

Revere lived to be 83 years old and outlived all but 3 of his 16 children.

This very large headstone is for John Hancock. You remember him, he had to sign his name on the Declaration of Independence larger than anyone else and then put swirly lines under it. Well John was the richest merchant in the colony. Sam Adams described him as “having a shallow mind, but deep pockets”.

This is a building that had once belonged to John. It was a salt house. Salt was needed to preserve fish, which was a big industry here. The building is now a Chart House restaurant.

John Hancock thought highly of himself and felt he should have been given the job of commanding the army, rather than George Washington. I’m kind of guessing his wife wasn’t any too happy with him either. She gave birth to a son while John was away and she christened him John George Washington Hancock. Knowing well how her husband felt about General Washington. And when John died, she had a wooden marker for his grave marker. Wouldn’t spring for a stone one. So this large marker was added later, but I forget by whom.

This stone is for “Frank”. It is thought he was one of Hancock’s slaves. Which would explain why there is no last name. Hancock must have thought very highly of Frank to buy him a headstone.

It is a very old burial ground. There are so many buried here that some are buried upright or stacked on one another. There is a mounded area that our guide told us had the remains of over 600 infants. The mortality rate in those days was extremely high.

During the depression, one of FDR’s work programs came in and moved the stones into tidy, straight rows. I’m sorry, but I think I could come up with better things to have a work crew do than desecrate a cemetery. Now they have no idea where anyone is.

Our tour ended back at the Boston Commons. As we were walking away a Zombie Parade happened by. Zombies walked by for a solid 20 minutes or more. They were having a good time and so did everyone watching. The makeup and costumes of some of them was great!!

From the Zombie Parade, next stop Harvard University. I feel so smart.

Let’s see. Where is my first class tomorrow????

The dorms here are beautiful old stone structures.

College kids are the same everywhere. They just drink way more expensive beers here.

We wandered through the science building. This is a water filled magnifying lens. Ross is showing me how humongeous his bicep is.

You probably already recognize this Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator? I know I didn’t. I couldn’t even understand anything about this even reading through the explanation boards. It was built in 1944-45.

Okay, so I can’t do mathematical calculations like a Harvard brainiac. I can drink beer like one though, so we headed for Cheers! But nobody knew our names.

Revived after our beer, we took the T partway back and stopped to check out Fenway Park. There’s a game tonight so the crowd was gathering.

THURSDAY MAY 26TH

2011-06-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

On the Loop again. Well, at least trying.

The Oddysea needed to have some engine work done. So by hook or by crook we were bound and determined to make it to Winter Harbor by Friday morning of the 27th in order to speak to the mechanics before they left for the long Memorial Weekend. We left Minnesota in the wee hours of Thursday May 26th. Two canceled flights and three car rentals later we arrived at Winter Harbor late in the evening. The trip was a bit like the old Steve Martin, John Candy movie “Trains, Planes & Automobiles”.

The boat wasn’t near being seaworthy so we took the rental car and decided to make a road trip to Boston. Plus the water was still too high in the Erie Canal for the locks to be open.

THE LONG WINTER

2011-06-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

We recently spent time with some of our south of the Mason Dixon Line Looper friends. When we told them what we did over New Years, well, they thought it sounded crazy. I guess when I think about it, it is a bit crazy.

With the Oddysea tucked in for the winter near Syracuse, New York. And Ross and I dry docked at home for the winter. Well, we felt the need to be back on the water. Even if it is frozen. So we headed North, along with Ross’ siblings and spouses. Destination? Baudette Minnesota. Walleye Capital of the World. Not much to do up there besides fish and cut timber.

We stayed in a cabin together, fished, ate and celebrated New Years.

We rented an ice shanty for the day. Also known as fish house, ice house, bobhouse, fish shack or probably a hundred other names. Ours was the “train house”. Now at any given time there may be between 1500 and 3000 or these houses on the lake.

So they gave us a map and pointed us in the general direction. There are plowed roads, of sorts that you follow out on the lake. So we watched the mileage and looked for the fish house with anchors painted on it, hung a right and found the one with trains painted on it.

If you’re wondering, it is creepy to drive on the ice. It takes 4” thick ice to walk on. 6” to drive a snowmobile on, 12” for a car and 16” for a truck. I’m hoping this ice is really, really thick!!! With the many lakes in Minnesota, vehicles do fall through. There are strict laws of about rapid removal of the vehicle, which involves divers and great expense. To the owner.

So here’s our fishing palace for the day.

It is nasty cold out today!!

I took this picture of the temp in the rear view mirror of our Suburban. And yes, that is a negative 12 degrees!!! It dropped another few degrees after this. The shack has a heater in it so we all stayed warm.

Of course you need a hole in the ice to fish through. This is Ross’ brother, Kirk, drilling holes with a gas powered ice auger.

You then drop your line through it and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

I waited all day. Got nothin’.

Ross’ sister, Beth, caught the whopper of the day.
She didn’t’ want to touch it though.

The walleye has to fit in a certain size range to be a keeper. There are markings on the wall so you hold the fish up to the top line and see what number it's tail is at. This one is in the middle slot, so too big to keep and at the same time to small. So it’s back down the hole for this one.

Robb has his sonar going so we can see what’s happening down below. If only it could make them bite our hooks.

If the fish aren’t biting in one spot, you hook your truck up to the house, crank the wheels down and away you go to another spot.

This fool just arrived not too far from us and thinks they’re biting here. Ha!

Here is the snowplow going by keeping the road open so we can get home. It gets dark early this time of year. And especially this far north so I want to be out of here well before dark.

We all celebrated New Years Eve up at the Lodge where we were staying.

Happy New Year!!!!!

OCTOBER 26TH 2010

2010-11-16T09:58:00.000-08:00

Ross’s camera has been returned to him and I have discovered how difficult it is to blog about photos and events that you didn’t experience first hand. Blogger’s block I guess. While I sit staring blankly at my empty page I hear on the TV that 185 years ago today the Erie Canal opened. Well okay, that’s a start!

So 185 years ago today an engineering marvel at the time linking Lake Erie to the Hudson River opened. This canal opened the country west of the Appalachians to settlers. The canal then was only 4 feet deep, 40 feet wide and there was a ten-foot wide path along the bank so oxen, mules and horses could pull the boats along the 83 locks.

The canal has been deepened and widened over the years and refined to the point of needing only 35 locks.

So while I was back in Minnesota for a few days, Ross and Foote continued on the ODDYSEA up the Hudson and the Erie Canal.

The Troy lock is the first lock on the Hudson. After this lock there is no longer any tide change. Just south of the lock there is still about a 5 foot tide that rises and falls 5 feet twice a day. This is about 150 miles from the ocean!

At this sign the guys hung a left off the Hudson and entered the Erie canal. There is another route to the north through the Champlain canal which heads up toward Montreal, but the height of our boat will not allow us to take that route.

Lock E2, the first on the Erie Canal.

Foote tying up the boat while they sat and waited for the green light to enter the lock.

Some of the locks are extremely close together. At the eastern end of the Erie canal there are 5 locks within 3 miles that lifted the boat up to 184 feet above sea level.

The guys noticed these dog silhouettes at the lock houses along the way. They finally asked what the deal was and were told it scares away geese. Really? They than asked if it worked. The answer….nope.

Setting up fenders along the side of the boat is different for passing through these canals. They hung fenders not only at the water line, but also along the gunnels for protection against the cement wall. The water in the locks rises so high to the top of the lock that if you didn't have fenders at both heights you would be grinding fiberglass against the cement, YUK!

This is one of two guard gates which are used to divert water down the Mohawk River. This one is down all the time and needed to be lifted for a boat to pass. And according to the guys, when you pass under it there is a lot of grungy water that drips on to the boat. Since the water in the locks and the man made canals is so high, these barriers will keep any flood waters from entering the canal and lock system and damaging the canal works.

The beauty of upstate New York in the fall.

Some remnants of the original Erie Canal. From earlier times when the canal was used for smaller vessels these interesting ruins give a clue as to the appearance of the canal during earlier times.

This is Lock E7. It may look like a car bridge, but its not. It is a typical dam on the Erie and the bridge is for the crane to travel along to tend the dam gates.

The guys spent the night in Amsterdam, New York.

The actor Kirk Douglas was born in this town shortly after his parents emigrated from Russia. Born Issur Danielovitch you can understand why he took a stage name! His parents eventually took on the surname of Demsky so Kirk grew up with the name Izzy Demsky.

By the way, Kirk is 93 years old and still goin’.

The Beechnut baby food factory.

Lock 17 is unique in that it is the only lock where there is a concrete gate that lifts up and you drive under it to go into the lock. The rise was over 40 feet. At one time, this was the largest rise of a lock in the world!

The guys have risen 363 feet up since the first lock on the Erie.

It was Sunday and just after exiting lock 17 the guys could see rock climbers who had gathered to picnic and enjoy the rock walls near Little Falls, NY. They stopped in Little Falls for the night and biked into town. Luckily they found a place that had the Vikings game on and even luckier the Vikings actually won the game.

They stopped in Ilion, New York. As many sportsman will recall that is a name etched on many firearms.

They walked up town for breakfast. It was like walking into a local rural Minnesota restaurant in any small town in our home state. Listening to the local banter and eating a hearty breakfast just before the rain started.

After breakfast they walked to the Remington Arms factory. Went through the museum but had to wait and come back a little later for a guided tour of the Remington Arms Custom gun shop. There was a hand etched shotgun on display for only $175,000.00. Pocket change I guess. Many celebrities, including Clint Eastwood have visited this shop and had custom firearms crafted for their own use.

Bet you thought they only made guns? They also made bicycles, with wooden rims.

And even though these items were only manufactured for short period, they also sold typewriters,

Cash registers

And sewing machines.

The guys toured the museum and there were many, many firearms on display.

Annie Oakley used a Remington rifle for trick shooting in her Wild West show. Her hubby just happened to be an employee of Remington. You think maybe they got a discount?

Love these little derringers!

This was a bridge in front of one of the locks. It angles across the canal and really is an odd visual.

It was raining as they approached lock E20. They are at the highest elevation (420 feet) on the Erie Canal between the Hudson River and Lake Ontario.

They met the GRANDE MARINER. It’s a small cruise ship, and as you can see has a very low profile and clearance above the water. The GRANDE MARINER offers a 12 day cruise this time of the year and it travels the Erie and Champlain Canals on its way from Rhode Island to Quebec. The many low fixed bridges on the NY canal systems determine the maximum height that any vessel may have if they don't want to get stuck under a bridge!

They also crossed paths with the LOIS MC CLURE. She’s a full scale replica of an 1862 canal sailing vessel. She obviously has her masts stepped in order to travel the canals and bridges on her way someplace. They are wrapped and lying on top of the canvas. Probably headed for warmer climes.

They guys stopped for the night at Rome, New York. They walked to Fort Stanwix to check it out. The Fort was built here in 1758 by the British because of its strategic location. This area is a crossing point, or portage between the Mohawk River, which you can travel to New York City and Wood Creek, which you can travel to Lake Ontario.

The British abandoned the fort in 1774 after the French and Indian War as they felt it was no longer needed. The location made the Fort very important during the Revolutionary War and the rebels took over the abandoned fort in 1776. Once the revolutionary war broke out the local patriots immediately occupied the fort and improved it for the protection of the Hudson river from Lake Ontario and the English army in Canada. The English army arriving on the scene to conquer the fort were disappointed to find an impregnable fortress and laid siege to the fort. One of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary war was fought near here when General Herkimer leading a group of soldiers toward Stanwick was attacked and after being mortally wounded early in the battle was able to direct his forces in a most desperate situation to finally overcome the combined English and Indian fighters. Soon, after rumors of a large force being lead towards Stanwick by none other than Benedict Arnold were circulated the British abandoned the attempt to control the portage and never returned, leaving the patriot soldiers here a life of endless drilling and standing watches until the end of the war.

The fort is built completely out of wood. This is the shot of the front gate. Since this fort was originally built by the English it makes sense that there would be a moat and a gate a lot like a European castle.

Even if you got past the moat you still had to deal with spiked poles to breach the fort.

Life had to have been tough up here, especially in the winter. This is one of the beds where the soldiers slept. It is covered with straw. They slept propped up against the wall. It was believed you would catch sicknesses if you slept lying down. That’s the reason so many of the beds look so short, they weren’t extended on beds.

Close quarters and poor sanitation made illness commonplace. The soldiers cooked and slept in their quarters. Can’t imagine it could be a well rounded diet with most everything coming out of the same pot.

They enjoyed wandering around the fort.

For dinner they headed to Vigneto, the oldest restaurant in Rome, New York. Rome got its name because some of the first early settlers were a group of immigrants from Italy that found what seemed like a great place to live.

The Rome fire department practicing with a water cannon. Bet its fun!

The Rome walking bridge at night.

If the water rises as little as 4 inches in the canal portion of the Erie, they close the canal.

The weather forecast was for a significant rain event to move into the area. Being on a tight schedule to get the boat to Brewerton they didn't want to risk the canal being closed down. So they decided to make the entire trip in one day before the rain was to begin. This proved to be a very wise decision.

The water was so calm that day that it truly was like a mirror reflecting the image of the bridge. I guess there is a calm before the storm.

The reflection of the sky on the water make the ODDYSEA, appear to be traveling through the clouds. (Very cool photos Roscoe!)

SUNDAY OCTOBER 3RD

2010-10-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

The ODDYSEA has been put to bed for the winter. We left New York two days ago and drove back with our friend La Foote. After 15 hours of travel yesterday, we arrived home last night.

There hasn't been any recent blogging because I had to return home for a few days and the guys were going to take photos and fill me in on the details. Today we were going to update the blog but discovered Ross' camera had been left on the boat. Oops. So the guys trip through the Erie Canal will just have to wait until later to be posted.

Before we left for Minnesota, our Looper friends Cindy and Alex joined us for lunch. What fun to see them again! They live about an hour drive from where the ODDYSEA will spend the winter. They had to make the drive in pouring rain. And boy, did it rain!!

Lunch was at a local place where we were introduced to Salt Potatoes. What are they? Well, it was explained to us that Syracuse (which is close to where we are) had salt mines. In the 1800's the Irish immigrants who worked in the mines would boil up for lunch the small potatoes that had been discarded by the local potato farmers. Being in a salt mine, there was plenty to throw in the boiling water. The spuds absorb the salt, are drained and then rolled in butter. And you guessed it, they are delish!

Our plan is to return the end of May 2011 and continue on the journey of The Great Loop.

Have a great winter. Keep warm!!

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD

2010-09-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

We left Albany this morning and traveled a short 10 miles up the Hudson to a town called Troy. It is the drop off spot for me as I will be flying home this afternoon to Minnesota for a few days. I couldn't convince either Roscoe or Foote to fill in as a guest blogger. But they promise to take pictures and write things down so I can enter it later. They will head up the Erie Canal without me.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 22ND

2010-09-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Another fabulous fall day! The colors are really starting to show as we travel further north on the Hudson River.

Passed the scenic Athens Lighthouse. At first when I started to see lighthouses it was so exciting. But I had no concept as to how many of them there are out east. Now I don’t even care what the name of it is! But this one is pretty, especially with the fall colors. I did identify it on the Internet but there wasn’t any fun back story on it.

We saw this tall chimney and could see ruins of a brick building next to it. We laughed because it was so old that there was a tree growing out the top of the smoke stack. We couldn’t imagine what it had once been being so close to the water’s edge. I so love the Internet!!! After a little Googleing, I had the scoop. It is known as Newton Hook. Built in 1885, it had originally been called Nutten Hoek by the Dutch. It is the remains of the smoke stack and powerhouse used to operate 6 conveyor belts for ice harvesting. At one time there was a windowless wooden building as large as a football field and 200 feet high behind this. Ice harvesting came to an end with the advent of electric refrigeration and also because of contaminated ice causing typhoid outbreaks because of sewage upriver from Albany.

We arrived at the Albany Yacht Club where we will spend the night. Across the river from us is the destroyer SLATER. We hopped in the dinghy, crossed the river and went for a tour.

Over 500 of these escort destroyers were built for WWII. The SLATER is the only one remaining. She was used to protect ship convoys from German U boats. She had a crew of 211 and 12 officers.

Our guide, Tom, was an 80 year old volunteer who had served on the aircraft carrier MIDWAY. He was a spitfire I tell you! Our little group had to scramble to keep up with this guy as he led us up and down and through the ship.

These are known as Hedgehogs. All 24 canisters would be shot out at one time. If one of them hit a U boat it would explode, causing the remaining canisters to explode.

Officers Quarters. The items in the quarters were personal memorabilia of individual officers who served onboard.

The radio room.

There were two of them. One fore and one aft, so if the ship took a hit up front and they lost that radio room they had a backup radio room in the stern of the ship.

The galley where they were cooking up food round the clock as this was a 24/7 operation.

Notice the metal grid over the burners. This kept the pans from sliding off the stove when the ship was underway.

The Navy’s secret recipe for SOS.

This is the Officer’s Dining Room. The table would also be used for surgery. Notice the surgical lights above the table.

After the tour we headed a bit further up river to take a photo of the HALF MOON. This is a reproduction of the 1609 ship that the Dutch gave to Henry Hudson when they hired him to find a shorter passage to the Orient than around Africa. He never found it but did open up the Hudson River area. He explored and mapped this area 2 years after the Jamestown Settlement and 10 years before the Pilgrims arrived. I don’t think his ship had a dinghy hanging off the side of it though.

Some of the rigging and a weathervane of the HALF MOON on a building behind it.

On our way back downriver we noticed out tour guide, Tom, taking down and folding the Flag for the night.

As we sat on the back deck of the boat to enjoy the sunset, we watched two skulling boats and their training coach work out on the river.