As the days progressed, the forecast got worse. Originally they forecast 3 foot waves in the area of lake Michigan we were in starting Saturday, but the forecast eventually was predicting 5 to 6 footers. The arrival of the storm also changed, and now Friday was looking less-and-less like a good travel day. We still had a window to make it safely in time, but the window was closing. Given the distance between harbours and narrowing safe window, Northport was looking problematic, so we ended up changing our plans and spending a night in Bay Harbour
Because the weather never does what the forecasters say it will, I was nervous the night before we were moving to Petoskey in case things changed weather-wise overnight, and so I didn't sleep well. Both Louise and I got up early and got ready to go, then changed to wait mode. We did not want to leave too early, as our destination marina would not be open yet, but did not want to get nailed with high waves either. In the end we left the dock around 9 and made our way out of the harbour. Immediately we started rolling, and a few cupboards flew open. Luckily we did not spill too much on the floor, and nothing got broken. Have to add a new item to the list - replacing some cabinet door latches. Eventually we got oriented better with the wave direction, but it still took full concentration at the helm for the short trip to Petoskey, and the waves were just getting started! We could not walk around in the cabin, and always had to be hanging on to something.
Had to brace-in to the helm for the drive to Petoskey.
Once we got to Petoskey, we dug out some velcro straps to secure our cabinets. We have a bunch of these we use for various things around the boat, handy to have.
Once we rounded the breakwater the waves immediately died down, and we got set in our slip easily despite the windy conditions. This marina uses piles between the slips, and we saw that the boat beside us was spider-webbed to those piles. We got iFloat tied in similarly, using some extra lines to keep the boat off the piles. We still had fenders out, but the spider-webbed ropes kept the fenders from touching the pier, we were kind of "hovering" in the slip, despite being blown towards the dock.
The marinas here are huge.
The couple in the boat beside us were getting ready to go out when we arrived, so we asked them if they were sure they wanted to go out. They were locals, and told us they were headed to an anchorage to fish for a while. OK, enjoy. Once we got checked in with CBP, we walked around town stopping at a couple of tourist traps, and then went to West Marine to get some new fender balls. Two of our fenders have broken so far, and lots of loopers we have run across have suggested these as better alternatives. When we arrived back at the boat, the couple in the boat next to us was still there, so we asked if they were still going out. They told us they went out, but after three waves hit them, they turned around and came back in. Yikes! The worst was yet to come for waves, as the winds were just getting started, and the next day we planned to go out on the breakwater to see what the big water makes in heavy winds.
We spent the rest of the day on the boat, as conditions deteriorated and eventually it started to rain. Louise got some laundry done, and we each managed to nap in the afternoon. Both of us were tired after some long days. Rough life.
Louise found some blueberries at the Charlevoix farmers market, and decided to make a pie. Before we left Ottawa, she checked to make sure that the pie plates fit into her air fryer, and they did. Unfortunately, this pie plate did not fit the air fryer - guess we brought the wrong pie plate. She froze the pie and will bake it when we get to a marina with a boater's kitchen.
The winds were strong enough to build waves in the harbour, and so we were constantly rocking, the wind added to this, as each gust would cause the boat to wobble on her moorings. Really glad they had the pile design here so we could spider-web tie. The wind howled all night long, and the boat was constantly moving, but never touched the dock. We had some heavy rain pass through as well. Each storm did not last long, but the rain drops were plenty large.
Nan bread pizza for supper. Works really well in the air fryer, and quick and easy to make. Best of all - tasty.
She also made a loaf of beer bread. This pan fits exactly into the air fryer. Love that thing.
When we woke up the next morning, the people beside us were re-setting their lines. Apparently they had to re-tie their boat three times during the night. When nylon lines get wet they stretch a bit, which can change how your boat rides on a dock. Before we went to bed, I had re-set our lines so we were further off the dock. It made it difficult to get off the boat, but we were "riding" in the middle of the slip all night and had no issues. First thing in the morning, I checked the lines and tightened a couple that had stretched overnight. We had planned to clean the outside of the boat, but that was not happening, it was cold, windy and rainy all day.
A little later in the morning, we looked out and the people beside us were getting ready to get underway. Louise asked them what was happening, and they told her they were leaving! They did not have a good night in the rolly conditions, and only had a 3 hour ride to get home so were going home! Yikes! NOBODY was going anywhere that day, even the ferries were staying put. Anyway, they left their slip, we thought they were nuts. A few minutes later we saw them in the parking lot, with their boat on its trailer - OK they are not nuts, we understand.
We rearranged the furniture to avoid accidentally damaging our stern door. The wind would try to grab it every time we opened it, so we locked the door and put a chair in front to prevent us from using it while the wind storm was on. We used the side door to get in and out of the boat.
So, we were hunkered down in the boat, and of course, instead of doing some chores, we watched the 4th season of Umbrella academy. Kind of a let-down in my opinion, it was not as good as the previous seasons, and was short to boot. In mid-morning we walked over to the break water to see what the waves looked like. There were a few people out on it getting absolutely soaked!. The waves were crashing into the rocks and spraying higher than the lighthouse at the end. There was green water coming over the end of the jetty after each wave broke on it, must have been knee deep for the people that went out there, one guy was knocked over by a wave. We stayed dry on dry land.
Some people getting drenched on the breakwater. Lots of kids were walking out to get in the spray. Us older folks wisely stayed away.
For scale there is a person walking down the centre of the breakwater. The lighthouse at the end is 43 feet tall. The top of the breakwater is normally about 10 feet above the water.
We were told that the best time to look for Petoskey stones was when they were wet, so Louise poked around on the rocky beach for a while and found a couple of candidates.
This is the protected harbour during a storm. The swells are coming around the breakwater and rocking the boats. You can hear the wind whistling through the sailboat halyards.
Petoskey stones are fossilized coral, whose polyps make hexagonal patterns in the rock. We saw some in souvenir shops when we were in Charlevoix, and they are very nice looking. You can find them on the ground here, but the fossil pattern is only visible when the stones are wet. We will try to polish the two stones Louise found to see if they contain fossils or not.
Back on the boat, we finished binge-watching the Umbrella Academy, as it had started to rain again off and on. Each rain storm only lasted for about 30 minutes or so, but the rain was heavy and almost horizontal in the screaming wind.
We don't have a rear-view mirror, so had to dry the bras on the steering wheel.
Waking up the next morning the winds were still strong but from a slightly different direction, and so the boat was not moving as much as the day before. We decided to get some chores done today instead of totally slacking off like yesterday. First thing in the morning, Louise did the laundry. She wanted to get to the machines early before others started to do their loads. While she was doing that, I did my monthly inspection of the batteries and filled them with distilled water. I also cleaned the engine crankcase rebreather, replaced an air filter on the engine (there are two), and did some general cleaning in the bilges. When Louise got back, we dug out some velcro straps to help secure cabinets, so we could avoid having another mess if the boat gets rocked by any big waves. We finished up with an inventory of our food, and went to a local grocery store to re-provision.
One nice thing about our current lifestyle is that we are much more physically active then our pre-retirement years. When the COVID lockdown hit, we, like everyone else, put on a few pounds as we were stuck at home all the time. We also missed our normal exercise that we got at work, and from the other activities we did outside the house. Post COVID neither one of us had fully gotten back to an active lifestyle, and so this spring we were both out of shape when we moved onto the boat full time. Now that we are on the boat, we are always moving around with boat chores and during passages. When we dock for the night, we are walking around a lot, and we always have to walk to buy groceries or other supplies. Today we walked 5+ km, pulling a full grocery cart for half of that distance. When we first started out on the boat, this would have been unthinkable, but now it is just part of the experience. We have both lost weight, and noticed that our muscles do not get sore like they did back in May when we did anything physical. Liking this lifestyle a lot.
Eevee checking out the groceries. Did we get any tuna?
This little stream runs through the town and empties into the lake beside the marina. The city facilities are all here in the same area, and they are all very well kept.
By late afternoon the winds had fully died down, although it would still be several more hours before the waves on the lake subsided. Although this harbour has a full breakwater, the rollers from outside still come in and reflect off the break wall, causing a slow swell on the docks all the time. The boat was still moving, but much less that when the winds were howling. We were planning to cross over to the west side of the lake the next day. The great lakes are so large that it is best to wait a day after a big storm before going out on the lake, as the waves can take a long time to die out after the wind drops.
The lake crossing for the morning would take 12.5 hours as we were travelling 180 km. This would be right across the centre of the lake, so we wanted to make sure we got it right the first time. This would be our longest passage in the boat so far, and the longest passage in terms of length of time that we have ever done. Accordingly, I checked the weather multiple times the night before, as well as did a full engine check, and set up our course on the chartplotter.
We got up at 3:30 in the morning hoping to leave the dock at 4:00. Louise made coffee and breakfast while I got all the navigation gear switched on, unplugged the shore power, and untied the extra lines we used to spiderweb the boat during the storm. I also double-checked the weather forecast to make sure there were no nasty surprises lurking for us. All this took a bit longer than expected. It was pretty dark on the docks, and pretty early in the morning (no coffee yet) and I did not want to end up in the water, or miss something from the checklist. At the same time, Eevee was having fun, as the hoomans were awake during cat hours, and so she was under our feet all the time looking for attention. When I went out on deck to bring in some lines, she followed me out, and eventually we had to shoo her back inside as we did not want her getting too adventurous this particular morning.
Marina in the wee hours of the morning. The camera brightens everything.
We untied the lines around 4:20 and set off. It was REALLY dark. You could not see the breakwater at the end of the fairway between the docks. After passing the gas dock, we had to rely on the GPS track and lighthouse light as we could not see anything around us at all. Rounding the breakwater, we were relieved to find that the sea conditions were fine, which we discovered by only feel, since it was impossible to see anything. Up to that point, we were relying just on weather forecasts, we could not see the water, so it was reassuring to not be rocked by big waves. When Louise went outside to secure the lines and fenders, she kept her headset on, and we were talking to each other the whole time she was outside, as otherwise I would have no idea if she went overboard! Once she came back inside, we increased the RPMs and set off on our adventure for the day.
It was absolutely pitch black. Even with the nav lights on the boat, we could not see the anchor at the front of the boat, much less the water or waves. We were literally feeling our way, following the course laid out on the GPS. Both Louise and I were apprehensive, we were flying blind, and did not want to hit anything in the water - floating log, fishing net, container ship etc. Sunrise was not until 6:40, so our first couple of hours would be in total darkness. Think we need to think about getting some kind of spotlight for the boat.
We could see lights on the shore - several kms away - and we could see parts of the deck from the glow of the nav lights, but other than that it was COMPLETELY black. Around 5:20 we could just start to see some light in the sky to the east, and within about 10 minutes we could make out a horizon all around the boat, although it was much easier to see in the east. Somewhere around 5:45 the water became visible, and for the first time we got a look at the conditions we were in. Both of us relaxed a bit at that point, as we could could finally see a little of where we were going, even if only a short distance around the boat. The ride was pretty smooth as the waves were only a few inches high, although they built gradually as we went further offshore. Today we would be running into the waves all day, so our autopilot worked much better. As the water became more visible, we both continued to relax, as we were no longer travelling on blind faith, and eventually we had full visibility again. Very spooky experience travelling completely blind like that.
Gradually the sky got brighter, and we watched the sun come up behind us. One instant it was there. OFF-ON. Have never seen that before, so was very cool to experience. Seeing the sunrise (or sunset) over the water is very different from seeing it over land. There are no trees, buildings or other objects to "smooth out" the transition, it is like a switch. Many years ago we had seen sunsets like that in San Diego, this was the first time in our lives we had seen a sunrise like that.
On the way across we both managed to take a nap, as we both felt like zombies after waking up at 0-dark-thirty in the morning. Most of the way the ride was pretty mild, but after we passed the Fox Islands, in the middle of lake Michigan, the conditions got a little sporty for about 3 hours. We had spray coming over the bow, and were pitching through the chop.
Approaching the west side of the lake, the crap died away and we were left with these big roller waves on the beam. They were not very large, but had a really long period (time between each crest), so they must have been echoes of the storm we had over the weekend. After passing through the Poverty Island passage, the water calmed right down and we had a really smooth ride the rest of the way.
Saw a couple of really large birds floating on the water in the middle of Green Bay. Checked them out using binoculars, and they were pelicans! Who knew there were pelicans in the great lakes? Google told us that they were gradually expanding their range in the great lakes, and are now found in Superior, Michigan and Huron.
We also passed some more fishing buoys, this time however we saw them far enough in advance that we did not have to do a right-angle-death-turn to avoid them. The whole trip, we saw no other boats until we were about an hour from Escanaba. Finally we made it to the marina, and got tied to the dock just before 17:00, for a grand total 12.5 hour trip. Steve and Chrisie had arranged with the marina for us to get the slip beside Miss K, and so we went over to visit for a bit before eating supper. We ended up turning in for bed early, as both of us were worn out by the long day.
Boat name of the day: Jolly Sixpence
