Week 3, Part II – Aug. 7 to Aug. 13, 2023 – St. Clair, MI to East Tawas, MI
Highlights this week: seeing a black squirrel; completing the St. Clair River; going under the Blue Water Bridge; entering Lake Huron and cruising up the “thumb” area of Michigan and over to the “mitten;” and, our first diesel fill-up.
Monday – Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2023- St. Clair City Boat Harbor (Layover days)
When we left you last Sunday, we had just docked at St. Clair City Boat Harbor. By the time we finished dinner on HOMES, storms began moving through with torrential rainfall. We considered passing on walking into town, but the local brewery, War Water Brewery, isn’t open tomorrow. So, we waited for a lull between storms, put on rain gear and headed to downtown St. Clair. We easily made the 15-minute walk rain free. Tim liked his beer and bought a sampler to take back to the boat. We weren’t as lucky with the rain on our way back.
Monday was our non-moving day. We walked back downtown for coffee at T.A.P. Cafe and enjoyed our coffee at the riverfront park across the road. Perhaps it was the good coffee, but we had a very productive layover day. We walked the 3 miles round trip to Neiman’s Family Market and bought a few groceries – just enough to fill a backpack for Tim and a duffle bag for me. It was a nice walk through pretty neighborhoods.
Since it was a gray day and a little cool at 68 degrees, we got into chore mode. Tim added a spigot in the fly bridge. There was already water to a sink up there, so he could tap into that. Now we won’t have to drag the hose from below up to wash the flybridge. He also moved the fender holders from the port side to the starboard side behind the crane. It was wasted space anyway. Now the starboard side is open for easier cleaning and for housing my paddleboard once we inflate it.
While Tim was busy outside, I did 2 loads of laundry, vacuumed and cleaned the wooden blinds in the salon. This year we’ve been starting to decorate HOMES a little and moving things around to suit us. We bought a Kelleys Island decorative pillow and hung up our Great Lakes Cruising Club burgee (flag).
After all that work, we were not in the mood to fix dinner, so we walked 10 minutes to Murphy Inn for 1/2 off pizza night. Murphy Inn is a restored 1836 boarding house and is one of the oldest operating Inns in Michigan. We enjoyed our pizza in a booth near the original Brunswick oak and mahogany bar.
Tuesday, August 8, 2023 – St. Clair Boat Harbor (Layover day…again)
No cruising today! Yesterday’s prediction of 5-7 foot waves in Lake Huron for today became a reality this morning. Tim uses the Boat U.S. app to access NOAA Buoys for real-time conditions. Yesterday, we canceled the first night of our reservation in Lexington, MI and paid for an additional night in St. Clair. We didn’t want our first day in Lake Huron to be traumatic…or tragic!
So, we used the morning to plan our upcoming voyages and reserve slips through to next week. The Michigan State Harbor System is great! The cost is usually around $1.00/foot and you can cancel your reservation up to the day before for no charge.
After having enough of computer time, we walked downtown to get coffee and buy a hose for the new spigot in the flybridge. The coffee shop was closed, so we got our first Tim Horton’s in a long time. It seemed appropriate since Canada is just across the river.
Luckily, we got a burst of energy and decided to wash HOMES, because we found a hole in our new hose! So… another walk back downtown to ACE Hardware to exchange our hose. That hose worked fine and we got the hull washed and I scrubbed the Freedom Lift (which holds the dinghy) and the swim platform.
The surprise of the day, besides the hole in the hose, was seeing two black squirrels on our walks to town! We had never seen one! While black squirrels are 1 in 10,000, they are more common in Michigan and Ontario, where their black fur is a benefit during the harsh winters. They are a genetic mutation of the Eastern Gray Squirrel. If you’re superstitious, it’s said that seeing a black squirrel is good luck!
So, our unexpected layover day was very productive! Plus, a boat came in beside us and we had a nice evening of touring each other’s boats – their’s is a 58-foot Fleming – and enjoying a drink on their deck at sundown.
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 – St. Clair Boat Harbor to Lexington State Harbor (Lake Huron!)
Great day for cruising to Lake Huron! We headed out under the drawbridge’s 8:00 AM lift and said good-bye to the Pine River, as we re-emerged onto the St. Clair River. We were underway 5 hours, going 29.2 nm (33.6 miles)at an average speed of 5.7 knots (6.6 MPH).
The St. Clair River is 40.5 miles long and forms the international boundary with Canada. So, we cruised to the end of the St. Clair River, with the U.S. on our left and Canada on our right. The river is about 1 mile wide at this northern portion; however, when you see a freighter coming up on your stern, it’s a little intimidating! With the freighter safely around us, we began to see Port Huron, MI and the tall buildings of Sarnia, Ontario.
Seeing the Blue Water Bridge and Lake Huron beyond was exciting. The currents under the bridge have been a concern of Tim’s in our planning. HOMES did lose about 2 knots of speed right before the bridge, but Tim boosted the RPMs and HOMES powered through!
The Blue Water Bridge is a two-span bridge. The first bridge was built in 1938. In the late 1980s, the border crossing became so popular that it was decided to build a second bridge. In 1997, the second bridge was built beside the old bridge, to support eastbound traffic. For the Port Huron residents, it signifies the close connection with Canada, and the willingness of the two sides to work closely together.
After cruising under the bridge, we passed Michigan’s oldest operating lighthouse – Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. It was built in 1829 at a the head of the St. Clair River where ships could see it before they entered the rapids of the river (which we experienced today!). Originally it was 65-feet high, but it was extended to 82-feet in the early 1860s. Weather permitting, visitors are allowed to climb the tower and walk out onto the catwalk for views of one of the busiest waterways in the world.
Beyond the lighthouse, we entered Lake Huron – 3 down and 2 to go for HOMES to visit all 5 Great Lakes! Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes and the fourth largest lake in the world by surface area. It has the longest shoreline of all the Great Lakes and is renowned for its beaches, sand dunes, wetlands, forests, and extensive river systems. All of which we are excited to see!
Lake Huron is a pretty color of blue. The blue is sediment brought to the surface when strong winds churn the lake. Much different than Lake Erie. Lake Erie’s green color is from algae. Lake Erie is considered the dirtiest of the Great Lakes; however, it is recovering, after decades of uncontrolled pollution. Our first stop on Lake Huron was Lexington, MI.
Pulling into port is not like parking your car. Before getting to the marina, I have the lines and fenders ready. When Tim gets HOMES backed in and close to the dock, I put the fenders overboard, throw off the lines, step onto the dock and tie up HOMES preliminarily with a bow line and stern line.
Then, Tim gets off and spends LOTS of time adjusting the lines and adding two more spring lines and another stern line. Then, we have to hook up the water and electric, which sometimes are right beside HOMES, but like in Lexington, we have to get out the long electric cord and spend time securing the electric cord and water hose. Tim is very meticulous and knows how to tie a knot for every occasion.
After getting settled, we explored. Lexington is a cute town with small touristy shops. We enjoyed a drink at The Windjammer Bar and Grill. On our walk back to the boat, we met a couple who are also Loopers on their Mainship Pilot 34, Unassisted, so we had fun talking about our experiences.
Thursday, August 10, 2023 – Lexington, MI State Harbor to Port Sanilac, MI Municipal Harbor
We had a beautiful cruise to Port Sanilac, on a flat Lake Huron. We were underway for 2 hours, going a distance of 10.5 nm (12 miles) at at an average speed of 5.4 kn (6.2 MPH).
This is a short hop, so we took time to get coffee at Lexington Coffee Co. before heading out.
The sandy-beach coastline is good for beach-goers, but not optimal for boaters. Port Sanilac Harbor is having hydraulic dredging done. All of these harbors where we are staying are man-made harbors. This coastline used to be a perilous journey for ships. The 16 shipwrecks that lie along this stretch are popular with recreational divers. Some shipwrecks are closer to shore and can be seen by kayak or paddleboard.
We safely cruised past the dredger and maneuvered to our slip on the fuel dock. It was a similar procedure to hook up our water and electric as it was yesterday. The town is a short walk up a slight hill. First stop – visiting Michigan’s oldest continuously operating hardware store! Raymond Hardware opened in 1850 by Uri Raymond and was operated by the Raymond family until 1969.
On Friday, our layover day, we started at Sanilac Coffee, then walked to Willis’ Marketplace for some groceries. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with the usual chores, plus filling up on diesel and pumping out – since we are sitting right on the dock with both.
This is our first diesel fill up since beginning our trip on July 24th. We only needed 110 gallons and paid $4.48/gallon. The way we cruise, we typically burn 1.1 gallons per engine (2) per hour. We filled all of the tanks before pulling out last October in La Salle, MI and paid over $6.00/ gallons.
We finished our Friday afternoon off with a walk along the harbor wall, the beach and past the lighthouse. In the evening, we walked back up to Alli’s Bar – a quirky outside bar/ antique store. We came up last night too and enjoyed talking with another couple doing the Loop on their Shannon 43 Ketch sailboat, Maris Stella. Their were also a lot of other boaters there. Tonight, the rain kept some people away, but we got to talk with a couple from Canada who are doing the Trent Severn Mini Loop, on their 48’ Mainship, 3 Rings. They are heading home toward the North Channel. We are also heading toward the North Channel, on our way to Sault St. Marie, MI.
Saturday, August 12, 2023 – Port Sanilac Municipal Harbor to Harbor Beach Municipal Marina
Our voyage today took 4 hours and 15 minutes, going 27 nm (31 miles), averaging 6.3 knots (7.3 MPH).
It was another beautiful day on Lake Huron. Luckily, the rain storms and the 3-4 foot waves happened overnight. We cruised out of Port Sanilac, passing the Port Sanilac lighthouse. The lighthouse has been guiding ships since 1886. With the opening of Lake Superior through the Salut Lock in 1853, more ships began traveling Lake Huron’s coast, but there was no lighthouse along the 75 miles between the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse (seen on Wednesday) and the Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse, at the tip of Michigan’s thumb. In 1875, a lighthouse was built at Harbor Beach, but it only reduced the unlighted coastline by approximately 16 miles.
The Harbor Beach Lighthouse stands surrounded by water at the mouth of the harbor. It can only be reached by boat. There were tours being given earlier today. We cruised by the lighthouse and maneuvered into our slip next to a Coast Guard Boat. The Coast Guard Station here is responsible for 1,035 square miles of Lake Huron and dates back to 1881. The slips at Harbor Beach Marina are the nicest and widest that we’ve had so far.
Once tied up, we finally met the Loopers who we have been hopping over and messaging since Lake Erie. They invited us over to their Ocean Alexander 48C Classico, Regular Eggs, for drinks. We shared lots of the same experiences since they started their Loop in Annapolis, Maryland. Then, Tim and I walked the 2.2 miles round trip to downtown Harbor Beach. Not a lot in Harbor Beach, but we did stop at Smalley’s Bar for a drink and onion rings.
Sunday, August 13, 2023 – Harbor Beach, MI to East Tawas, MI
Our Seven-and-a-half hour voyage today was a rocking and rolling. We went 49.2 nm (56.6 miles), at an average speed on 6.5 knots (7.5 MPH). The morning began with 2-3 foot waves, but steadily increased with the occasional 4-foot wave to make HOMES plunge down and then up. HOMES was built for these waves – and for even more than Tim and I ever want to see. HOMES has a displacement hull (big and round), with a high, flaring bow to take the waves.
Rather than the sandy coastline of our previous days, the coastline today was lined in evergreens and hundreds on wind turbines. The waves began to subside once we left the “thumb” behind and began out into the open water at the mouth of Saginaw Bay. The waves on the last 2 hours of our voyage went back down to 1-2 foot, much like our other days on Lake Huron.
Around 3:00 PM, we made landfall on the “mitten” of Michigan and docked at East Tawas State Harbor on Tawas Bay. We’ll be staying here until Tuesday morning – then we head up the “mitten” of Michigan!
Stay tuned for next week… when we reach the top of Michigan’s lower peninsula and plan our crossing of Lake Huron to the North Channel.
Thanks for following along!