Wonderful Family Time! Higgins Lake and Muskegon Cottages. August 11-26, 2018

We arrived at our Higgins Lake rental cottage late on Saturday afternoon and Jordan and Eliza, Sarah and Joe and Brett and Natalie all joined us almost immediately.  It was so great to see them all!  During the week we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary, August birthdays for Eliza, Natalie and Joe, Brett and Natalie's engagement, as well as other family events.  Jordan wanted us to remind everyone that we also celebrated national middle child day.😀

It was so wonderful to have everyone together for this time.  So many memories of camping at Higgins Lake were remembered together!
The cottage was not in such great shape when we arrived but the landlord lives right next door and promptly remedied some issues. On Saturday evening he came with a peace offering....a pontoon ride for the sunset with swimming off the top deck included!  A good guy.
We also had Austin and Lauren, Brett's friends who are the children of two couples who are our friends visit as well.  We all had a great walk to the ice cream store near the state park where we camped years ago.  What fun!

On the way back Julie said it would be easy to get some firewood for a campfire.  With 9 of us we  each grab a piece and carry it back to the cottage!   This is how we try to keep fit.

Breakfast time Dad's pancakes, eggs and bacon.

Making sandwiches for the pontoon outing.

We rented a pontoon to visit the sunken island and sand bar areas frequented with our old Four Winns boat in days gone by.

We also hit the camp candy store for some treats as well...there were many trips there in years gone by!

 Dad still buys of course!

About the lake and park.

The sunset from the state park.

Everyone but Julie and I had to leave by Tuesday mid day (some even sooner due to work schedules) so it was tough to say good bye to all.  But our friends Tim and Pat came up to join us for a couple days.  They and their family used to camp with us for many years at Higgins Lake so we too had to rent a pontoon and visit the swimming holes.  But being a little older....not much swimming.

But that after lunch nap sure was great!

Our lonely fire after all had departed.  But very nice and peaceful.

On Saturday Aug 18 we moved to the next rental cottage in Muskegon.  On Sunday we took Mom to church and then all attended Julie's uncle Bud's (Alex) 100th birthday celebration. What a great celebration!  He even drove his Farmall Cub tractor into the party!  His family did a great job with the party and it was well attended.

During this week we visited Mom all but one day around all our dentist, eye doctor and ophthalmologist appointments.  
We had Julie's brothers Craig and Kevin, their wives Erin and Deb and also Julie's cousin Jill for dinner one night.  It was great to see you all and visit a bit!
Saturday Aug 25 marked Tom's Mom's 95th birthday with a meal and cake and ice cream at the cottage.  Mom arrived at 2 and did not leave until after 9. She and all attendees had a great day visiting and reminiscing.  Happy 95th Mom!!

Here we are, all 5 siblings and Mom (plus spouses were in attendance).  A great day!

We even had a great campfire.

Sunday we returned to Duncan Bay Boat Club.  We hope to be underway later in the week after the waves recede.

Hotham, Fox, Croker, Kagawong, Innes, S. Benjamin, Long Point Cove, Meldrum Bay, DeTour, Cheboygan. July 27 - August 10, 2018

We arrived in Spanish on Thursday to be ready for Nancy and Scott’s arrival on Friday July 27.  They arrived late morning and we got underway toward our destination of Hotham Island.  There are several anchorages to choose from, so we toured a couple and settled on one that was not too busy and would give us some protection from the forecasted strong winds.  Note the "foam" swirl coming around the point...that was the wind driven waves coming around the point too.

We braved the winds before they got to maximum strength and did a little dinghy ride around the area. Cloudy, cool and a little damp but not too bad.  Motored right past a couple of loons, we never tire of seeing or better yet hearing their call.  We spent the afternoon and evening visiting and generally catching up on things.  It was so nice to have friends aboard again.  Note the wind blown hair.

Saturday morning, we got moving early toward Fox Island, our next anchorage.  Upon arrival we found quite a few boats in the anchorage (and a large sailboat just beat us to the anchorage and got a great spot).  So that’s when teamwork came into play as there was room at a spot using a bow anchor and a stern tie to shore configuration. I jumped into the dinghy with the stern line, Julie captained Sum Escape and Nancy was operating the anchor windlass control as Julie backed toward shore. Scott handled the stern line as I tied it to a tree on shore.  What teamwork!  I don’t like anchoring like this when the wind will be on the beam as this puts an extreme amount of force on the anchor versus swinging with the bow to the wind.  But it was really the only good choice in this pristine anchorage (thanks Alan and Margot for the recommendation!!).  We recorded over 26 knot wind gusts but we held well in the clay bottom and were out of the wind driven waves, so all was well.  Scott and Nancy on a dinghy ride before breakfast.

We had a nice breakfast and then we took a dinghy ride over to the Benjamins and toured them a bit.  We left early on the dinghy trip to beat the forecasted strong winds again!  

We landed at the large anchorage there and climbed the huge granite hillside.  What a view!

A little more teamwork with Scott holding the pan to stop the wind from cooling the grill due to the strong winds on the beam.

In the evening we took a little hike around Fox Island.  There was a large pond just over the boulders and we saw three beavers munching on the seaweed there. We met one Canadian couple who has been anchoring here for over 20 years and always spend 10+ days here each summer.  They said this is one of their all time favorites and we see why with all the great scenery, dinghy riding area and hiking all available.  That is one of the beavers in the center of the picture.  More teamwork...

There is a beaver munching on seaweed in the middle of this photo.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast and then left to take Nancy and Scott back to their car in Spanish.  We wish the weather had cooperated a little better as there was no swimming but at least it did not rain during their stay.  We had such a great time visiting, playing euchre and exploring in the dinghy with you Nancy and Scott!  Thanks so much for making the long drive up from Grand Rapids.  It was great catching up with you and we look forward to seeing you again in West Michigan when we return later this year.

 Sum Escape docked at the courtesy dock in Spanish.  Taken from the observation tower.

Sunday night we went to the east side of Croker Island and shared the anchorage with two other boats.  It was a quiet night with little wind. 

Leaving the anchorage in the morning.

Monday, we went to Kagawong and did the town tour in a couple hours.  They allow you to tie up on the outside of the marina for a few hours free of charge to visit the town.  We went to the Anglican Church that is right at the harbor and is decorated with nautical themed items.  Check out the pulpit, the bow of a boat!

And again, there were swimmers in the marina in spite of a large sign stating no swimming due to electric shock hazard.  We do not like seeing this but I guess there is not much more one can do.

We also hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls.  Lots of people were enjoying the pool below the falls as well as standing under the falling waters.  It was quite pretty in spite of the dry weather and reduced water flow.

We also stopped at the chocolate shop and ice cream shoppe and bought a great pulled pork sandwich for lunch.  

We then moved to Clapperton Island, Beatty Bay and were the only boat there.  The winds died right down at sunset again and a beaver was seen swimming toward us, but it dove under the water before it got too close to us. 

And a cruise ship passing in the morning.

Tuesday, we were headed to Darch Island but ended up going to Innes Island.  Julie spotted a nice-looking cove with what appeared to be a beach.  It ended up being stones but was still a nice place to spend the day and evening.  We even floated on the blow up chairs a bit.  It was a nice relaxing day.

On Wednesday, we returned to South Benjamin and took a spot in the south anchorage further in than the other four boats there.  We took a dinghy ride around to the large anchorage and climbed the granite hillside again.  One never tires of the view from the summit!

 This tree is hanging on for dear life!

Hmmm, getting a little low on fuel given the water line on Sum Escape.  Don't want to spend too much on the expensive Canadian fuel!

Thursday, we returned to Spanish and got a little fuel (just enough to safely get us to the US as fuel is almost $5 a gallon in Canada), a pump out and some fresh water.  We then tied up at the courtesy dock and walked to the grocery store to re-provision for a few more nights on the hook.  We departed with John Island as our anchorage.  We selected a small spot called Cara’s beach right behind Gowan Island to get a little protection from the west winds (only 15 knots so not bad).  It was a cute little sandy beach and a nice spot especially as the wind went calm overnight. 

A couple of the "trailer sailors" fleet that was exploring the area.

We have been in Canada since June 1 and are truly enjoying our time here.  We do need to start planning our return to the US though.  And we are looking forward to seeing all our children at a rented Higgins Lake cottage in mid-August! They are all coming to help us celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary, Sarah and Joe's 15th anniversary and all the August family birthdays.  We are so pleased they could all arrange their schedules to do this.  We so look forward to reminiscing about all the camping trips we did at Higgins Lake over their childhood years and spending a few days together as a now extended family with Sarah and Jordan’s spouses Joe and Eliza and Brett’s fiancé Natalie. And we are also renting a cottage in Muskegon and hosting Tom’s Mom’s 95^th birthday celebration there.  All Tom’s siblings will be there to help celebrate Mom.  We are looking forward to these wonderful family time opportunities.

Friday, we moved on to an anchorage suggested by Alan and Margot (Encore) at the Grand Banks Rendezvous.  Wow, we entered Long Point Cove and were the only boat there!  

We had seen our friends Mark and Judy (Serenity) on AIS and they were nearby in Beardrop Harbor.  So, we gave them a call to see if they were interested in joining us and they did.  

But by the time they arrived, so had a couple other boats and by nightfall we had ten boats in the anchorage.  But all were well spaced and it was not really that crowded.  

We took a dinghy ride around the area and spotted no less than four beaver dens.  We invited Mark and Judy (Serenity) and sailors Bob and Monique (Sea Skimmer) and Jim (Touch of Gray) for cocktails and conversation.  All remarked what a great anchorage this is!  Thanks Alan and Margot for the recommendation.

 In the evening we spotted three beavers swimming around the rocks behind the boat.  Wow, they are large animals!  Unfortunately, no pictures but Julie remarked that they looked like bears coming out of the water they looked so large in the binoculars!  There were two adult sized and one juvenile.  Should we still swim here Nancy D?  

We spent three days and nights in Long Point Cove, the last with a pretty good thunderstorm rolling through with lots of lightning.  

But all was well in the anchorage and we are thankful for the safety of the anchorage from the winds associated with the storm. The "beaver door" door is still open in the photo above...it always gets closed at night! It was such a fitting “last anchorage” in the North Channel for us this year.  Just beautiful.  Pulling anchor and leaving.

On Monday ,after we pulled anchor we headed to the marina in Meldrum Bay.  

We had heard that the small hotel/restaurant there was a good place to eat.  

We took a long walk, did some laundry, washed the boat and then did go to dinner in the evening. By the way dinner was good but not great. The General store from our walk.

Before dinner we had beverages with Jim and Lauren (Oar Knot) and Alan and Sherry (Sea Jamms).  Alan and Sherry were boat neighbors in Ortega Landing in Jacksonville last November and they told us then they would be starting the Loop in March.  We saw them briefly one morning in April in Chesapeake, VA but this is the first tie we were able to catch up a bit.  

Tuesday we left bound for DeTour, Michigan.  It was a bit choppier than forecasted (go figure) but waves were mostly on the bow so not too bad (at least compared to beam seas).  As we neared DeTour I fired up the new Customs and Border Patrol phone application to do an automated video call check in to the US.  It worked excellent!  Agent needed to talk to each of us, so we passed the phone and it took about 5 minutes.  Very nicely done US Government!  So today ends our 68 days in Canada and we thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them.
We took a nice walk around town.  Here is the line up for the ferry to Drummond Island.

In the evening, docktails were arranged by all the Loopers here.  I think there were 10 boats represented.  Couldn’t meet them all in the short gathering!  We did get to see our friends Ken and Karen (Island Girl) whom we have not seen since travelling with them for a few days in North Carolina in April.  It was great to see you again Ken and Karen!  We’ll look you up in Sarasota in December and help you celebrate finishing your Loop there!  Stay in touch!

Here is what every fresh water marina should have posted.  This was on each electric pedestal in the DeTour Marina.  Given this is a state marina and the ESD incident in Traverse City that Julie and I witnessed was a state run marina, this is not a surprising thing.  Oh, and we are back in fresh water, note the spiders!

Wednesday morning the weather was cooperating to travel across Lake Huron to Cheboygan where we will slip Sum Escape while we travel via land to the family functions mentioned earlier in this post.  DeTour Passage light house as we are leaving in the AM.  

We saw the CG Cutter Escanaba on its way back to home port after its appearance in Grand Haven for the annual coast Guard Festival there.  

The water was almost dead calm the whole 35 mile trip....nice!

On our walk to downtown Cheboygan.  Boat's home for a couple weeks.

Thursday night we joined Robert and Diane, fellow members of our Grand Banks group, who live in Cheboygan for dinner at Pier 33.  It was a nice spot along the Cheboygan River and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit better.  We also went to the town square and listened to some live jazz .

Thank you so much Robert and Diane for all the hospitality and the slip arrangements in the marina.  We hope to see you again soon and perhaps on the water next summer too!

Friday night we were able to drive our rental car to Mackinaw City where Dave and Lisa (Caribbean Breeze) had arrived.  They are friends from Grand Haven and were celebrating their first week living aboard as they start South (via the East coast) for the season change.  We hope we can hook up with them next year on the water.  Safe and enjoyable travels to you both!

Rich, Paula and their daughter Maggie also visited later in the evening.  It was great seeing everyone.  We also got to say hello to Alan and Sherry (Sea Jamms) and Herb (Phantom), all fellow Loopers who we have run into from time to time.  We last saw Herb in Georgetown SC in April.  There were also other familiar Looper boats in the marina but folks were not on board.  It is such a small cruising world.

More in September when we get back on the water.

July Statistics:
Miles travelled:  Month:  373/ Trip to Date: 12,639
Travel days: 23 / 291
Engine hours: 51 / 1442

Locks:   0 / 129
Bridges opened:  2 / 110

Days on hook or free wall: 23 / 142
Gallons of diesel:  282 / 9888
Scenery and clear fresh water in Canada…priceless!!!