Pictured Rocks along the Michigan shoreline of Lake Superior, Friday/Sat/Sunday/June 21,22,23, 2013

Well, we have not had wifi for a few days so.....

Au Sable Point Lighthouse, est 1874

Left or tried to leave the Grand Marais dock @ 8:00, The wind was pushing us into the wall, we had a sailboat close behind us & Waterford had a sailboat in front of them.  The sailboat behind us was a single young man from Duluth, Minnesota  who was coming from Chicago on his way back to Duluth in a 23 foot basic sailboat, Wow.  Waterford went first pulling out beautifully with bow & stern thrusters employed. Our leaving the dock was not as pretty, this is a great example of how valuable stern thrusters (we only have a bow thruster) can be. We were a bit "challenged" but made it without incident, it just took us longer. Doug ended up going forward bow out, while using the boat pole to push the stern. My muscles are growing. 

On Friday June 21, easterly winds @ 7 knots, air temp 59, water temp 50 degrees. Rained overnite, overcast this morning. Waves about 1 foot then increased to about 2 foot for awhile, then less as we were able to obtain protection from the land.  Winds were gusting from the southeast @ 30 knots.

We passed the Grand Sable dunes & pictured rocks from  Grand Marais to Munising are designated as Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the nation's first National Lakeshore.  We had beautiful scenery our whole trip today, but wish it would have been sunny instead of overcast yet it still is awe inspiring.  We were hoping to anchor for the next couple of days, but there are some severe thunderstorms on the radar, possibly heading this way and it is raining so we decided to dock @ Munising.  If you have ever toured the Pictured Rocks by tour boat, Munising Marina is where the tour boats dock. 

Grand Island East Lighthouse

Munising Marina

We arrived @ Munising Marina around 1:00 PM in the rain, 2 dockhands helped us in.  Again we run into newbees.  We figure about half the people working in these marinas know how to correctly secure a line to a cleat.  It's a nice place, lots of people watching, because of the tour boats in the marina.  Tourists continue to sightsee rain, shine  or fog here.  When it stopped raining, we checked out the area; gift shops, hardware store & a couple of new ones; Radio Shack/pharmacy/Hallmark store, all in one & a Dollar store. Where else can you buy a external hard drive & have someone look @ your neck for a tic bite.

Munising Harbor

 I'm pretty sure, I got bit by a tic on the back of my neck, while in the woods yesterday. I didn't realize it was a tic, I just felt something with my finger & rubbed it off, but didn't get it all off the first time, so rubbed it again. Now I have 2 red bite marks according to Doug.  Hope that tic wasn't carrying Lyme disease because I didn't remove it properly.  I'm sure I'm fine!

A half eaten pastie, he couldn't wait! 

We ate out since it wasn't nice enough to grill.  We walked to Sydney's; Doug had a pastie, his third of the trip so far; he had the one from the Farmer's Market for lunch.  He's on a quest to sample all of them. I tried the fresh trout and Jacque & Garry sampled the blackened white fish; all good, but Jacque still is the best chef.  We are taking advantage of the local flavors.

 Is that the same guy who "Shipped his pants"?

Not sure if he wants to make friends with the duck

Saturday, fogged in, so a lazy morning. Doug & Garry decided to work on permanently mounting the rogue wave Internet booster. We had a 2 week trial & it works great. Thank you Chris & Vicky. So with the guys busy on a project, the gals decided we might as well walk to the laundromat. 

By the time we got back, the fog had finally lifted & we headed out to the anchorage on Grand Island @ 3:00 PM, arrived 45 mins later. This was a 3 mile trip, the shortest ever, took us about 45 minutes.  Our cumulative is now 544 miles.

A loon in every harbor so far while in Lake Superior

We slowly headed into the protected hook of the island & the depths went from 100+ feet to 30 to 3 feet under the boat. All sand bottom which I could see because the water is so crystal clear. There were tons of logs laying on the bottom in the sand.  Many of these areas were logged years ago.  We backed out to about 20 ft depth & threw the anchor. Great to be out of the hub bub of the big cities, haha. There is a ship wreck here in our bay, "Bermuda" that sunk 140 years ago & is still intact, a testament to the cold water.  A glass bottom tour boat comes in 3x/day, so we are not totally alone. 

We hear it's 90 @ home

The forecast & our app for moon phases, alerted us to the Super moon that was predicted for tonight, what makes it a super moon is, it is larger than normal because its almost 10% closer to us. Doesn't happen often. We were able to capture it on film. I set the alarm for 2:00 AM to look for northern lights & the whole sky was cloudy-drat.  We hope to see the Northern lights while up here.  They are amazing.

 

Miner's rock

The next morning, it was sunny, then it rained.  During this change in weather, Doug & Garry had taken Garry's dinghy back over to Munising to get fuel.  Just about the time they returned, it stopped raining & cleared up.  We had decided if it was a sunny day, we would take the dinghy's over to the pictured rocks, to get an up close & personal view.  WOW, they are amazingly cool!!  Too many pictures to pick from.  From our anchorage to tour most of the rocks, was a 20 mile dinghy ride, a 3 hour tour! The weather did start to get abit rough, but for the courage of the fearless crew, we made it back alive!

Day Dreams @ anchor, Grand Island

We loved the anchorage, the island is beautiful. It actually was in the high 70's here. We walked a little around the bay we were anchored in.  There was a sand beach with another ship wreck on the beach, kind of creepy with the ship wrecks all around us.  We didn't use the furnace or extra blankets Sunday night!!

coolest rock formations along pictured rocks

We left the anchorage Monday morning, June 24, after staying 2 nights.  I guess we couldn't be seen by the AISboatnerd while we were anchored, not sure what the reason is, except we didn't have wifi, so maybe that is needed to see us. We took off  @ 8:00 AM, air temp 68, water 52, winds light & variable, waves: none.  Our warmest temperatures have definitely been since we've landed in Lake Superior.  We just can't believe all the calm water we've been encountering either. 

Christmas

We passed a cute little town along the shoreline called Christmas.

We are headed to Marquette, Michigan, a town that is famous because 4 of our dear friends; Jeri, Craig, Wayne & Ridge have gone to school @ Northern Michigan & definitely made their mark here, (yes, Jeri your name is still on the bathroom wall).  We wish they all could be with us as we approach the harbor & town. We carry with us the many good stories and fun memories our friends have shared with us from their time here in Marquette. We plan on staying 2 nights, so more to come.

Duck swimming again, just can't keep him out of waterfalls

Shout out to our niece Lillian for a Happy Birthday tomorrow!! Hope it is a Happy one! Love Aunt Jan & Uncle Duck!!