Sat/Sun June 29/30,Copper Harbor We have now been out a MONTH! Hard to believe

During the night Friday night @ Lac La Belle, we did have some wind with gusts & rain. Our anchor held well. We usually tie to land & put 2 anchors out when we are going to stay awhile, but not just for 2 nights. So I did get up a few times, just for my piece of mind to check that we were still in the same spot and we were!! 

Gull Lighthouse

Saturday morning, June 29, pulled up anchor from our picturesque spot below the ski mountain. It's not raining but it is overcast (no fog) & 60 degrees. The wind was 25 Knots coming from the north/northeast, over the Mountains.  The forecast was for 1-3 foot waves, something different from what we've been experiencing, (you know; super calm). The first hour the waves were right on our nose & were maybe 2-4's. We knew we would be turning & the waves would be on our beam (side) and that is when the stabilizers do their thing & give us a comfortable ride. I always secure everything before getting under way, even in calm waters cuz you just never know. That all goes back to my days without stabilizers. So when it's rough, nothing moves or falls.  We almost ran into fishing nets. There is no rhyme or reason sometimes with them. Flags & floaters going everywhere. What we have to worry about with nets is if we were to cruise over one & it was close enough to the surface, we could get the net wrapped around our prop or caught in our stabilizers. Neither is pretty. 

Copper Harbor Lighthouse est 1866 & is now a museum & is the oldest working lighthouse on Lake Superior. 

Lonely Alizaan @ dock

As we pulled into Copper Harbor around noon. We saw Alizann @ the dock.  They are the only vessel @ Copper Harbor Marina. Marty & Suzanne greeted & helped us in. Keith is the dock guy, but this is his first year @ Copper Harbor and he is great!  Actually Alizann was their first guest boat of the season, so that makes us second & third. How cool is it to have 3 Krogen Cruisers together & the only boats in a marina @ the northern most point of Michigan.  We call that a special rendezvous!  We only know of 4 Krogen trawlers that call the Great Lakes their home, do I have that right, Krogen Cruisers? How many Krogens live in the Great Lakes currently?  We are only aware of 4. Let us know who they are please, other than Day Dreams, Waterford & Alizann. 

Our special Krogen Rendezvous 

We traveled 25 miles today with cum of 669.  After arriving, we all did our own thing for the afternoon. Garry had some important head maintenance to complete, so we left him alone. Alizann invited us to their boat for Docktails ( I must give credit to our friends Chuck & Susan of Blue Moon for our new name for cocktail parties). We had great appetizers: Marty & Suzanne's smoked salmon from Marquette & Jacque's dill Havarti in crescent & fresh peaches-yum. We were picked up by the hostess of Keweenaw Mountain Lodge for dinner. It is almost 2 miles up the Brockway mountain from the marina and has a golf course/swimming pool & lodging. It was established during the Great Depression by the WPA. After dinner, Alizann invited us back on board for some fine Lemoncello.  Marty & Suzanne are leaving in the morning for Isle Royale. We wish them safe travels, calm waters & lots of Moose sightings. We really enjoyed meeting & bonding with fellow Krogen owners. Thanks for a great evening. 

Sunday morning, we thought we would take our bikes & try to find wifi because we again are without any communication.  No cell service & no wifi. We know there is no cell service anywhere in town, you have to travel  to the top of Brockway Mountain, which is several (over 4 up) miles from here, but we were told a few places in "town" have wifi. Can't believe, only 1 pay phone in town & no one has cell phone service & no prepaid telephone cards to buy anywhere! Forced isolation, it's probably a good thing! We found wifi & a pay phone @ a bar/restaurant, how long has it been since you used a pay phone? It's 50 cents now for a local call. 

We are enjoying another beautiful weather day, blue sky & in the 70's. The locals all are saying this has been an unusually cool start to summer. After lunch, we rode out to Fanny Hooe Lake, Manganese Falls & Fort Wilkins.  The Fort was constructed not for war but to protect the rowdy copper miners & settlers from possible trouble with the Indians who recently had lost this land but the Indians never caused problems. 

In between all this, we did find time to stop @ a few gift shops along our route. We found thimbleberry jam. We saw people on ATV's here & lots of bicycles, mostly mountain bikes. There are tons of trails & Copper Harbor has been designated as one of five best places to ride in the world! 

We've been reading some of the local lore & found this one interesting. You've heard the expression "What the Sam Hill"?  It's never made sense to me but now I know the rest of the story. In the 1850's Sam Hill was a copper mining company agent here in the Keweenaw (that's this stick out @ the top of the U.P.) area. Sam was a geologist, surveyor & mining engineer who loved to use profanity. He was very influential & powerful, so when people would retell stories of his escapades they would sub his name in  place of his profanities. He became a state representative in 1870 & played a key role in copper mining & the creation of the Keweenaw waterway, assuring Hancock's future as a major Great Lakes shipping port. My facts today are referenced from the Keweenaw Traveler publication. 

Copper Harbor has the oldest exposed volcanic rock on earth. Population 100. Located at the very northern tip of the UP. We love it here, so much that we are staying for 4 nights, longest stop yet.  Lots of biking, kayaking, hiking and gift shopping to do.

 The next time I publish a blog will be when we get to Hancock, where I think they have wifi @ the Marina. Right now, I am sitting outside of the visitors center in order to work on my computer.  I'd rather be playing! Miss you