Sunday, June 9, 2013

Sat/Sun, June 8 & 9, day 7/8;47 miles on Sat, cumulative for the entire trip so far: 265 miles


All right, the days are beginning to run together, that's a good thing, I think.  Left Harrisville @ 9:00 AM, it is super calm (water looks like blown glass) & sunny. The blue of the sky blends with the calm water @ the horizon. Able to see the bottom @ 25 feet deep. Harrisville is a great harbor & facility, they have earned the best bathroom award according to Jan & Jacque. Air temp 62, water temp 49, with 3 knots of wind, seems like zero. Of course as soon as we get out into the lake, the air & water temp drop, so we still are warm & snugly in the pilot house.  Due to the calmness with no wind, Gnats have descended upon us, another reason for staying in the Pilot house. A few stops ago, we saw a few Mayflies  but haven't seen any of those since then.  
Sturgeon Point Lighthouse

We will be passing 4 light houses; if any of you have a goal to see every Lighthouse in the Great Lakes, this is one of the trips for you.  

The first is Sturgeon point light house, we did not get too close to this one, sorry. 

Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse

Next was Thunder Bay island light built in 1832 on Thunder Bay island, MI in Lake Huron, 

a pretty spot.

Middle Island Light built in 1905

The "old" Presque Isle Lighthouse












Presque isle has 2 light houses, one they call the old one, built in 1840; which is the one we can see from the lake.  Tomorrow, we will visit the "new" one & I'll have more information on that one.



We arrived into Presque Isle Harbor Marina, about 3:30 PM, again greeted by a great team of four young adults, all eager to be doing something & not sure how to do it.  It's so early in the season and so quiet, they are new and not getting any practice.  We had them practicing something I'm sure they were all yearning to learn; a pump-out!  Not the best job, but they did wear gloves and we tipped them well. We got settled in nicely, how could we not with all the help?  

We enjoyed a cocktail inside, on Waterford, still a bit cool.  Doug then proceeded to fall asleep on the couch, he only had 1 Margarita (what a light weight). Later, Doug & Garry grilled out, but they had to move our grills to land, they do not allow us to grill on the boat.  Some Marina's do, others don't, some Marina's have gas grills for us to use, others have charcoal grills, but we do not carry charcoal.  We dined inside again, one of these nights it will be warm enough to dine on the back deck. After dinner we took a walk with our wine, out to the seawall. That's another difference; all these Marina's State or not, allow us to walk around with alcohol and even allowed us to have our cocktail party in their office building one night. That's a big difference from Ohio Marina's, where you are not allowed off your boat if you have a drink in hand.  The seawall is a heavy duty construction with boulders & steel railings. After dinner, we shared some wine with Sonny & Charlie from the sailboat, Kokomo who we passed on the Lake today.  Charlie belongs to North Cape Yacht Club, which is adjacent to Toledo Beach Marina.  Small world.
 


We had decided to stay 2 nights in Presque Isle because there is plenty for us to explore by bikes.  This morning (Sun) we woke to sun, blue skies and warmth.  Doug came into the stateroom and opened the shades & windows and stated "best weather day so far".  We made a big breakfast on board Day Dreams & invited Garry & Jacque over.  We even enjoyed breakfast out on the back deck-Yahoo!  We donned shorts, but that didn't last.  It became partly cloudy, the wind picked up & for our bike ride we went back to longer pants & sweatshirts.  

We rode out to the "new" Lighthouse which was built in 1870.  I think it should be called the "newer" lighthouse because the term new, just doesn't seem to fit.  We walked to the top, up 130 steps, it is the 5th tallest lighthouse in the Great Lakes.  The view was beautiful, we were lucky with blue skies & sun while up there.  We continued biking and checked out the "old" lighthouse, but we didn't feel the need to climb those stairs, it wasn't very tall anyway.  We continued our bike ride along the coastline, found a nice sand beach and some beautiful fragrant woods. We put on another 10 miles today.  Time for a nap.
Does anyone know what this flower is? It is hollow & shaped like a ballet slipper


Bad Duck!!!

 





It's Sunday evening & we are not going "home" how weird is this?  

Love & miss you all,  Come visit anytime.  






12 comments:

  1. Jan -- I am all caught up on your blog! You do a great job on the photo enhancements and adding the white borders. Well done. I really liked the 'Bad Duck' shot today. From now on I will personally require a duck inspection before leaving the dock(just as a friendly back-up process). Starting tomorrow, it's ALL new for us except for Macinack City Straits DNR and of course the Mackinac Island City dock from Mac Race days with the Perkins in '97 and '99.

    All new ... and THAT is what will make this such a great Adventure! Looking forward to the RougeWave Pro WiFi investment so we can keep everyone up to speed on what will be a fabulous summer (if it ever actually warms up)!

    Garry

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  2. It sounds like you are really enjoying your "retirement". I really like your daily updates and I am plotting your progress in my atlas. The miles don't seem like much, but when you see it on the map, it appears to be quite a distance.
    Love ,
    Bob

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    1. Great to hear from you! I have heard from Rita too. This is fun, keeping up with everyone. It will be tougher I'm sure when we get to Lake Superior. But that won't be for awhile yet. We are going to stop @ mackinaw Island or city prob for a couple of days. forecast with some temps in the 70's finally. Love,Jan

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  3. Glad to see you're getting the Rougewave, you'll love it. Vicky and I climbed the light house last year and what a fantastic view! Have fun and be safe

    Chris and Vicky

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  4. I'm enjoying traveling vicariously! The light houses are awesome. Dave and I have been to the Presque Isle beauties but haven't seen the gems accessible only by water. Someday.
    Your yellow flower is the yellow lady slipper. Duh! Nice find. I'll keep my wildflower book handy for any future sightings.
    Here's to smooth sailing!

    Marie

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    1. Thank you Marie, The lighthouses have been beautiful. We have a great photo book of Lighthouses we are using to follow along. I will keep trying to get good pics for you. Love, Jan

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  5. The Lady slipper is one of Larry's favorite flowers. He has a special area out back where he grows this flower which is not easy to do. They are nearly impossible to transplant. Very enjoyable to see in the wild. Considered from orchid family and needs its own special fungus growing on their roots to survive. Enjoyed the picture. Will share with Larry. He will love it. Dianne

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    1. thank you Di. It is good to hear from you. Tell Larry I will try to send more interesting finds. Love, Jan

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  6. Tom and Barb (Mackintosh) Harbor Springs -June 10, 2013 at 7:14 PM

    Greetings to you Jan, and Doug, from friends of your slip neighbor Svein and Elaine - Falkor, of your home port Toledo Beach. Happy to see you are off and enjoying the Great Lakes. Nothing like it. And Barbara also confirms from your flower question, that the yellow flower is a "Lady Slipper". Scientific Name "Cypripedium Pubescens". (Thank you, Google.) Stay safe, and ENJOY!! Falkor and Mackintosh wish we were with you.

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  7. Lighthouse pics are wonderful, as well as that pretty yellow lady lady's slipper. Nice find. Good example of a mutualistic symbiotic relationship, as Dianne noted above. I can just picture you in the pilot house.

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    1. Hey good to hear from you. I knew you would let me know. I will try to find more interesting things. Love, Jan

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    2. We got back from Julia and Adam's late last night. Spent the last two weeks in Keegan's company both here and there. Time now to catch up. Trip looks wonderful.
      Love, Kath

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