We are no longer in Michigan!!! July 8, Day 37 of our Grand Adventure

Sunday night, it rained all night, we headed out of Ontonagon @ 7:30 this morning July 8, Monday. Rain had stopped but hazy and overcast, air temp 62, waves 1-2 feet, winds 5-10 knots. Well, we planned to dock @ Black River Marina. It has been a marginal option, we were told by the harbor Master Scott @ Houghton Marina that it was too shallow. We never received a call back from anyone at Black River (should  have been a red flag). We talked to others who had recently been there & hadn't had any problems. 

Waterford was in the lead today (we take turns leading).  When they got close enough to see the harbor w/ binoculars, they radioed & thought there may not be room for both of us. Black River has a wall, not slips & they could see boats lined up. They suggested we wait out in the lake & they would check out the situation.  There was quite a bit of debris (tree branches & logs) coming out of the mouth of the river where it flows into the lake. (Another red flag). Waterford got into the small narrow channel & was reading pretty shallow. He then radioed us & said abort, not good conditions.  He tagged the sand bottom, lots of debris, the current was very fast and he had a heck of a narrow shallow area to turn around. Needless to say it wasn't fun or pretty, but Garry being the able Captain with an exceptional admiral (Jacque) on board and a fine responsive vessel, made it without any damage except to their psyche. 

We executed Plan B & headed to the next Marina along the shoreline which is Saxon, Wisconsin. Wait did I say Wisconsin, not Michigan? We are actually leaving the beautiful State of Michigan! It sure has shown us a good time, I can only hope Wisconsin will be equally lovely. We also now are in a different time zone, 1 hour earlier. We won't have to stay up till 10 to see the sunset any longer. Garry used his new Satellite phone that he purchased just the other day (after going thru withdrawal without cell phone service for almost a week), to call ahead to Saxon. They eventually were able to tell Garry that they only had 6 feet of water in their Marina, so after one harrowing experience for the day, we decided to keep going right to the Apostle Islands, where there is a yacht club on Madeline Island that we definitely will fit into. So onto Plan C. The fog cleared & the lake laid down & we had a beautiful last hour cruise, sadly though we passed the porcupine Mountains without seeing them due to the fog. :( 

We arrived @ 4:30 PM to Madeline Island Yacht Club.  Madeline Island is the largest of the  Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, but it is not run by the National Park Service like the other Apostle islands.  Population here in the winter is about 200, but in the summer it increases to about 3500, quite a difference.  There is great history on this island & we met Rick, who's wife's ancestry dates back to the 1800's on the island.  We traveled 69 miles today, cum of 831 total.

The Apostle Islands have more pleasure craft per square mile than any where else on Lake superior. Sad Fact: a visit to the Apostle Islands was the last official trip made by Present Kennedy before he went on to Dallas in 1963.

We had a cocktail bridge party on Day Dreams after we were settled.  It sure is a pretty harbor, with boats anchored out in the bay and a really nice yacht club here. We had a great dinner @ the Pub, walking distance from the boat, with a great window view of the beautiful sunset.

Ontonagon, MI. Fun to say, July 7, 2013, Day 36

Ontonagon Lighthouse

On Sunday, July 7, we left Houghton County Marina in Hancock MI @ 8:45 AM, left later because it was raining this morn. It rained all night & now @ 8:30 it has stopped & the sun is out. Air Temp is 70, winds are northeast 10 knots, waves 2-3 feet. Winds & fog increased during our trip, winds up to 15 knots & fog up to a half mile visibility. Radar works great. There was a boat traveling towards us @ one point, so we turned to port & so did they & we passed each other a half mile apart but never visibly saw them but we always knew where they were because of radar. We also ran our fog horn. 

We arrived in Ontonagon, (like to say that one) @ 3:00 PM. The fog lifted before we entered the river, so easy entry & we did have enough water, the shallowest was 1.7 ft under the boat. There was a definite rust line from the river water flowing into the lake, worst than the mud line of the Maumee into Lake Erie. I'm calling it a rust line because that is the color of the water, not very pretty.  Our shallow water around Lake Superior is not due to low water but from silting in with sand & the harbors are not being dredged like they used to be, you know budget cuts. Miles traveled 46 miles, cum762. 

We were in the lead today and there was no one around to help us in. Captain Doug pulled us in expertly to the dock & I was able to handle all the lines myself. The Harbor Master only works part time, there were boats in the marina but no one on their boat even though it was Sunday. After we helped Waterford in, we did meet a great family who are traveling on their beautiful sailboat, Imogene. They are from Minnesota and heading towards Lake Michigan. We were able to exchange helpful dockage & anchoring info since they have been where we are headed and vice versa. Some seasonal boaters did show up & one of them, Rick even offered us a ride to town or help with anything. There was a nice Marina office with clean bathrooms. 

No matter how short our stay is and how quiet it is, we find something to take away with us; this time it was the people we met @ Ontagonagon.  Everyone was great!! Thank you.