The windy city

Chicago is not called the windy city because of the winds that come up and make even the best marina  quite rocky but because of the politicians in the 1800s who were full of hot air. It is a wonwonderful place to visit with so much to do.
There are museums of all sorts as well as art galleries. We chose to go to the aquarium which was quite nice. We are enjoying the 18 mile bike trails that follow lake Michigan and the Illinois river through the heart of the city. The people are in a great hurry, the cyclists are zooming along the trails dressed in the correct cycling gear,  there are hundreds of joggers and a number of swimmers.
We rode over to the Navy Pier that is a touristy attraction with Tshirt shops, complete with a Jimmy Buffet store, eateries and boat rides.  There is a ferries wheel and carousel, an IMAX theatre along with some more museums. The Billy Goat tavern with it's famous Chicago Cheezborger is on the Navy Pier.  We tried the deep dish pizza at Giordano's for lunch and were not as impressed as the guide suggested so we will forgo the Cheezborger for dinner tonight.
We got back to the boat just in time for a shower, a quick bite and off to Millennium park for a free outdoor concert, in the stainless steel Jay Pritzker pavilion. There is also a long stainless steel and wooden walkway leading to the pavilion that we found equally impressive. The performance was the group, The Million Dollar Quartet, made up of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley,and Carl Perkins impersonators. They put on quite a show but we were fascinated by the Chicago crowd as well.  Groups of friends had little tables set up with deli type food and wine complete with table cloths and even flowers to enhance the dining experience. There was lots of dancing and merry making that rivalled the performance on stage. One couple told us that on Thursday night there are free jazz concerts that really stir up the appetite and enthusiasm of the locals. Wow!

We closed off this wonderful day by pulling the boat ahead on the wall we are tied to in an effort to reduce the rocking. To no avail, we are rocking more than when we crossed the lake and the folks who are paying premium price for their stalls are in the same situation. I am glad we did not take a mooring ball, those folks are bucking to their tether like a demented bronco. We were awakened at 5 am, this morning, by a brazen young couple who decided to take a leap on our boat, probably to enjoy the rocking. I woke the Captain who got up to ask what the ***&**! they were doing on the boat.  They quickly got off without any harm done.

Chicago is a welcome and impressive site from Lake Michigan

North Star is the little dwarf tied by the bicycle path in Chicago

The Illinois or aka Chicago River

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Navy Pier

The Jay Pritzker stainless steel pavillion

Today we are doing more exploring and we will try to catch the fireworks at Navy Pier.

Chicago

We are extremely happy to report that we are tied up to a wall at Md the Chigaco Monroe Harbor in Chicago!!!! We had a good 8 hour steam across lake Michigan and this concludes our Lake Michigan adventure.
We will explore the 18 mile waterfront bicycle trail, the Aquarium and the Navy pier. We will sample the deep dish pizza and the burgor.
More on this tomorrow.

Sunday in St.Joseph

Sunset in St.Joseph

They look smaller from shore

6-8 foot waves

No bull, the Captain is having fun

Fun in the waves

Pushing my ass around town

We spent a nice day biking and exploring St. Joseph but we are anxious to get across the lake to Chicago.  We went to watch the sunset last night at the North Pier.  Quite a few people were taking pictures of the high waves. They appeared to be 8-10 foot waves.
This morning we watched the wave runners having fun in the surf. We walked through town as well as the beach on the south side of the river. There are decorated farm animal sculptures all over the downtown that I found quite interesting.  They have a beautiful waterfront complete with a large merry go round. It was a perfect day. 
This marina even has free laundry which I am taking advantage of.  There are 6 loopers here but I am not sure if they are making the crossing tomorrow.  It looks promising so we will try it.

St.Joseph

We had a lovely hot day in St. Joseph Michigan. We rode our bikes into town and spent most of the morning at Wolf's Marine.  It boast of being the largest marine store in the mid west.  It was large and we were able to find drink glasses that I have been trying to find all trip.  They have a nautical theme and are double plastic  so they stay cool and dry on the outside.  We also found some oar locks for our dinghy so we will be able to get exercise with that as well now instead of using the motor.

He wishes...18 lb king salmon

Windy day fora beach wedding

the water is warm at 76 degrees

Beautiful site when you are on land

We went to the farmers market and walked around some of the little shops but it is quite hot so we decided to go visit the beach and look at the waves.  The waves are nice and fun when you are on the beach. Fishermen keep coming in with their catch. They are not selling any, it is a tournament so they have to go get them weighed in.  They won't even give us the tongues or cheeks. The captain just couldn't resist, he had to have his picture taken with the fish.
Tomorrow will be an other down day as we wait out the wind.  We are going to visit the beach on the south side of the river and go out for lunch. More loopers arrived today so we will visit with them shortly.

St.Joseph-Benson Harbour Michigan

We had a 12 hour steam today to take advantage of the good weather. North Star can be called a pleasure craft once again.  The winds were calm and the waves were less than 2 feet. We travelled 102 miles from White Lake to St. Joseph which is a good location from which to cross the lake. The weather is not looking good for the next two days so we will stay at this municipal marina until it is safe to venture forth.
There are many loopers here, some we have already met along the way and some we will meet for the first time.  It looks like there will be a number of us once we reach Chicago.

Making new friends

Leaving White Lake early in the mist

Whitehall

We waited out the wind again today. We met a nice lady at Montague pier yesterday and she came to visit with her husband for the evening.  They took us to the Whitehall side of the pier in their antique Oldsmobile. The Lake was no where near settled down last night.
Today we went for a bike ride and some more shopping.  We spent the afternoon with Joyce yakking and drinking in the nice sunshine on the back deck of North Star. Thanks Joyce, for helping us while away the hours in Whitehall.
We drove out to the pier again with these new friends to have a look at a developing emergency  We did not find out what all the coast guard and Sheriff activity was about but we did see two tall ships go by.  The lake is still not settled down so who knows what will happen tomorrow.  We will stay here if the weather dictates that we stay put.

Waiting out the wind

We are having a nice time waiting out the weather.  It was overcast and windy again today so we got on our bikes and went for a 20 Km ride to Lake Michigan and back.  The waves don't look as bad when you are standing on solid ground. We walked on the beach, watched the Para surfers fly around. It is hot and muggy and luckily the sun did not come out until we were back at the boat or it would have been too hot.
We went to the farmer's market as well and we bought some fresh produce.  The corn is not as good as the Prince Edward County corn but the blueberries are nice and fat and juicy.  The peaches are unbelievably good.  We find the price of food and marinas quite reasonable in Michigan.
The little towns are clean with flowers everywhere and the people are most helpful. Not a bad place to wait out the storm.
It looks like we will be here tomorrow as well. We are glad we started to tackle lake Michigan early.

Nasty Lake Michigan...beautiful sand

No not time to leave

White Lake, Michigan

We got up at 6:00 while it was still dark,we were trying to get a 3 hour window to get to Grand Haven. It was a perfect sunrise and White lake was a sheet of glass.  We headed out to Lake Michigan less than a mile away and mother nature was busy unleashing her fury on the lake.  The waves were already 2-4 feet and the wind was up with some white caps, we headed out anyways since the wind was on our bow. We got a mile down the lake and high tailed it back to White Lake.  We can not go today, tomorrow or even Thursday.
We found a nicer anchorage farther down White Lake but pulled in to the Municipal Marina so we could go into town for provisions.  They said it was OK to stay for a few hours while we took car of this. We have since decided to stay at the marina since the wind is up even on this lake which could make for an uncomfortable night.
There are two towns here,Whitehall on the south side of the lake and Montigue on the North side.  There is a fabulous grocery store on the Montigue side as well as nice bicycle trails.  Whitehall also has bicycle trails so we will explore these further during our forced extended stay.  It is not a bad place to be stuck, great protection from the elements and there are 2 other Loopers to talk to. The marina has a total of 5 boats yet all other 5 marinas appear to be full?
We saw a doe and her two fawns om the bicycle trail this afternoon.  We also found a second hand store where I picked up another book.
The weather is great other than this high wind which I understand is typical of Lake Michigan.
More about this windy adventure tomorrow. The internet is slow so I will post pictures at an other time.

White Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan was gentle today so we took advantage of the favourable conditions and travelled 84 miles in ten hours. We are now anchored in White Lake for potentially 3 nights.  The winds are supposed to stir up the lake for the next two days so we will stay put.  We have extra provisions as we were expecting to be at the mercy of the wind. The wind decides our course until we get off this lake which is hopefully before the end of this coming week end.
The Eastern shore of the lake is the prettiest apparently with huge sand dunes and sandy beaches.  There are many places to stop with well marked entrances into small lakes and harbours but we are anxious to put this lake behind us so we are not visiting many places.
Luckily we have internet access.

Michigan on a good day

Entrance to White Lake

Arcadia

Our stay in Frankfort was interesting.  We met several Loopers and some of the locals. There is a fishing tournament next week end and the fishing boats have arrived a week early. They look like they are serious with 15 poles per boat and down riggers. There was a parade of red lights coming in in the dark and lining up to the launch to take their boats out. These folks are tenacious.  This morning there was a parade of green lights as they went out before light of day.
We left at 7:00 this morning and the wind is out of the West on our beam. We went 11 miles and had to tack to keep North Star from rolling too much. That was enough for us, even the fishing fleet is taking shelter.  The forecast was for waves less than 2 feet but it does look like 4 feet now, not comfortable. Luckily Lake Michigan has anchorages every 10 miles or so.  We are in Arcadia in a nice little bay with good protection from the West and North West wind.  We will wait this out.  Since we are close to a highway, we have internet access with Virgin Mobile.  If you don't see a posting, it is because we are too far from a highway and not at a marina.

Frankffort Marina

Frankfort Michigan

I was not able to post yesterday because we were anchored in Lake Charlevoix near Charlevoix Michigan and we had no access. We did not make it to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan because the waves were not cooperating.  North Star does not like 4 foot waves on the beam.  We changed course and made it to Lake Charlevoix which is quite nice.  A sandy bottom and sandy beach, once the wind died down it was quite nice. 
The coast guard came to greet us just as we anchored.  They asked a few questions but they did not board us.  They were interested in the boat and the Newfoundland flag.  They were very courteous and pleasant, we did not see any weapons. A positive experience.
Today we set out early and arrived in Frankfort just after 3:00.  It was a much better day for nasty old Michigan. We took pictures of the Lakeshore Park which has really high sand dunes but I will have to post pictures the next time we have internet access.  We are at the Municipal Marina but they don't have internet but the public library across from the dock does.  It is quite sunny so not a great place to blog from.
Tomorrow we leave early, at 6:00 A.M., to go south somewhere.  We are anxious to have Lake Michigan behind us, we are not fans of the Great Lakes. Today we travelled for 9 hours because the weather was favourable and it calls for the same tomorrow so we will go as far as possible.
We are having connectivity issues with Virgin Mobile so we may not post for a few days.

Mackinaw Bridge early in the morning

Nasty Lake Michigan

Bessey Point Lighthouse near Frankfort

Bear Point Lakeshore Park sand dunes

Frankfort Marina

Mackinac Island

What a wonderful day we had.  The weather was hot with a nice breeze, perfect for walking and bike riding.  We visited around Fort Mackinac and Arch Rock.  We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant.  The houses are so large and clean and most are converted to B&Bs. I will let the pictures tell the story.
We met several Loopers at the marina whom we will most likely meet again along Lake Michigan.
Tomorrow we are off to Beaver Island where we will try to anchor for the night.

Missionary Chapel made of bark

Lovely homes converted to B&B

Arch Rock

Devil's Kitchen

Here is a private home not converted to B&B

Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island is a must see. A quaint little island community in the straits of Mackinac that separates Lake Huron from Lake Michigan.  In the winter there are about 500 residents and in summer, 15000 people visit the island daily. You can take a fast catamaran ferry from the mainland in Mackinac City or you arrive by boat.  There are no cars allowed, you either walk, ride your bike or get around by horse drawn buggy. We rode our bikes along a fairly flat street which circles the island for 12 km, a beautiful ride. Last night we went walking the downtown streets and visited the little touristy shops that sell Tshirts, local craft and such. The island is famous for its fudge. There are many fudge shops that will let you sample their selections, apparently all the different makers have their very own recipe. There are some beautiful homes that have been converted to B&Bs and hotels, really quite nice. There is a little bit of a horsey odour but they do clean up frequently throughout the day.
Today we will stay at this interesting marina. The docks are really high because there is a surge at times from the ships and ferries going by, we did not experience this but there is some bouncing during the day from the traffic. There does not appear to be enough showers for the number of boaters here but we did not have to wait, you pick your time.
A major percentage of the island is a State park so there are nature trails and paths to explore. We will ride and walk around these today. They have so many bicycle racks everywhere, I have never seen so many bicycles in one area.
Note: Apparently if you download Google Chrome you will be able to add comments to our blog, thanks for that information Sue.

State Marina...view from our boat

Machinac Island transportation

Only Bicycle parking

Whitney Bay

The Customs and Border Patrol Agent delivered our cruising permit to us early yesterday so we got under way and cruised down the St Mary's River with the big ships.  We were following a large 1000 foot laker, we passed him at one point but he soon overtook us again.  It was a pleasant sail to Whitney Bay a a protected little anchorage.  We did not have internet access so here we are at Machinac Island Marina. More on this town tomorrow.

Travelling with the big boys

Whitney Bay Anchorage...across from a marina

SSMarie Michigan

We crossed the St Mary's river yesterday and called customs.  Two agents arrived in short order to inspect our vessel. They cleared us simply by looking at our passports, they issued us a number for the vessel after a quick perusal, but they are not able to issue a cruising permit the same day. They took our completed application and will be able to issue the permit by Friday. They suggested we stay at George Kemp Marina overnight, which we did.  We are to call this morning and they will let us know when we can pick up the permit at Drummond.  We are free to carry on until we get to Drummond which is two days cruising from here. The cruising permit will allow us to go anywhere in the US without having to check in at every port we decide to stop.
Oh well, we went bike riding and got some items that we were not able to take across like citrus fruit and tomatoes. Nice clean town and flat so bike riding was not such a big chore.  I was able to pick up more books at the Goodwill store, the one that has my kind of price.
Beer is so cheap at 15. for 24 as opposed to $32.50 and rum at $19.99 for a large bottles opposed to $52.00, unbelievable. I bought a ship spotting book.  It is a lot like bird watching only it is ships and the book provides a description and lists the port of the ship, something to do.
George Kemp Marina has reasonable rates at $1.00 per foot.  It is clean wedged between the museum steam ship Valley Camp and a coast guard station with cute little tugs.
Today we are heading to Lime Island to anchor. I hope I remember how after 7 days at a marina.

Coast Guard Station at George Kemp Marina

Museum Steamship

The Captain is proped up

The crew well anchored

George Kemp marina

Leaving Canada

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday.  The weather was bright but cool, the perfect day for bike riding.  We went to the Canadian lock and followed the well maintained trails. We have enjoyed our stay in SSMarie and will be crossing to the US this morning. Hopefully it will not take long to get Virgin Mobile up and running in the US.

Last Day in Canada

We are making our last minute preparations to cross over to the US tomorrow.  This concludes the Canadian part of the Great Loop. We will be back in June when we cross at Oswego or lake Champlain depending on the route we decide to take nest spring.
It rained a light drizzle all day yesterday so we went to the Casino to make our $20.00 donation each.  That took up a good half hour.  I always say never again.
Today it is sunny and 21 degrees so we should be able to explore more of the bicycle trails.
We may be without internet access for a day or so as we get our US provider set up. We will be at George Kemp Marina so they should have internet but just in case you don't hear from us, do not call the coast guard.

Bondar Marina

We are still at the marina in SSMarie.  The stores are a little distance from the marina so we are getting our share of exercise getting our provisions.  It is all uphill but coming back fully loaded is an easy ride.
Our dock neighbours graciously invited us for dinner last night.  They must know we are craving company after anchoring out for a month.  It was a very pleasant evening aboard their 51 foot Navigator,very nice boat.
Today it is raining so I slept in and went to the farmers market. A lot of preserves and jams and jewellery as well as fresh produce for sale.  I was looking for local corn but it will be another 2 weeks yet.
It is supposed to rain most of the day so we may try our luck at the casino.
I will let you all know tomorrow if I am rich or poorer.

Sault Ste Marie Bondar Marina

We rode our bikes over the International Bridge to the USA.  It is at least 2 miles there and back most of it uphill with heavy traffic.  There is a narrow walkway not wide enough to ride on, not a pleasant ride but the view is spectacular.  The first thing they asked us was weather or not we took a picture from the bridge since Jerry had his camera around his neck.  They told us pictures were forbidden and luckily we had not taken any.
If a Canadian is going back and forth across the border around the Great Lakes and the thousand islands area then a Nexus Pass would be the best since it allows you to call the US Customs every time you cross without having to be physically boarded and having to wait at smaller stations for an Agent to arrive. This is not for us since we plan to cross once and stay a long time and cover a large area of the US.  We have to apply for a US decal which costs $27.50. We also need a cruising permit which is valid for one year and that takes at least 48 hours to be issued because of all the various levels of signature required on it.  We were given the paperwork to complete and a number to call half an hour before we leave Bondar Marina.  Once we arrive at George Kemp Marina across the St Mary's River, we will call the same number to advise that we have arrived and we would like to be cleared by customs.  An agent will come and inspect our boat, take our applications and fees and return with the decal and cruising permit.  We will most likely stay overnight at the Kemp Marina until we are legal.  We can then cruise throughout the US for 6 months without having to call in at every state or port.  We can only stay 6 months because that is the maximum stay in the US for Canadian citizens.  We must report that we are leaving and go home or to the Bahamas.  We do not have to turn in our cruising permit but just carry on with the same one once we cross back in since it is good for one year.
This is how it is done in Sault Ste Marie, it varies from port to port depending on the number of available Agents.  In Drummond it would have taken up to a week because of the lack of personnel.
We have decided to cross on Monday and start exploring the Mackinaw Island and Lake Michigan area.
There was a good folk concert by Green Cafe here last night, at the Bondar Pavilion. This is a nice little city with lots to do.

The Captain and his buddies

Gots to get me moose

More boats came in today

Green Cafe

Sault Ste Marie Bondar Marina

It was windy and cool yesterday but fortunately we were at a marina and had no plans to leave.  We should be here until Monday. We have some preparations to make before we cross over to the US so this is a good place to take care of such things.
The marina is quite comfortable and the staff is most helpful.  There is entertainment going on every day at the pavilion and I did miss the farmer's market yesterday so I will have to wait for Saturday to sample the local produce.
The museum steamship Norgoma is docked at this marina and for $6.00 one can go through it.  You guessed it, we are not going to go aboard.
There is a casino within walking distance from the marina that may interest some folks, who knows if we get bored we might even go give a donation.
We will look into our cruising permit today so more on that tomorrow.

Bondar Marina with Norgoma in background

Bondar entertainment Pavilion

walking and bicycle trail on the waterfront

Sault Ste Marie

We are at Roberta Bondar Marina and the winds are blowing 20 knots.  We will not be leaving today, we may stay for the week and sort out our cruising permit issue.
We went out for dinner last night and then took advantage of half price movie night at the theatre.  There is a mall 5 minutes from the marina so I am sure I will be back there today. Oh the joys of civilization. There is a nice waterfront here with a boardwalk and a bicycle trail.  We went for a short ride between thunderstorms yesterday.  It is cloudy and rainy today as well.  Quite a bit cooler than we are used to as well. The marina has good laundry facilities and clean showers as well as complimentary internet. There are only 6 boats in this all transient marina and evidently the traffic has been down for the last 3 years they tell us.  Must be the economy.  Most of the boaters we met in the North Channel come from Michigan and Wisconsin but they are going to decrease if our dollar stays this strong.
There was music at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion yesterday but it didn't sound all that brilliant.  There is a farmers market, here at the waterfront, every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday so I will check that out this afternoon.
I have no pictures yet because it was raining yesterday, more to come tomorrow.

Squirrel Island on the Garden River

We anchored in a Garden River last night, 14 miles east of Sault Ste Marie and yet there was no internet access (N46 31.101' and W084 06.704'). Today it is raining and thundering and since it is the Captain's birthday,we are staying at our very first marina.  Yes folks, we brought out the wallet and we are paying at Roberta Bondar Marina in Sault Ste Marie. This is a city run marina and it is only 1.10 per foot and it includes internet, showers and there is a clean coin laundry.  The museum ship Norgoma is here so we will have to take a look at that.
There are large laker ships entering the locks on the American side so it may be a little noisy.  The lock on the Canadian side is strictly for pleasure crafts.
We will ride over to the US to see about our cruising permit once the rain lets up. 

Squirrel Island on Garden River

St Joseph Channel going to SSMarie

Captain keeps busy at anchor