Windy City

The name is well deserved.  We have been watching the weather to make our crossing of lower Lake Michigan only to have bad weather hit us at the dock.  We tied up to the dock at Columbia Yacht Club yesterday around 1:00 pm. By 4 pm the wind had picked up and with no protection from a South wind the harbor became very choppy.  We put on a few extra lines and went to bed.  At 10:30 the dinghy banged into the back of Lifestyle II and woke me up.  As I was retreiving the dinghy,  my neighbor in a  new 40' Mainship Trawler yelled for me to come help.  The wind and waves were causing the boat to gyrate to the point it was causing damage to the boat.  The man and wife owners were trying to hold it off the dock and deploy additional dock lines and fenders.  After just a few minutes of trying to aid, I told them to start the engines and get away from the dock.  By the time they moved to a more sheltered part of the dock other people had come out to help.  We tied the Mainship down at a different dock but not before the wave and wind action had torn off the port side rail. The owners were sick but it can be replaced and no one was hurt, so all is well.  Back on board our boat I was thankful for the design of our Marine Trader.  She took the weather without a second thought.  The hull design and the weight contributed to a well balanced boat that can take such weather.  Today, just for safety's sake, we moved to a different spot.  The wind is still coming from the South and it may increase tonight, so we are trying to prevent another boat from getting damaged, ours!!.  Today we enjoyed pizza from a great Chicago pizza restaurant, Gino's East.  We rode bikes in the big city and watched as the Wednesday racers prepared their boats for the Wednesday night Beer Can race.  Some serious racers are here at Columbia Yacht Club.  We hope to start the river system tomorrow just as the heat blows in.  Temps tomorrow may reach 100 degrees. 

Pull Over!!

Monday was such a great day on Lake Michigan that it makes you forget just how ugly the big lake can be.  We traveled about 40 miles and settled into the marina at New Buffalo.  A quick run into town and we had our supplies in order and ready for another few days on the water.  We docked at the municipal marina and found three other loopers already there.  We quickly caught up on our travels and answered questions about what may lie ahead. Tuesday morning we se out for our crossing of the big lake to the windy city and the last couple of nights on the lake before we start on the river system that will take us to Nashville and then on to the Gulf.  A front was approaching and the wind and waves were more than our liking.  We got bounced around from a beam wind and waves. Just when you think things are settling down a big roller will hit you.  One knocked us over and everything went from one side of the boat to the other. Such is life on Lake Michigan.  We could see the skyline of Chicage from 30 miles out.  We were happy and excited that we had accomplished so much.  We were real proud of ourselves. If only I had a rear view mirror!!  I looked over my shoulder and saw a U.S. Customs boat with his BLUE lights on.  They don't say pull over, you kinda know when a military type inflatable with three large outboard engines, people on deck with guns and blue light flashing and the guy is almost touching your stern that you need to stop, pull over, power down,,, anything just don't shoot me!!.  Well, they bordered us and ask us a bunch of questions and ask for documentation, ID's and other stuff.  They ask us if we spent the night in Canada.  Well, yea, wespent almost a month there - we had to spend the night.  After about 30 minutes they decided that we were not a threat to National Security and let us go.  Welcome to Chicago.  I think Obama knows how I vote and sent them after me to keep me out of his hometown. We will spend a couple of days here and then start down the river.  Talk to you then!

South Haven Municipal Marina

South Haven, on lower Lake Michigan, is a nice community that seems to have a life after tourist season is over with well established neighborhoods and well kept homes.  The downtown is more trendy than most and seems to cater to the tourists and the boat people.  Several marinas line the river as it snakes through town.  This is our second day here and we took advantage of the time in the marina to go shopping and find a Baptist church to attend this morning.  It was only mile or so from the marina but we managed to get lost.  We were enjoying the bike ride and viewing the older section of town when I saw a local policeman cruising the area.  I stopped him for directions.  After giving me directions, clearly and succinctly, he said with a grin, "Where ya'll from"?  He was making fun of the way we talk. I said "NASH--VILLE" only because I can put more syllables in Nashville than I can Murfreesboro.  We all laughed and then Denniese and I rode the right direction to the church.  No wonder the South gets such a bad rap. We were two mature people, dressed in Sunday clothes,  riding bikes just off a boat and were lost.  I'm sure we were the talk of the department. The church was Calvary Missionary Baptist Church and it was nice.  It is the first one of any denomination that we have visited during this trip that had a full house. Good people, good service and the preacher ask the congregation to pray for our safe travel.  It was worth an extra something in the plate.  I think the weather will be agreeable for our travel to New Buffalo tomorrow.

80 miles today

Not having very many good days in the past week we took advantage of the best day of the week. After only getting a couple of travel days in this week we were ready.  We were up before dawn and had the dog walked and into the big lake by 7am.  The lake was smooth, well as smooth as Lake Michigan gets- one to two foot waves with a few rollers that come from nowhere. By noon we had our first stop in sight. We try to have a couple of stopping places ready so if the weather turns bad we can get off the lake. By 3pm we could see our best estimate harbor.  We decided that the good days on the lake are limited this time of year and we had better take advantage of it.  We finally dropped anchor a little after 5pm, outside Holland, MI.  We had made 80 miles in one day.  A new record for Lifestyle II and crew. This lake like most lakes, outside New Jersey, has some really nice homes on it.  Since we are in the back yard of these fine homes they get to see us and we get to see them.  I think we get the best deal. The only problem, since we are neighbors, if only temporary, is they should be more sociable.  Like invite us to their garden party.  The house in front of our boat is having a garden party and didn't invite us.  We are within shooting distance and they haven't even sent the butler out to ask if we wanted a fluted glass of sparkley.  Thats OK, we really just wanted some green grass for Maggie to do her business on.  Thanks anyway.

Four days in Pentwater

Four days in Pentwater sounds like the title of a novel but it is the amount of time we have been here, not by choice but by caution.  The weather reports have been so bad that we have just sayed here.  If we don't leave soon they may send us a property tax bill.  When we pulled into the fuel dock I was talking to the attendant and ask him about anchoring out and he said "They would like for you to move your boat every 5 days".   Denniese and I looked at each other and said, " Who would want to stay here 5 days?"  Tomorrow will be our fifth day! The weather looks better for tomorrow so maybe we can get some miles behind us. Yesterday was Wednesday.  Sailing clubs everywhere have a Wednesday night race called the beer can race.  I think the name came from all the beer cans floating in the water after the race.  Now you can't throw the beer cans in the water but the name has stuck.  Last night we watched as the locals made the course, a triangle course which  usually has two legs sailing into the wind and one running with the wind.  As the boats rounded the windward mark near our boat the gust were approaching 25mph.  Several of the sailboats got knocked down (when the sails dip into the water).  It was very exciting to watch the crews try to handle the 30 to 40 ft boats with too much sail up trying to make the course. Since we pulled away from the dock we can't use the TV so it was great entertainment.  Boating has something for everyone.

TV has it all?

Today, Monday August 22, we woke at anchor in Portage Lake.  One of the best anchor spots we have found.  After the bad wind and waves anything would have looked good, especially this little lake which has a rural setting and plenty of clear clean water and not much sea grass to clog water intakes and foul props.  The weather reports this morning said it would be a good day on Lake Michigan and it was.  It was an unusually good day.  The wind was from the South, but not bad enough to cause a lot of wave action.  We hoped for 40 miles today and made it by 2:00pm.  We pulled into Lake Pentwater and filled up with diesel fuel, well 67 gallons anyway.  The guy next to me put in 100 gal. in each tank. 200 gallons will last him a couple of days.  Our 67 gallons will last us 4 days. After fuel we pulled into a slip next to some other Loopers and took time to discuss the weather.  It seems a cold front is passing and high winds are expected tomorrow and maybe the next day.  So we may stay put for a while.  The guy that helped us into the dock explained all the services this marina has.  The last thing he said was "and the cable connection is in front of your boat". We have been on the boat since May and we have not hooked up the TV.  So, as soon as we got settled we decided to hook up the TV.  After about an hour of pulling on wires and connecting and disconnecting we got the TV going.  We watched 30 minutes and found out everything is the same so we turned it off.  So much for our efforts.  Well, I expect we will watch the weather...

Pentwater is a pretty little upscale boating community.  It sits on a small lake with several marinas and some condos and some cute little shops, but no Walmart.  We haven't seen a Walmart since Winter Harbor, NY. Maybe we will find one in Chicago.  I need that Walmart fix!

Are ya leaving today?

"Are ya leaving today?" is what every boater says to his neighbor each morning.  Everyone will check the radio for the NOAA weather forcast, watch TV and then check the internet and then ask their neighbor, "Are ya leaving today?"   Then the last thing is to look out to the water and see what it is doing.  This morning we were anchored in a secure lake with protection all around.  A front was passing but we thought it would be passed by noon.  Noon time came and we pulled up anchor and headed out onto Lake Michigan.  The wind was blowing 15-18 knots which is a little more than we like but the wave action left over from the front passing made for a really bad trip.  We had two destinations picked out.  The main one was about 25 miles away but we had a closer one if the weather was bad.  We chose the closer one.  It only took us a little over and hour to make the 15 miles but it was rough from the start. Large rollers that tossed our little boat every which way.  By the time we got in our safe harbor the living area of Lifestyle looked like a war zone.  After about 30 minutes of cleaning we only had one casualty.  A clay flower pot broke into many pieces and scattered dirt all over.  We cleaned it all up and had a glass of red to settle our nerves.  We were rewarded for our efforts by having a safe anchorage, out of harms way and watching a beautiful sunset. Thanks all for your prayers.  They say God looks after sailors, fools and little children.   We fell into two of those categories today.

Fishtown

We tied up to the dock at Fishtown officially known as Leland, MI. yesterday at 1230.  Just in time to go into town and have a sandwich at a place known as Village Cheese Shanty.  All of the dock side shacks have been turned into restaurants, sandwich shops or gift shops.  The tourist trade is the driving force.  It seems Good Morning America was just here a couple of days ago and named it one of the best places to go in the summer.  We came here because the winds were picking up on the lake and we wanted a safe harbor.  To their credit Michigan has done a great job creating safe harbors (Harbors of Refuge) along the coast. Every 20 miles or so a man made or natural harbor has been built to help boaters duck into a place and wait out a blow.  We are here till Saturday morning waiting for a front to pass, when we will brave it again.  In the meantime we are enjoying the local flavor and catching up on projects as usual. It appears we have found the adult playground of the Lake.  Last evening we witnessed a man about my age riding a bike up and down the dock while drinking a beverage in a tall glass.  He did this very well and seemed to know many of the other boaters.  We think he has had lots of practice.  Anyway we decided that this is a drinking town with a fishing problem. Seems only partying ranks above those two. People are real friendly and we have spotted two other Loopers in the marina. 

5 legs is dead!

The weather is improving and we expect to leave Northport tomorrow for a 30 mile trip to Leland Michigan.  A week cold front passed on to the the east today and we hope to have good weather for a couple of days.  We have taken the advice of locals and we are picking our days to be on Lake Michigan.

 Since we left Key Largo we have been pestered by a unwelcome guest aboard our floating home.  A Florida cockroach!  You know, those big ones that have wings and measure about an inch and half long. Boaters are very wary of getting infested by roaches.  We take a lot of precautions.  We don't bring cardboard aboard, We keep the boat clean.  We even assigned Maggie to clean up any crumbs.  But, to all of our efforts, we still have had this one lone roach aboard.  We call him 5 legs because I came close to killing him about a month ago when I found him in the galley one night. The only evidence of my quick smack was a leg left behind. Last night old 5 legs met his end. Denniese found him lurking in the master suite and put and end to his sea going days. I confirmed the kill this morning and counted his legs to make sure we got the right one.

Since we stayed in port today, I took to time to change the fuel filters.  As you know changing the fuel filters is the thing I hate most.  Denniese encourged me and I changed them withour a flaw-  no spilled diesel, no air in the lines -  all the seals in the right place.  All is good!  The pic is taken from the back of Lifestyle II. A lovely park at the end of the dock.

Michigan?

Are we on Lake Michigan or in some far away country?  We have sailed in the Caribean and not seen waters this clear. We anchored in 35' of water last night at Harbor Springs, Michigan, an upscale boating community.  Lots of large plastic boats but also an amazing number of old wooden boats.  We saw a 1942 Chris Craft that looked like new.  It was for sale but the price was not listed on the sign. Another one looked like a presidental yacht of the same era. Not having anchored in water that deep before I ask a fellow boater how much rode he used.  That's sailor talk for the amount of chain between the boat and the anchor. He said, "150 feet".   Now this gets real techincal, but in order for a boat to be in the same place in the morning as where you left in before you went to bed you must have an anchor and rode to fit the boat. If that is fitted properly then you can start with a 7-1 ratio.  7 times the depth of the water plus the distance from the boat to the water.  So,,, 7(35+5) (water depth and distance of boat to water) = 280'  But if you have chain and a heavy anchor you can drop the ratio down to 5-1 which equals 200'.  Since I don't have but about 150' of chain I did the third option.  I dropped it all in the water and said a short prayer.  Well, when I got up this morning we were in the same place.  IT WORKED!!  The only problem was the fog was so think we couldn't see to leave.  We waited around for a while and the fog lifted and we were on our way. The weather was super.  The water was so clear you could easlily see 20' down. We were at times in over 300 feet of water just a couple miles off shore.  This is a wounderful place.  The Caribean is a great place to visit in the winter and this is a great place to visit in the summer.  Tonight we are in the small town of Northport, MI.  We have found the local bakery and tasted the donuts.   Maybe we could write a book on the best donut ports.

Lake Michigan smiles

Lake Michigan smilled upon us today.  We departed Mackinaw Straits Marina this morning at 7 and passed under the famous Mackinaw Bridge at 8AM.  We were in the Straits and had turned south by 11AM.  The weather is great.  We have been working so hard to get to Lake Michigan that I think it rewarded us with great weather.  We are now anchored in a very busy harbor that looks like a Caribbean tourist hot spot.  Lots of big boats, lot of people and then there is Lifestyle II anchored right in the middle of it all.  We are waiting for someone to tell us to move, but we will stay here until they do.  Denniese is fixing porkchops to go on the grill and all is well in the world.  We will depart here tomorrow and head for another special spot.  Jay has send our mail to the next location and we will be able to catch up on the local news, a month late.
Blogspot is having trouble with pictures again, so no picture this time.

U S Coast Guard 83

Denniese and Mike Standing in front of the Mackinaw. 

 The Mackinaw was a US Coast Guard Ice Breaker that served from 1944 to just 5 years ago. Her job was to keep the great lakes open.  During WW2 she opened the Straits of Mackinaw so that iron ore could be delivered to the foundries and the war effort could be maintained.  She is now retired and sits at Mackinaw City Marina. We enjoyed our tour. She has three props -  two stern and one bow.  The bow prop was the reason for her success. It would drive the boat over the ice and crush it. The engines are the same as diesel train engines. It has three of these with electric motors that drive the props.  We can see her from our slip at our marina at Straits State Harbor, which is a new and very nice facility next to Mackinaw City.  The weather has cleared and we moved to this marina because it is close to the Mackinaw Bridge which we have to go under to continue our trip South.  Lake Michigan and Lake Huron come together underneath the Mackinaw Bridge.  We are hopfully going to depart Monday morning and be in Lake Michigan by noon.  We met up with three loopers that passed us a couple of weeks ago in the Georgian Bay.  One couple is from Decatur, Alabama and speaks and understands Southern talk.  Good to hear it again.. 

Lake Huron loves us.

Lake Huron must love us.  We have been within 30 miles of Lake Michigan for almost  a week and still cannot cross onto the big lake.  We are now in St. Ignace, MI, a small town across from Mackinac Island. This is a good stop even if it is raining. We are able to walk (in the rain) to an Ace Hardware and a True Value.  We found a great little grocery that will bring our groceries to our boat.  In addition, they have a real bakery that makes fresh bread and fresh donuts.  Wow,, what a place!!  Since this is the end of the tourist season, many stores have sales.  We pulled into the marina to the sound of firetrucks, the USCG and lots of excitment. At first I thought they had found out about me dumping the dish network satellite dish overboard (not needed since we don't subscribe), but  after docking, we found out a sizable fuel spill had occured. Of course, it had all washed over to the slip we were assigned.  Nothing like the smell of fresh diesel while enjoying lunch on the aft deck.  The HAZMAT team arrived and soon white oil soaks and oil booms surrounded the marina.  When I complained about the slip assignment the lady in the office said, "They all had diesel in them".  The HAZMAT team did a great job cleaning yesterday and were back at it this morning. Hopefully the rain will stop and the skies will clear for a departure tomorrow to Harbor Springs in Lake Michigan. We have met lots of nice people and share our story of the Great Loop adventure with all of them.  Last week we met a couple of fellow loopers from Laramie, Wyoming who are well on their way in a homemade project boat.  We passed them in open water making about 6kts with a 35hp outboard Johnson.  See, anybody can do it.  Enjoy the pic.

Do we need to move here?

The answer is emphatically, "No!"  This beautiful sunset was Monday evening, after a beautiful day.   When we woke up Tuesday morning the sky was black and it rained and stormed all day with a wind around 10-15 mph.  We didn't even consider leaving.  Yesterday morning, the sky was gray and the wind was blowing at around 20-25 mph and it was 59 degrees.  There were white caps on the water in the harbor and as the day progressed, there even appeared to be white caps INSIDE the marina.  No one was to be seen on the docks and no one left the marina  except two small boats that made a mad dash over to the island across the harbor.  People stayed on their boats all morning and  in the afternoon the sun broke through, but the temperature was in the high 60's and the wind was still howling.   We were invited to join 2 other couples, Bill & Pam Watt and Marcus & Jean Schultz, who graciously shared their supper with us and we discussed our options for leaving here. These folks were so nice and they were ready to go, too.  Cabin fever had settled in. Mike did take advantage of the situation and changed the oil in the engine and I did a few household chores, such as vacuuming up dog hair.  Speaking of dog hair, Maggie is better.  She is wagging her tail again, so I guess it is not broken.

The wind laid down during the night last night, so we are going to try to bust loose from here and anchor tonight at Government Island, which is about halfway to Lake Michigan.  The news from our neighbors is the weather patterns for Lake Michigan are similar to what we have experienced the last 2 days here on Lake Huron - 3 bad days and 2 good days.  Once we get to Lake Michigan, we have 300 miles to cover to get to Chicago.  It may take longer than we anticipated.
 

Drummond Island Yatch Haven

The weather turned sour yesterday and is even worse today. Denniese said this is why people live here, "They can't get out".  It seems a weather pattern started with thunderstoms yesterday and now has high winds today and appears to be here for awhile.  Wind gusting to 30kts.is not good for small boats. This is putting a dent in our budget.  We are sitting still and using food, and paying for a slip.  All in all its better than getting out in the bad weather.  We woke up to 59 degrees.  Lifestyle II does not have a heater, it is a warm temp boat. The people in the office here said that in 6 weeks they will have hard freezes in this area.  Please let us be gone by then!!  Back to the subject of Georgian Bay, which is really the north part of Lake Huron.  My description of that area is, "A cross between a maze and an obstacle course".  The landscape is granite rock with mostly evergreen trees growing on the small amount of soil on them.  But the amazing part is that almost every rock island that is bigger that a good size barn back home has a summer cottage built on it.  Some cottages are smaller than small, depending on the rock it is sitting on. A boat is a necessity.  Everything has to be brought in by boat, except when the water freezes, which I think must be early September (!!) and then you can take your snowmobile.  The strangest one we saw was a camping trailer parked on a rock just a bit larger than the trailer.  We decided they pulled it up there when the lake froze and just left it there for the summer.  The beauty is beyond description, granite of various colors, gray, blue and red. The water is so clear you can easily see 10 feet down.  Of course what you see is more granite.  Enjoy the day and give thanks for all this world offers.  Pic is of island house. 

Back in the USA

We arrived at Drummond Island Yacht Haven yesterday at 1:15pm and were cleared through customs by 1:30.  A very nice young customs agent asked it we had rought anything that we wanted to declare while in Canada.  We told him we couldn't afford to buy anything in Canada. The exchange rate was not in our favor and we found everything just higher.  Of course, we were in tourist towns for the most part and usually in marinas at that.  We did purchase a cheap 3 liter box of wine for $31.00 Canadian.  We usually buy a 5 liter in TN for $16.00.   Our trip into Canada started after leaving the Oswego canal in upstate NY and crossing Lake Ontario.  It was a rough crossing and we were glad to get tied up to a dock on the South coast just West of Kingston, Ontario. Ahead of us at that point was the Trent-Severn Waterway (240 miles),Georgian Bay(168 miles) and the North Channel(138 miles) Most of the trip is in protected waters.  Protected from the weather but not from many other hazards. The 44 locks on the Trent Severn were all clean and helpful.  Only a couple were difficult to manage and they were the ones that were in tourist towns with lots of boats and people.  The most interesting were the two pan locks where your boat was driven into a giant swimming pool or pan and then lifted to the higher water.  We had two of those and one lock where the boat was driven onto a traveling lift that took us and the boat via rail to the lower lake. The north portion of the great loop trip is challenging.  It will challenge your navigation skills, your boat handling skills, mechanical and planning skills.  Fuel and groceries are limited in some areas.  Rocks are everywhere and the channels are sometimes so narrow, alert calls on the VHF are required prior to entering them.  Marinas are widely spaced and if repairs are needed you need to do them yourself. Our generator stopped working and it took me three days to make the repair. We heard of boats hitting rocks and saw the proof at each marina where we stopped.  Storms and limited places to anchor were always a challenge.  When we did anchor we found very little mud on the bottom, mostly rock so our anchor would not hold.  Open water and storms are for another chapter. In spite of all the challenges, we saw some beautiful sites and met some wonderful people.  Lifestyle II performed great and with a few exceptions, we met the challenges and overcame them.  We had one injury.  Maggie fell and hurt her tail.  She may have broken it.  She is real pitiful.She tries to wag it and cries.  It happened during a bad storm while crossing the North Channel.  We were able to get out of it by ducking into a harbor on Cockburn Island.  The Island has 220 residents but only one that stays year round.  Tucked here in Drummond Island Yatch Haven, we marvel at all we have seen and expiencened.  We give thanks for our safe travels and look foward the the next half of the Great Loop.

So far, so good!

Since our last blog, we have completed the entire 44 locks along the Trent Severn Waterway.  The Trent Severn is 240 statute miles long.  Whew!
For those of you who thought we were just on a long vacation, think again!  The lock system in Canada is easier and cleaner than the New York Canal system, but it is still a lot of work. Some days we were able to get through as many as 7 or 8 locks, but some days, we only went through 2. The picutre was taken in Cambellsford, Ontario which was Lock #7.  We walked around that little town and found the best cream-filled doughnuts in the world, made fresh every morning and only $6.00 per dozen. We shopped there for a new mop & bucket (lost the old ones in the bad storm in Big Bay) but Mike was only able to find a new bucket.  The stores here do not open until 9:00 am and we were on the move by that time next morning. Most locks are located in or near small towns but usally we just pass through.  At the end of the day you can tie up to the lock wall for a fee. $.90/ ft. is the going rate, that is without "Hydro" which is electricity and without water. The word "Hydro" comes from hydro-electric, that is where they get most of the electricity.  On the Erie, all that is free just to get you to stop and visit the towns. We were able to anchor out and save money and only pay a fee when we wanted to go into a marina.  That is determined by how many changes of underwear we have left and the date on the milk bag.  Milk is sold in plastic bags and was really confusing when we first purchashed it, but we soon learned how to work a bag of milk.  We have found groceries and other items very expensive. Fuel is a $1.39/liter and a pump out can be as much as $35.00.  The last place we purchased wine,  a 3 liter cardboard box was $31.00 Canadian.  We usually pay $16.00 for a 5 liter box.      Peterborough is a large town and we were able to anchor in a lake in the middle of town next to a large fountain.  We enjoyed the light show at the fountain each evening.  It was between two locks and we only got the wake from the local traffic so it was a very pleasent couple of days.  I even found a marine store and purchased a few items including a mop.  The next lock after Peterborough was the first pan lock. It is more like a large swiming pool that you drive your boat into and then then the pan and boat are raised by adding just a little water in the opposing pan and it picks you up the the higher water level.  Somewhat like a seasaw only beside one another.  We had two of those and one lock where we were loaded into a large marine railway. Our boat was strapped in and the train climbed over the hill to the higher water elevation. Along the way we found the most interesting place to eat and dock for the night. WAUBIC means white tail deer in Indian.  In this case it is a small dock and place to eat located on and island and only accessable by boat.  The owner is English but had lived in Tennessee.  Wonderful stop and great people. The fish and chips were great.  Next came the Georgian Bay, a very large fresh water lake.  A small craft channel is provided for us small boats.  The channel snakes around the NW coast and is a boaters nightmare.  Some of the passages are only wide enough for one boat and is lined with granite rock. It is advised to announce over the VHF when you are approaching the small cuts.  The water in Georgian Bay is famous for being clear, so are the rocks.  I heard one boater on the VHF announce "Those rocks look a lot closer in the clear water".  No they are close!!!  Prop repair and sales is a big business here.  It takes both of us all day, one of us at the helm and one at the chart plotter and chart book.  If that's not bad enough, yesterday we had to go out into the Bay and were about 2 hours with 4' swell on our beam.  Thats only the second time we have been in weather so bad we had to tie the dog down.  At the end of the day was a quite marina waiting to take our dock lines.  We are now docked at Wrights Marina in the town of Britt in Ontario.  We have two more days of Georgian Bay and then on to the North Channel for about a week and then back into the USA.. Thank you, Lord..  Yes we are having fun and enjoying the beauty of it all.  We especially enjoy the people we meet.  The Canadians are very gracious and hospitable people.  Yesterday we were anchored in a small bay and we met some locals.  The lady Pam, invited us over for tea and then brought us out some tea bags  in her kayak before we departed.  I will try to remember that when I meet foreign visitors.  Our next stop at a marina will be in Killarney which is two days away.  Hopefully we will have Wifi so we can update you then.  L&K M&D.