Open Water [ Lake Huron ]

After the long haul up the St. Clair River and the seemingly endless push under the Bluewater Bridge, the coasts fell away and we were out. Lake Huron extended before us in almost every direction, and the change was refreshing. No longer contained by the shores of the river, the exposure on the lake was a bit wild. The temperature dropped and though there was no wind, residual swells started to gently roll the boat. We made it to the beginning of the real water!

We started a bit late in the season for the Loop from Detroit, but September was nice to us. The hot weather and breeze from the south made our cruise up the lake alarmingly pleasant. If it wasn’t glassy we had a perfect amount of wind pushing us towards the top of the mitten, and we could still get projects done and get organized without being tossed around in waves. It was just us out on the lake, slowly making our way north, in a weirdly calm desert of blue.

Stops:

Lexington:

Quiet, there were only a few other boats, and some swans. I tried to battle the swans away from our boat but they were insistent on begging for food. Also everything in town was closed.

Harbor Beach:

Our first anchorage! Once we were behind the breakwall, we debated for at least a half hour on where to drop the hook, because the harbor is huge. After the anchor was set we still couldn’t relax for pretty much the entire night, nervous that we would drift. It wasn’t helped by the factory looming over the harbor and the eerie seaweed brushing the surface. That night we made sure we knew how the anchor alarm works and slept with it between us on full volume. Pulling away the next morning was a relief.

*We crossed Saginaw Bay! It was a long day, and losing sight of land was exciting. We also picked up a bird hitchhiker, our first friend of the trip! It stayed on board until we docked.

Presque Isle:

We successfully anchored again! The bay smelled like a pine forest, and the stars were amazing. It was a very peaceful place to be, and still one of our favorite anchorages.

Mackinac!!!!

We made it to Mackinac! We normally race there in two days with all of our friends, so it was strange to take almost a week to get there and then be able to walk through the Pink Pony without fighting a crowd of drunken sailors. We were psyched we got there ourselves and ended up high fiving a lot. And we ate pizza. It was awesome.

Lake Huron was lovely, and was the perfect start to the adventure. We found that harbor masters are our favorite resource of information, coffee made from lake water is delicious, and anchoring is stressful but ok. We’re still getting used to waking up in a different place every morning, and we both have had panic moments not being able to remember where we are or that we’re sleeping on a boat; every day feels a bit more normal. We were at our northernmost point, and it’s time to start heading south!

Attempt at a panorama

Way too early in the morning