In Mackinaw City, Michigan

About 2 weeks ago, the weather on the North Channel really turned: much cooler temps, and lots of windy days. The water temperature dropped to 17oC in no time...no more lake showers for us. In view of this, and the fact that Michael was not feeling at his best with a bout of pneumonia and an antibiotic treatment that got him very tired, we decided to head West and down to Michigan.

We crossed the US border a couple of days ago, and are currently on lake Huron in Mackinaw City (click on the link below), known for its bridge to the Upper Peninsula of MI and for its fudge apparently...we will take a ferry to visit Mackinac Island and the famous Grand Hotel tomorrow, and then head to Harbor Springs on lake Michigan where Sirocco will be stored this coming winter.  Although the air temperature is back to being warm, and the water is as clear as on the North Channel, we are finding that there is much less interesting cruising to do here than there was on the North Channel or the Georgian Bay: we got spoiled!

So we are getting to the end of the season, and it has been quite a trip to remember for sure. We are done much earlier than anticipated, but again, with the weather, the water temperature preventing any swimming (except for the thick blodded Canadians or Minnesotans), and Michael's upper respiratory issues, we will be heading back to North Carolina within the next 2 weeks.

Hope to see many of you soon!
Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco

From the North Channel – Anchored at Eagle Island

As we were warned, the weather on the North Channel starting in mid-August can be a bit questionable due to high winds…we have had 3 instances of this since August 6. Twice, we were lucky (or wise?) to reserve a dock in advance of the wind storm. Third time, we said heck with this and let’s ride it at anchor! So we did. Sirocco has done very well in 30 knots winds and 50 knots gusts, thanks to the 75 lbs. anchor Captain Wonderful installed at the beginning of the season.

We are anchored behind Eagle Island since Wednesday mid-day and plan to scoot out of here early tomorrow Sunday. Winds are lighter this evening and should be under 15 knots until mid-day tomorrow. So we’ll head west to an anchorage called Beardrop Harbor, about 25 miles away.

We found a heated storage in Harbor Springs, Michigan, on the Michigan lake side. If the weather continues to be windy and cooler as it has been in the past 2 weeks, we think we’ll be crossing the North Channel to the US before the end of September. On the way, we plan on stopping at and visiting famous Mackinac Island for a day. We have about 130 miles to go to get to the storage area.

In other news, Michael had not been feeling that great for a while with a nasty persistent cough. We finally got to a little town with a hospital last week and he got an X-Ray. It looks like he had pneumonia, and a pretty good one too by the size of the spot…he is now on his last day on antibiotics treatment and has been feeling much better. Yet he still tires easily. He’ll need a check-up as soon as we get to a US city with an urgent care/hospital. Therefore, we have not been moving very aggressively and mostly staying quietly at a dock or at anchor multiple days. Long naps and lots of sleep have been his main activity!  

We are seeing a lot of US boats here from Michigan mostly, some from Minnesota and Ohio. We also have come across lots of “loopers” who are clearly on a schedule and keep moving every day. They do not seem to take the time to really explore and enjoy these stunning waters and anchorages. When we are asked if we are loopers, we say we are half-looped! We have done the North Carolina-North Channel portion of the Great Loop. We are not that interested in the Illinois/Mississippi Rivers. Sirocco has done the Great Loop 3 times with the previous owners. So it is the 4^th time for Sirocco in these waters.  We ran across a couple who knew Sirocco when it was called Good Times and of course knew the previous owners. How about that!

Voila. This will do it for today.

Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco.