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.

It has been a while since we could update this blog and post new pictures, as cell phone connection has been very spotty at best. We are in the wilds of Northern Ontario afterall.

First off, we want to let everyone know that Annick will be a grandmother in January 2013:  son Cedric and wife Lizzie are expecting a little one for early January. This means more frequent trips to Rochester in 2013.

And now for our boating adventure update.

North Georgian Bay and the North Channel: a mecca for boaters. This is where Walter Cronkite used to sail, and only here. We understand why now. Absolutely spectacular scenes, one after another. Large granite rocks, emerald blue waters, stunning coves and anchorage areas etc… Larger and more open waters on the North Channel than in the 30,000 Islands area of the Georgian Bay. We were told that the French River area was the most spectacular; although spectacular, we found it rather in-hospitable to boaters (lots of uncharted rocks…). In turn, we found Collins Inlet leading to Killarney very enticing.  

Killarney – A straight linking the northern part of the Georgian Bay to the North Channel – Small town of about 400…mostly marinas catering to transient boaters. Famous Herbert Fisheries Red Bus for Fish & Chips. Incredibly clear blue water. This is where we met up with our friends Dale & Wendy, and their 2 adorable little dogs Coco and Karma. They joined us for a week of exploring the North Channel.

We moved about 40 miles into the North Channel to reach the Benjamin Islands. Another  well-known spot around here. We stayed at a beautiful bay on Crocker Island (one of the Benjamin’s), where in order to make room for the large number of transient boats, it is mandatory to stern-tie to anything that will hold your boat, while putting your bow anchor out as far as you can go without impeding the flow of boat traffic. One of the nights we were there, unfortunately, the wind gusted up to about 30 knots directly on our beam. It took 3  1-inch lines to secure the boat to the shore (what fun this was!): Annick was glad to have Dale on board to help with the process!

We moved on to an area called Baie Fine that is in the La Cloche Range. It just looks like Fjords in Norway. From there it was a few days anchoring out in various anchorages in Frazier Bay, all with small sand beaches and super clear water. All great for doggy runs…

We were back in Killarney on Saturday 8/4 to drop Dale and Wendy off to their car. We had a very good time with them with great food and wines. They gifted us wonderful meats (filet, steaks, pork loin), cheeses, and beaucoup wines... We thought we would go back at anchor after they left, but the wind forecast for the next few days was bad. We were lucky to take one of the very last docks available, after hopping from a mooring ball to the fuel dock for one night. Wind was as advertised on Sunday: 30 knots with gusts to 45 knots…, and M. had to reinforce our floating dock with 2 1-in lines to the shore. We had 12 lines on our boat too! A 63 ft. Viking ripped their dock, had to power out, and ended up on the fuel dock 2 feet behind us: tight quarters... The marina lost 175 ft. of dock that day. Everyone was looking for shelter, but all docks we booked in the 2 neighboring towns of Killarney and Little Current. We also witnessed a May Day call where 4 canoers went in the water off Killarney. A rescue boat from our marina was dispatched and brought everyone back to shore alive and safe. We witnessed lots of activities that day. We take strong wind advisory very seriously, as it can really whip up here.

From here, we are going back to the North Channel for at least the next 2 weeks. We have decided to not come back down and retrace our route to the US/Syracuse NY, because this boating mecca is so gorgeous, we want to spend more time here next year. We are looking for heated storage in Northern Michigan. We will then keep moving along the North Channel until we can cross to Lake Huron or Lake Michigan for storage, likely in mid-September. Weather will dictate our schedule.  Summer of 2013 we will drive from storage to the North Channel down the Georgian Bay and back to the US/NY state. Then???

Don’t forget to view the 2 new picture albums on North Georgian Bay and the North Channel.

And thank you for traveling with us via this blog. You can click on location below too.

Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco.

From Covered Portage Cove (near Killarney), North Channel

We have not had any cell phone or internet connection in quite a while.
Today finally, I can connect briefly. So sending this to let everyone know we are well and enjoying our trip tremendously. The North Georgian Bay is spectacular, but I would have to say that we almost like the Southern part even better. We started exploring the North Channel a week ago. It is spectacular too, and the waters are big and open. Very different from the Eastern Georgian bay shores. Higher hills, whiter granite rocks, and more conniferous trees around. Very wild and certainly not many cottages around. Will post picutres of both the Norhtern Georgian Bay and the North Channel as soon as I have access to a fast internet connection to upload large data files.

Greetings to all!
Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco