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.