Summer, 2018

Friday, Aug. 31

The weather report was that winds were subsiding and waves also. We knew that at mouth of the St. Mary’s River and Lake Huron the waves would be high do to opposing river current and wave direction, but we found that the winds and waved didn’t let up. Rascals Retreat turned around and returned to DeTour while Hallelujah, Lark, In His Time and Reality continued on. About an hour out, Dave made the decision to turn into Government Bay as waves were not subsiding. In His Time was lead boat and he also turned back. Four of us anchored in Government Bay and were well protected from the southerly winds. We only did 25 miles today but it wasn’t an easy run. Spent the rest of the day resting.

Thursday, Aug. 30

Dave did the navigation for getting to DeTour and we couldn’t wait for Meldrum pump out to open and the winds are still blowing. We did the 48 mile run with winds most of the morning. Again our stabilizers worked great. In His Time and Lark are ahead of us as they run faster and could better manage the waves. We blew our horn as we passed Harbour Island and waved to Reality. Checking in using the ROAM was no problem. We finally got a pump out in DeTour and a slip for the night. The weather hasn’t been the best. We also found the grocery store was still open, but there wasn’t much there. We had docktails ashore with 5 other looper boats – In His Time, Lark, Rascals Retreat, Plane Relief.

Wednesday, Aug. 29

So much for well made plans – the winds were still up and out of the west. Not a good direction! We were the last of the three boats to leave and had reports of 3+ footers on the open water. We started towards Blind River but again, we would be pinned to the fuel dock. Barb called Meldrum Bay and they have a pump out, so we changed direction and headed South West for a 29 mile run from the north shore to the southern shore of the North Channel. Reality continued west while In His Time turned with us and came into Meldrum Bay marina. We were really glad we have stabilizers. As we entered the marina, we saw another boat at the pump-out dock, and in the wind Dave didn’t want to dock twice. We will get a pump-out in the morning. We went out to dinner tonight to be on land for a while. Met the Larks on a Mainship 38 at dinner. They had anchored in Long Point Cove one night. Bruce and Sue are from Maine and on the loop.

Sunday / Tuesday, Aug. 26-28

Today we had to move as we were in need of a pump-out. We were going to stop at Spanish on our way west along the Whalesback Channel to Long Point Cove anchorage. But when we exited Hotham Island the winds from the west were strong and Dave didn’t think we could get the boat off the Spanish fuel dock, so we went directly to Long Point Cove to anchor. This was a 26 mile run. We dinked around with Reality and In his Time in the afternoon and had cocktails aboard In His Time in the evening. Barb managed to climb a rock cliff with Roger. Wasn’t really too difficult but always concerned about falling. We pretty much had to anchorage to ourselves and we were sheltered from the winds – very peaceful night. The winds and rain were varied on Monday so we stayed aboard. Barb made a Mexican dinner for the group and we had 6 aboard for dinner. Lorrie made a great vegetarian dish. BarbaraJean brought fresh made cookies for dessert. We had a great evening. Tuesday we stayed aboard most of day. We got the new US check-in ROAM working. We did go to Reality for cocktails but we knew we had no choice, we had to move tomorrow – holding tank is on yellow! We made plans to stop at Blind River and then head southwest to Drummond Island.

Barb and Roger at the top of the rock.

Docktails on Reality with Dave, BarbaraJean, Lorrie, Barb, Kurt, Roger

Friday / Saturday, Aug. 24-25

We moved to Hotham Island Central Anchorage today. We went in for cocktails with Norm and Elaine. We took fresh fruit to them as a thank you for the many visits we have had this summer. On Saturday Reality and In His Time came in to the anchorage. It drizzled most of the day but we did take the dinks for a short ride to share some other anchorages in the area. The weather cleared in time to go ashore for cocktails with Elaine and Norm. While we were visiting, a baby bear walked onto the deck from the woods. Norm ran for his shot gun and Roger tried to get close for a picture. Norm was able to scare the bear away, but that ended cocktails for the evening.

Dinghy ride: Roger and Lorrie on left, Kurt & BarbaraJean on right.

Hallelujah, In His Time, & Reality in Oak Bay, Hotham Island.

Cocktails on shore - Norm and Elaine are on the right. They have a wonderful summer retreat in Oak Bay, Hotham Island.

Kurt, BarbaraJean, Roger, Barb, Dave, Lorrie with our boats in the background.

Thursday, Aug. 23

Everyone was going different directions today. We went to Little Current, a 25 mile run and timed the bridge very well. We had some difficulty docking as the current was strong and swirling. Barb went to the grocery store and met the Swinks (Reality) on the way back. Roger helped carry some of my groceries. Barb finally got a haircut – Wow! Barb gave Dave a haircut so we were both short. We went out to dinner with Reality and In his Time tonight and looked spiffy.

Saturday / Wednesday, Aug. 18-22

Hallelujah entering Killarney yet again this summer.

We had a short trip to Killarney on Saturday. We needed a pump-out and time to clean the boat. We were again traveling with Aurora and Reality (both DF’s) – In His Time was with us also (not a DF). On Saturday we did get a pump out but it took a while. We did get laundry done before joining up with crews from other boats we are traveling with (they were all at Mountain Lodge Marina while we were at Sportsman Inn). We went to “The Bus” for dinner – it is now a building but are known for their fish fry. We didn’t think it was all that great but we had a good time with our group. We also got a tour of the new conference facility at Mountain Lodge which was impressive. On Monday we all dinghied over to Covered Portage anchorage to see what that was like. Well protected harbor but not very deep. Some of the group took the mountain walk but Barb gave up when it got really steep. Cocktails were at Sportsman Inn – had special on oysters. We were going to leave on Monday but bad weather was coming in so we decided to stay at a dock till it blew through. Worked on the boat today. Reality and In His Time left. Tuesday we had rain most of the day so worked inside and started thinking about winter storage. We did go to Aurora for dinner (we walked down in the rain). Short Vacation and Greek’s Folley arrived this a.m. so we had a great time with a new group of DF’s. We stayed aboard on Wednesday and did last of boat work that we wanted to get done. Received a picture of our canal behind the house – talked with neighbors and it was thick and no boats could move – not good for engines. The sludge (run off fertilizer from Lake Okeechobee) also was a health hazard. There was no report on when or how it would be cleaned up, so we decided we would delay our return to FL in September.

Dinner at the bus - but you sit at picnic tables. group includes: R & L Swink, S & D Koch, K & B Walter, D & B Reinken

Dinner aboard Aurora: Barb, Dave, Colleta, Tom, Pam, John, Steve, Di

Hallelujah at Sportsman Inn dock and us in the dinghy.

Our canal behind the house - filled with green algae runoff from Lake Okeechobee.

Thursday / Friday, Aug. 16-17

From left to right: Aurora, Hallelujah, Reality

Today we are traveling with Aurora to Keyhole Anchorage taking the Collins Inlet Passage (something we have never been able to do because of water depth. We did get down to 9 feet under the keel but we were good and didn’t go aground. The run up Collins Inlet was beautiful. While we have seen the western end, we had never seen the eastern end and never on Hallelujah through the whole inlet. We arrived in keyhole to find Reality and In his Time at anchor. We quickly took down kayaks and had a short reunion with FL friends and former travel partners on Reality. We had cocktails for 8 on Hallelujah in the evening. We stayed another day due to weather. This is our second time here this summer and we love the area. Took the kayaks down and played around most of day two. We had been hearing about bears boarding boats in Haywood anchorage. The North Channel Cruisers Net was suggesting not to stop there and anchor. They told a story of one sailboat that had interior damage due to the bear entering the cabin and tearing it apart looking for food. We met a couple while kayaking and it was their boat. They were still trying to clean it out a week after the incident. We were grateful it wasn’t our boat. On Friday afternoon we had impromptu cocktails on Reality.

The west end of Collins Inlet is in Beaverstone Bay and is very shallow.

Mills Lake is the half way point along the Collins Inlet.

One of the narrow sections of Collins Inlet.

Another narrow channel to wind through.

We again passed this beaver hut but this time on Hallelujah

Reality with Lorrie on the back deck. We traveled with the Swinks in 2016 coming south from the Chesapeake.

Tuesday / Wednesday, Aug. 14-15

Bad River Anchorage: Aurora, Hallelujah, Short Vacation. Hard to believe we almost hit each other.

We only traveled 8 miles today to the Bad River anchorage. We had heard a lot about this anchorage but never been here. It had just opened up after the forest fires were put out so there were boats here when we arrived. It took us a while to find a good spot to anchor as we were told about uncharted rocks in the area we wanted to anchor. We took the kayaks out on Tuesday afternoon and explored part of the river system through here. Dave saw a bear along the shoreline, while Barb was busy taking pictures. Steve and Di came over for cocktails in the evening. On Wednesday we took the dinghy and explored the rapids which were not much of a rapids due to the high water. Short Vacation came in about midday and we had cocktails aboard their boat in the evening. We had an unusual experience just after 1:00 in the afternoon. The winds came up briefly and had a swirling effect in the anchorage. Our boat which wasn’t really anchored near Aurora swung around and we could have walked from our stern to their stern. We had a short scare and thought we were going to hit, but we didn’t and then the boats moved back into place. Interesting and not something we want to repeat. Other boats in the anchorage had the same situation but no one had any problems.

Narrow channel we had to pass through to get to anchorage in Bad River.

Dave kayaking through narrow channel

Small rapids we took the dinghy up and down.

Steve and Di kayaking in Bad River area.

Monday, Aug. 13

Moon over Bustard Island anchorage

We left Heywood anchorage as the sun started to come up to complete the 43 mile trip to the Bustards Islands. We heard Catalina Jack on the radio as he was entering Collins Inlet. This DF 44 was on our list of boats to meet up with, but we could only briefly talk on the radio as they were heading west while we were going east. We are meeting up with Steve and Di Koch on their DF 49. We also hoped to meet up with Short Vacation (DF 44) as they are also in this area. We had a great run down the Georgian Bay and didn’t have too much smoke smell from the fires that are along the shore line. We arrived a little after noon and had plenty of time to rest and renew friendships. Short Vacation came in later in the afternoon and there was plenty of room for all of us to swing on anchors. We had cocktails on Aurora with the crews from Greeks Folly and Short Vacation. Lots of conversation when you put 8 boaters together.

Di, Dave, Pam, John, Barb, Steve on Aurora in the Bustards.

From left to right: Hallelujah, Aurora, Short Vacation

Sunday, Aug. 12

We did a 38 mile run back to Haywood Island anchorage – yes through Little Current and the “bridge”. Haven’t counted the number of times we had to wait for this bridge this summer. Haywood had a number of boats but we were able to find a good spot for the night. We relaxed most of the afternoon. We have been receiving a number of emails from DeFevers as they are getting close – so we are heading to the Bustards to meet up with Aurora and Short Vacation.

Friday / Saturday, Aug. 10-11

Hard to tell that there are grey burgees flying from the bow of both boats, but these are platinum looper flags - rare to see especially near each other.

We left early and did a 20 mile run to Gore Bay for supplies and laundry. We were across from a boat that just completed two loops so we both had platinum flags flying. We met this couple in Hotham Island last week. Did boat cleaning also. We were going to leave on Saturday, but it started raining so we decided to stay. We took the bikes down Saturday afternoon and road around the area. Saw a deer off the side of the road.

Sunday / Thursday, Aug 5-9

View off the back deck - great to sit and have cocktails and see the mountains.

We moved 6 miles to Hotham Island (does this sound familiar?) central anchorage and set anchor near Vingolot III. Cavara was supposed to come here but due to problems with gen set, they took off for Meldrum Bay and a mechanic. We saw Sonador in the West Anchorage so took dink over to visit with her. Then put the dink up as it was to rain over night. It continued to rain most of Monday, but stopped in time for us to go over to Vingolot for dinner. On Tuesday we took a shore trip to Spanish for a pump-out (the winds were down and no rain in early am) and returned to Hotham Island West anchorage (an old favorite anchorage with different view of mountains). We vegged out on Wednesday but watched the winds veer to the East – not good anchorage here, so moved boat back to Hotham Central anchorage near Elaine and Norm’s cocktail deck on Thursday. We went ashore for cocktails and met a nice couple who are interested in traveling Lake Superior next year. They invited us for Breakfast on Friday but we had to decline.

Friday / Saturday, Aug. 3-4

Cavara underway towards Little Current, ON.

We left early to travel 48 miles to Benjamin Islands so we could get a decent spot to anchor. Cavara is behind us. We made it through the Little Current 9:00 a.m. bridge and kept going. Upon arrival, the anchorage was pretty full and Dave was reading 30+ feet on the depth. We don’t like to anchor in such deep water so we left and went to Eagle Island (one of our favorite anchorages) and only a couple of miles away from Benjamins. Cavara stayed at Benjamin Island. On Saturday we dinghied over to see Don and Barb. They dragged anchor during the night and had to move so they had a better set. We had another quiet night even though winds were blowing (good protection in this anchorage).

Wednesday / Thursday, Aug. 1-2

We had an interesting start to the morning. We are moving 13 miles to Killarney, ON (Sportsman Inn). We didn’t leave our anchorage in Haywood due to fog – but wait it isn’t fog but smoke from the fires on the Georgian Bay shore. The smoke was so thick that you couldn’t see very far. It started to blow away midmorning so we were able to get into Killarney with no difficulties. We spent a few hours without power as a new power transformer was being set up. We had dinner with three other couples – Cavin’s and their friends on board and another couple they knew.
On Thursday, Cavin’s friends left. We did boat cleaning, laundry and had Barb and Don over for cocktails in the evening. Made plans for moving tomorrow to the Benjamin Islands

Monday / Tuesday, July 30 - 31

Hallelujah at anchor in Heywood Island.

We ran east again – through Little Current Bridge to Heywood Island anchorage (38 miles). We met up with Cavara here (a DeFever 49 pilot house). Don and Barb are on the loop. We went over for cocktails in the evening. They left on Tuesday while we stayed. We dinked around the anchorage and found a number of good spots to drop the hook. This is a good place to sit out west through east storms – but not winds from the north.

Saturday - Sunday, July 28 - 29

We did a 20 mile run to Gore Bay – this time for two days. We didn’t kill ourselves to restock and clean the boat. We were able to do some relaxing. We went to Rocky Raccoon for dinner – it was ok. Barb did grocery shopping, bank, wine, and hardware store. Dave filled water tanks and got a pump out. We bought some fancy cheese but didn’t really find oil for engines. We were able to clean the boat, inside and out. It felt good to be clean. We had 11 on the back deck for cocktails on Sunday. One couple we met in Robinhood marina in Maine in 2016 was part of the group. Always find it interesting to have return meetings with people along the way.

Tuesday - Friday, July 24 - 27

We ran 7.5 miles back to Hotham and a different anchorage as westerly winds are picking up and we needed a safe harbor. We used our old favorite anchorage and were able to tuck up behind an island so we had protection from North through west and south winds. We relaxed all afternoon and watched more boats come in. We relaxed the rest of our stay in this anchorage. We didn’t leave the boat due to flies and mosquitos that were swarming the boat.

Monday, July 23

We needed a pump out so ran to Spanish and then tried a new anchorage near there – we went 15.5 miles total for the day. The Winfrid/Laurier Islands anchorage was pretty and is a good anchorage when winds aren’t blowing but we didn’t feel it was all that safe for strong winds. We spent the night along with 4 sailboats.

Thursday - Sunday, July 19 - 22

We traveled 46 miles back to Hotham Island and main anchorage. WE made a two hour stop in Little Current for supplies and water. Barb ran to the Grocery while Dave went to the bank and marine store. While Dave filled water tanks, Barb went to the quilt shop. Then we headed out and were at anchor along with 13 other boats in our new favorite Hotham anchorage. The winds were to pick up and this was a good place to wait out strong winds. On Friday some boats left so we moved further down into the bay – better wind protection. We stayed aboard and relaxed. On Saturday we felt sociable so we took the dinghy down and went ashore for cocktails. But Sunday we were aboard and battened down as rains came in later in the day – no cocktail hour tonight.

Saturday - Wednesday, July 14 - 18

Hallelujah at Sportsman Inn dock in Killarney ON.

We moved to Killarney this am traveling 7 miles to our dock for the GLCC Rendezvous. Barb immediately did two loads of laundry and then cleaned the boat. We had 5 for cocktails aboard this evening. The Rendezvous started on the 15th with meet and greet, but with 200 people it was very noisy and music was too loud for us. We didn’t stay for food. On Tuesday the town gave us a pancake breakfast that was good and the GLCC Commodore Fleet Review was in the afternoon. Barb went to the Gossip in the Grave Yard event which was well done by local town people. They gave the history of Killarney by way of telling about relatives from 17 and 18 hundreds. The Commodores Reception was again very noisy but we found space on the outside deck and enjoyed talking with old friends. Tuesday had events that Barb liked but Dave stayed aboard until the fish fry in the evening. Again music was loud but we found a place to sit that wasn’t that close. Wednesday included outside events. Barb participated in the women’s kayak race (with 7 other ladies) and came in 4th. Pretty good for not having been on the kayak since last summer. We also prepared for leaving tomorrow – did laundry and some boat cleaning. The dinner was inside with assigned seating. We didn’t know others at our table, but had an interesting time. We left early due to sun setting (we used our bikes as transportation around Killarney and we have no lights so had to return to the boat before dark). We found out later that we won the table prize - maple syrup.

Looking west from our boat - the pier you see on right side is where float planes land.

This is the float plane that came to the dock - the plane takes people to and from their island homes.

Commador's fleet review - Dave got to try our new air horn compressor.

Barb in the kayak race - light blue kayak on right. We are preparing to line up for start of race.

Saturday - Friday, July 7 - 13

We went 52 miles today to Keyhole Anchorage. This is in Georgian Bay east of Killarney. We are here for the GLCC wilderness rally. We got an early start as we wanted to get there early to find a good spot to drop the anchor. We made the 9:00 bridge in Little Current and stopped in Killarney to get a pump out. We are hoping that we can go 7 days on our holding tank. We had great spots in Keyhole for both boats (right next to each other) and watched the other 40 + boats come in and jockey for places to anchor. We were one of the first boats in for the July 10-14 event. We enjoyed our time here seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We did take Vingilot down Collins Inlet so they could see the beautiful Channel. We saw an old beaver hut with tv dish – what a joke! There were 41 boats for this wilderness rally and about 80 people. It was most interesting when all the dinghy’s went to shore for various meeting and food events. But everyone managed to have a good time. On July 13 a large trawler came through the anchorage – a little while later Tom Rea pulled up in a dinghy. He owns Terripin DF44 but has a new to him North Pacific 49 pilot house. It is a beautiful boat. We met up with them in Killarney during the GLCC Rendezvous.

Hallelujah at anchor in Keyhole anchorage

Collins Inlet - small craft channel for Georgian Bay

HIgh Tech Beaver hut on Collins Inlet.

A few of the boats at the GLCC Wilderness Rally in Keyhole Anchorage.

Wednesday - Friday, July 4 - 6

We did a 20 mile run (about 2.5 hours) to Eagle Island to anchor for a few days. Vingilot is with us. The run wasn’t exciting and there weren’t many boats in this anchorage. We didn’t leave the boat due to heat – we had to stay cool so laid around and read books. On Thursday we took the dinghy over to Fox Island to check out this anchorage – seemed small to us (not enough room to swing) but Last Dance was there tied to shore. We visited with them for about an hour and then returned to Halleluah. It is still hot so we used the back deck as there was a breeze. Friday was much the same – no moving around too much as it was hot. We didn’t think about going swimming - the water seemed cold.

Tuesday, July 3

Yes, a real live deer munching grass in this yard across from the marina. not phased by people at all.

We traveled 21 miles to Gore Bay this am (arriving at 10:00 a.m.) Barb immediately ran to beauty shop for hair appointment (managed to get last appointment of day). Then we did grocery shopping, LCBO for wine, bank for money and did three loads of laundry. We helped Gary Groves (Vingilot) celebrate 70th birthday by going out to eat at Rocky Raccoon. Dave did top off water, get a pump out and dinghy fuel. We are all set to hit an anchorage again. We did see a deer right across from the marina in a front yard. Very interesting that we saw it again later in the month when back here.

Sunday - Monday, July 1-2

Hallelujah at anchor in Oak Bay on Hotham Island

We remain in our Hotham anchorage for these days. We love this bay. Our excitement for this anchorage is exploring by dinghy all the places one could anchor – we always seem to return to the same anchorage area because of wind protection and Norm & Elaine with the shore deck for cocktails. We are with Vingilot so they dinked along with us. We did go in for cocktails on the deck on Monday but not Tuesday . We did spend time on the boat during the day doing some cleaning and computer work, but also a lot of rest. It seems like June was spent traveling and stocking the boat when in a port.

Saturday, June 30

We traveled 43 miles from Vidal Bay to Hotham Island Anchorage. Vingilot traveled with us, while Last Dance went to Long Point Cove and Rhonda Jean went to Johns Island. The day was hot and lots of bugs but we got settled in before strong winds came up. Barb slept most of afternoon – we didn’t do cocktails ashore tonight.

Thursday - Friday, June 28 - 29

We are moving! Really traveling again. On Thursday we went 53 miles to Harbour Island, just north of Drummond – still in the US. There are four DF’s at anchor tonight. Hallelujah, Vingilot, Last Dance and Rhonda Jean. We had cocktails on Hallelujah back deck and enjoyed many stories about boating. On Friday we had a parade out of anchorage with Rhonda Jean in the lead until we hit open water and Hallelujah took over the lead - we travel a little faster than the DF 34 and DF40. We went to Vidal Bay to anchor – first night in Canada. We have easy entry into Canada – called an 800 number and reported our Canpass info – easy peezy! Our run today was 45 miles. We have Vingilot at anchor off our starboard side, but no party tonight. The other two boats went into Meldrum Bay marina in the next bay over. We had a quiet night listening to the loons!

From left to right - Last Dance (DF 40), Hallelujah (DF 44), Rhonda Jean (DF 34), and Vingilot (DF 45 pilot house)

From left to right: Last Dance (Jill & Glen Moore): Hallelujah (Barb & Dave Reinken); Rhonda Jean (Jim in picture, Rhonda took picture); and Vingilot (Gary & Sharon Groves).

Monday - Wednesday, June 25 - 27

Sunrise over Mackinac Straits.

We had a one day weather window that wasn’t good so we took off with Last Dancy and Sonador to head to Mackinaw City. Sonador turned in at Harbor Springs because of more mechanical and electrical problems. Last Dance and Hallelujah kept going – seas built all a.m. and were about 5 feet going through Grey’s Reef (ship channel at north end of Lake Michigan). After turning east the waves decreased to 2- 3 ft and the ride was a hobby horse until after the Mackinaw bridge. We went into Mackinaw City while Last Dance went to St. Ignace. Upon arrival at the marina, the port engine wouldn’t shut off – some screw had slipped off. Dave was able to reattach and shut the engine down manually but it was another thing that needed attention. We collapsed for the rest of the day, had a light dinner and took a short walk. On Tuesday Dave fixed the port starter and tightened down the screw. Barb walked to the bakery, did laundry (only one load as the prices were outrageous) and did more cleaning. Vinigilot II came in (DF 45 with new owners Gary and Sharon Groves). We welcomed them and had cocktails on Hallelujah. On Wednesday, Barb walked around town with Sharon and Gary, Dave stayed aboard to do some work. We moved the boat to the fuel dock in the afternoon and topped off fuel and emptied the holding tank. We are ready to move tomorrow. We had cocktails on Vingilot and then went out to dinner and relaxed.

Hallelujah at dock - a little smaller than the ice cutter behind us.

Hallelujah with two DeFever 45's.

Friday - Sunday, June 22-24

We are still in Charlevoix on Friday and Saturday due to strong winds from north. We were going to run up the lake with Sonador, but Melissa has another repair to make. We took off on Sunday AM to calm seas – at least we got a 30 minute run. Barb did her normal engine room check after we cleared the 8:00 bridge and were underway. She found 2 bolts laying under the port engine transmission. Dave went down and found that the shaft coupling was missing bolts – not a good thing! We turned around, called the marina and he called the bridge tender and we were back through the 8:30 bridge and in our slip by 8:45. Dave contacted a good DF mechanic and he told us how to fix the shaft coupling. But of course we didn’t have the correct tools so we went to ACE hardware twice (about 1.25 miles from marina). We were able to get correct tools and red locktite. Dave completed repairs – we found that all 8 bolts were loose. We could have had really bad problems if the shaft had pulled out. We relaxed the rest of the day. Winds started picking up from the East.

Friday - Thursday, June 15-21

We were up early and underway before 6:30 a.m. Our destination is Charlevoix – a 44 mile run. We are just loping up the lake. We will stay a week in Charlevoix. As we got near the Charlevoix channel entrance there was Put “N” Call pulling ahead of us. We are docked across from them and as we docked a friend from GLCC came to greet us. Melissa on Sonadora was our welcoming committee alone with Hal and Pat, the marina managers. We finally met Joe and Karen on Put “N” Call. We had five for cocktails on Hallelujah on Friday evening. Barb continues her quilt store trips, walking 4.5 miles on Saturday to do errands. We continue doing small projects on the boat all week. We love Charlevoix and find that we don’t have to go far to find what we need. Bergmann’s came out on Monday and fixed our small projects. Barb walked out to Walgreens, ACE Hardware and Family Fare for stuff. We got the dinghy going (the battery was dead due to discharging over the winter) and had a very nice ride into Lake Charlevoix. The Kayaks have new handles and pads on the racks but we didn’t take them out. Barb continues to clean the boat. Dave is taking daily bike rides after having the bike fixed in Charlevoix. Barb is walking each day to get miles in, and sometimes walking with Melissa and Sophie (her dog). On Thursday, Last Dance pulled in next to us – A DF 41 Passage Maker. So we are two DeFevers on the dock.

Mushroom house in Charlevoix

Charlevoix marina

Last Dance and Hallelujah stern picture

Bow picture of two DeFevers

Thursday, June 14

Hallelujah in Traverse City, MI

We headed south down Traverse Bay for 26 miles to Traverse City. We had never been here and have the time to see what everyone says is a great stop. We were docked near Put “N” Call so went over to introduce ourselves. Joe and Karen Mesenburg are important persons in the GLCC organization and are going to the GLCC events. Barb walked into town and got dried cherries and also a bag of chocolate cherries for Dave. The town is basically one street about 4 blocks long with a lot of stores -- nothing that we were excited about. We had a quiet evening and didn’t feel this town requires a return visit.

Monday - Wednesday, June 11 - 13

We moved to Northport, MI -- a 29 mile run. We like this little town and the marina is secure from most winds. We were only going to stay for two nights but decided to stay a third night as weather reports changed. Barb walked around town – found a quilt shop and bought some fabric. This trip will be helping to support local quilt shops and gather great materials from different places. We did some more projects on the boat while here and called Bergmann’s in Charlevoix for help with a couple of items we can’t fix. Our stay was good – secure dock for winds that came up. We didn’t see anyone here that we knew and no loopers in the marina. We did make use of Tom’s Grocery store and the hardware store while here. Always shopping!

Thursday - Sunday, June 6-10, 2018

On Wednesday June 6 we pumped out, filled fuel tanks and were on Lake Michigan by 9:00 a.m. heading to White Lake – a 46 mile run. The lake was calm and we had a great cruise into White Lake. We anchored on the south side just in White Lake near the channel entrance. We had some afternoon waves due to boats passing, but it was a very calm night. We were really tired after days of working on the boat in Holland. Thursday we had a good 43 mile run into Ludington. We had an email from looper friends we met in 2009 – they were coming into Ludington on a new boat. We had a quiet afternoon and then went over to see Danny and Susan Godin in the evening -- had a great visit on Potest Fieri. Both boats traveled 51 miles to Frankfort on Friday, docked next to each other and shared a Chinese dinner in the evening. Saturday we again moved another 40 miles to Leland and arrived during a wine festival. Lots of people and very noisy, but it ended at 6:00 so we were able to relax and enjoy the quiet. We were across the dock from Put “N” Call (flying GLCC burgee) but weren’t able to meet them. Potest Fieri and Put “N” Call left on Sunday while we stayed an extra day. Weather reports said winds would increase during the day and we didn’t feel like fighting them. Reports from Danny were that our weather reports were much better than theirs as they got caught in strong winds. We met two loopers on Sunday heading south on the loop. While in Leland, Barb did some walking, not three miles but got in a couple of miles.

White Lake entrance channel and light house.

Ludington Sunset

Potest Fieri leaving Leland Harbor

Yard art anyone? great pieces!

Fishtown looking towards Dam and hotel

Fishtown looking towards Lake Michigan

Friday - Tuesday, June 1 - 5, 2018

The boat was launched on Friday, June 1. We started serious spring cleaning while workmen came aboard to finish winter work and complete spring travel work. We passed the Coast Guard inspection with flying colors so have our new safety sticker posted on the boat (this helps reduce being stopped for safety check later in the summer). We were also into stocking mode. Bought lots of food, supplies and various other items in preparations to leave for 5 months. The lists continued to grow even though we were whittling them down daily. Barb went into Grand Rapids for a tea with Grand Valley colleagues and had a great time! We had a great dinner aboard Island Girl and had friends aboard from Grand Haven. We were hoping for an extra day, but weather was going to set in so we left a day early and headed north. This meant doing some of our own to do list while underway but we needed to leave Holland and start our cruising.

Hallelujah at Yacht Basin Marina on wall. Great dock for us!

Hallelujah leaving Lake Macatawa - friends took pictures of us.