July 26, 2019 - DeTour Village to Duncan Bay Boat Club

One final leg on the Lake Superior trip.  Weather forecast were a bit confusing last night with wind and wave forecasts not matching up properly (too big of waves predicted for the velocity of the wind).  It appeared however that an early start would be the best if we decided to go.  We were up early and after a check of the weather decided to go for it.  

Skies were clear and waves were less that two feet which is acceptable travel weather.  We just have to manage which side of the boat the waves connect on (almost anything but straight on the sides is okay).  

We took a tour past Spectacle Reef Lighthouse and then into our slip at Duncan Bay Boat Club.  This has been an amazing trip!  We enjoyed every harbor we stopped at and we would visit any and all of them again.  Each harbor/marina/town had interesting features or things to see and do.  We both agreed that another trip to Lake Superior could easily be in our future.

Spectacle Reef Lighthouse

Our view from the back of Boreas at Duncan Bay Boat Club

July 25, 2019 - Sault Ste. Marie to DeTour Village

We had a beautiful trip down the St. Mary’s River.  The sun was out and the winds were light.  

One of the most interesting things we saw all day was the loading of goods onto a freighter.  Have you ever wondered how the freighters in the Great Lakes get the food and supplies they need?  Do they pull over and stop at a Walmart when they are near one?  Of course not, what really happens is that a supply boat pulls up next to them, then, using a crane on the supply boat, transfers a pallet of goods to the freighter.  I got some great pictures of this transfer just after the freighter “Great Republic” left the locks.

The second most interesting was the frogs and toads at the DeTour Village Harbor.  Just after dusk the critters come out and hang out on the sidewalk looking for snacks.  The big guy in the picture is about eight inches long (without his legs extended) and about six inches tall to the top of his eyeballs.  He is REALLY good at catching bugs!

The supply boat getting in position next to the Great Republic

Supplies getting lifted on to the Great Republic

The West Neebish Channel - a man made portion of the St. Marry's River

A "critter" at DeTour Village Harbor

The "big guy"

July 24, 2019 - Grand Marais to Sault Ste. Marie

It is a long day from Grand Marais and it includes going through the Soo Locks, so we were up early and off the dock before 7:00am.  Our waiting for a better weather day worked well and we had great conditions.  We saw a few rain clouds and showers off in the distance, but nothing along our route.  

On our way into Lake Superior we chose to go through the American Locks due to their 24 hour a day schedule.  On the way back to the St. Marry’s River we decide to go through the Canadian Locks because there was lots of freighter traffic on the American side.  The Canadian Lock is much smaller and similar to the Canadian locks we experienced on the Trent-Severn Waterway when we did our Loop Trip in 2012.  We locked through with a mid-sized sailboat and one of the Soo Locks Tour boats.

The sun coming up just before we depart

Traveling toward Sault Ste. Marie

Some of the freighters we saw today

The long entrance canal to the Canadian Lock

A sailboat and a Soo Locks Tour boat wait for us to arrive in the lock

We have been lowered 21 feet in the lock and are now waiting for the
gates to open

Inside the lock - Fred at the stern, handling the line and
keeping the boat off the wall

Looking back as we exit the lock

July 22 and 23, 2019 - in Grand Marais

We spent two more nights in Grand Marais waiting for improved weather for traveling.  They were wonderful days with a fantastic walk on the beach on Monday and a delightful walk through the woods (on a bluff above the beach) on Tuesday.  

On the beach looking west

On the beach looking east

The spectacular rocks on the beach

Grand Marais Outer Light

Night sky from the Woodland Park Campground

Beautiful Lake Superior

There was plenty of elevation change on
our walk in the woods

That is a giant White Pine that Fred is hugging

July 19, 2019 - Marquette to Munising

July 21, 2019 - Munising to Grand Marais

We had an uneventful trip from Marquette to Munising on Friday, July 19.  The weather was beautiful and the seas were calm.  We stopped at an anchorage in Murray Bay off Grand Island for lunch.  If it had been the perfect anchorage we would have stayed the night, but it was more open than it looked on the chart, so we headed to the docks in Munising after lunch.

We stayed a second night in Munising in hopes of having a great weather day as we travelled back past Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to Grand Marais.  We were very happy with that decision as we ended up having a lengthy (and un-forecasted) rain event that lasted the majority of the afternoon.  

The sun/cloud forecast was definitely in our favor for the trip to Grand Marais although the wind and waves were less than ideal.  We had hoped that sun and blue skies would make for perfect picture taking as we motored by the Pictured Rocks.  Unfortunately we were at the wrong time of the day and the sun angle wasn’t great - the Pictured Rocks were still beautiful and I did get some pictures, but clearly we weren’t there at the perfect time.  I guess that means another trip to Lake Superior someday!

We will be in Grand Marais until we get good wind/wave/weather conditions for the long day to Sault Ste. Marie.  Fred says maybe Wednesday.

Night sky in Munising

Lighthouse on Grand Island

Grand Island

Miners Castle rock formation in Pictured Rocks
National Lakeshore

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Grand Sable Banks and Dunes

Entrance to Grand Marais

July 18, 2019 - in Marquette

We spent a relaxing day today in Marquette.  The weather was a bit unsettled with on and off rain predicted with possible thundershowers.  Fred and I tried to get in a walk on the North Country National Scenic Trail before the showers started this morning, but our timing was off and we got to finish our walk in the rain.  While we were walking we did get to see some awesome views of rain showers out over Lake Superior.  

Sometimes you gotta play on the playground

Rain over Lake Superior

Rain over Lake Superior

Boreas at the dock

July 16, 2019 - Big Bay to Marquette

We are now working our way back east across the northern shore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  We spent time in Marquette around the 4th of July holiday and here we are, back again.  We will spend two or three days here and catch up on some boat chores - laundry, boat washing and since we have Tom’s car available re-provisioning.

It was an easy trip today - not very many miles and although there were small waves as we departed it became very calm as the trip went along.  

Departing Big Bay

Presque Isle Park, just north of Marquette

Fred and Jilly, the Jilbert Dairy Cow

Fred and Jilly, The Jilbert Dairy Cow

Looking toward the west from the back deck of Boreas

Looking toward the east from the back deck of Boreas

July 15, 2019 - Copper Harbor to Big Bay

We weren’t sure if we would spend one more day in Copper Harbor or not.  It wasn’t obvious from the weather report last evening if it would be a move day.  However the storms passed through Copper Harbor earlier that originally planned so we departed and basically followed the storms as they headed east.  Our travels took us around the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula and then south.  I always think of the tip of the peninsula as a point of land, but that is not the case.  At its narrowest point it is still over two and a half miles wide, just a long slow curve around.

We arrived in Big Bay in the early afternoon.  Fred and I decided to explore town as there was supposed to be a couple of restaurants, a corner store and maybe an outfitter type shop.  Well, not so much.  One restaurant was closed on Mondays and there were no stores of any type (there were a couple of buildings that might have once been stores, but not anymore).  The second restaurant in town was a bar and so we checked the menu and hours and planned to come back for dinner.  Dinner was okay, but if I was giving out stars they wouldn’t get many.  This part of the upper peninsula is a little bit quiet in the summer - their big thing is catering to the snowmobiling crowd in the winter.

A line of thunderstorms came through in the evening just before dark.  We added some extra dock lines and a few more fenders and then watched the clouds fly past.  

The "end" of the Keweenaw Peninsula and some rain

Rain over Manitou Island (off the end of the
Keweenaw Peninsula)

Another "end" of the Keweenaw Peninsula

Lake Superior at its deepest is over 1300 feet deep.
We saw 446 feet on the depth gauge today.

The storm blowing into Big Bay

July 14, 2019 - Copper Harbor State Harbor

We spent a second day in Copper Harbor so that we could do some exploring.  Our exploring took us to Hunter’s Point Park a beautiful park right next to the harbor with over 4800 feet of shore.  We hiked through the woods and along the shore, we climbed rocks and we skipped stones.  The views were fabulous!