July 9, 2019 - anchorage in Portage River to Houghton County Marina, Hancock, MI

After a beautiful, calm night at anchor we headed across Portage Lake and through the Portage Canal to Houghton/Hancock.  Houghton and Hancock are two separate cities across the Portage Ship Canal from each other.  Houghton is the home of Michigan Technological University (MTU) where Fred spent five years getting his bachelors and masters degrees in Civil Engineering.  This is a very special place for Fred and seeing it from the water was awesome, definitely a bucket list item for Fred.  We will be here for a few days while we watch the weather and plan our next destination.

The trees reflected in the water at our anchorage

Fred and Tom get the dinghy ready for our departure

MTU campus buildings

The Civil/Geology Building where Fred spent many
hours in the classrooms and labs

The other place Fred spent time while in Houghton
was on the ski hill at Mount Ripley

The Houghton/Hancock Lift Bridge

July 8, 2019 - Marquette to an anchorage on the Portage River

The original travel plan was to go from Marquette to Big Bay and then on to Houghton/Hancock the following day.  However, the weather reports indicated that the smarter move would be to go all the way to Houghton/Hancock today.  Well, we got almost there and are in a beautiful anchorage on the Portage River about ten miles from Houghton/Hancock.  Since we will travel these last ten miles in the Portage River and across Portage Lake, the slightly higher winds should not bother us.

Today’s trip was easy and uneventful.  We were a ways off shore for most of the trip, so not much for pictures.  The shoreline here is mostly beautiful pines with lots of granite rock.  We also got to view the Huron Mountains, the highest mountains in Michigan.

The amount of pine pollen in the water is astounding

The Huron Mountains

Huron Island

Weather Buoy NDBC/45025 - South Entry Buoy,
South Keweenaw Peninsula

The conditions at weather buoy 45025 as we passed by

Keweenaw waterway Lower Entrance Light

July 6, 2019 in Marquette

We had an easy travel day on July 4th departing from Munising early in the morning and arriving in Marquette around noon.  We stopped for fuel before heading to our slip - Fred had two beautiful dockings (one at the fuel dock and one in our slip) in-spite of the wind that tried to make them difficult.  Fred also did a great job securing this slip.  We are at Cinder Pond Marina which is at the base of downtown.  Our slip is at the end of a T-dock.  This is a small boat marina and we are definitely the biggest boat here, but our slip is perfect.  Not only that, but the locals tell us we have the best spot for viewing the fireworks.

Due to a very strong thunderstorm (with lots of lightning and torrential rain) that blew through the area right as the fireworks were supposed to go off, the fireworks were postponed until July 5th.  

We enjoyed a walk along the lake shore in the morning of the 5th and then spent the afternoon with a friend of Fred’s who has a cabin here in Marquette.  Part of our afternoon was spent climbing Sugarloaf Mountain.  It was a beautiful hike and the view from the top was spectacular.

Following dinner at a downtown restaurant with Fred’s friend, we returned to Boreas to wait for the fireworks display.  We definitely had the best viewing platform - we sat on the bench seat in front of the helm station and could see everything perfectly.  And Marquette sure knows how to put on a show.  It was over thirty minutes long and absolutely fabulous.  The hills around the harbor are quite high so we had echoing booms from every firework launched - it made for amazing sounds to accompany the beautiful fireworks. 

Boreas at the very end of the dock

Our walk along the lake shore (in the fog) looking at the old,
no longer used, iron ore loading dock

Old dock pilings

The view from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain

The view from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain

On the hike down Sugarloaf Mountain

Fireworks in Marquette

Fireworks in Marquette

Fireworks in Marquette

July 1, 2019 - Grand Marais to Munising

We had a tough time deciding if we were going to stay another night in Grand Marais or push on to Munising.  The issue was the sights we were going to see along our route today and if the weather (sun versus clouds) would be better today or tomorrow.  The final answer was to move even though we weren’t sure we’d have very good conditions to view all the amazing scenery.  The good thing is that no matter what we get today, we have another opportunity to see the same sights on our way back home at the end of July/early August.

Just out of the harbor we encountered the Grand Sable Banks and Dunes.  This is one of the best examples of a perched dune system in the world.  Perched dunes are formed on top of an existing coastal bluff.  The dunes rise more than 300 feet above Lake Superior and cover over five square miles.  They are awe inspiring to travel past and even without the sun and a clear blue sky they were beautiful.

After the dunes is Au Sable Point and its lighthouse and a few miles later the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  There are over fifteen miles of sandstone cliffs within the National Lakeshore and we enjoyed every mile.  With the cloudy conditions today it was difficult to get very close to the shore as we were not able to see into the water to watch for changing depths and rock obstacles.  The pictures are still amazing and we hope to have clearer weather when we pass this way again.

Grand Sable Banks and Dunes

Grand Sable Banks and Dunes

Au Sable Point Lighthouse

Pictured Rocks

Spray Falls (70 feet tall)

Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks

Bridalveil Falls, 140 feet tall (this is a seasonal falls and will
slow to a trickle in the late summer and fall)

Miners Castle rock formation

June 30, 2019 - Sault Ste. Marie to Grand Marais

Today was a VERY long travel day.  We were off the dock before 7:00am and into the MacArthur lock just a few minutes later.  The lift was just over 20 feet and it was a smooth and easy ride.  After clearing the lock about 7:40am, we were in Lake Superior!  Having our boat in Lake Superior has been a big goal of ours for awhile - we have now boated in four of the five Great Lakes.  I guess that means we need to head to Lake Erie next season so that we can make it a perfect five out of five.  

The part that made it a long day was the 80+ miles that we traveled.  We were both ready to be off the boat when we arrived in Grand Marais.  There is not very much to take pictures of when you travel in the Great Lakes.  We tend to make our route a mile or two off shore, so you can basically see trees, sand and shoreline off one side of the boat and water as far as the eye can see off the other side.  

Grand Marais is a tiny little town with a couple of bars, a grocery/hardware store, a couple of tourist shops and a gas station.  We ate at one of the bars (which was packed) and the food was excellent.  We may need to stay another night just to check out the other bar!  But we are both tired and we’ll figure that out tomorrow.

Approaching the MacArthur Lock (the doors are just
beginning to open)

Inside the lock, moving toward our tie-up spot

Boreas is now at Lake Superior Level and headed
out of the MacArthur Lock

The Gros Cap Reef Lighthouse (one of the more unusual
shapes for a lighthouse we have ever seen)

Lake Superior!

Our view for the evening

June 28, 2019 - in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

One of the reasons we are in the Soo (that’s what everyone calls Sault Ste. Marie) this weekend is that it is Engineers Weekend at the Soo Locks.  We got to go through the gate into the fenced in area around the locks (Soo Locks Park) and see the locks up close and personal.  We got to walk across the lock walls and visit the historic buildings that are in the park.

We watched a freighter lock through as well as a Soo Locks Tour boat.  The best part was a chance to talk to some of the lock operators.  We will be locking through on Sunday morning (weather permitting) and a bit of info on how everything works at this lock was great for relieving some of my anxiety.

Entrance to the MacArthur Lock

MacArthur Lock gates

A freighter locking through the Poe Lock

A Soo Locks Tour Boat in the MacArthur Lock

Evening sky from the back of Boreas

June 27, 2019 - anchorage at Harbor Island to Sault St. Marie, Michigan

Today’s trip took us the rest of the way up the St. Mary’s River.  It was a perfect cruising day with light winds and clear blue skies.  We even got to get up close and personal with a couple of freighters.  

Our first freighter of the day was the Lee A. Tregurtha, measuring 826 feet long and headed to Lake Superior.  The Tregurtha passed us in the early part of our trip where the river is wide and they can move along at over 12 knots.  Once the freighter had passed, we began traversing the narrower sections of the river and the Tregurtha slowed down to a pace much closer to our own. 

Just before we reached Sault St. Marie, the Tregurtha slowed way down.  We assumed they were slowing so that they would reach the Soo Locks when the lock was available for them to lock through so we began to plan a pass.  As we started our pass we realized why they really slowed down - we were in a narrow section of the river and they were going to pass the Edwin H. Gott, a 1000 foot freighter headed down the river.  We decided passing was not a good plan and fell in behind the Tregurtha.  It was really amazing to watch these two freighters negotiate this narrow section of the river.  

Sunrise this morning

The Lee A. Tregurtha

The Lee A. Tregurtha

Buoys on the St. Mary's River (nope, the captain isn't
where he belongs - he should be between the buoys)

The Lee A. Tregurtha and the Edwin H. Gott passing

The Edwin H. Gott