5/30/17 – 5/31/17: e left Big Bay at about 8AM and had about 25 miles to Marquette. When we woke up, the sun was shining, and we thought it would be a good day. As we left the harbor, we ran aground on a small sand bar. Ok, maybe the day won’t be as sunny as we first thought.
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Archive | May 2017
Big Bay Harbor of Refuge
5/29/17: After spending an extra, unplanned night at Houghton County Marina due to weather, we were ready to go. The weather forecast said a chance of showers for the day, so we decided to make a break for it. No sooner did we back out of the Marina, that the “chance” of showers materialized. We had rain the entire 44 miles to Big Bay. And, as a bonus, once we reached Lake Superior, we were greeted with fog (1/4 mile visibility) that lasted about 30 miles.
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Houghton / Hancock
5/26/17 – 5/28/17: We motored down the 8 mile canal to Houghton / Hancock. We planned to stay here 2 nights, as we both really wanted a meal out, and also had a few chores and projects to do. The marina was on the other side of the lift bridge, and according to everything we had read, the bridge opened “on demand”. This turned out to be not the case.
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Lily Pond
5/25/17: We planned to stop at Lily Pond Harbor of Refuge before going into Houghton/Hancock. This is about 1 mile inland from the lake and about 7 miles from the town. After 7 hours of travel from Ontonagon, we just wanted a quick overnight location. After the hassle we had tying up, we both agree we should probably have just gone all the way to the marina.
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Ontonagon
5/24/17: We left Black River Harbor around 7:15AM. The fog was just lifting, and by the time we got to the lake, it was clear enough to not use radar. The wind was blowing NE at a measly 2 knots, right from the direction we were heading. We wouldn’t be able to sail, so we pointed the bow towards Ontonagon, and just kept motoring.
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Black River Harbor
5/22/17 – 5/23/17: We arrived at the marina at 6:15AM, after a sleepless night for both of us. We were both anxious to start our journey, and neither of us slept well. As we were getting the boat prepared for the first leg of our journey (Black River Harbor, MI), our slip-neighbor, Bruce, popped his head of his boat. “I don’t have a bottle of champagne to christen you journey, but I do have this!” He handed us a miniature bottle of Heinz Ketchup. It was then we knew our journey would be full of unexpected surprises!
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Final Preparations and Departure
The past two months have been a whirlwind. As we sit in our motel room, contemplating the past weeks and our departure to come, we cannot believe how much work it was to get where we are. We had many long, hard days, some of them so chaotic and stressful, we wondered if this trip would be worth the effort. And saying good-bye to family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers has been especially hard. But here we are, waiting for the weather to clear, planning to leave within a day or two.
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