Erie, Ohio to Wilson, NY/Welland Canal - June 14-16

Sunday morning we pulled up the anchor and headed north across Lake Erie to Canada. 65 miles later we entered the harbor of Port Colborne located at the south end of the Welland Canal. Upon pulling into Sugarloaf Marina, we called Canadian Border Patrol to clear into Canada. After taking our information the agent advised us to remain on the boat until the local border agents arrived to our boat for further inspection. Upon their arrival, there were many more questions to be answered after which they instructed us to stay outside on the back deck of the boat while they went in and did a lengthy and thorough inspection of the boat. We got the thumbs up and were welcomed to Canada. Yeehaw! 

Monday was a no travel day so we spent the day doing wash, cleaning the boat and dragging Steve around Port Colborne. 

Tuesday was our day to transit the Welland Canal.

The Welland Canal is a 27 mile long ship canal in Ontario, Canada which connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. As a crucial component of the St Lawrence Seaway, this allows massive cargo ships up to 740 feet in length,  to go up or down the 326 foot elevation difference between the lakes. The canal lies 10 miles west of the Niagara River and Falls which is not so user friendly for watercraft. 

We left the dock by 6am in order to be in our staging location for a 7am transit. Once entering the 1st lock, you must continue thru all 8 locks. No stopping is allowed. We traveled with 2 other pleasure boats and had to have one of them tie off along side of us in every lock. This was a little extra work however all went smoothly. Ten hours later we were locked down to Lake Ontario. We entered Lake Ontario around 5pm and headed east 20 miles to Wilson, NY. Upon crossing back into US waters, we called US immigration to clear back into the USA. By 7pm we were anchored out in a small cove at Wilson. Happy and tired. Big day! 

Freighter entering the Welland Canal 

Going down!

Lock duty!

All hands on deck!

Relaxing after 10 hour transit thru

Lake St Clair to Erie, Ohio - June 9-13

We had an interesting discovery upon entering Lake St Clair. Our chart plotter suddenly showed that we had come to the end of the earth!

Upon further investigation we figured out we needed additional charts beyond what was installed on our system. We stopped at Keenan Marina’s Lake St Clair location to get fuel and talked to the service manager about our chart issue.  He did some research and could not find what we needed in town. He was however able to get the required chart chip shipped overnight and he delivered it to us at Safe Harbor Jefferson Beach Marina, where we were staying. Thanks Jason! 

On Wednesday, June 10 after spending 3 nights on Lake St Clair (one night on anchor and 2 at the marina) we proceeded down the Detroit River to Lake Erie. The Detroit River is actually beautiful! We passed under the new, yet to open Gordie Howe bridge connecting the US and Canada. Quite a site!

Destination: Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island, Ohio.  While in Put-in-Bay, we enjoyed our time cruising around on a golf cart,

shopping, checking out the local vibe and even jumping in warm Lake Erie for a swim while exploring on the dinghy.

While here, we spent 2 nights on a mooring ball. The first night was calm and quiet, the 2nd night was the total opposite.

Friday was Steve’s birthday. He couldn’t wait to celebrate so he got up and 2am to get the day started! Actually, he got up at 2am due to high winds and waves. It was a long night watching the weather and hoping the mooring ball would hold. 

And thankfully it did.

Lake Erie was still rough from the storms the night before so Friday we cruised  faster than normal as the boat rides much better in rough conditions when up on plane. We traveled 77 miles to Mentor, Ohio. The first mate took the captain out for a birthday smash burger!

By Saturday morning Lake Erie had calmed down nicely so we had a smooth slow cruise of 76 miles to Erie, Ohio. We anchored out in a pretty bay by Presque Isle State Park. The water was warm and clear so Steve was able to throw on his dive mask and check the running gear on the boat. All good!

Next up….O Canada!

  

Ford’s Cove on Lake St Clair

Passing Downtown Detroit 

The new Gordie Howe bridge

Welcome to Put-in-Bay, Ohio

Captain Golf Cart Tour Guide

The Benson Ford cargo ship forecastle place on land and turned in a home

Grand Haven to Lake St Clair - June 1-8

Our adventure has begun! We pulled out of the Grand Haven channel at 7:00am on Monday, June 1. 

For the first part of the trip we were in travel mode. (vs sightseeing mode)  Full days of travel at 10 mph got us from Grand Haven

to Lake St Clair in a week. (vs 3 hours by car)  Our overnights on Lake Michigan were: Portage Lake (anchored), Charlevoix (anchored), and Petoskey (marina).

We had a fun afternoon with our friend LaNell in Petoskey.  From there after passing under the Mackinac Bridge we entered Lake Huron.

Our overnights on Lake Huron were Cheboygan (anchored in Duncan Bay), Harrisville (marina), and Port Sanilac (marina). From Port Sanilac we entered the St Clair River that led is into Lake St Clair. This is new territory for us and we’re impressed with the beautiful St Clair River and Lake St Clair.

ALONG THE WAY

Highlight: Beautiful weather and FLAT waters. Wow we had amazing travel conditions.

Yucky:  Midge flies covering the boat in Charlevoix. Ugh! Glad we had a little blower on board to get rid of most of them.

Goodbye Grand Haven!

Gorgeous Lake Michigan 

Midge flies everywhere!

Midge flies! 

Cruising under the Mackinac Bridge 

Beautiful home along the St Clair River

  

Anchored out on Lake St Clair

Our next adventure!

 Here we go again! Different boat, different dinghy, different direction, same old crew. We said goodbye to Pura Vida dos (the 420 SeaRay Sedan Bridge) and said hello to a Maritimo M48 which we named Island Bound.

After cruising Lake Michigan for the past few years, we once again have the urge to explore new waters. With Captain Adorable being fully retired, we no longer are tied to weekends only on the boat.

In early June we plan to head out the Grand Haven Channel and turn right this time. Our goal is to work our way to New York City and head north up the coast as far as Maine.  Stay tuned for updates as we travel. 

Route - Grand Haven to Lake Ontario

Route - Lake Ontario to Maine

   

The Panhandle-Gulf Crossing - Oct 18-31

The Panhandle!  Dolphins! Need we say more? 

We decided to slow down our pace to reward ourselves for accomplishing the rivers once again. The Panhandle continues to be a favorite area for us so it was great to take the time to take in the beauty of the beaches and pretty waters. We combined our time in fantastic anchorages as well as marinas located near shopping and restaurants. 

After crossing Mobile Bay we spent 2 nights at the upscale Wharf Marina in Orange Beach, AL. Then on to our favorite Panhandle anchorage at Ft McRee located 3 miles from NAS Pensacola Naval Air Base - home base for the Blue Angels. It’s a thrill to witness them practicing over the anchorage. Our other stops included Destin, Panama City Beach, Apalachicola and Carrabelle.  From Mobile Bay to Carrabelle we traveled 290 miles.

We planned our arrival into Carrabelle on Thursday to catch a forecasted weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico on Friday. By the time we reached Carrabelle that weather window had evaporated. Next good weather for crossing showed for Monday. We had never stayed in Carrabelle before, so we spent 3 days enjoying the town. To position ourselves for the crossing we anchored out Sunday night just off St George Island. We were welcomed by a fabulous dolphin show. At the crack of dawn, we headed out for 163 mile crossing from St George Island to Tarpon Springs. The first half was rougher than we expected or cared for, but by the 2nd half, the seas had laid down and the crew could relax a little. For 7 of the 9 hours, we were incommunicado….no cell service, no other boats, no land in sight. Always thankful when we arrive at the other side. 

ALONG THE WAY:

Sunny, sunny weather until we reached Carrabelle 

Zero locks!

6 nights in marinas

6 nights on anchor

Blue Angel fly overs - a dozen

Sharks - 1

Dolphins - too many to count 

Captain Relaxation 

Miles of secluded beach.

Our Sentry guarding the boat

Ft McRee sunset 

Ft McRee

She tried to run, but they got her on a really small offense!

Leaving Carrabelle 

Cruising across The Gulf

Amazing flat Gulf

Tenn-Tom/Tombigbee - Black Warrior Waterway - Oct 8-18

Our first 2 nights on this part of our journey, we spent at Grand Harbor Marina, near Corinth, Mississippi. The use of a courtesy car was a welcome luxury so we loaded up on provisions, took care of some needed paperwork for home, and the Captain spent time in the man cave doing oil changes on the motors.  Next up our final stretch  to Mobile, AL.

This section of the rivers is considered the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom) and the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway.  This 450 mile long section consisted of lots a hours watching the trees along the river (not much infrastructure here) and traveling thru locks. Although locks frequently hold us up, we had one day where everything clicked, so we managed to knock off 6 locks on our list instead of just the 3 we had hoped for.  This put us in Columbus, MS a day ahead of our schedule so we could spend 2 days at the Columbus Marina where our friends Randy and Sherri Chester (past Loopers, now live aboards) spent the summer. So fun to catch up with them over 2 yummy dinners at their favorite restaurants in the area.

Our final lock once again put us back into the world of saltwater and tides. Arriving Mobile is always a culture shock - civilization, huge ocean going ships, and massive Navy vessels. AND….palm trees! 

ALONG THE WAY:

Sunny, sunny, sunny weather….continues

12 locks - locked down 415 feet

3 night at marinas

5 nights on anchor

1 night at the wall at the Convention Center in Mobile 

The rivers are now in our rear view mirror (if we had one)….

Stats since leaving Grand Haven:

26 total days, 23 days of travel, 3 non-travel days

1295 total miles

24 locks

Ending up 406 feet below Lake Michigan water level

Bald eagles, barges, Asian Carp: too many to count

26 days of sunshine!

Super smooth waters

Glorious sunset after a long day

In the lock, ready to go down

Ready for lock duty 

Work, work, work 

Doors opening for our exit 

White cliffs 

PV2 tied to wall at Mobile Convention Center 

Oil drilling platforms in dry dock 

Navy ships

Cargo ship

Kentucky Lake-Tennessee River - October 4-8

Twenty-two miles after turning off the Ohio River, we arrived at the Kentucky Lock to find 2 double size tows waiting to lock thru. 

The lock master advised us it would be 3-4 hours before we would lock through. Down went the anchor, out came the grill, lunch time! The first mate cooked while the captain worked on waxing the boat. 

Kentucky Lake has become a favorite area for us. A boater’s paradise. Too many beautiful coves to count. We could spend a whole summer here and never stay in the same anchorage twice. 

Our 190 miles on this portion of our journey was pretty equally divided between Kentucky Lake and then narrowed back to river travel. Our 2nd and final lock of this section proved to be a long wait also. 5 1/2 hours later we were thru. Argh! Fifteen miles later we arrived at Grand Harbor Marina at dusk. 

ALONG THE WAY:

Sunny, sunny, sunny weather….still.

2 locks, lifting us up 112 feet total.

1 night in a marina.

4 amazing nights on anchor. 

Huge full moon! 

PV2 at Kentucky Dam Marina 

Full moon at Dickey Tow Head
First repeat anchorage of the trip.

No Small Craft warning here!

Pickwick Lock, closing the doors behind us.