Short Story: We decided to take a day and head to Cheyboygan, MI to cruise the Chain of Lakes.
Long Story: Twenty some years ago we along with Paul Takken & his wife went up to the Chain of Lakes (Mullet Lake, Burt Lake, Indian River, Cheyboygan) camping and boating for a weekend. We took Paul's 19 foot SeaRay down the river to Cheyboygan, through the lock and across to Mackinaw Island. After spending the day at the Island we returned to Cheyboygan. As we came upon the lock we found many boats lined up and none going through. We went to check with the lock master only to find that the lock was not operating and had not been since we passed through in the morning. The maintenance man was baffled as his efforts to repair the lock had failed. Steve and Paul offered to take a look. After a couple hours in the hydraulic shed disassembling valves and swapping parts they got it working to the applause of the many waiting boaters. Many times while doing the Loop we have told this story and laughed that the Pura Vida wouldn't even fit in this lock.
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Friday morning as we cruised to Drummond Island we stumbled across the specs on the Cheyboygan lock and realized the Pura Vida would fit! We couldn't pass that up! All it took was a phone call to Paul and he and Cindy cleared their calendar and planned a road trip to meet us in Cheboygan Saturday morning. After clearing customs at Drummond Island we set a course to Cheyboygan. 45 miles later at 7pm we arrived at the Cheyboygan County Marina.
Saturday by 10am our crew pulled into the marina and off we went. We headed up stream to the lock. We did fit albeit somewhat snug with no room left for other boats. We told our story to the young man running the lock only to realize that he wasn't even born when at that time. (Captain "I remember it like it was yesterday" found that hard to believe.) The lock was a piece of cake. The bigger obstacles of the day were bridges. For the 3rd time of the trip we had to put down our antennas, remove our anchor light and radar dome to clear 2 bridges by mere inches. Whew! It was a beautiful summer day to cruise to Mullet Lake and back to Cheyboygan. We now much change our locking trophy to read 109 instead of 107. That night at the Cheyboygan city wall we enjoyed pizza on the back of the boat. Due to commitments at home our crew was up and on the road before we woke Sunday morning. What fun to share this crazy side trip with Paul & Cindy!
It sure looks small compared to the other 107 locks!
I think I can!
Yup! I can!
Snug as a bug in a rug!
Saturday afternoon on Mullet Lake.
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