Great Loop Date: 08.27.2010: It’s Pronounced ‘Eel’…

Day 15: 313 miles: 32 total hrs (today: 54 miles in 6.7 hours at 9 mph)

Today we had a great weather window and motored from Harrisville to Presque Isle, MI. Todd and I have been in Presque Isle, PA a couple of times and we really thought we knew the pronunciation. I’ve learned differently. We’ve been corrected multiple times now. SO here’s the facts, there is Presque Isle, PA (with a long ‘I’ in Isle) and there is Presque Isle, MI (pronounced ‘eel’). They obviously want their own distinction, so don’t mess it up!

Okay, you knew it was coming…today’s history lesson. Presque Isle is small (1691 as of the 2000 census). It’s bigger than Harrisville (514) where we just spent our last two days.  But it looks like folks are all spread out in the woods so it really doesn't look like a town, at least from the marina.  It is approximately 15 miles north of Alpena, and 15 miles south of Rogers City, so it’s kind of remote.  We were warned ahead of time to get any groceries we needed. I'm still well stocked.  Besides, Todd is taking me out to dinner.

Wikipedia says the community and the township are named for Presque Isle (literally, "almost an island") which is French for ‘peninsula’. Now I thought that was pretty cool. I’ve never taken French. I had two years of Latin which was required for entry into my Nursing Curriculum. So you French majors out there can tell me if the ‘pronunciation of ‘Isle’ in French sounds like ‘eel’.

Anyway, a large part of the township consists of that peninsula, with Lake Huron on the east and Grand Lake on the west and narrows strips of land connecting it to the mainland at the north and south ends. The community of Presque Isle is situated near the center of this peninsula and I’m guessing, a long way from the marina.

There is an infamous "haunted" (according to local rumor) Old Presque Isle Lighthouse. The New Presque Isle Lighthouse was built in 1870. We heard stories about the haunted lighthouse from our local Looper friends. Apparently, when the new lighthouse was built and the old on closed, the light keeper was not happy. So, at night, a light is supposedly visible from the old lighthouse. Electricians went in, took out all the wiring and confirmed there was no way possible for a light to be activated from the old lighthouse. Yet today, at dusk each night, a light is visible where there should be no light. They have also proven there is no reflection from the water or houses.

The Haunted Lighthouse...we easily saw it on our way into the marina.  I was too tired to walk out on the breakwall to see the light at dusk..

U.S. Highway 23 passes through the southern part of the township and runs along the western side of Grand Lake. We keep following it north and I keep calculating how long it would take us by car vs. our boat trip. I prefer the boat. It’s a lot more interesting.

Presque Isle is also home to Camp Chickagami, a camp owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. That sounds like an amazing place to have a retreat...remote, wilderness, haunted lighthouse and Big Blue Water (Lake Huron) at your feet.  Great place to connect with each other and God.

We’ve had our first day of moving around fish nets. Ask any boater how much they love fish nets…NOT! Going trawler speed really helps the reaction time for avoid this foe to our props. We have time to look for the full length of the net and decide the best way to avoid it…or, in this case, them! Fish nets are to boats what cobwebs are to bugs…not necessarily a death sentence but it sure can mess up your day.

Also going trawler speed, Todd can catch up on some window washing.  It made me a little nervous but it didn't seem to bother him.

By the way, the new panorama at the top of the blog page is the marina at Presque Isle, MI.  Finding OB is kind of like 'Where's Waldo'.