Port #11: No Beavers Noted Here...Just Ducks!

Great Loop II Date: 8/17/2014

Day #18 (Sunday): 48 miles (638 total miles)

Locks: 0 (2 total locks)

Port #11:  Beaver Island, MI (anchorage)

OB had another shorter day ahead so we didn’t rush around to get underway.  Leaving St. Ignace was anticlimactic compared to our entry.  The winds were close to calm and the seas were fine.

The skies were cloudy but we had another magnificent sunrise.  Cloudy skies don't always dictate bad weather...many times it's wonderfully calm.

We passed under the Mackinac Bridge and headed west around some shoals and fish nets. The Michigan coast line has many islands and shoals.  Unfortunately, most travel cannot be made in a straight line.

The Mackinac Bridge is not only spectacular but historic.  It was the largest suspension bridge built at the time...1957.  There is a magnificent video made during the building of the bridge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFsy_EHWM-Q) .  My cousin sent it to me and it made seeing and crossing under the bridge even more amazing.

There was some corrosion control work underway at both ends of the bridge.  I'm guessing that is a constant with such a large bridge exposed to some very extreme weather.

Charlie didn't get the idea of being in a very historic place.

 Once all the shoals were behind us, Todd was able to take us west to Beaver Island.  We anchored in St. James Bay.  The sun broke out and we had a pleasant afternoon.

Terry and Ken from Roundabout came by in their dinghy.  We had a nice visit and compared travel intentions.  Their plans were to go to Petoskey or Traverse Bay, MI next.  Our plans were to go to Washington Island, WI.

Roundabout...Loopers from Connecticut.

The lighthouse at Beaver Island.

I think this was the abandoned boathouse I read about.  There is a huge, decaying wood boat inside.

A panoramic shot of the downtown area on Beaver Island...St. James City.

The Emerald Isle...the ferry serving Beaver Island.

Watching the Captain bring the ferry to the dock was very interesting.  He had separate pilothouse atop the stern of the ferry where he controlled the docking.

After a good dinner of barbecued pork chops, roasted vegetables with some of Laurel’s wonderful green beans and salad, we turned on the TV to check the weather channel.  A storm front was approaching from the west.  Our plans to go to Washington Island were in jeopardy.  Washington Island did not look like a good option in a stormy situation.  They have very little dockage and unprotected.  Two to three days riding windy seas at anchor was not attractive option or even safe.  We spent the rest of the evening deciding a different route.

Sunset at another pristine anchorage.

We went to bed a little depressed that our plans were changing.  As we were trying to go to sleep, we could hear this constant tap, tap, tap moving slowly around the boat.  The mystery noise went on for about an hour when finally one of the culprits gave itself away.  I could hear a quack, quack, quack just outside the hull and realized we had a couple of ducks eating the moss from around our waterline.  Good job, ducks…now we have a clean waterline!