Great Loop II Date: 8/14/2014
Day
#15 (Thursday): 45 miles (545 total miles)
Locks:
0 (2 total locks)
Port
#9: Detour, MI
The
crew on OB was getting restless. They
knew it was time to move on. The weather
gods finally decided to give us a morning with less wind but certainly not wind
free. Our concern with the amount of
wind we had wasn’t the wind itself but the closeness of the boat next to us.
We
were up before the sun prepping OB for the morning run and making ready to
leave the Soo to begin heading south. No
one else was up and around on the dock, or so it seemed. As the sun rose, we wanted to be on our way
without taking OB into our neighboring boat.
Just by chance, a neighboring sailor happened down the dock and offered
his assistance. Leaving ended up being a
non-event however it eased our minds to know someone was present to thwart a
situation.
 |
| Marilyn and Don's condo on the St. Mary River. |
Heading
back down the St. Mary River, OB passed Marilyn and Don’s condo. It looked sleepy in the early morning
sunlight. The river was quiet with no
freighters in sight until we turned the corner to head south. A freighter was going our direction in the
downbound channel at a slower speed than our 8-9 mph. Todd didn’t want to be caught in a passing
situation in the narrow section of the downbound channel so chose a route in
the upbound channel.
Shipping
channels are developed for the freighters because of their size. Some areas are so narrow, freighters
traveling in opposing directions could not pass by each other. Pleasure boats of our size have no problem
getting by oncoming freighters and are free to chose either channel.
As
we got closer to Munuscong Bay, we were coming out of the upbound channel and
beginning to run into uncomfortable building seas in the river. The freighter we were avoiding by taking the
upbound channel also appeared along side.
It was time to put OB up on plane and burn some diesel for comfort and
for safety.
 |
| The freighter we were trying to avoid ended up right next to us as we emerged from the upbound channel. |
 |
| The shallow water along shore and the waters coming across shallow Munuscong Bay churned mud and sand up with the winds of the preceding 3 days. |
 |
| Interesting to see how the freighters look when coming through the horizon with the sun shining on the choppy river. |
 |
| There she is. |
 |
| This looked like a scuttled freighter just north of Detour. |
 |
| A pilothouse converted to a house...smaller than the one on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. |
OB
ran like a champ. We came into Detour an
hour ahead of the time we would have at the slower speed. Because the winds had picked up and were much
stronger, coming into Detour Harbor was a little dicey. Once well into the harbor, Todd was able to
bring OB into the dock without mishap.
Todd
tries to dock OB stern first if at all possible. Generally, the power tower and water are on
the main dock and not the finger dock we have OB parallel to. Our electric cord and water are in the stern
of the boat. The shorter distance to
keep our creature comforts running makes setting up at each dock easier.
 |
| Detour Harbor Marina |
 |
| Ocean Breeze sterned into the dock. |
 |
| THAT'S a brisk wind! |
Detour
was a cute little town. The main street
(Ontario), has 4 restaurants, 2 bars, 3 churches, a grocery store, a sports and
marine store and a few boutique type shops.
It’s a sleepy little town and the main business is the ferry that runs
between the UP and Drummond Island.
 |
| Ontario Street...the main street leading to downtown Detour. |
 |
| Sune's IGA and a little restaurant across the street. |
 |
| Downtown Detour with St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and a restaurant next door. |
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