Ocean Breeze: Port #6: Thank You, Active Captain...

Great Loop II Date: 8/8/2014

Day #9 (Friday): 58 miles (351 total miles)

Port #6: Presque Isle, MI (Anchorage #1: North Bay)

OB’s crew got an extra hour’s sleep. We cast off at 7:30AM and took a heading to Presque Isle, MI. The waters began so flat, only OB’s wake disturbed it. Of course, that never seems to last very long. Multiple cruisers heading southbound and a few northbound managed to make plenty of wakes disturbing the millpond.

We don't often see a lake this smooth...

...we could even see the sun's image in it.

Thunder Bay Light

Only OB's wake broke the silent waters!

Charlie's spot today

So calm the Captain maintained the helm and carried on business too.

Wake #1...

...wake #2

...wake #3...

...wake # ???...I lost count. We could leave a mighty 3 foot wake too but we choose to go slow, enjoy the scenery and save diesel!

The cruise today was the best so far. We passed Thunder Bay and Presque Isle Bay heading around the Presque Isle Lighthouse for an anchorage in North Bay. It was a beautiful, pristine spot. The Siegels, creators and managers of Active Captain, anchored here last year and wrote a wonderful review. We concur! The waters were so clear and so still we could see where the anchor, chain and line lay. When I checked the anchor in the morning, I could see the chain sweep in the sand where we had swung about 45^o during the night.

Presque Isle Bay with the old Ghost Lighthouse on the right. My August 2010 blog has the history of that light and why it's called the Ghost Light.

The Presque Isle Light

North Bay to the East. The light kept watch over us all night long.

Following the shoreline of North Bay around to the South...

...to the West.

The beach at North Bay.

There's the anchor line. That little black dot is a 10# mushroom anchor called a Keg. I run it down the line the help keep the chain and anchor stem inline with the ground. It helps the anchor bury itself and reset when the boat swings around the anchor in an arch. The waters and the wind never stop moving. Even the slightest change causes OB to march around her anchor.

Active Captain is a website full of information for boaters on the water highway. Jeff Siegel is a long time distance boater and realized the need for a website complete with marina, lock, bridge, destination and hazard information. He made the site user friendly, available to all boaters (for FREE) and open for updates by boaters as they experience or come upon information that is valuable to fellow boaters. The Siegels have cruised the East Coast for years. They decided to experience the Great Loop 2013 through 2014, adding some new information to the website as they went. Their blog is fun to follow too as it is wrapped around their two beautiful Yellow Labrador Retrievers, Dylan and DeeDee. You can check both websites out at https://activecaptain.com and http://www.takingpaws.com/. A huge thank you from Todd and me (as well as literally thousands of other boaters) for the great service Karen and Jeff Siegel provide us.