LAKE HURON - PART ONE

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is a very different lake from either Lake Erie or Lake St. Clair.  First of all, it is quite a bit bigger.  Next, it is quite a bit deeper.  Also, unlike Erie, it’s shores, at least on the US side, run north and south.  The water is incredibly blue and quite clear.  Also, and most lovely, the minute you spit out the mouth of the St. Clair River, you are in tree country.  It is my understanding that the northern part of the Michigan Penninsula is farm and lumber country, not to mention the land of thousands of inland lakes.  Paul Bunyan territory.  It is very beautiful.  There are so many scenes one could characterize as serene or pastoral.  The Michigan corn is in full bloom and is actually rather good.  Also, the Michigan apples – oh my god! Thus far, this state has proven itself to be a little of everything.  And the people here are so friendly, the South has nothing on them at all in that regard.

After the night we spent at the Port Huron Yacht Club’s dock, we embarked on Lake Huron.  It was a little hectic at first.  We exited the Black River just as a rather large freighter was going by.  In this part of the river, the banks are all supported with metal.  You recall when I described the condition of the waterway in places between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where it was like driving in a concrete bathtub?  Well, the condition was similar here except that it was a steel bathtub.

 So, when we exited the river, there is this freighter.  She is maneuvering to pass under the Friendship Bridge and make her exit onto Lake Huron.  There is a ship channel there.  So, the Pilot boat is following closely behind so that, as soon as she gets out from under this bridge, the pilot can make a hasty exit and she can be on her way to parts and places unknown to pick up something.  As such, she was accelerating.  When vessels accelerate, they move water in a different way.  Depending on their weight distribution, they either “squat” (the ass end dips deeper and the bow comes up), or they “shove” (the bow dips and the ass end comes up).  This vessel was definitely “shoving” and big plumes of black smoke were pouring out of her stacks.  Now she is pushing a larger wave than usual and we are running almost side by side.  Then we feel it.

The first several waves that passed under the boat were not bad.  Abreojos has no problem in following sea conditions.  She likes to “surf” and tracks rather well.  I did turn off the auto pilot for a while and hand “surfed” the 7-8 foot wake waves.  Ok, no problem.  What made the whole situation somewhat sticky, however, was the rest of the conditions combined with the larger wake. 

Once the wake passed us, we were left in the shadow of the big freighter.  We were essentially riding just behind her portside hip, if you will.  The current against us from Lake Huron feeding into the St. Clair River was so strong that we could barely hold 5 knots of speed.  An ultra light sail boat on the way to the lake was moving up the other side of the river.  I have never heard an outboard motor make so much noise.  Even the ULDB was struggling in the current.  Then, things got weird.

The wake that passed under us had no place to dissipate and not enough open water to stretch out before it hit the metal sides of the river leading to the mouth of the lake.  So, the wake hit the sides with tremendous force, shot high into the air, and of course, started heading back at us with a vigor.  I mean, really!  Just as soon as you think the worst of it is done, then you have the wake from the ship’s stern to contend with (if you have ever read my articles on crossing channels with large commercial ships, then you know the bow wake is not the end of your concerns).  So, the second set of wakes is coming from behind us, as the first set has now ricocheted off the steel walls and is coming back at us from a different angle.  Ok, I say to Brenda, “Hold on to your coffee, it’s about to get real interesting.”  The next thing you know, Abreojos is feeling real light and she is hopping from the top of one wake wave to the other, her ass drops like 8 feet into the trough and softly settles, before getting picked up and lurched forward at which time the bow takes a plunge into the back of the wake wave in front.  I’m trying to hold onto a heading, and control the speed, but it’s not working too well.  So, I just smiled and said, well, as hard as we tried to stay to the left of that pink line, we might get pushed over it and into Canada.  What?  You must be thinking this an awfully strange thing to be contemplating at a time like this.  I suppose it is true, but what are you going to do.  Hold on, is what you are going to do.  There is nothing else you can do…….and wipe the sweat off your brow with your sleeve. 

Well, all good things must come to and end.  The freighter’s wake did not resolve until we got passed the bridge where the waterway opened up some allowing the wake waves more space to move, and the current began to let up as well.  Soon, we were on our way north on Lake Huron, steaming along at a slick sizzling 7.5 knots.  Yes, I have the hammer down, now!

There were seemingly quite a few freighters out this morning, all seemingly heading north, so we stayed just outside the lane.  There were a couple larger ships coming south, as well.  One of these was a really big USCG Buoy Tender.  This had to be the mother of all buoy tenders.  She was huge.  She was heading down to parts unknown, and it was a wonderful sight. 

I recalled looking down for a few minutes and then noticing that the ship had stopped.  We kept going, thinking nothing more of it.  About 20 minutes later, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, the rolling blue light.  Yes, it was a USCG boarding party!  So, like the diligent mariner that I am, I stopped the boat.  They almost rammed the stern, but managed to miss it just in time.  At that point, I knew this was a training mission.  So, they came along side, asked if we had any weapons, and then told us they wanted to come aboard and conduct a “vessel safety inspection”…..with a Boarder Patrol agent?  Well, ok, the kid was young and heavily armed, so I wasn’t going to argue.  Instead, I invited them aboard. 

Three very nice young men climbed off the moving tender and onto our boat.  One of them, as I said was CBP (Customs and Boarder Patrol).  All three of them were invited in and offered coffee.  All declined.  The one guy, his name was "Adam", came in and I walked him through the safety inspection – fire extinguishers, check.  Trash Management Plan, check.  Pollution Discharge Placard, check.  PFD’s, check.  Flares, check.  Check, Check, Check. The other CG dude was busy taking notes and taking information off of our vessel documentation papers.  The CBP dude asked for our drivers licenses and took them outside to call them in.  Remember what I said about the USBP?  Well, in the time it took the USCG to conduct a rather thorough and complete Vessel Safety Examination, the CBP managed to get put on hold by his own people and it took him an additional 10 minutes to clear our CDL’s.  Well, all’s well that ends well.  We got our “No Violation” Boarding Form with the gold star on it for having not only all the requirements, but a bunch of additional stuff as well, and Adam gave me his cell phone number in case we needed anything or got boarded again.  And, just as quickly and easily as they came on, they were gone.  It turns out they were from the big buoy tender.  I guess their commanding officer saw an old slow moving trawler with a bull skull on the bow rail and thought it a good opportunity for his boys to do some training.  So, they stopped, dropped their high speed tender, and we got boarded.  Over all, it was a very pleasant experience for us, as I am sure it was for them too.

THE LIGHTSHIP HURON - IN PERMANENT DRYDOCK AT PORT HURON, MI.

We ran all day and finally made port at a place called Harbor Beach, Michigan, where we found a state marina.  The kid who was working there was a total rock star.  He helped us with our lines, then drove us in the company van to the store so we could get some things.  This was a very nice kid who grew up in this small town and comes in on the weekends from Central Michigan University to work at the marina. 

Harbor Beach is a nice quaint little community with only mom and pop style businesses, stores and restaurants.  There is not much to do here, but it is a hot-bed for outdoor activity such as hiking, fishing, and hunting.  Every third person wears camo, has a gun in their truck, and probably shot something that afternoon.  I noticed a distinct absence of Canadian Geese in these here environs.  Probably a sign.  Even the kids carried gun cases slung over their shoulders.  Hunting is big in these parts. 

Later that evening, we got together with Jim and “Moni” (like Monty without the T), and Pat and Dee.  They drove all the way up from the Pontiac area to have dinner with us.  We ended up going to this sports bar called Solly’s for burgers and beers and watched the Michigan Wolverines pull off a very tight victory against the Irish from Notre Dame.  Now, that is a big regional battle.  We all laughed a lot and had a really good time. 

Morning came and with it a bright sparkling day. Light winds out of the south west and 1-2 foot seas and a 57 nm run ahead of us.  We are actually under weigh now and all’s well.

More later.

The ride from Harbor Beach to Harrisville was characterized by sharp and choppy beam seas almost all the way from the time we started across Saganaw Bay until the time we entered the breakwater at Harrisville.  It was interesting seeing how the wind clocked from the north through the south in just a couple hours.  Such water conditions required that we tack and gibe, tack and gibe almost the entire way to keep from getting tipped onto our ears and slammed back again.  Travelling in a 2-3 foot beam sea here is quite different from doing the same back home.  Here when you have 2-3 foot wind waves, they are also 2-3 seconds apart.  This makes for a very difficult passage with a round bottom and no stabilizers.  So our zig-zag course  may have added a few miles to the trip, but it was a lot more comfortable.  It was a rather hectic day, one I am glad I will not have to do again for at least a little while.

We pulled into Harrisville, Michigan last night at around 1600.  Have you ever heard of Harrisville, Michigan? Neither have we.  Well, it is a very pretty little town.  Not unlike Harbor Beach, there is not much to do here, unless you are an avid outdoorsman, in which case, this is a base point for hunters, fishermen, hikers and cross-country skiers.  The wildlife around here is very cool – lots of geese, ducks, and fish.  I have seen salmon jumping in the harbor.  I saw one caught last night that had to be 25 lbs.  For us, however, this place is just a stop over.  Today, we will head north again and probably stop at Presque Isle Marina where it looks like we will have to stay for a few days as a major low moves over the great lakes region and then out.  It promises gale force winds and really ugly water conditions, fit, as I have said before, for neither man nor beast.  I understand even the freighters will stop running for this one, at least for a couple days. 

We are making quite a bit of progress.  Here is the thing:  we don’t want to move too fast because we don’t want to miss anything, but we don’t want to get stuck here for the winter, but then, again, there really is not that much to see.  I could be all wet on this one, and in reality, there are lots of tiny little treasures totally worth experiencing.  However, for us, we believe we best continue moving.  I have noted that many of the state marinas in Michigan begin closing in mid October.  Several of the cruising guides make a big deal about being off the Great Lakes by Labor Day.  This is a lot of hogwash created by the folks who want you to attend their fall rendezvous down in Alabama in October.  We have had the pleasure of speaking to lots of locals who say that, although you have to pay closer attention to the weather this time of year, some of the best boating of the year is in October and early November, and certainly some of the best fishing of the year.  This has assuaged our concerns somewhat.  Nevertheless, we will make an effort to get off the Lakes as soon as practicable.  It would seem that, during this time of the year, you get a few travel days and then you are shut down for a few.  No problem.  We just want to make sure we are shut down someplace nice where there might even be something to do without risking our lives getting there.

So, we are off for Presque Isle Harbor today.  The National Whatever Service, and all the others declare that the weather should be quite benign today, at least until late this afternoon.  So, I will have us tucked in and tied down before 1400.  Then, we will have a couple days to watch the wind blow.

Later, Y’all.







 Well, now, it is Tuesday.  We're here in Presque Isle and the weather is pretty heavy.  We are definitely done travelling for the next few days. We knew there was a storm approaching and, this morning, it is no longer approaching.  It is definitely here.  We awoke this morning to howling, gusty winds, rain, and grey overcast skies. 



I'm not sure this Sailflow.com analysis really communicates the whole story.




 This is a little better as it shows what the winds are doing over Lake Huron.  But, even the best diagram doesn't convey the sound of the wind or the knowledge that, just on the other side of the protective breakwall, the waves are in the 6-8 foot range.  Normally, 6-8 foot waves in the Santa Barbara Channel are not that big a deal when they are well spaced.  Here, however, the 6-8 footers are about 2 seconds apart right now.  That is ugly any way you want to look at it.  It's also very cold outside. 

Here is the National Whatever Service's description of what's going on out there: 
******
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN...
EASTERN UPPER MICHIGAN...AND ADJACENT NEARSHORE WATERS OF LAKE
MICHIGAN...LAKE HURON AND LAKE SUPERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

GALE FORCE WIND GUSTS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS WHITEFISH BAY THROUGH
MIDDAY.

THERE IS A MODERATE TO HIGH RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS INTO THE EVENING
HOURS ON THE LAKE MICHIGAN BEACHES OF NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

WATERSPOUTS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF NORTHERN
MICHIGAN WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

PATCHY FROST IS POSSIBLE ACROSS INLAND LOCATIONS OF NORTHERN LOWER
AND EASTERN UPPER MICHIGAN WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

A WIDESPREAD FROST AND FREEZE IS LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN
MICHIGAN THURSDAY NIGHT...AWAY FROM THE IMMEDIATE SHORES OF THE
GREAT LAKES.
******

So, we are cooling our heels, catching up on some reading, keeping up with boat projects, and hopefully going for a walk later today.

More later.

Presque Isle is idylic.  It is a very quiet and rustic place situated on the north east coast of the Michigan Penninsula on Lake Huron.  We are surrounded by wonderful forrest.  It smells like Christmas.  The water is crystal clear.  We can see 20 feet under the boat.  There are fish everywhere.  There are few people around except those that work for the harbor, the portage store or the restaurant/bar, all of which are on the premises.

We were interested in finding someplace completely quiet and out of the way to chill for a couple days while this weather front moves on by and Presque Isle does not disappoint.  Unfortunately, sometimes it would be nice to be within 17 miles of a hardware store.  Alas, the second fitting on the bottome of the water system accumulator tank blew out last night.  I managed a temporary fix with some parts and fittings I have, but I will have to get to a real hardware or plumbing supply store to get the fittings I need to fix it properly.  So, it will have to wait a few more days.  In the meantime, we have water.  They system is working.  I just don't like band aid fixes.  The next time I am at the hardware store, I will get the fittings I need x2.

There are miles and miles of trails around here, presumably for the winter season and cross-country skiing.  Yesterday, in the afternoon, we took off down the trail that takes you to the two lighthouses; the Old Presque Isle Light and the New Presque Isle Light.

"Presque Isle" is a French expression which means, almost an island.  There is Lake Huron water on three sides.  In the early 1800’s, Presque Isle, had already been known as a natural harbor on the Michigan peninsula's north eastern shore of Lake Huron.  French trappers used to seek shelter on the southern lee side, and thus gave it the name “Presque Isle” or "almost an island."  In the mid 1800's, the area took on additional significance, as steam-powered vessels began stopping here to get out of the "gut buster northwesterly winds"  and to stock up on wood to feed their boilers.

THE OLD PRESQUE ISLE LIGHT

Michigan State Representative Isaac Crary understood the maritime significance of Presque Isle Harbor and, in February of 1838, went to Congress and asked it to fund the construction of a lighthouse to help guide vessels into Presque Isle Harbor.  Congress was so impressed that it appropriated $5000 for the project not more than 5 months later.  Shortly thereafter, a request for bids went out for the construction of the lighthouse. In the interim, a man was dispatched to Presque Isle to select the site.

A Detroit builder named Jeremiah Moors was awarded the contract.  He had previous experience in lighthouse construction having built the lighthouse at Thunder Bay.  He and his crew arrived at Presque Isle and began construction in late 1839, and over the next year, the tower and keeper’s house took shape.  The lighthouse’s whitewashed, rubble stone tower stands 30 feet in height with a hand-cut stone stairway spiraling around the interior.  The dwelling consists of a small detached single story structure located approximately 30 feet inshore from the tower. Henry L. Woolsey was appointed as the station's first keeper and the station was officially in service on September 23, 1840.

THE NEW PRESQUE ISLE LIGHT

In 1866, a District Inspector reported that the keepers dwelling of the Old Presque Isle Light was in such poor condition that nothing short of a complete rebuild would suffice to make the structure livable.  He requested money for the work.  Congress approved the request.  The work was about to begin and materials had been delivered, when the Lighthouse Board proposed a completely different solution for the lighting of Presque Isle.  In its 1868 annual report, the Board observed that the tower's location and height allowed it to function only as a harbor light.  As such, the Board suggested that a better idea would be to construct a larger lighthouse and place it at the tip of the Presque Isle Penninsula, approximately a mile to the north and, at the same time, construct a pair of range lights to guide vessels into the harbor itself. This way, the light would be more useful. The Board further suggested that with the construction of the new light and ranges, the old station would be rendered obsolete, and could thereafter be extinguished and abandoned. Estimating the cost of construction of such a coast light (as opposed to a mere harbor light) to be $28,000 and $7,500 for the ranges, the Board recommended that the amount be appropriated, and suspended the planned repairs to the old dwelling pending Congressional action.

Congress gave them the money and, in 1869, work on both the Coast Light and Ranges began. The ranges were completed at the opening of the 1870 navigation season.  The new Presque Isle Light was completed in 1871.  The conical brick tower rises 113 feet and is connected to a keeper's dwelling by a covered walkway.  Patrick Garraty Sr., who had served as keeper of the old station since July 15, 1861 moved his wife and four children into the new station, and exhibited its light for the first time on the night of June 1, 1871. In 1939 the Coast Guard took over operation of the light. The Coast Guard automated the light in 1970, eliminating the need for a keeper.

It looks like we'll be here a couple more days.  The cold front has moved on top of us and seems to be settling down, but not for long.  There are still 6 and 8 foot waves outside the protective breakwall, so moving is simply not an option.  However, the future is looking pretty bright with Friday as a probable moving day.  Hopefully we'll get 3-4 good moving days and make some headway.  In the interim, we will simply continue to enjoy the peace and serentiy Presque Isle has to offer.  It's cold here.  But, hey, I'm not complainin'.

More later.

Bye Y'all.