June 23 - Mackinaw Island to Petoskey, MI

After breakfast with Stan and Maija and waving them good bye, we decided to also leave the island for our trip to Petoskey. The weather forecast was better for today compared to the following day. We also had seen all we had on our list. Around noon time we left the harbor and headed westward to the Mackinaw Bridge and then on to Lake Michigan. Just as we passed the bridge, we were attacked by thousands of fish flies. The back deck, the mast, back and side windows were covered by thousands of these black flies. When we arrived at the Petoskey Harbor, the fuel attendant hosed down many of the bugs. Henk spent over three hours cleaning up this horrible mess. 

June 22 - Mackinaw Island, MI

This morning Stan and Henk walked to the historical St. Anne Roman Catholic church to attend their worship service. Afterwards it was back to the boat for our morning coffee. For lunch we took a horse drawn taxi carriage to the Grand Hotel for the sumptuous lunch buffet. The Grand Hotel was constructed in the 19th Century and claims to have the world's largest porch. Afterwards we had made arrangement for a private carriage tour. Our driver/guide told us many interesting stories and showed us some fantastic homes. Also included was a historical cemetery where we saw the grave of one of the Michigan governors - "Soapy Williams". We passed the Governor's Mansion, still used by current governors. The island is also a popular place for weddings. We must have seen at least 10 wedding parties. After a busy afternoon, we returned to the boat for some rest, a glass or two of wine and pizza.

June 21 - St. Ignace to Mackinaw Island, MI

 As we left St. Ignace, another great view of the Mackinaw Bridge and one of the ferries that connect Mackinaw Island with the mainland. When we entered the harbor, we spotted the first Marco Polo purchased more than 25 years ago. We owned this trawler, a 36' Albin, for 15 years. In the background, left side, is Marco Polo II. This 42' Ricker Bros trawler was purchased 11 years ago.

Our friends Stan and Maija Martin drove from their hometown of Lansing, MI to spend a few days with us. They had booked a hotel opposite of the marina, making it very easy for us to get together. After our onboard lunch, we took a walk down Main Street with its many fudge and souvenir shops.

For readers not familiar with Mackinaw Island, it is known as home to the second oldest fort in the USA. The fort was started by the French, taken over by the British and later by the USA. The island has many beautiful homes and hotels. Automobiles and motorcycles are not allowed. Instead bikes and horse drawn carriages are the main forms of transportation. Dinner was again on-board the Marco Polo II.

June 20 - St. Ignace, MI

The entire day was spent in port. Thressa did more cleaning and prepared meals for tomorrow's visitors - Stan and Maija Martin.

I spent time behind the computer and killing millions of the pesty flies. Hopefully we will not have them on the island. Our watchman took good care of us.

June 19 - De Tour to St. Ignace, MI

We fueled up, this time paying a lower per gallon cost versus what we paid in Canada. Next it was down the St. Mary's River to Lake Huron. At the intersection is the large light house which we kept to our right. After passing, we headed westward to Mackinaw Island. A few hours later we   

could see the Mackinaw Bridge. Since we completed 2.5 loops, we are flying the platinum AGLCA flag from our bow - not many have this honor or are smart enough to not pay the cost. Since we have reservations at Mackinaw Island on Saturday through Monday, we decided to spend   

the next two nights in St. Ignace. Just before entering the harbor, we ran into a swarm of bugs that covered our boat - see the mast. Right after docking, we attempted to hose them off. This worked for a few minutes and then we were again covered. No matter what we did, they kept on covering our boat. When we walked to a nearby restaurant, we had to keep our mouth closed.   

June 18 - Gore Bay, Ontario to De Tour, Michigan

This morning we went to the fuel

dock to pay for the overnight charges and use the balance of our Canadian funds for diesel. The attendant had fun in counting out about CAD$ 18 in change. As we pulled out of Gore Bay, we saw a resort without any sign of activity. Either it was not

open, or it was For Sale. Soon we were able to set course for Drummond Island, a trip of about 7 hours. As we cruised along, we had radio contact with a couple of boats doing the Great Loop.

Arrival in Drummond Island was at 5:30 p.m., just in time to clear US Customs.

Had we arrived 15 minutes later, we would have had to wait until the next morning. Two officers came onboard to check our passport and boat documents. After answering some questions, we were given the OK to proceed and the officers went home. All of this took about 10 minutes. We decided to continue to nearby De Tour for the overnight. From our marina, on the shores of the St. Mary, we could see a number of freighters and lakers going to and from the Sioux.

June 17 - Little Current to Gore Bay, Ontario

It rained, rained and rained most of the day. We decided to stay in port. Thressa and I carried the laundry to the laundromat, just steps from our boat. We tried to send out emails and work on the blog, but no contacts could be made.  

It finally quit raining and we decided to cruise to Gore Bay, a three hour trip from Little Current. Even though the clouds became darker and it started to get foggy, we had a smooth cruise. At 7:00 p.m. we arrived at Gore Bay and tied up for the night. 

June 16 - Killarney to Little Current, Ontario

Another sunny day is in store for us. After coffee and a good breakfast, Thressa cleaned up the inside and I ended up cleaning the bugs from the outside of the boat. Before long we departed the town of Killarney. Our route took us around a number of rocky islands.

Around 12:30 p.m. we passed the lighthouse located just a short distance from the Little Current Bridge. This bridge is the only connection to Manitoulin Island, the largest fresh water island in the world. We tied up for the night at the Little Current public dock. 

June 15, Penetanguishene to Killarney, Ontario

It's Sunday morning, a lovely sunny day. After taking on 500 liters of diesel and hooking up the dingy, we say farewell to our friends at Bay Moorings Marina. We're heading north to the Georgian Bay for our 11 hours trip to Killarney. We were quite some distance from shore and at times could not see the shoreline. 

The temperatures were in the 70's. The only complaint was the number of bugs who wanted a free ride. The small vacuum cleaner took care of this problem. At 8:00 p.m. we arrived in Killarney, located at the eastern end of the North Channel. We tied up for the night at the Sportsman's Inn Marina. 

June 11 - 14 Penatanguishene, Ontario

Wednesday turned out to be more of a fall then a summer day. We had lots of rain and strong winds. A number of minor jobs were completed, including grocery shopping. We spent some time with the marina staff to review items that needed completion. As we went along, a few more jobs were added. A lot of time was spent trying to get our Direct TV to work. This is very frustrating since Canada blocks all calls to Direct TV in order to protect the "home markets". It now looks that we will not be able to restart our service until we are back in the USA. This evening Thressa beat me at cards.

Thursday was a copy of Wednesday - strong winds, rain and no sun. Thressa spent part of the day preparing various dishes that can be frozen until required. I spent time cleaning the boat's flybridge and aft-deck. Part of the afternoon was spent reading a good book and this evening we decided to watch a movie.

Lots of activities this Friday. A few leaks in the forward hatch and one of the aft windows were fixed. Our new radio antenna was installed, various light bulbs were replaced, and new fenders were pumped up. We also had some excitement - one of our heavy duty electric cords (30 V) started burning at the dock hookup. The electrician had spotted the smoke and managed to pull the cord out in time. We also went on another shopping run since tomorrow was to be our departure for Killarney. The weather had improved somewhat - sun with strong winds. We played another game of cards - Thressa won again.

Saturday was cold and very windy. Since the forecast for Sunday was much better, we decided to postpone our departure by one more day. We had some Canadian boaters stop by to see our boat, all agreed we had a beauty. Lots of reading and early to bed since we had a long trip ahead of us.

June 10, 2014 - Penetanguishene, Ontario

Ten months after our accident with the Marco Polo II in the Georgian Bay of Canada, we were driven back to Ontario by our good friends Ray and Bertha Bruinius. After loading up Ray's van with more clothing, food stuffs, etc., we set off for a pleasant drive. Crossing the bridge at Port Huron to Sarnia, we went through Customs and entered Canada. Rather than staying on the busy highway to Toronto and then north to Barrie, we elected to take the back roads - no stress and very interesting. Around 6:00 p.m. we arrived at Victoria Harbour where Ray and Bertha were booked at a B&B. We had stayed at the same place a few weeks earlier and were quite impressed with the home, the hosts and the breakfast they served. After Ray and Bertha dropped off their bags, we went to a nearby restaurant for our evening dinner. The special for the night was barbecued beef sandwiches with fried potatoes and it was great! We next continued to Bay Moorings, a marina in the nearby town of Penetanguishene where Marco Polo II had spent the winter. After unloading the van, Ray and Bertha returned to Victoria Harbour and we did the unpacking.