Tall Ships & Agates

July 27 - July 28, 2013

We drove to Knife River on Friday, so excited that Yolanda & Scott Moody would be returning to the marina today from their cruise north into Canada. Yolanda texted me to say that they arrived before us and were headed to the grocery store for snacks. We had plans to take Mystic to Duluth to see the tall ships on Saturday. Duluth was expecting 200,000 visitors. We would be viewing the boats from the water which was the BEST way to get up close yet avoid those crowds. It was a cold, dreary morning. Dave and I had to get in a 5 mile run before going out on Mystic.  We managed to get out on Scenic 61 by 7:30.

Beth, Yolanda & Scott aboard Mystic

After quick, hot showers, we met the Moodys around 9:00 and were headed out the channel by 9:15. We motored south into a strong headwind under dark and stormy skies. Many boats passed us heading North. They were heeled over dramatically in the strong wind.

Racing Sailors

Scott was so excited to get to the Duluth Harbor. Two tall ships were sailing just outside the breakwater. Two more were leaving the Harbor, bursting at the seams with tourists. As we passed, they took photos of us as we took photos of them. We motored under the Duluth lift bridge with several other boats. Making our way around the piers, we got a real close up look at the five tall ships docked in the harbor. There were a LOT of people aboard the boats and a LOT more people waiting in line.

After exploring the harbor and tall ships, we anchored for lunch. We had quite the spread of fruit, veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, smoked fish, humus and chips and salsa washed down with beer. After lunch, Dave was eager to head north again. The trip would take several hours and the weather had not improved. As soon as we left Duluth Harbor we raised the main, then the jib. We had some trouble raising the main, which was reefed. It was my fault for not knowing this. Unfortunately, we tore the main in the process. It's just a small tear which should be easy to repair. My ego took a huge hit though.

We were able to motor very close to the tall ships

It rained off and on during our return trip and the gusting wind increased in intensity. Mystic handles very well in wind and waves but we were heeling over more than I was comfortable with. Dave decided to furl the jib but during the process, the wind grabbed the sheet and broke the jib loose. The sail blew out of control off the starboard side. Scott was able to grab the sheet and tame the jib while Dave furled it. Under only the main, Dave started the motor to help stabilize our ride. We put the boom shade up to help protect us from the wet weather. This is like performing an acrobatic act in rough weather but we managed to secure it over the cockpit. With an hour remaining on the trip, Yolanda and I retreated below to the warmth and shelter of the cabin where we stood in the salon, holding on and attempting to keep our balance. Scott and Dave got soaked in the pelting rain. As soon as we rounded the breakwater, the boat leveled and the waters calmed. On shore it was a whole different kind of day. You would never have known what we'd just endured over the last three hours.

Scott and Yolanda ~ Duluth Harbor

We cleaned up Mystic, as best as we could and settled in to warm up and have a little nap. The plan was to meet up later for dinner but we each decided to cook on board and meet for a drink. Dave and I fell asleep, exhausted. We woke around 8:00 to find it was cold outside so we drove the 1/8 mile to the Moody's boat and joined them on board Della Grace. This turned out to be a good decision. We spent the evening snacking on popcorn with black pepper and drinking Brandy Dr. Pepper cocktails. Scott played Brandy (you're a fine girl) by Looking Glass and we all sang along, laughing like teenagers. We have so much fun with our new friends. I really wish that they would spend EVERY summer on the North Shore. We drove, very slowly, back to Mystic just before midnight and collapsed in bed.

Brandy By Looking Glass: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-tRXewCAmU&safe=active 

Sunday morning was chilly once again. We were excited to go agate hunting with the Moodys. Yesterday, Dave and Scott had noticed a lovely shoreline just south of Knife River and wanted to explore there. Someone at the marina told Scott about a good agate beach nearby. We spent the morning looking for these prize north woods stones but had no luck beyond finding tiny pieces. One day we hope to find agates large enough to polish, display and treasure in memory of our summers on Lake Superior.

Lake Superior Teepee

The site of this shack along the Lake Superior Shore took our breath away.  We stopped just to take a photo. This is a serene place. We would come back time and again for the peaceful feelings we get here.

Lake Superior Shack

Dave & Beth

Scott & Yolanda

When it was time for us to head home, we each realized that we may not see each other again. The Moodys are leaving for the Apostle Islands this week and we are running the Minnesota half next Saturday. If we go to Knife River it will be for Saturday evening, returning on Sunday. Yolanda will go home to Oklahoma on Thursday the 7th. We chatted about the prospect of not hanging out again which led to us planning how to cross paths again. 

Life is a tapestry. It took perfectly placed stitches woven at just the right point for us to meet. If we keep in contact we could arrange those stitches any way we choose. Our next adventure is already on the books. We are talking about going to Tulsa in November to run the Tulsa marathon with Yolanda. Yup, we're certain this is just the beginning of a long friendship!

http://route66marathon.com/

Lake Superior Trail ~ Sidewalk Chalk ~ Getting to know the North Shore

July 20 - 21, 2013 

Mystic smells musty so Dave went about looking for wet spots. We'd been seeing water around the head platform but thought it was from heeling. Turns out the chainplates are leaking. Dave resealed them, noting that there is motion at those chainplates and leaking will always be an issue. This will go on our 'check each season' list of things to do to keep Mystic in top shape. We opened all the hatches and windows and aired the boat out. By mid afternoon she smelled fresh and clean. Dave putzed around the boat while I took a little nap on cockpit cushions. Country music was coming off a power boat down the dock.

We went off on our run around 3:00, heading South on 61. When we crossed the train tracks, the dinner train was stopped blocking our way.  A little girl had placed coins on the track. We watched her delight as she gathered the flattened coins once the train passed. We were prepared to run anywhere between 5 -10 miles. The air was crisp but the sun was high without clouds, perfect weather. We ran 2.5 miles south then turned back toward Knife River. We both felt really good, in spite of Dave's numerous injuries and me struggling with bronchitis; so we ran passed Marina Road going 2.5 miles in the other direction for a total of 10 miles. This wasn't a fast run but it was a great run. No pain, no struggle.  Dave's sore feet held up fine and I only went into coughing spasms when we stopped to hydrate.

North Shore Scenic Railroad Train

We meandered over to the lakeshore to put our feet in the water. The water is brutally cold but it helps with inflammation and is very refreshing.  After hot showers we tried to go to Kendall's for smoked fish. The sign on the door said, Open 7:30 am - 7:00 pm.  They were closed. Back at the boat, Dave made a fabulous dinner of Quinoa with roasted veggies, turkey brats and red sauce. We washed it down with a bottle of Cabernet. It was getting cold so Dave started up the little heater. Although we left it on all night, it was very chilly in the morning. Dave brewed a pot of coffee and we snuggled in to watch the movie, Dark Shadows. We've had this Netflix movie for 6 weeks now, too busy to watch and too stubborn to send back unopened. It's a good thing they don't charge late fees. 

The Two Harbors Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival was this weekend. We decided to went to Mocha Moose for coffee and sweet rolls on the way. The interior is cute with a retro decor. There is a shop that sells handmade goods. One table was a 1950's white metal table with red trim and matching Naugahyde chairs. Our table was made of a Corona beer sign mounted on legs. We saw our dock neighbors there and waived hello.

It didn't take long to walk through the sidewalk chalk art show. The artwork was amazing. The festival was on a stretch of road in the older part of Two Harbors next to a park. The road was shut down and open for anyone to create their own chalk design. We took photos, made a contribution to the open artwork and then headed back to take Mystic for a Sunday sail.

Our Chalk Art

We prepared Mystic for sailing which took a good 20 minutes to get everything ready. By the time we were preparing to leave the dock we saw a boat that had  just departed coming back into the marina.  They shook their heads at us as they explained that there were 6 foot waves and choppy conditions. It was too rough on the lake for a gentle, relaxing sail. Everyone was bundled up under several layers looking miserable. We decided to stay put. We'll have to find something else to do on this beautiful Sunday.

Driftwood

Rough day on the big lake

We've been wanting to hike the Lake Superior Trail. After a quick web check we found the trailhead outside of Two Harbors. We spent three hours moving along the muddy and rocky path. We crossed Wilson Creek which had both bridges out. It appeared they were tossed on shore by a storm. Our Plan B for the day turned out to be great!

Superior Hiking Trail Flora

Rocky Descent

Wilson Creek Bridge Outage

Resting on the Superior Trail

We stopped by the Lake Superior Candy shop for a few expensive treats. Turtle tracks, bear tracks and mint fingers; six pieces of handmade candy cost us $7.  We picked up smoked whitefish and hot pepper cheese curds at Kendall's for dinner. 

Kendall's Smokehouse

Candy Kitchen

We had another great weekend exploring the North Shore. When we finally headed home, it was much later than usual but we found the traffic to be lighter. Keeping Mystic on the Lake is like having a cabin up North. We love our weekends on the boat!

Our Summer at Knife River Begins

 July 13 - 14, 2013

We left Stillwater for Knife River on Saturday with the intention of stopping off at Willow River for breakfast at Peggy Sue's. We discovered this quaint little restaurant a few years back while making a 100 mile bike trek from Willow River to Duluth and back. The food is excellent, the people very friendly. 

Peggy Sue's Cafe ~ Willow River, MN

It's always good to be back in Knife River. The marina is quiet. Mystic needs a LOT of cleaning. I spent 2.5 hours cleaning bug guts with elbow grease and soft scrub. Dave attacked his list of projects generated while we were cruising. He got the better deal!

We went for a run along Scenic 61. These are the same roads we ran Grandma's Marathon on in 2008 and 2011. The road is very busy with a speed limit of 55 mph but there is a wide shoulder for us to feel safe. It is a popular biking route. When we got back we went straight to the beach that sits just beyond the marina breakwater. People were collecting rocks on the beach and playing along the shore. We took our shoes off so we could jump in the lake to cool off. All eyes were on us as we took a quick plunge. You would have thought we were naked. The water temperature is only around 49 degrees even in July. I couldn't breath when I first emerged from underwater. Back on shore, everyone avoided eye contact with us but I noticed a few smiles; they were humored by our chilly dip! 

Grandma's Marathon ~ Scenic Rt. 61, Two Harbors, MN

Scott Moody texted Dave to say that they were in Silver Bay, 30 miles North of us. He wanted to know if we were interested in coming up for a free outdoor festival with GB Leighton. We ate dinner aboard Mystic then headed to pick the Moody's up at their marina. The concert was fabulous. We had a great time getting to know Scott and Yolanda. It was fun singing along to the music. After dropping the Moody's off, we made our way back to Knife River, pulling into the marina at 1:00 am. We haven't stayed out that late in a very long time. While walking down the dock two other boat owners joined us. They were returning from their own night out. One smiled, waved hello then said, "I know that water was COLD when you jumped in the lake today!" We laughed and said, "Yes, it was!" as we smiled at each other.

It got cold overnight. Dave brought a small electric heater that warmed the cabin nicely.  We can only use it when we are plugged into shore power. Mystic has a coal burning cabin heater as well. 

We went out on the lake for a couple hours on Sunday.  We couldn't find consistent wind but we sailed around Knife Island anyway. Dave scanned the shoreline for landmarks and bearings so we can recognize home one our way in.

Mystic came with a Code Zero sail. It's really big and meant for light winds. Dave wanted to raise it out on the lake but decided to wait until we were at the dock under controlled conditions. The sail is stored in a sock with two lines hanging out. To raise it, you pull one line and the sock lifts to expose the sail. If you pull the second line, the sock slides over the sail, essentially bagging it. This sail is beautiful, colored in bright fuchsia and deep blue. Once raised, the wind filled the flowing silk. You could see us from every slip at the marina. Our dock neighbors started coming over to admire it and ask about Mystic. Jen stopped by first. She lives aboard a Bayfield 25 and dreams cruising in tropical waters. Next Tom from Scotia, a Cape Dory 27, sauntered by. We've met so many people that we've had to write down their names along with their boat info so we learn who they are. Rob & Larissa are docked directly across from us. They offered to help with our docking lines when we came back from our sail.  An older sailor named Dave who is around 80 years old still sails solo in his Catalina. We saw him come in off the lake earlier today. He docked his boat alone, then washed the deck. He looks like someone who has lived a lot of great stories. I can't wait to sit and chat with him a while. He was quite impressed with our jump in the lake and called us "Tough"! 

Dave raises the Code Zero

Meeting New Friends Scott & Yolanda Moody

July 6, 2013 ~ 

Life is funny.  Every day, we go through our routines, interacting with the people who share our work day; connecting with our families, and experiencing random crossing of paths with endless strangers. On this day, we had a chance encounter with Scott and Yolanda Moody at Knife River Marina. It blows my mind to think about how many details had to fall into place to allow this meeting. Scott and Yolanda Moody had driven all the way from Oklahoma to spend a month on Lake Superior, a trip they've dubbed their 'Lake Superior Summer'. They chose Knife River as their base for launching their Erickson 27, Della Grace, and they arrived at the exact time that Dave and I sauntered up to the showers at Knife River after two weeks on our own adventure bringing Mystic to Minnesota.

Scott and Yolanda were talking with another boater when we approached. They were looking for the Harbor Master and inquiring about spending the night on their boat in the marina lot. I would have missed out on all this information except the women's shower was closed for cleaning. As I stood there, half listening, half distracted by cell phone WIFI, Scott and Yolanda came over to chat. They told me that they decided to buy a sailboat and learn to sail only a couple of years ago. They refurbished Della Grace and learned to sail on a nice Oklahoma lake back home. They fell in love with sailing and dreamed of going into big water, choosing Lake Superior and Knife River.  I found it fascinating that when we met, they were exactly where Dave and I were two weeks ago; faced with a dream adventure, excited, anxious, and hopeful! We had a lot to talk about. I felt a connection with them immediately!

Yolanda & Scott Moody

After showering, we walked up to Emily's for dinner. This quaint little restaurant is nestled alongside scenic route 61 and offers fabulous food. Prices are high so our visits there will be limited. Tonight was for splurging since we had some celebrating to do! Much to our surprise we found Scott and Yolanda sitting at the bar. We joined them and enjoyed an evening of good food and good company. It turns out that we have a lot in common. Yolanda grew up very near Stillwater, OK. She runs marathons and is a teacher. She and Scott will celebrate their anniversary on their voyage; Dave and I celebrated ours during our trip. Our new friends are adventurers and spend as much time as possible exploring together, just like us. We had a great time getting to know them and sharing stories until the restaurant staff kicked us out.

Lighthouse at Emily's ~ Knife River, MN

We walked back to the marina together under menacing skies. The night was very dark and thunderstorms were building. We stood by the Marina office chatting until the clouds opened up with cracks and booms and we each had to make a mad dash for cover. Scott and Yolanda had to climb up a ladder and  we had to run a quarter of a mile to get to Mystic's slip. We got soaked but we giggled as we tucked into the cabin. The raindrops were huge but we both agreed; what a welcome home!

In the morning, we woke at our usual time, early! It was cold and windy and fog had settled in. We'd offered to help Scott and Yolanda launch Della Grace today but conditions were not ideal. They stopped by Mystic for a tour, then we went over to see Della Grace. They've done so much work to this boat. It is beautiful and will serve them well on their Lake Superior Summer journey. They told us that they renamed Della Grace. Like Mystic, the former name did not fit their beautiful vessel. Apparently it is bad luck to change the name of a boat. They told us they resorted to finding a virgin to pee in the bilge of the boat. Superstition say it will combat the bad luck. Trust me, had we not been changing Tractatus BACK to Mystic, we'd be looking for a virgin as well. Somehow it seems right to give our beautiful boat her original name back.  I'm pretty sure that the spirit of Mystic will be pleased.

Della Grace ~ Erickson 27 ~ Knife River Marina

As we pack up our cruising lives to head back to reality, we are excited to be able to follow Scott and Yolanda on their journey.  They are lucky to have the luxury of time with their plans to spend the month of July exploring the North Shore.  We hope to see them again and we cherish the luck or karma or simple coincidence of meeting them.  We have been blessed with new friends of kindred spirit.  How lucky is that! We hope to foster a lifetime friendship from this chance encounter.

Della Grace anchored in Taconite Harbor

Raspberry Bay Harbor to Knife River ~ HOME

Saturday, July 6, 2013 ~ 

We rose early today, excited to make the 50 mile crossing to our new home at Knife River.  This is our last day on our first journey aboard Mystic. The weather radio made it sound like the day would be much like yesterday, windy and wet. It's wet alright; we keep moving in and out of fog but there is no wind even though the wind never let up last night. We expected waves but the big lake is calm as glass. T-storms are possible today. We hope to make the crossing without encountering severe weather.

On our way out of the bay, we swung past the Raspberry Island Lighthouse for some photos.  We can't wait to get back to the Apostles and stay awhile. It's such a great place to explore. We headed north west toward York Island. The Minnesota shoreline is straight ahead, looming in and out of sight through the haze. It appears that York Island has an anchorage, safe from a southern wind. There are several boats anchored there this morning.

Raspberry Island Light ~ Apostle Islands

After passing York Island we begin looking for Sand Island Shoal. Once we clear it, we will head 263 degrees west (just off of southwest), toward Knife Island. The cruise around Sand Island is a bit dicey. We could see two red markers and identified them as the Shoal marker #1 and the Sand spit marker #2. I have excellent distance vision but I had to use the binoculars to see them. We aimed between the two markers. Luckily, I kept taking peeks through the lens and realized that the marker closer to shore was NOT Marker #1. It was a shipwreck marker. We should have been aiming outside of Marker #2 which we had mistaken for marker #1. A quick adjustment and we were back on track. Later, Dave checked the charts and confirmed that we were in plenty of water had we stayed on our original course.  I was relieved to hear this but glad that we went around Marker #2.  Better safe than sorry.

Sand Island Light ~ Apostle Islands

We are using Dave's paper Nautical charts now. Open CPN http://opencpn.org/ocpn/ has been a wonderful, cheap and accurate way to chart our course. It's shareware; we appreciate those who created it for sailors to use for free. My Acer laptop did not prove to be reliable but we learned to take readings on Open CPN before heading out each day and it worked really well for us.. 

We had to come up with all sorts of methods of avoiding the elements. Dave has been wearing a hat on much of the trip. Yesterday I had to cover my ears, which are very sensitive from sunburn. I put on my Bondi Band buff which says, Eat, Sleep, Run, Rinse, Repeat. I wore it in our Ragnar Relay races. It applies to cruising as well only the runs are over water and waves instead of land.

Today is anticlimactic final day. We can't really see much, can't sail, and the flies are back. And, we are tired! Our journey has taken us 13 days, 650 miles, and 3 Great Lakes. It has been an amazing adventure.

When we finally got to the Minnesota shoreline, the fog hit us in the face and we lost all definition. Fog lifted and settled on us over an over as we approached our mark on the chart. This was disconcerting because we have never seen this coast from the water. We were able to find a few landmarks, checked the Garmin way points and moved very slowly. Suddenly we could see Knife Island, just off of Knife River Marina.

First view of Knife River

Pelicans off of Knife Island

The fog created some dramatic photos on our way into the channel. We had been assigned a slip but when we got to the harbor we found that the slip was filled with a huge power boat. We tied up to the fuel dock and Dave walked to the office to figure things out. It turned out that we were one slip over, next to the big power boat. As we maneuvered into our slip a friendly face appeared from two boats north of us and offered to catch our dock line. Once we were settled, we collapsed onto the cockpit bench, looked into each others eyes and simply grinned. We savored the moment, each running the days we spent out on the lakes through our heads, each enjoying the wonder of our accomplishments!  We made it!!!  WE ARE HOME!

Knife Island ~ We are home!

It didn't take long for us to remember that we had champagne on ice.  Dave popped the cork and we toasted (the whole bottle) to our wonderful journey. We sat there, savoring our joy and talking about new adventures aboard Mystic.

Celebration at Knife River ~ July 6, 2013

Ontonagon to Raspberry Harbor Bay in the Apostle Islands

Friday, July 5, 2013 

Today we will make the crossing to the Apostle Islands. We will leave Michigan behind and enter Wisconsin.  If the weather cooperates, we'll be at Knife River Marina, Mystic's new home, on Saturday. We are travelling at 5-10 mph; the wind is gusting at times.  This may prove to be our roughest ride yet.

Dave messing with the halyards

Windblown day on Lake Superior

We move along the shoreline after leaving Ontonagon and pass the Porcupine Mountains. The ski slope is unmistakable. It took us almost 2 hours to round the point. We could see the mountains the entire time.

Porcupine Mountains

Today's conditions were hard on us.  It was a very long day of rocking and rolling in wind and waves. We both put our seaband motion sickness bands on to help us tolerate the motion. We did not get sick but we were both just a little green.

We were headed for Stockton Island, Presque Isle Bay to anchor for the evening. The wind did not lighten as we entered the island waters so we decided to keep moving westward through the Apostles and closer to MN. The first lighthouse we could see was the Michigan Island Light. I sat on the bow of the boat, wedged between the dinghy and the mast with my harness clipped to the jack line and took photos.  It was interesting trying to time the shots between wind and rolling waves and holding on for dear life.

Michigan Island Light ~ Apostle Islands

As we moved between the Islands, we kept getting weird temperature gusts from hot to cold to hot with what felt like a 20 degree change in temperature. Raspberry Harbor was busy with 26 boats anchored in the bay. The biting flies have lessened but they are not gone. By far, we encountered the most flies ever, on this portion of the trip. This has been the worst thing we have had to deal with! We've had four long days with wind and waves but we always knew it would end once we were at anchor. Not so, the bugs! We become easy targets in the evening. We pulled into Raspberry Harbor Bay to anchor around 6:30.  The wind was out of the south which made this harbor the best choice.

Raspberry Harbor Anchorage ~ Apostle Islands

The Raspberry Island Lighthouse is just off our stern. It flashes every 2.5 seconds. I wonder if I can get a photo of it at night. It is warm and breezy here so we will be on deck until the sun sets. We settle into the cockpit with a bottle of Cabernet relishing the quiet evening sunset. We are so excited to be so close to Knife River! Like so many other special moments in my life, I stop, take a deep breath, and I note to myself...THIS is a special moment. Enjoy it!

Sunsets and Cabernet ~ This is the life!

Musings:

• Traveled 74 miles today over 11.5 hours per Garmin
• Engine hours read 394.8
• Lost one of the boom shade posts overboard during the windy night
• VHF calls for possible t-storms tonight. 
• Awoke in the middle of the night to look at the sky.  We could see the Raspberry Island light flashing off our stern.  Lovely evening, no photos, but we breathed in the vast sky, bedazzled in white and counted our lucky stars!  

Houghton to Ontonagon

Thursday, July 4, 2013 

We are awakened by the sound of spray hitting the boat. I mumbled, "What is that?" Dave answered, "Sprinkler system." We are being blasted in a rhythmic pattern which is a very strange sound to wake up to.  

We decide to take a walk to look for breakfast before leaving but quickly realize that nothing is open in this town.  It's the July 4th holiday. It is our 26th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us!!!
 

Happy Anniversary ~ July 4, 2013

It was a beautiful, clear blue sky kind of morning. We prepare Mystic for our departure and call ahead to the bridge tender to request passage under the Lift Bridge. This bridge is just like the one back home in Stillwater. Another sailboat, Sara Belle, made the passage under the bridge just in front of us. I took some great photos of it.


Approaching the Houghton Lift bridge along with Sara Belle



Houghton Lift Bridge

After clearing the bridge, we continued west on the Keweenaw Waterway enjoying the views of beautiful homes and farms that we pass. Many have American flags on display in celebration of Independence day. It is hot tucked in the waterway so we have shed a few layers of clothing. It feels good to be warm finally. Approximately three miles west of the Houghton bridge we found a beautiful anchorage with a campground and playground. We make not that if we pass this way again, it would be a safe harbor option.

Cute little place along the Western Keweenaw Waterway

Round House

Tranquility ~ Peace

As we leave the Keweenaw and enter Lake Superior, we are met by a chilly 10 mph southwest breeze. The lake is dotted with little white cresting waves. We'll be passing two little towns on the way to Ontonagon today; Red Ridge then Freda. Often the only sign of a town is the cell tower rising above the horizon. It should take us about 7 hours to cover the 50 mile distance. 

Western Entrance Light Keweenaw Waterway

As we approached the Ontonagon River entry we could see a defined delineation between beautiful blue/green water and caramel brown water.  I wasn't sure what I was looking at but Dave explained it was silt from the river.  It was a strange and fascinating sight.


Entrance to the Ontonagon River

 
We worked our way up the river noticing young men swimming across the channel in front of us. They climbed the rock retaining wall and one of the boys yelled to me, "Hey, take our picture." It brought a smile to our faces. 


As soon as we approached the Ontonagon Village Marina Harbor our depth finder began beeping wildly. The channel into the marina harbor was shallow and only about 12 feet wide. Dave carefully made his way between the red and green markers. We felt the tiniest bump as we slid along the bottom of the river but we made it through. As we approached the fuel dock the depth finder dropped to 5 feet. I was sure that it was too shallow for our 5'3" draft but we were still floating. We tied off at the end of the dock and Dave went to the office to seek assistance. Like many docks we have visited, this one had a contact number to request the Harbor Master, but no one is on site. Dave left a message and we moved Mystic to the closest slip, which happened to be right next to a huge steel boat. Ontonagon was a sleepy little stop for us. We were able to get off the boat and explore but there was little to do on this mid summer holiday visit. Tomorrow we make the run to the Apostles. We are getting close to home. Bittersweet excitement is growing.

Steel Vessel ~ Ontonagon, MI

Greig's Taxidermy & Tackle ~ Ontonagon, MI