Grand Island - Munising to Huron Bay

Tuesday, July 2, 2013 

There is no milk so we'll be having black coffee on this chilly 40 degree, foggy morning. Dave got up at 5:00 am hoping to be ready to leave at sunrise. He brings me coffee in bed and encourages me to stir. Light wind is forecast for the next two days. It will be sunny but cold. On Thursday, the wind should spin around to the South and warm things up. Unfortunately, that means the possibility of thunderstorms. We'll have to see if we can continue to travel or have to wait things out. Safety first!


Rounding Grand Island, Munising, MI



We spent a physically difficult day, yesterday, taking turns fighting the tiller. We are stiff and sore and would like to stay curled up in our bunks. Dave noticed that all of our open rolls of toilet paper are wet and moldy. It appears that the head gets wet underway. We'll have to keep the portholes closed while underway. The cushions on the bunk we sleep on are wet underneath in the morning. Our body heat creates condensation. We'll have to figure something out to avoid this. We are learning something new about Mystic every day. Last night the stove was blown out by the wind funneling down the open hatch. When I tried to relight it I heard a funny sucking sound and it would not light. I waited a moment then tried again relieved to be successful. Our galley stove has an auto shutoff so it's not going to leak propane but it makes me uncomfortable. We are very careful whenever the stove is being used. Someone needs to be on watch.

Granite Light

Granite Light

It turned into a perfect day, warm and sunny with mild seas. This allowed us to make our longest day of 12.5 hours and to move the farthest distance of 87.4 miles to Huron Bay. We were tired when we reached the Harbor at Witz Marina. A fishing boat followed us in and anchored next to us. A third boat was already sitting on anchor in the bay. We watched the sun set with a glass of wine. At bedtime we set about hunting mosquitos inside our cabin. Dave made little screens for all openings yesterday including the Dorades and the aft vents but we had a swarm of hungry blood suckers waiting for a meal. We're not sure how they are getting in.  



Foggy sunrise off  Huron Bay, Skanee, MI

The Harbor is very pretty and well sheltered. We can hear children laughing and playing at the campground nearby. Young boys are setting off firecrackers along the shore. Our daughter, Brie, called after work today. It was so nice to hear her voice. We are both quite sunburned even though we have diligently applied sunscreen. There is no way to fully protect us from the constant exposure and reflection of the sun off the water. We'll be in Houghton tomorrow for my birthday!

Dave leads us out of Huron Bay