Grand Island, Munising To Grand Marais Then Whitefish Bay

September 14 - 17, 2016

Our first stop after leaving Marquette was Grand Island. As we left the dock, the wind was in our face again and stronger than predicted. It took us six and a half hours to go the 40 miles to our anchorage at Murray Bay in Munising. We'd been here before so Dave brought us right back to the spot we knew and we dropped anchor in about 15 feet of water, letting out another 75 feet of line. We were in bed when Mystic started bouncing sideways. The wind had shifted and swung the boat around so we were parallel to shore. The last time we anchored here, the wind was from the north which held us in place facing the island in deep water. The warnings in Active Captain were spot on. The depths change quickly here; going from 15 feet to 3 within a yard's distance. Swinging sideways on 75 feet of line put our hull right up against the sand. We had to drag ourselves back off and motor across the bay with only the full moon for light, then re-anchored in a safer area. Oh boy, we are learning every day. 

Range leading us around Grand Island

Murray Bay Sunset

We left our anchorage early and headed for Grand Marais passing the East Channel Lighthouse which sits on the tip of the thumb of Grand Island. It is one of the few wooden lighthouses ever built. There is something special about it and something haunting. You feel it as you pass. I took dozens of photos from, every point of view, as we passed by.

Grand Island East Light

Grand Island East Light

Grand Island East Light

The air temp was chilly at 55F but it warmed nicely as the day passed. This part of Lake Superior is gorgeous! We are in awe of Picture Rocks and Au Sable Sand Dunes. There are still a ton of tour boats taking sightseers & kayakers out to enjoy the wonders of nature found here. As we passed Picture Rocks we saw a life jacket headed for Marquette. Luckily there was no one dangling from it needing our help.

Kayakers at Picture Rocks

Tour Boat at Picture Rocks

Cliffs at Picture Rocks

Passing Picture Rocks

Tour Boat

Nature's Artwork

Au Sable Lighthouse

Au Sable Sand Dunes

Au Sable Lighthouse

We docked at Grand Marais and walked to town for groceries. The Lake Superior Brewing Co was on the way so we dropped in to see if they had WIFI. We tried to leave for Whitefish Bay on Friday but turned back after only about 4.5 miles. Holy Hell; it was rough out there. It was the right decision. There were thunderstorms all day in Grand Marais. We celebrated the two day break with brown ale at the microbrewery. Whitefish Bay is one of the harshest bays on Lake Superior. We will respect that fact.

Pickle Barrel House, Grand Marais

Welcome to the Lake, Grand Marais, MI

Entering Grand Marais Breakwater

Photo of a Picture of how bad it can get
entering Grand Marais Breakwater

We left early Saturday morning along with the fishermen of Grand Marais under beautiful skies with light wind. There was a fog shelf along the dunes that made it look like snow capped mountains. Setting the foresail added nearly a knot to our speed. It was 54 miles to Whitefish Harbor of Refuge. We had the foresail up for 44 of those miles. Just as we passed Crisp Point, squalls plowed in from the west. We tied everything down, including ourselves, in preparation of the worst, but we got a gentle downpour, like a summer rain. After the rain there was a rainbow.

Once we passed Whitefish point, the squalls came in waves and the wind picked up immensely. Once again, we would have to dock in severe conditions. We made our way past the first breakwater and up to an open slip just in time for the next downpour and big wind! Exhausted, we both fell asleep. The rain never let up but we took a long walk on the road to the Whitefish lighthouse then back along the point. There were black flies that gathered on our clothes in clusters, sometimes taking a bite. Our short walk turned into a four mile round trip. We got back to Mystic wet, tired and annoyed with the flies. It is so beautiful here; and quiet! We are alone most of the time!

Whitefish Point Selfie

Mystic in the background docked at Whitefish Point

Whitefish Point Lighthouse

We only have 25 miles to get off of Lake Superior! This is a HUGE milestone! Today was a good day with seven hours of gentle forward motion and 45 minutes of extreme stress. It is never the same out here! No two days in a row are alike, EVER!

Pitcher Pump

Lake Superior Brewing Co

Note: We are now in St. Ignace, MI, some 130 miles closer to Chicago. Internet is hard to come by but we will update the blog as we can.

Charting Our Course

We've traveled about 260 miles across Lake Superior over the last 10 days. We have another 540 to get to Chicago, our first major step in this journey. It feels like it's slow going, however we thought it might be interesting to show our progress on charts. It looks much more impressive this way; at least to us, it does! 

Knife River, MN to Marquette, MI Sept. 4 - 12, 2016

It's a little easier to look at the charts on a smaller scale. Here are the "legs" we have covered:

Knife River to Red Cliff  55 Miles

Our first day, leaving Knife River for Red Cliff, was relatively easy and warm. It was a downwind ride until we turned into the Bayfield Channel. The last three miles were in a very strong headwind. We stayed two nights in Red Cliff.

Red Cliff to Stockton Island 7 Miles
Stockton to Ontonagon 63 Miles (Time Zone Change)

We had to wait out two nights of stormy weather on Stockton Island. We left with a tailwind. The wind and waves grew steadily throughout the day. This was our roughest day with rolling eight foot seas. By the time we made it to Ontonagon we were ready for a break. It took several hours to pass the Porcupine Mountains. The view of the ski resort against the mountainside is dramatic from the water.

Ontonagon to Houghton 50 Miles

We finally got a break on this leg. We sailed for most of the day in warm weather and light wind. The Keewanaw is beautiful. We spent two days in Houghton enjoying this welcoming Yooper town.

Houghton to Big Bay 52 Miles
Big Bay to Marquette 32 Miles

Houghton to Big Bay was another nice day with good winds and good weather. After leaving the Lower Keewanaw Entry we raised the foresail and made our way past the Huron Mountains. We reached Big Bay late afternoon and had a quiet evening. The smell of pine filled the air.

The trip to Marquette was under a strong SSW headwind. We motor-sailed for a while but got pounded by waves so we furled the sail and motored. The entry to the Cinder Pond Marina in Marquette was dicey with the wind blowing at 25-35 knots! It was so nice to land at the fuel dock and settle in for a couple days of rest.

We are using nautical charts of Lake Superior to navigate at this time. We also use a handheld Garmin GPS and a chart plotter called Open CPN on our laptop computer. We refer to Bonnie Dahl's Superior Way; a great book, full of local and cruising information. In addition, we have the Great Lakes Waterway Guide, also packed with valuable tips.

We spend a lot of the day keeping an eye out for obstacles and markers. The most common obstacle is fishing nets that often block us from our course. You don't want to take a chance crossing a fishing net and getting the line caught in your rudder. That would be a bad day! Sailing is very physical. We are always ready for the quiet of an anchorage or the luxury of a stop at a marina.

Marquette Michigan

September 12 - 13, 2106

We woke up on Sunday, ready to head to Big Bay, and realized that we’d changed time zones back in Ontonagon. Time had not been making sense to us! So there you go. Our body's time clock was working, we just were not paying attention.

We raised our foresail once we passed the Lower Keewanaw Portage Light. We sailed for 4 1/2 hours in 10-15 mph light wind. Only saw 1-3 foot waves today. It was a beautiful day, we certainly have earned this one. We tied up at Big Bay dock around 6:15 pm. Big Bay is quiet. There is a campground and the area is heavily wooded. The smell of pine fills the air. Dave called the Dock Master to say we were at the dock but he never showed up so we got our third free dockage of the trip so far. Another lovely day today for our trip to Marquette is a bonus.

Lower Keewanaw Entry Light

Mystic Heading East

Huron Islands Light

Huron Islands Light

Big Bay Light

We motor-sailed as long as we could, but eventually had to furl and continue on, motoring in a heavy bounce. I got sick after having 2 cups of tea. It came on quick and hit me hard but once I got that tea out I was fine the rest of the day. While watching for fish nets, we noticed something offshore that looked like a cargo ship. After some time, it began to look like a warship. Dave noticed that it didn’t seem to be moving and we realized it was Granite Island. giggling about that perception! Another sailboat entered Marquette breakwater just before us, coming from the east. They made it to the Cinder Pond Marina first. We came into the breakwater under heavy tail wind. This was going to be a rough docking. I jumped on the fuel dock and tried to tie off the bow line. The wind was so strong that it spun Mystic 180 degrees sliding her into the dock in the opposite direction, pointing outward. It was almost like we’d done it on purpose but it was unnerving for us for sure! We spent the night on the fuel dock; too rough for us to move.

Granite Island Light

Superior Dome, Northern MI University view from the water

Marquette Light view from the water

We met Roger & Lynne from Seattle aboard a Barvaria 38, center cockpit ketch named Schatzi. It is a pretty boat! They have a darling fur friend aboard named Salty (dog). He was delightful and made me think of our Jess and the kitties who I miss as much as I miss the kids.

Roger, Lynne and Salty

Shatzi leaving Marquette

We had a great time in Marquette, staying for two nights! We had dinner at the Vierling, a microbrewery, road our bikes out to Presque Isle and went for a run along the waterway trail. The bikes work perfect for what we need; they are comfortable and easy to ride. We walked up 3rd Street, the main drag in Marquette, looking for the grocery store and found Blackrocks Brewery, a neat little place that appears to be a local favorite. I took photos of the ski fence out in the back parking lot and the beer stein room upstairs. Turns out, one of them belongs to our friend Nicki Kumerow. She went to College in Marquette. We see why she chose this cute little town. Everyone is so friendly. Every single person we passed on the street greeted us with “hello” or “Good morning”!

Maritime Museum

Lake Superior Yacht Yard

Mystic at Cindor Pond Marina

Cairns

100 year old Ore docks

Quiet moment

Presque Isle Cliffs

Dave at Presque Isle

Beth at Presque Isle on a Windy Day

Sunrise at Marquette

The Coaster II under full sail

Blackrocks Brewery Stein Room

Blackrocks Brewery Ski Fence

We’d been having trouble with our water pressure. The pump kept shutting down. I happened to be walking through the head and heard a hissing noise coming from the head sink. I mentioned it to Dave. When he looked at it he could see that one of the fittings was bad. We had a leak. It was easy to fix and lucky that I stored the toilet paper in plastic bags. Everything survived.