Georgian Bay, the North Channel and back to the USA

July 29 through August 18 (Click on the images to see and scroll them in full size)

Saturday, July 29 we spent a 2nd night in Frying Pan Bay, where I did a stern tie for the first time to limit Patriot's swing since the anchorage was pretty crowded. Glenn and I walked around the island to Fairy and Goblin Lakes which were awesomely pretty.

The next day, we tied up at Henry's Fish restaurant. Amazingly, there were more float planes than boats at the docks, and we watched them fly in and out from the top deck of Patriot all afternoon. It was a very cool stop, and for dinner we had great pickerel (which we call walleye back home) for dinner.

Over the next few days we anchored at different islands, had some beautiful quiet days and great sunsets in addition to our share of rain.

Wednesday, August 2 we stayed for 2 days in Killarney a great small town, but getting there involved a rough crossing (Welcome back to the Great Lakes). It was a nice walk-able town, and we had some great fish at a local restaurant. Christine finally found a post office and got her postcards mailed. We also visited an amazing lodge a short distance from our marina.

Friday, we Arrived in Little Current, Ontario right in the middle of the annual Haweater festival. For those of you that do not know what a Haweater is, which included us. (a Haweater is a person born on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. The name derives from the hawberries among the island's vegetation which were eaten by early settlers to avoid scurvy.) A person who has lived on Manitoulin Island, but was not born there, may be considered an honorary Haweater but the only way you can be a genuine Haweater is to be born on the island. We seem to have great luck in arriving during festivals we never knew existed. There were lots of events and vendors on main street and we walked and ate our way through the festival.

Saturday, August 5, we visited Kagawong, a great small town where we walked to the Bridal Falls, which were very pretty. We also visited the local church. Very few loopers visit, because it is a bit out of the way, but it is absolutely worth it.

Sunday, we arrived at the Benjamin Islands, where technically we crossed our wake on Patriot, as back a few years ago, we spent time in the North Channel and this was as far East as we made it. I had some issues with our Zodiac outboard which I solved with a new spark plug and a fuel filter. On our 2nd day in the Benjamin islands it was kind of rainy and so Glenn and Carol made lunch for us and we watched the movie 2nd Hand Lions, one of my favorites!

August 8, we spent out last night in Canada at Blind River. We ate at Tim Horton's and did a bit of grocery shopping. Tomorrow we cross the border and start the final stretch of this amazing adventure we call the Great Loop.

August 9 we cleared customs on the CBP Roam app and had a quick video call with US customs. Our first US port was Detour, MI where Glenn and I took a dinghy ride and checked out the only Great Lakes freighter that I have ever seen turned into a lake cottage! We also cruised past a huge freighter that was permanently docked just north of the house.

After leaving Detour, we followed Encore to Glenn and Carol's cottage in Cedarville, Michigan for a few days of hiking the local roads, eating Carol's great food and just plain relaxing. Glenn and I also took their kayaks out for a 4 mile run around the lakes. Glenn continues to amaze me. For a man 18 years my senior, he never ceases to give me a run for my money whether it be hiking climbing around an engine room or kayaking.

Sunday, August 13, we got to Mackinac Island. We had tried for several days to get reservations only to find out that there were no slips available until the end of August. We took a chance and just showed up for the few first come first serve slips they hold for transient boater with poor planning skills and guess what? We got in easily.

We spent 2 nights on the island. We toured the dozens of shops and of course ate at the famous Pink Pony bar and restaurant. The 2nd day, Glenn and I walked the 8 miles around the island. Of course we couldn't follow the road, so we walked the top of the bluffs. It was amazing, we did not see a single person for over 4 miles of our trek.

The next day, we crossed the straights of Mackinac and spent one night at Mackinac City, where Glenn got a quote for painting Encore's hull, I ate my required Michigan Pasty.

Wednesday we made the run to Petoskey where we spent 3 days due to some really rough weather on Lake Michigan.

It still blows my mind that we are so close to finishing this Great Loop adventure and crossing our wake. Right now, our plan is to continue down the Michigan coast to St. Joe and cross Encore's wake with our friends, Glenn and Carol, then cross to Racine, WI and then head back to Port Washington on September 10th.

Along the way we will visit Ludington, where we purchased Patriot back in 2017, White Hall where we will have dinner with the former owners of Patriot who looped back in 2015 and finally in Holland, MI where we will break bread with our friends, Craig and Nikki from Joy Girl who we met on their loop a few years back.