After weeks of no rain, we are dodging rain drops as we plan our travels down Lake Huron. We had only a day and a half of rain on Lake Superior and 2 days of rain out of 4 on Lake Huron. Back in Buffalo they tell us the rain is constant, we are hopeful that changes before we get back.
Sault Ste. Marie was a great stop to get caught up on laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping. We were in desperate need to do everything and of course it was some of the hottest weather we've had so far. When we got here a month ago there was very little pleasure boat traffic, what a difference a month makes. The marina was busy with people making the stop for a day or two then heading through the locks to Lake Superior. After visiting so many small towns and marinas we were glad we are heading in the opposite direction and not competing for marina space.
Tuesday was forecasted to be rainy but not until late morning. With light winds we took off for De Tour Village, 44 miles and did manage to catch the rain as we docked. We both chuckled when we called the marina and asked for our slip assignment and they asked if we needed help docking. We said "no", obviously they were not interested in getting wet and we were fine docking ourselves. We took a walk into town once the rain stopped, they have 2 restaurants and a small grocery store. De Tour and Drummund Island are the two places loopers stop to check into customs after visiting Canada. We stopped in Drummund when we looped, which is why we stopped in DeTour this time. We think we were expecting more from this town, there wasn't much here.
The forecast Wednesday was for winds and rain later in the day but not bad in the morning. We left at o'dark thirty and traveled 102 miles to Harrisville. Luckily the waves didn't start building until we were about 15 miles out. Winds and t-storms were forecasted for later in the afternoon and did arrive as forecasted well after we got there. Mark called me up to the bridge because he could see the storm rolling in, the rain was moving across the water/land and within minutes it was coming down in buckets. We wanted to get the ananometer out to clock the wind speeds but it was raining so hard we would have been drenched if we tried. They had music in the park at 7, rain exited, we took our chairs to the pavilion and listened to the Oxymorons for 2 hours. It was great, songs from the 60's & 70's, we knew them all.
The current class of loopers are making their way through the Great Lakes due to Canada still being closed. There were 6 current loopers and us in the marina. Winds, rain and small craft advisories for Thursday kept all the loopers at Harrisville Marina an extra night. It was nice to chat with them and feel the excitement of looping again. Many are spooked by the stories of the Great Lakes and although they love all the towns and cities they have visited, they are already anxious to be done with them.
We tried to make reservations in Port Austin for Friday, the captain's birthday, but they said it was full, we could anchor out in the bay. Forty-five miles later we were dropping the anchor and getting the dinghy ready to go ashore. They had some damage to their docks from the winter that hasn't been fixed, but from the looks of things there was plenty of room for us at the docks...oh well, it worked out fine that we could tie the dinghy up right near the office and head into town for a birthday dinner. The rain stayed just south of Port Austin so we managed to stay dry Friday and headed to Port Huron Saturday morning where the rain moved out early in the morning. The winds were supposed to be NE and they were definitely SE/E with rollers from the last few days for the first couple hours then they changed so that we weren't getting hit on the beam (side) as we traveled 93 miles.
That's a wrap for Lake Huron, until we meet again.
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