Roger just reported hearing a loon calling in flight, so we know we're in the north country!
After a pleasant Sunday in harbor at St. Ignace, we set out for DeTour, at the eastern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on Monday. The forecast was for winds from the WNW at 15 and waves 1-2 feet, which sounded ideal. What we hadn't bargained for were the cold temperatures! It IS July, after all! We brought our thermometer out into the cockpit and found the air temperature barely reached 63 degrees. Most of the day it hovered around 60. Add the wind chill with a gusty (at times over 20 knots) breeze, and you get the idea that we were COLD. Fortunately we brought lots of clothing, and we wore most of it yesterday. Hooded sweatshirts, fleeces AND windbreakers!
Our boat is equipped with a gimballed stove so we can heat things even when the boat is heeling. Mid-morning we enjoyed hot cocoa and for lunch a bowl of steaming clam chowder. Cooking it was an eerie experience, as I hope my photo shows. It looked like the pot should slide to the back of the stove when, in fact, the stove was level and the boat surrounding it was tipping. My knees got a workout keeping me level while stirring.
It was an exhilarating day, as the wind was strong enough to push us along at top speed, although we did supplement at times with the engine. The power boost from the engine allows us to let the autopilot to do the steering without draining our battery.
De Tour is a great place for freighter watching, as all the boats heading to and from Lake Superior go through here. We followed one into the channel on our arrival past the DeTour lighthouse.
Today is still chilly, but the wind and waves are good for a run to Thessalon, Ontario, some 22 nautical miles away (or three and a half to four hours), so this afternoon we are Canada bound!
After a pleasant Sunday in harbor at St. Ignace, we set out for DeTour, at the eastern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on Monday. The forecast was for winds from the WNW at 15 and waves 1-2 feet, which sounded ideal. What we hadn't bargained for were the cold temperatures! It IS July, after all! We brought our thermometer out into the cockpit and found the air temperature barely reached 63 degrees. Most of the day it hovered around 60. Add the wind chill with a gusty (at times over 20 knots) breeze, and you get the idea that we were COLD. Fortunately we brought lots of clothing, and we wore most of it yesterday. Hooded sweatshirts, fleeces AND windbreakers!
Our boat is equipped with a gimballed stove so we can heat things even when the boat is heeling. Mid-morning we enjoyed hot cocoa and for lunch a bowl of steaming clam chowder. Cooking it was an eerie experience, as I hope my photo shows. It looked like the pot should slide to the back of the stove when, in fact, the stove was level and the boat surrounding it was tipping. My knees got a workout keeping me level while stirring.
It was an exhilarating day, as the wind was strong enough to push us along at top speed, although we did supplement at times with the engine. The power boost from the engine allows us to let the autopilot to do the steering without draining our battery.
De Tour is a great place for freighter watching, as all the boats heading to and from Lake Superior go through here. We followed one into the channel on our arrival past the DeTour lighthouse.
Today is still chilly, but the wind and waves are good for a run to Thessalon, Ontario, some 22 nautical miles away (or three and a half to four hours), so this afternoon we are Canada bound!
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