AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: Blind River Marina, North Channel, ON to Mackinac Isl, MI

Aug 14^th – It was a sunny warm day with low winds in the morning which picked up in the afternoon. We got up early to travel 45 miles from Blind River Marina to Drummond Island which is in Michigan. As we approached the boarder we saw floating markers with flags indicating the segregation between Canada and the US. When we pulled into the marina we were met by a US Customs Officer who checked our documents and provided us with our Cruising Permit that we applied for before we left on this trip. After we moved the boat to our overnight slip we walked into town (about a 2.5 mile walk each way) and checked things out. It was interesting to see beer and alcohol in the grocery store and it was especially nice to see the lower prices! Once we got back to the boat we booked our slip for Mackinac Island for tomorrow night. After dinner butter fingers (me, myself & I) dropped the carafe of the coffee maker and it blew up into a thousand pieces ... Oh well, I guess we’ll be drinking instant coffee until we can find a replacement.

Aug 15^th – It was a sunny warm day with low winds most of the day. We got up early and travelled 47 miles from Drummond Island to Mackinac Island Michigan. We arrived in the rain, however the sun came out shortly after we tied up at the dock and it was sunny the rest of the day. Mackinac is a very interesting island since they have no cars. Everything is transported by horse drawn carriage or by bicycles. Lots and lots of people are constantly arriving and leaving on high speed ferries that create a rooster tail as they travel. We also met other Loopers on the dock. We toured the island by horse drawn carriage for the first couple of hours and then we rode our bicycles around the island (an 8 mile ride). We walked around the town and definitely got our exercise today! There’s lots of fudge and horse poop around the town. Maria bought enough fudge to last us a year! We had an excellent dinner at Milly’s and Bob, our server, was very helpful and funny. Our bartender recommended a craft beer for us and as I was drinking it he told us it was called “Widow Maker” and I nearly spit out my beer ... I figured that Maria must be trying to get rid of me already ;) At 10pm a trumpet player played an end of day tune ... I guess they’re trying to tell us it’s time for bed. Maria must have taken over 100 pictures so it will be a very difficult task to select the ones to include with this blog post.

Aug 16^th – The day started out warm and cloudy with chance of thunderstorms however the sun came out by Noon and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. We decided to stay at Mackinac Island another day. At 9:30am a trumpet player played the beginning of day tune and then a cannon was fired. I rode my bike around the island once again (8 miles) while Maria made some fresh bread. We then walked into town and watched expert fudge makers make their fudge from scratch and had a number of taste tests along the way. After lunch we walked up to the Grand Hotel and had a tour of the interior, balcony and grounds. It’s an impressive place, however it’s expensive to stay and eat there. If you want to dine for dinner at the Grand Hotel the men must wear a jacket and tie and women must wear a dress. We talked to locals and they said the menu is very limited and the price is very steep and that’s how we selected Milly’s for dinner last night. The wifi at the marina is spotty at best thus I’m waiting for good wifi before I post the next blog entry.

Aug 17^th – We got up early this morning to travel however there was a severe thunderstorm warning thus we decided to wait it out. As the thunderstorm approached the winds became extremely strong and the waves built quickly. After the storm had passed the waves and winds were still a concern thus we decided to stay one more night at Mackinac Island. They are calling for light winds tonight and tomorrow thus, if the weatherman is correct we should be traveling tomorrow morning. We’re not too upset since this is a pretty nice spot to be stuck in except the harbour is impacted by waves from the ferries as well as the winds thus it’s fairly normal to have the boat rock and roll a little during the day. The other bonus is that we’re docked close to the Pink Pony Patio that has live entertainment starting at 3pm every day. It’s great to be able to sit on the boat with a cold one listening to great live tunes from a couple hundred feet away.