Friday, June 20, 2025, Port Huron

We did our last visiting this morning with the cousins. Georgina's grandson and girlfriend arrive late last night so we got to meet them. Cousin Marty was taking sister Marty to the airport at 10:15, so we decided to depart at 10:00 so he could help us leave, which he did. It's always sad to say goodbye, but we were looking forward to what is ahead of us. Cousin Marty, assisted by Donna, was a perfect host. Considering that he live alone, he really tolerated this group of invaders really well.  We cast off at 10:10 with a dock full of goodbyes.

Navionics and Marty both said we should take the North Channel to get to the St Clair River. It was easy to navigate, but is pretty busy and we had to be alert to steer through the wakes of passing big boats. I would hate to travel through it on a weekend. We passed the North Channel Yacht Club, a place we have heard of many times but never visited. 

12.5 miles into the trip we passed the Algonac Harbour Club, one of our favorite places to visit, and where Voyager just left hours earlier. It started to rain (again!) heavily which limited visibility, so I turned on the radar for the first time on this trip. 

Annie' split screen showing radar and navigation charts

I know you have heard of people hot dogging it before, but this boater near Algonac took it to a whole new level. I bet our Memorial Day hot dog cooker, Joe Mandanici, would love to get his hands on this piece of meat!

It's a day late, but I just got his picture and can't help but putting this handsome group in my blog. 

I called the marina to get our dock assignment and make sure their pumpout was working. They said we were docking on the wall in front of the office next to Voyager, which was strange because we have always been in a dock before. Well as it turns out, they are doing construction there and it's full of dust and noisy. Marianna would have nothing to do with that, so she got our assignments moved to a dock - she is he best!

I saw that our GPS said we would miss the 3:30 bridge opening by one minute so I sped up a little. But the current got stronger and soon our deficit had increased to 10 minutes. I decided to just slow down and make the 4:00 bridge. 

When you are on the water and being passed by a freighter, you know they are bigger than you. But it's only when you see a picture taken by a fellow traveler that you realize just how much bigger they are. Check this out. Surprisingly, they pass with barely a ripple while a big powerboat wake really rocks Annie. 

Peter warned me that the current in the river was bad because of all the rainwater coming down. I'm glad he did. When we stopped for fuel after clearing the bridges I docked on the starboard side so I could dock into the current, and when we pulled into our dock I also came into the current and entered the dock very fast using lots of reverse and the thrusters to prevent me from crashing into anything. It rather scared me but looked like I was in full control to my loving crew! The docking was made more  complicated because I could not follow the path I preferred as the river was filled with big logs and tree branches I needed to avoid. Peter was on board to help us dock as he jumped on Annie at the fuel dock. Never hurts to have another knowledgeable hand on board for a difficult maneuver. Thanks, Peter.

The last time I was here a fuse blew on my thrusters. I never knew why, but suspected that I might have caught some obstruction in one of the blades. So I was nervous every time I used them today and tried to minimize their use. 

Today's trip was 37.4 miles. It took us 6 hours of moving time at an average of 6.6 knots. The current really takes a toll on speed and mileage. We've gone 133 miles so far on 70 gallons of diesel. 

Marianna gave us big welcoming hugs after helping us dock. We had the first joint dinner with them on Voyager after cocktails and catching us were done. As promised, we had a very nice light summer solstice dinner of tuna fish salad, deviled eggs, vegetables with dill weed and fresh bread and crackers. Little dessert cookies and cakes followed. She had us dressed for the occasion in colorful Hawaiian leis. Kerry gave her the first hostess gift of the cruise, a colorful Luminara candle that matched her decor. 

Once back at the boat, we crashed pretty quickly.