Sunday, July 27, 2025, Harbor Beach

I heard people leaving about 5:45. It's hard for me to just lay in bed when I know it's a travel day, but I did so for about 1/2 hour. Then I was up. A bug check made it look like I would need to hose the decks at a minimum, which is all I wnted to do.

The weather check showed 12 mph west winds coming out of Saginaw Bay. That's more than I hoped for, but they are forecast to diminish as the day goes on. At that speed, we'll have little beam waves that will prove annoying to Annie's crew. Timing is everything. 

Peter got good news yesterday. As long as we have been cruising with him, he has been complaining about American gas cans, i.e., how hard they are to use. He would always buy his gas cans in Canada. Well, President Trump has decided to make gas cans great again. He has ordered the EPA to update regulations to remove some of the environmental requirements that have made them almost unworkable. I could hear the cheers on Voyager all the way from the North Channel.

No navigation required today. It's a straight shot to Harbor Beach. Nothing to see but sea!

We left today at 7:10. We were like the last boat to leave. I was shocked at that. 

I did take time to wash the bugs off the deck. I had left the hose out yesterday in anticipation that a bug wash might be required. I helped a nice couple from Cleveland shove off. They said it feels like they see Annie everywhere. 

We had a 12 knot breeze when we hit the lake, and little 1' waves. Fortunately they were coming from the south enough that they were not rolling Annie from side to side. Kerry quickly decided this would be an OK trip if conditions stayed the same. She fixed us an orange, a cinnamon roll from the farmers market, tea and coffee and then went back to bed. Smart crew!

At 20 miles out, the waves and wind had shifted to be more on the beam and the ride became more uncomfortable. Annie would seem to rise on the starboard bow, then take a lunge to port, then roll back to starboard. This continued for quite a while, 20 miles or so, until we got in the lee of the mainland, and across Saginaw Bay. For a period of time it was difficult to move around. Kerry knew what to do. I made my own lunch today  -  a cold beer, pickles and pretzels. I bet my dinner will be better!

 By the time we were 14 miles from Harbor Beach the ride had smoothed out dramatically, and was downright pleasant. The wind was under 4 knots.

The crew has everything under control!

Kerry perked up when I told her we needed to have a Skipper's Meeting to decide our itinerary for the next couple of days. He one request was that we have it once we were docked. That was granted. Kerry made a tuna fish salad sandwich for me once she got up. 

We skipped Port Austin today, as we did last time. I really like the marina and city, but the seaweed is so bad in the channel to the marina and in the marina, that I just don't want to deal with it. 

We came in the North entrance to Harbor Beach as recommended by Lisa with no problems. This is a pretty marina and setting. The harbor is huge. It's one of the largest man made harbors in the world. We like it here. The floating docks have wide wells and deep fairways. The trip today was 56.6 miles. It took us 7 hours at an average moving speed of 8.1 knots. We've gone 643 miles to date. We are making good progress home. 

We took a walk on the path around the break wall. It was hot, but I always enjoy the walk and view. 

We had our Skipper's Meeting and decided to stay here only one night. We'll go to Lexington for two, then head to Port Huron for a couple of nights. Cousin Marty said we could spend a night or two with him, which will let us bypass Algonac and the trouble of trying to get weekend reservations. We promised him dinner on the boat. It's the big art sale weekend in Harrison Township for Marty's brother Tom so Marty says the family will not be too available. Perhaps we would be able to help them out. 

I read the GLCC Harbor Report which indicates that it could be an issue getting in, even with a 4' draft. I called the harbor to inquire. It will be an issue. I was told to watch and follow the water color and to call them on the radio and they could give me some real time directions. Hmmm? Apparently the shoal moves around with each storm. Maybe we should skip Lexington?

We did decide to skip Lexington. We'll stay here tomorrow, Monday and then head to Port Huron on Tuesday. We'll plan to stay there through Thursday night and then head to Kerry's cousin Marty's on Friday - if that works for him. If not, Plan B - whatever that happens to be. It could be Algonac or Milliken, bit both are hard to get a spot on a weekend. It's about 100 miles to go from Huron to Put in Bay, a big hike but it is downhill. 

We had a nice ham steak dinner with green beans and applesauce. We watched two more episodes of Untamed on Netflix before turning in. Two more to go. Tomorrow we'll take the harbor shuttle to the grocery. I would prefer to do bikes, but the 88 degree heat (feels like 94) would wilt Kerry.