Thursday, July 24, 2025, Presque isle, MI (Posted live as it happened)

I looked out my porthole windows at 5:45. There was plenty of light so it confirmed my plan that it will be light enough to leave at 6:00 AM tomorrow. The weather also looked good for fishing if Peter was so inclined. 

Then it was time for coffee and a weather check. To my horror and disbelief, the forecast for Friday in the Mackinac Straits had changed dramatically. The forecast for today had improved. Now it showed medium strength winds for tomorrow from the west, instead of light south winds which had been forecast all week. West winds mean serious rolling for Annie, our worst point of sail. It would be 30 miles of rolling across the Mackinac Straits. Today medium strength winds are forecast also, but from the south or on the nose. It looked like today was a better travel day than tomorrow, although there is risk of a thunderstorm or two today. 

I texted Peter to ask his opinion. He agreed that today was the better travel today. So, I decided to leave asap. I got Kerry up to prepare for a speedy departure. Peter and Marianna said they wanted to say goodbye, so they walked over to see us off. Splitting up is always difficult, so perhaps a real quick rather than a prolonged goodbye is best. In any case, it's always sad for me. We gave each other big hugs. We cruise so well with them. I asked Peter to give my apologies to Randy, and encouraged him to have dinner with Randy if possible. They waved goodbye as we left. 

Annie starting her goodbye to the North Channel

At 7:30 we were off. Initially we had light SW winds and 1' waves. I decided to motor a little over 9 knots to make the trip as fast as possible. ETA was 3:30 in Michigan. Peter kept updating me with the various forecast, some which were contradictory. So, I had no idea what we would find, but knew I would know in about 3-4 hours. We are 1 1/2 hours and 13 miles into our 73 mile trip as I write this, (Thanks Starlink)

At 10:00 we are just a couple of miles from the Mississagi Strait, passing the end of Manitoulin Island. I guess I can consider this leaving the North Channel. That's always an emotional moment for me too, as I love the North Channel and there is no guarantee that one will be able to return. The wind was light and the seas flat. Very nice. Environment Canada has issued a squall warning for Northern Lake Huron. Fingers crossed. Making 9.3 knots, 40 miles to go.

Perfect conditions entering the Mississagi Strait

Manitoulin Island and the North Channel

Lighthouse at the Mississagi Strait entrance

Once into the lake we encountered big swells. But they were coming slightly off the port bow, so Annie handled them quite well. The wind was light. Then all these warnings started. Tornado in Meldrum Bay. Special marine weather statement. NOAA warned of waterspouts. Yet the weather was good. 

Eventually the skies darkened and the approach of a storm was obvious. I told Kerry to put on a life jacket even though I knew she would react negatively to that. Not because I had her put it on, but because I put her in a position where I asked her to put it on. I also put our leeboards out to cover the doors in case one of us got thrown against the screen should the door be open. 

The storm is on the way.

Leeboard is in place.

I turned on the radar to see if I could track the storm. I could see it on the radar apps, but my position was not showing up on them. The storm showed up quite clearly on Annie's radar. It was 6 miles away.

Annie's position is in the center circle where the lines meet

The storm hit about 1:00. By 1:15 the worst of it had passed. We still had rain and an occasional boomer, but I felt good about our situation. We had another storm or two ahead as we traveled. 

The winds were mild in the storm, only reaching 19 knots. I think most of the really bad stuff went behind us. Once it passed the winds went down to a knot or less, which pleasantly surprised me. All in all the storm was not bad. It's the fear of the unknown, what might becoming, that is scary, especially with all the warnings popping up.

We did not see any freighters today, on AIS, radar, or visually. That's really unusual. We also had no fog (thank goodness!), which Environment Canada said was a possibility. It took us 8 hours to travel the 72.6 miles. Our average moving sped was 9.3 knots. I had Annie going 10 when we were in Lake Huron. The wind shifted to the west our last 4 miles and picked up. Annie started to roll in the beam seas and it was not comfortable. That reminded me why we traveled today going into the waves rather than tomorrow when they would be beam seas. As Peter said, other than the storm, it was a good day to travel. Since I was posting this blog live, Jimbo was able to follow our and the storms progress too.

We pulled into Presque Isle about 3:30. Jim and Becky Bunch from the VYC were on the gas dock and greeted us warmly. They are on their way to Mackinac Island with their CYC friends. I bought 48 gallons of diesel which is what we used to get here from Gore Bay, as I had filled up there before we left. That's about a usage of 6 gallons an hour, double our usual rate. We did push Annie today. 

The last time I was here we could not complete our report in to US Customs because the phone and internet service was non existent. So, they denied me entry. Today I was all excited to check in with my Starlink WIFI. Guess what? Starlink was out. Not just for me, but for the marina, other boats here and Peter in Canada. Peter speculated it was some world wide outage. (later we learned he was correct) I did manage to report in by climbing up on Annie's top deck to get a phone signal. We had a video chat with the CBP Agent, who was most pleasant.

Once we were tied up at our dock, we made a couple of well deserved rum and cokes and sat in the pilot house enjoying them. Then we cooked our ribs and had a nice dinner. Kerry made a sauce for coleslaw that was delicious. I think it was a Martha Stewart recipe. 

We walked to the little convenience store across the street after dinner. I had hoped to buy some boxed wine. They only had white. I looked at the prices on average bottles of wine and was shocked at how expensive they were. I passed. This store used to have good prices on booze. Not anymore apparently. Who thought I would miss Canadian prices?

Starlink was back up when we returned from the store so I could check the weather. I had put a call into Jimbo to send me a marine weather report for tomorrow - just like I always used to do. The weather looks like it will be good for traveling to Harrisville tomorrow. I called tonight and space is available so I made a reservation. It's about 46 miles south. There is not much here, so there is no reason to stay.

Photo Contest 9, Faces, pictures are posted.