Tugboat Annie's 2025 Return To The North Channel

I was up at 6:00 AM today. I wanted to get the blog posted then proceed to pull our anchor and get on the road, hopefully before my goal of 7:00 AM. I woke Kerry about 6:30. We pulled the anchor and motored out at 6:45 AM. Lots of mud and seaweed on the anchor chain and anchor. We expected that as it's always that way at East Harbor. The anchor was really dug in and came up with thick mud all over it. We use to let the seaweed slide down the anchor chain as we rose the anchor. That caused a huge seaweed ball to form on the anchor once it was up.  Now we pull off each piece of seaweed with a boat hook and are able to avoid the massive seaweed ball. Kerry does a great job of washing the mud and seaweed off Annie. Leaving East Harbor with a clean deck! We were treated to a beautiful sunrise. We were guided out by a very helpful bird - Kerry's from yesterday? Marblehead Lighthouse is one of the prettiest.  It was very rough when we hit Lake Erie. Kerry gave a big "Yuck" a...

It was perfectly quiet all night and absolutely still when I woke. Of course we were entirely alone in the anchorage, as always. Surprisingly there were no fishermen around when I looked out. It looked to be the start of a beautiful day. The weather looks good for today, and for our trip to VYC tomorrow. In fact, it looks good all week. I invited Jimbo to drive his new boat up here for lunch with us today, but he declined saying he has to get a couple things done on it first.   I placed my first order on Amazon since being back in the States. Didn't take long. I ordered replacement ear pads for our anchoring headsets and a new faucet for Annie's kitchen sink. They have been on my wish list.  By 9:00 there were quite a few fishermen in the area. We anchor far enough from shore so they can fish rather far from us and neither of us is disturbed. I was ambitious so I replaced the worn out non skid tape on the starboard side of the pilot house door. It looks much better. Then ...

I had an alarm set on Alexa for 5:45. Later than usual for an early departure, but it hasn't been light until just after 6:00 these past mornings. At 5:44 I cancelled the alarm and got going. We pulled out of Cousin Marty's dock at 6:10 and motored out of the channel with a bunch of fishermen. I had not yet checked the weather since we were committed to travel today and had not even made my coffee. I did make a pot of tea for Kerry.  I got to see the sun rise. Kerry made me coffee. then went back to bed. Lake St Clair was nice when we got on it. 7 knots of winds and waves less than 1'. I deviated from the Navionics suggested route to the channel to stay in deeper water. We were in the main channel in a little over an hour. We had a great crossing. I only had to turn into one motor boat wake (to avoid being really rolled). I stepped outside once with my bug zapper to nail a spider building a web right in the window in front of me. By the time we reached the Detroit River abo...

Marty planned to leave for the sale at 7:30 this morning. I got up to wish him well but the house was locked so I could not get in to do so. So I went back to Annie for coffee and to post the blog. We had a bunch of bugs on Annie this morning. I got spoiled at Port Huron where the boat stayed bug free once we had them washed off. The winds for our trip on Lake Erie tomorrow still look OK for travel. They look lighter than forecast yesterday, but will be switching to NE sometime in the afternoon. NE winds are OK, but only if they are light. Of the 75 mile trip, 30 are on Lake Erie and 13 are crossing Lake St.Clair.  Donna June came over for breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and coffee. Then we set off for the art show. We arrived shortly after opening. Customers were present the whole time we remained there. When we left they had over $300 in sales. The warehouse and displays looked great. There has been a lot of work done since we were here on our way up. We drove Donn...

As usual I was up early. By 7:30 I had the blog uploaded, the Great Lakes plaque that Kerry wanted ordered and had placed a call to the Navy Vacation Rentals in Key West. I had to leave a message as they don't open until 8:00. I called central reservations but they said the February information was not yet uploaded, so to call back. The online reservation function gave me a scary message about hackers trying to steal my information.  Picture off the computer of Kerry's Great Lakes Wall Plaque The weather looks good for travel today and still OK for a Lake Erie trip on Sunday, which is forecast to be ESE winds at 10 knots.  We decided to make the 9:45 bridge and did so with no issue. The trip to Cousin Marty's was 37 miles. It took us 4 hours and 15 miles. Our average speed was 8.7 knots (9 in the River). We've gone 736 miles to date. We passed Algonac Harbor Club at 24 miles. It was a very uneventful voyage, which is what we always hope for. Docking was uneventful too -...

It started to rain late last evening and the temperature really cooled down so we were able to shut the air conditioners off. It's going to be in the 70's thru Saturday. We have rain this morning, but it's predicted to end soon. I hope it does as I need to get a bike out to ride and get my fried chicken later. It was really cold and breezy this morning. Very different from yesterday. I sat inside with a vest on. Kerry stayed under the covers until late morning. She was the smart one. My morning weather check still shows Sunday as the best day for Lake Erie travel, but not quite as docile as forecast yesterday.  Peter and Marianna made it to Tobermory yesterday. They were pretty tired as the journey was a little difficult. I know they plan to stay there today. The weather looks very good for travel tomorrow if they wanted to do so. Kerry is hoping Marianna can find a little metal cutout of the great lakes for her that she did not buy when she saw it there on our way up. Not ...