8/28/14: We have been at Ludington Municipal Marina for 3 days. We had one day that would have been good to cross to the Wisconsin side however the days following that, about 6 days, showed bad weather. We would have been held up at the marina on that side. So we decided to stay on the Michigan side and ride out the bad weather forecast for Thursday, Friday, & Saturday. The weather is predicting winds as high as 40Knots. Lets hope this is one of the times the weather forecast is wrong.

Barb & Ross on Attitude Changer arrived for one night. Looper pot luck was great.

Ludington is a nice town. It is home to the S.S. Badger a 410’ Steamship. It is the largest car ferry to travel on the Great Lakes. The ship accommodates 620 passengers & up to 180 vehicles.

8/26/14:  We left Frankford & the fog rolled in. About 2 hours of nagivating using radar. Not fun but turned out well. We made it successfully to Ludington, Michigan.

Michigan has beautiful sunsets.

8/25/14: After leaving Leland we had a quick 24 NM trip to Frankfort, Michigan on 8/23. This port offers good restaurants, a grocery store, & shopping. We are waiting on a weather window to either continue south or cross to the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan. This morning a large line of thunderstorms came through & left behind high winds. The weather looks good tomorrow for a crossing.

Three Days of Smooth Water On Lake Michigan

8/22/14:  It was a quick 31 NM today to Leland, Michigan. The town is home to village style shops. Another good day on the water.

Twelve Stones at Leland Municipal Dock

Village Type Shops

A Dam In the Middle of The City 

The Dam makes a canal of sorts.

More Shops

8/22/14: Left Charlevoix this morning and the Lord provided a flat morning run. The weather may take a turn for the worse later, but this morning its beautiful.

Morning Sunrise

8/21/14: Well waiting on good weather certainly paid off.  Lake Michigan was flat and beautiful.  

We went 50 NM to Charlevoix City Marina. Charlevoix is known for its Hobbit style houses. When we arrived we were greeted by Limelight. We hadn’t seen them since Virginia. Of course we had a dock-tail party where we exchanged stories about our adventures. Limelight is only about a day away from crossing her wake.

Hobbit House Charlevoix, MI

Lighthouse at Charlevoix Entrance

Dock-tails with Loopers

John & Steve

8/20/14:  We had planned on leaving Mackinaw, Michigan yesterday but the wind was too bad. Then around 4pm fog rolled in and continued through the night and all through today. Normally from the slip we can see the Mackinaw Bridge, but haven’t been able to see it since yesterday around 4pm.

Some have left the marina and ventured out but we decided to wait this latest weather event out. From the dock we can hear the fog horns of the big barges but they are hidden by the fog. No way do we want to get out with them in these conditions.

The weather is still a mystery for tomorrow.

I (Elaine) have never been this cold in August in my entire life. 

8/15/14: Yesterday 4 Looper boats, friends we have met on the loop, were crossing Lake Huron. One boat experienced trouble.  All systems shut down, dead in the water. The water conditions were not good. One of the other boats tried to render assistance and began to take on water so they aborted & got safely to a marina. One of the other boats was able to standby until the coast guard arrived & towed the disabled boat to a marina.

In the end everyone was okay which is what really matters.

We were in a nearby marina & listened on the radio as this unfolded. It was a helpless feeling knowing there was nothing we could do to help. Nothing but pray, which is really the best thing to do.

While this trip has been amazing with regards to all we have seen. Yesterday it became clearer that it's so much more. It's the people we have met & have become friends with. The bond with other Loopers is truly the icing on the cake.

Thanking God today for His protection over all the Loopers while they live out their dreams.

8/13/14: Thanking God for a safe harbor here at the dock in Mackinaw, Michigan. Yesterday it rained and the lake had 8 ft waves west of Mackinaw bridge and 14 ft east of the bridge. Today we have registered 20 knot winds inside the marina. The wind is expected to continue through Saturday.

Mackinaw City Marina 

We had planned on staying here until Monday anyway so it has given us even more of an excuse to rest and take lots of naps. 

Our bow thruster (14 years old) stopped working so Russ ordered another motor and installed it today.

 I have started the MAJOR cleaning of the inside of the boat. Where does the dust come from?

8/9/14: So we are crossing Lake Huron and God has provided very calm waters for us.

Calm Day on Lake Huron

Russ decided to cook out burgers as we were underway. We had Steve on Miss Hadley pull up beside us and we gave him lunch by extending a net. Good times. LOL

8/8/14: Today we arrived at Drummond Bay – BACK IN THE GOOD OLD USA! We cleared customs, used the marina car to go get dinner, & early to bed. Headed to Mackinaw, MI tomorrow. 

8/7/14: We arrived at Killarney, Canada on 8/5/14, the entrance to the Northern Channel. The scenery changed from flat rock country to high clifts (but still lots of rocks in the water). We stayed two days at Sportsman Inn Marina. The town doesn’t have much to offer but has good atmosphere. They even have a boat drive-in movie screen with movies most nights.

Northern Channel - Rocks & More Rocks

Canoe Channel - We think it has the perfect name!

North Channel Lighthouse

The weather in the Northern Channel was amazingly calm with winds mostly under 1Knot. 

This morning Twelve Stones & Miss Hadley left Killarney headed for Gore Bay in the Northern Channel. It was a sad day as we pulled out of the marina leaving Connie & Joe on Chesapeake, and John on Endeavor behind. They are going to spend a few days anchoring and exploring the Northern Channel. We are heading back to the good old United States.

8/1/14: Georgian Bay: The Georgian Bay with its 30,000 Islands is considered one of the most beautiful cruising destinations in the world. A small-craft channel makes it possible to cruise among the Islands and take in the beauty of the Georgian Bay.

We left Midland and charted a course with an anchor destination in mind near Frying Pan Bay. We wanted to anchor near the famous Henry’s Fish Restaurant then dink over for dinner.  The place we had picked out to anchor was too crowded so we continued on past Bear Head and around Mile marker 46 we turned north into Dauncy Bay. We 4 were the first to arrive and drop the hook but by morning there were 7 boats.

 Our anchorage spot - beautiful.

Twelve Stones On Anchor - Dauncy Bay, Georgina Bay, Canada

Ike Exploring

Best part of anchoring is dropping our dinks and going from boat to boat. This is the gang leaving our boat after dinner.

On the 2^nd day we dropped the dink and headed to Henry’s Fish Restaurant. The only way to get to Henry’s is by boat or by seaplane. Well know celebrities often fly in for a meal. Seaplanes did come & go while we were there but we didn’t see any celebrities.

We spent another 2 nights on anchor at Hopewell Bay then at Green Island.

As you can tell from the pictures it was such a great anchorage we decided to stay 2 nights

7/30/14: We left Trenton, Canada entering the Trent Severn Waterway on 7/14/14. It took sixteen (16) days to complete the 240 mile & the 43 locks.

Since entering the New York waterway system at Albany on 6/24/14, we have locked through 72 locks & traveled 470 NM.

While there were many memorable moments in the Locks, the Big Chute Lock 44 was the most exciting lock of them all. In this particular Lock you power your boat onto a railway car, the boat is cradled in a sling, the water is drained, & then you are carried over land to the other side. The locking staff is professional and extremely knowledgeable which helps to release any stress about the entire process.

TWELVE STONES IN THE BIG CHUTE

After leaving the Trent Severn Waterway we entered the Georgian Bay. We made it a short day docking at Wye Marina in Midland, Canada.