First Days on the Rideau

 Photos from the first few days on the Rideau

The best view of the 401😀

Geru at Lower Brewers lock

Swan with signets

Where are we going?

Geru in Morton Bay

Geru in Morton Bay

Sights at the Kingston Marina

 Some sights from our time at the Kingston Marina

Theodore Too

The Canadian Armada

Video of Canadian Armada

MetalCraft Marine's new Firecat
Aerial video here

Back in the Water

After two years on the hard waiting out Covid, Geru is back in the water.

Launching Geru

Leaving Clark's Marina

First night at the Kingston Marina

First night at the Kingston Marina

Geru's new home for two weeks

Moving South on Lake Michigan

After Arcadia our next stop was Pentwater. The motor there was a little boisterous yet again. Even the good weather windows were sometimes questionable in October on Lake Michigan, but we had to keep moving as the weather was only going to get colder and more stormy as the season progressed. Tying up to the dock in Pentwater was a bit of a challenge as most of the docks were underwater due to high water levels on the lake and the wind pushing even more water into the harbour. 

Although the weather was warmer in general, we were yet again encountering stores already closed for the season or with reduced opening hours. We certainly were late for this part of the country.

We heard an odd noise when turning the steering wheel as we were docking. After some investigation, we were rather shocked to find out that a bolt which basically holds our steering together was loose and the nut had come off! It would have been a major challenge if we had lost the steering while surfing waves on Lake Michigan. We were glad we found the loose bolt while at a dock.

Our next stop was an anchorage in White Lake, which is connected to Lake Michigan by a short channel. We had good weather that day, but, by the time we had anchored, it was very windy and wavy out on the big lake. A couple of hours after we arrived, another looper came in and they had a really rough time out on the lake and in the channel - we were glad our timing worked out.

After White Lake we motored to South Haven where we were met at the dock by seven other loopers. It was lucky they were there as Ruth had to put Geru into the smallest slip yet (it was 16' wide for Geru's 15'3" width!). It was a great time catching up with old friends from Charlevoix and meeting new ones, but our visit was a bit short. We rushed off the next day to Michigan City as we saw another good day for moving before we'd be stopped by weather yet again, and the harbour in South Haven looked like it would be somewhat unprotected in a blow.

We stayed in Michigan City for four nights hiding from the very windy weather out on Lake Michigan. The marina in Michigan City was great - we had the best sleep in a while as there were no waves at all in the harbour. The part of the town we were able to walk to from the marina wasn't much, though. We had to take an Uber to get to a grocery store.

After a smooth motor across the bottom of Lake Michigan, which was getting increasingly industrial, we were met by lots of pleasure boats and our first tows and barges as we entered the Calumet River, just south of Chicago. Our destination was Crowley's Yacht Yard, which is a huge operation where a lot of the Chicago boats are stored over the winter. Geru's mast was unloaded there to be trucked to Mobile, Alabama. We didn't want it sticking out behind the boat for all of the locks down to the Gulf of Mexico - the Canadian locks were enough. Crowley's was quite the efficient operation - we have never seen boats de-masted or hauled out so quickly!

Next up was the big city of Chicago...

Travelling south on Lake Michigan

High water in Pentwater

Anchorage in White Lake

Beaches along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan

Industry as we approached Chicago

Mast removal at Crowley's Yacht Yard

Geru at Crowley's Yacht Yard

Waiting for Weather on Northern Lake Michigan

Our trip onto Lake Michigan started out very much like the rest of the lake would go - waiting for weather. Our first day of waiting was in Mackinac City. We spent the day walking the streets in amazement at the contrast from the remote closed-down Canadian towns to the crazy busy tourist shops there - what a change! It felt like we had turned a corner as it was finally warm, there were lots of people around, and we had the border crossing behind us.

Our first stop on Lake Michigan proper was the beautiful town of Charlevoix. The town fronts on a small lake protected from Lake Michigan by a narrow inlet. The marina is right downtown next to a great waterfront park. The eastern shore of Lake Michigan is (mostly) one long beach so we enjoyed our first beach walks of the trip.

Charlevoix was our next delay of waiting for weather. The temperature got colder while we were there as well and the marina was slowly preparing to shut down for the season. We didn't really mind being held up in Charlevoix as we were able to see just about all of the  "Mushroom Houses" build by Earl Young for which the town is famous. We were also able to order some boat parts and install them on Geru.

After being in Charlevoix for seven days, we got a bit of a weather window. We were anxious to continue south, so we left on a day which was rather boisterous for our trip to Leland. Leaving the harbour through the channel was quite the ride and it was pushing our comfort zone, but Geru was handling it well. We arrived in Leland after surfing the waves down the lake under engine. We were the only boat to arrive that day... We guess the kiteboarders on the beach were a sign! Leland is a small town which still has its old fishing shacks along a salmon fish run into the harbour - it was a great second stop on Lake Michigan.

Our next stop was Arcadia where we stayed for two days to wait out some more high winds. Farther south, flooding and a loose bolt awaited us...

Round Lake in Charlevoix

A Charlevoix Mushroom House

Beach in Charlevoix

Waiting for weather in Charlevoix

Leaving Charlevoix

Salmon run in Leland

Dunes on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan

North Channel in a Flash

Little Current is the gateway into the North Channel. Because it was getting colder and we saw more and more stores and restaurants closing up for the season, we moved along the North Channel as quickly as we could.

After waiting out rough weather in Little Current, we had two good days of travelling alongside Moon Dance, a trawler we met in Little Current, and made it to Meldrum Bay. When we woke up the next morning, there was some fog. After some discussions we decided to leave as we could see far enough that we wouldn't hit anything and we thought it would be better back out in the North Channel. Oh, were we wrong, as was the weatherman! The fog was just as thick out in the more open water and it didn't clear until the end of the day. We followed Moon Dance closely as they had radar and AIS.

We arrived at Drummond Island, which is in the US, in the late afternoon. Our check-in with US customs turned out to be pretty quick and straight forward, which was a relief after the stressful day in the fog.

We left Drummond Island headed to Mackinac City. We had expected to anchor along the way, but the weather turned out to be better than forecast, so we continued on, making for a long, but good day to the end of our passage of Lake Huron.

Next up for us was to travel the length of Lake Michigan.

A lighthouse in the North Channel

Geru in the North Channel

The end of the season in Meldrum Bay

Following Moon Dance in the fog

Geru in the fog

The Mackinac Bridge dividing Lake Huron 

and Lake Michigan

Squeaky Fenders in Not-So-Little Current

Little Current is a town on a narrow pass marking the northern end of Georgian Bay and the beginning of the North Channel. A lot of water flows through this passage...

We had planned a stop at Little Current as the winds were picking up and a few days of rain were being forecast. We thought it would be a restful stop to do some grocery shopping and boat chores. We couldn't have been more wrong. We did get groceries and some laundry done, but found that Little Current should really be named Big Current. The boat felt like she was at sea while at the dock with the addition of squeaking fenders keeping us awake at night. The videos below tell the story.

Little Current

Sounds at Little Current