USA, USA, USA (with fist pumps in the air)!!!! It’s great to be back. Canada was lovely, and the people there were lovely too….but it was WAY too expensive and cold. In a moment of Canadian frustration, Derek anchored in a crowed popular anchorage in Georgian Bay, put out our very large American flag, and blared Bob Seger on the stereo. Yes…he was that obnoxious American that other countries hate!!!! It was torture to be in such beautiful clear water and not being able to jump in due to the 70-degree water temp and even colder air temps. Derek got in once to untangle yet another rope around one of our propellors and was shaking like a leaf. And speaking of propellors, the big rocks in the shallow water in the Trent-Severn Waterway and Georgian Bay put several dings in ours and we had to have them reshaped and tuned at Drummond Island Marina. Another $1000 (or as Derek calls it ‘one boat unit’) and now Donna Mae plows through the water like a hot knife through butter. We also got our bow thrusters fixed.
Going through customs was nerve racking. Our kitty had no vaccination records (she was only 8 weeks old) and we had heard that they could take her and put her in quarantine. We were so nervous that you’d think we were trying to smuggle in a kilo of cocaine! And of course we got ‘Mr. Grumpy, no nonsense, customs bad-ass’ when we pulled in. A Custom’s officer comes to your boat when you dock. As you all know, Derek and I ALWAYS pop a beer once we’re tied to the dock. We also have a smoke. Well this Custom’s dude comes walking up and wants to know why I’m so nervous that I have to light up. Then he asks me to put it out because some ash might get on his uniform (mind you I’m on my own freakin’ boat and he is on the dock). But I can’t be a smart-ass back because he might decide to board and find my cat!!!! BUT, he didn’t ask about pets so we didn’t have to worry after all. She was hidden in her crate in the second bedroom. Gypsea now has the honor of dual citizenship and received all her shots last week. She’s now being leash trained and we take her into towns when we walk around to see the sites.
The northern area of Georgia Bay is known as ’30,000 Islands’ and they aren’t kidding! Most are huge boulders left over from the glaciers who’s peaks stick out of the water everywhere. They are smooth and rounded and look like Colorado’s ‘Garden of the Gods’ but surrounded by water. It was sometimes over 100 feet deep right next to a rock island, and at other times we thought we were in deep water and the boulders would be just below the surface. It took precision boating as some winding channels only had about 20 feet between the buoys to maneuver through!!!
We are currently in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The water is still cold, but very clear and deep. Lake Huron has big waves and we’re getting a taste of the rocking and rolling that we can expect on Lake Michigan. We were on the water during the eclipse. WEIRD DAY! It was sunny when we started, then hit fog a couple hours in. When I say fog….I mean we couldn’t see more than a couple hundred feet in front of us. All we had was radar and our horn. We avoided a collision with a sail boat that suddenly appeared right in front of us. We knew it was there…radar showed him right on us and we heard each others horns….but we were creeping along and so was he when we found ourselves within a stone’s throw of each other! Then the eclipse started, and the 2-foot waves became eerily calm. It didn’t get that dark, but the temp really dropped. We envied our son, Trev, who hopped in the car and drove 9 hours to see totality perfection in Nashville.
We pulled into Charlevoix Harbor and Starla suddenly died (our starboard engine). At this point of our journey…we’ve been so indoctrinated to whatever can go wrong probably will…that our reaction wasn’t much more than ‘well, crap’!!! She was revived after a fuel filter change. That evening we gathered with about 10 other loopers and got buzzed on raisins soaked in gin (great medicine for arthritis according to the Mayo Clinic) and blackberry liquor! We made it through yet another day the Looper way :)
Going through customs was nerve racking. Our kitty had no vaccination records (she was only 8 weeks old) and we had heard that they could take her and put her in quarantine. We were so nervous that you’d think we were trying to smuggle in a kilo of cocaine! And of course we got ‘Mr. Grumpy, no nonsense, customs bad-ass’ when we pulled in. A Custom’s officer comes to your boat when you dock. As you all know, Derek and I ALWAYS pop a beer once we’re tied to the dock. We also have a smoke. Well this Custom’s dude comes walking up and wants to know why I’m so nervous that I have to light up. Then he asks me to put it out because some ash might get on his uniform (mind you I’m on my own freakin’ boat and he is on the dock). But I can’t be a smart-ass back because he might decide to board and find my cat!!!! BUT, he didn’t ask about pets so we didn’t have to worry after all. She was hidden in her crate in the second bedroom. Gypsea now has the honor of dual citizenship and received all her shots last week. She’s now being leash trained and we take her into towns when we walk around to see the sites.
The northern area of Georgia Bay is known as ’30,000 Islands’ and they aren’t kidding! Most are huge boulders left over from the glaciers who’s peaks stick out of the water everywhere. They are smooth and rounded and look like Colorado’s ‘Garden of the Gods’ but surrounded by water. It was sometimes over 100 feet deep right next to a rock island, and at other times we thought we were in deep water and the boulders would be just below the surface. It took precision boating as some winding channels only had about 20 feet between the buoys to maneuver through!!!
We are currently in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The water is still cold, but very clear and deep. Lake Huron has big waves and we’re getting a taste of the rocking and rolling that we can expect on Lake Michigan. We were on the water during the eclipse. WEIRD DAY! It was sunny when we started, then hit fog a couple hours in. When I say fog….I mean we couldn’t see more than a couple hundred feet in front of us. All we had was radar and our horn. We avoided a collision with a sail boat that suddenly appeared right in front of us. We knew it was there…radar showed him right on us and we heard each others horns….but we were creeping along and so was he when we found ourselves within a stone’s throw of each other! Then the eclipse started, and the 2-foot waves became eerily calm. It didn’t get that dark, but the temp really dropped. We envied our son, Trev, who hopped in the car and drove 9 hours to see totality perfection in Nashville.
We pulled into Charlevoix Harbor and Starla suddenly died (our starboard engine). At this point of our journey…we’ve been so indoctrinated to whatever can go wrong probably will…that our reaction wasn’t much more than ‘well, crap’!!! She was revived after a fuel filter change. That evening we gathered with about 10 other loopers and got buzzed on raisins soaked in gin (great medicine for arthritis according to the Mayo Clinic) and blackberry liquor! We made it through yet another day the Looper way :)
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