The Straits

Here's a little information about the Straits of Mackinac parapharsed from a book called The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis. Thank you Karen and David for giving it to us.


The first landmark a boater can see when approaching the Straits is the Mackinac Bridge (pronounced MACK-in-awe). (Dave Himes will sail under it one day.) As the boat gets closer, the massiveness of the stanchions is overwhelming, and the roadway across seems to be at sky heighth (200 feet above the water.) However, when the boat passes beneath the road bed, it looks like mast and steel will meet and that will be the end of the story. It takes your breath away - even when you know it can't happen.

The Bridge opened in 1957 spanning the distance between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan. At that time it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Under it flows the waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron (the only 2 great lakes on the same level). The winds funnel between the two lakes and the Straits can often be dangerous to navigate. Our trip, however, was "a piece of cake."






The shores of Lake Huron appear to be dinsely forested with an occassional "cottage" to be sighted. It turned out to be a 10 hour day on the water from Charlevoix, but what a great way to begin "The Adventure."

We docked at the Cheboygan County Marina which is a wonderful facility ---right next to Melissa who I mentioned in the second blog. You would have thought we were old old friends. Boaters bond that way! She's on her way to the North Channel and the Georgian Bay while we are headed south toward Detroit. Coffee and a few stories gave us a late start but well worth the delay.

Each day on the boat is a brand new experience. This day (6-21) the waters were as smooth as glass, the sun was shining brightly, and the wind was so light that the head sail couldn't stay filled. I so wanted to jump in for a swim but the water temperature was only 62 degrees.....brrrrrr. I tried to get Lou to live dangerously and sail naked (can you imagine that?!!!!) but we had a big frieghter off the stern and gaining on us quickly. Guess it was just a pipe dream.

I've developed a new hobby which is collecting boat names. The ones I saw in Cheboygan go in the I'D NEVER NAME A BOAT THAT category......Spider Haven (that's not even funny), NoName, What's Next. Our boat started out with the name Splash Dance and all the kids racing on her sat around eating pizza and drinking (soda probably) and thowing names in a hat. Finally we all decided that Tequila had some character.

It has been beautiful traveling down Lake Huron, but there is NO wind. The economy of Michigan is obvious in the marinas.......empty slips. At Harrisville the Harbor Master said it was his busiest day this year with 6 boats registering.