Monday, July 31, 2023 Presque Isle, MI

The first thing I do on a travel day is to check the weather to be sure nothing has changed. It was all good, for today and tomorrow, and then it was time for coffee. Peter came over for cappuccinos at 9:00 and we planned todays voyage. I defrosted a loaf of bread to bake at anchor tonight. Kerry had already defrosted a big steak. Kerry had a nice shower before we left, and wanted to be sure her makeup was perfect for our last night at anchor.

Our trip started with a stop at the fuel dock for a pumpout and a diesel fill up. We had to wait about 15 minutes for a spot to open. I pulled up to the dock with out incident, but then put Annie in reverse instead of neutral. I knew something was wrong immediately from all the shouting. I got it in forward just quick enough to avoid a fender bumper with a sailboat, fortunately. A dock girl earned a big tip when you told me she had cleated the stern line down which helped avoid disaster. 

We followed Peter out of Gore Bay and into Vidal Bay. It's pretty there, but deep and open. The best place to anchor is at the south end of the bay. We tried a couple of spots on the west side but did not like them as they were deep and open. I finally went to the south end and was preparing to anchor when Kerry said she did not like the conditions here (wind, seas and exposure) and wanted to go to Presque Isle. On the way over Peter had mentioned that because of the nice conditions it would have been a good day to go all the way to Presque Isle. That must have put the thought in her mind. 

We called Voyager and said we were not staying and asked what they wanted to do. After some checking of weather apps, etc. they decided to go also. I suggested we go 9 knots to arrive at 7-ish. Peter wanted to try that speed first to see if he was comfortable with it. I took off at about 8 1/2 and got a mile or so ahead of Voyager. Peter tried 9 knots but did not feel comfortable with that speed. I went less than 8 knots for a while to see if he would catch up, but he was still about a mile behind. Finally Peter suggested that just we go on ahead, so that is what we did. 

We ran into south winds, whitecaps and 1-2 ' waves in the Mississagi Straits, not what we expected. However the conditions improved considerably once we hit the open waters of Lake Huron. I slowed Annie down and put our loaf of bread in the oven - the first baking at sea we have done. I dared not put the steak on the grill! It certainly would have jumped overboard.

The bread was delicious! We ripped the still warm loaf apart and enjoyed it with hot pepper jelly, honey and butter Surprisingly, we had some left for breakfast tomorrow.

Annie and Voyager stayed in sight of each other all across the Mackinac Straights. Eventually the wind died completely and the sea looked like glass. Perfect for a trawler crossing.

The last 5 miles of the voyage got exciting as we had freighters passing us from both directions. We came pretty close to one of them. I slowed down to let him pass in front of me. AIS said we would be close but not who would pass in front, so I deferred to him!

Peter sent me a text that he had cleared Customs on the CBP Roam app already. That was a great idea so I did it too. I actually got a call from a CBP agent. I think she wanted to do a video chat, but because I had Android and only 1 bar of service, she gave me a pass as I am also a Nexus holder. I was speaking with her at the same time I was deciding to speed up or slow down for the freighter - a bit of momentary stress.

We arrived at the red bell buoy marking the entrance channel right at 7:30. The buoy was rocking gently and tapping the bells. I love their sound. I passed right by it. It's my favorite buoy on Lake Huron, if there is such a thing as a favorite buoy. The trip today was 77 miles in total and took 10 hours. That includes a visit to Vidal Bay which was 28 miles from Gore Bay. 

Presque Isle is a very nice harbor. It's well protected and has wide slips and fairways so it's easy to enter and exit. It's always been mostly empty when I have been here, but does get full for fishing tournaments and returning Port Huron to Mackinac racers. The old restaurant is gone, but a new one is opening any day now. 

We decided to stay only one night here. It looks like we could get weathered in on Wednesday and we decided we would rather be at Harrisville if that happened. About the only thing to do here is a lighthouse tour. There are two to tour, and old smaller one and a new taller one. We've done it a couple of times and it's fun to do. Here's the old lighthouse.

The little grocery convenience store is still here. I visited it and bought some vodka and Pepsi for Kerry, a couple of snacks and a tee shirt for me. Kerry had rum and cokes for us on the top deck when I returned. We had a nice chat with our dock mate about football (he has not missed a Michigan State game in 36 years) and how to use downriggers to catch fish in this deep lake. He said we had his dream boat. Obviously I liked the guy! Plus, he hates the University of Michigan.