Wednesday, August 9, 2023 Algonac

The day started with a temptation by Peter. Annie's burgundy fenders that we carry on our bow are sun damaged. Peter has occasionally suggested that I should replace them. Well, this morning he pointed out that a boat had pulled in with 4 identical fenders that were new. He wondered if I switched them  how long it would take the captain to realize the old switch a roo had been pulled on him. The funny thing is that I had had the same thought. Fear not, Annie left Port Huron with her old but loved fenders.

We both went to the fuel dock at 8:00 for diesel fuel and pumpouts. Thank goodness the price of fuel was way less that the $7 plus of last year as we both took on 100 gallons. The pumpout was free which is very unusual. We were able to make the 8:45 bridge because the harbormaster came and helped the dock girl with our service. I even had time to make a cappuccino to go for Peter. (Same small, narrow cup w/o chocolate sprinkles - sadly!) Later Peter returned my cup full of candy and a big roll of Necco Wafers. Yum! (I never thought he would share his Necco Wafers!)

By 9:00 we had cleared the second bridge and were in the St Clair River. I followed Voyager to Algonac and was incredibly proud of Peter as he stood his ground with the oncoming freighters.

I must say that going down the river was much easier with the autopilot working than it was coming up the river when I was "forced" to hand steer. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to cover the 25.2 miles. Our speed in the river was over 10 knots, but bridges and docking lowered our average speed to 9.0. We've traveled 710 nautical miles to date. We got a great welcome from Anthony the harbormaster and his crew and a dock with nice fore and aft views. Color us happy. Peter noticed that diesel fuel here was $4.99 a gallon, which is $1.20 more than we paid in Port Huron. Wow! 

Annie docked next to classic wood yacht Shirean

Kerry fixed our left over Mexican fajitas for lunch. She was astute enough to recall that we had a bag of left over margaritas in the freezer. One plus one being two, we had a lovely lunch on Annie's top deck. It's funny we have grown to like Algonac so much. I remember the first time Jimbo said he wanted to stop here. I was like WTF? But he wanted to see the Chris Craft Museum so we stopped. Now it's a must stop on each direction on the rivers. Good job, Jimbo!

We rode our bikes to the nearby Dollar Tree and Kroger stores, both of which are good shopping locations. Our bikes were pretty filled when we returned. I bought a bottle of Kraken Black Spiced Rum because that's what our fiends on the sailboat Kraken the Wine named their boat after. While we were out I received a call from MBIYC saying we did get a dock reservation for this weekend, and also a call from the marina office telling me my Amazon purchase had arrived. I told Susan at the office that was very nice of her to take the time to call me bout my package. No other marina has ever done that. 

Kerry and I had a rum and coke on Annie's top deck once the groceries were stowed. It was very breezy which made it pleasant sitting in the shade of our bimini. We all biked to dinner at the Flaming Grill, our favorite Algonac restaurant. Kerry and Marianna both had the all day breakfast option while Peter and I went for the full slab of ribs. We always have a lot of food remaining to take home as portions are generous. Peter and I each took home 1/2 slab and the mates took home lots of bacon. We always plan on leftovers when we eat there.

Stops at CVS and the liquor store insured that our bikes were loaded when we returned to the marina. We had a 40% off CVS coupon that had to be used by end of day. Marianna's liquors needed replenishment, and I restocked my beer. We had a night cap on Annie's top deck and Peter and I smoked little cigars. Some professional begging swans made a couple of trips by our boat and were rewarded by Kerry, Those guys are good at working the crowd!

We have this classic old wooden Yacht, Shirean, docked next to us. It's fun to look at but Marianna discovered it is full of huge spiders when she was leaving Annie. They were big and everywhere. She said I should spray them. Well, I thought live and let live until Kerry saw one coming on a thread over to Annie. She demanded action, so I went out and hit it with the zapper. Then I saw all of them on Shirean and decided I better spray. It was like a repeat of Custer vs the Indians. But they kept coming. As I looked out I could see them encroaching on lines, dock poles, whatever. So I made multiple trips out to spray, until I could not open the doors any more without risking a mosquito incursion. The next morning Annie looked good. There were no webs from the dock or Shirean to Annie. 

Our plans are to go to Middle Bass Island on Friday (80 miles but downriver), stay Saturday and return to VYC on Sunday, weather permitting. Anne is trying to figure out how to get a car to us or how to pick us up. Between work and kids activities she has very little free time. 

Tomorrow's agenda includes a bike tour of a fancy island housing neighborhood, and stops at West Marine and the Antique consignment store.