Straights of Mackinac

[rfrance0718]

We are 2 days into our trip and all is well. I hadn't towed the Oday any distance since Covid and I did have some worries. As it turned out, mast down, haul out, 400 miles towing, mast up, and launch all went very well, although hot and tiring. Tami thinks that paying marinas for hoists and mast stepping might be worth while, and she may be right.

At any rate, we spent the first night at Mackinaw city and now we are out at Mackinac Island. (7 mile motoring run)
The island doesn't allow motorized vehicles so lots of horse drawn carriages. Personally, I'm having trouble with the smell.

We are here 2 nights and then have a 45 mi sail, under the bridge, to Beaver Island. The forecast is calling for a broad reach in 10 knots.

I'll send some photos once I get our shore power hooked up and can fire up my laptop. The power is 45 feet away and I have 30 feet of cable.

So 7 miles completed. Tami and I'll do about 115 by next Sunday. Then she tows the empty trailer home and I'll have about 500 miles through the North Channel, down Lake Huron, past Detroit, and back to our marina at Port Clinton on Lake Erie.

More to follow.

[Wolverine]

The adventure begins!

[rfrance0718]

Oh, and Timm. You had wondered about the towers and the big counter weights at Mackinaw City. I think I figured that out. I would say that it is an abandoned ferry dock. There is an apparent wooden ramp between the towers and the big levers and counter weights would be used to raise and lower the ramp to the level of the ferry deck. Might be the ferry landing from before the bridge was built. My thought.

[rfrance0718]

Yup, I just found some info on google. It was the Mackinaw City railroad ferry dock. There are some picks and we evidently missed a historical marker that explains it.

[Timm R Oday25]

Thank you . We saw no pictures or markers explaining the workings. From how it was laid out ,your explanation makes perfect sense . We could have easily spent much more time in the area.
We watched a You Tube video of Beaver Islands history by the Restless Viking.
It sure did make us want to go there  . Perhaps I can make the time once I can retire .

[Norm L.]

Glad to hear that things are going well. And that 10 kt broad reach sounds perfect.


I don't understand why there is a horse smell there. I've watched cowboy movies all my life and have never seen anything in the street or even corrals.

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Personally, I'm having trouble with the smell.

Whenever we ran across that smell, my mom used to take a deep breath, then proclaim, "Ahhh, the sweet aroma of the stockyards!"