Week 10: August 8-August 14

Thursday finally arrived and the boat was hauled for repairs at 8:30am. Peter stayed back at the marina to be available to the mechanics (and Kodey) while I went shopping for provisions.

We met another looper at the state harbor next door and we went to a local community theater to see a play that evening –The Savannah Sipping Society at the Barn Theatre. A fun time was had by all.

The boat repair was an all day process that continued until the afternoon into the next day. At this point, it is easier just to copy the marina statement as to our problem:

ENGINE AND SHAFT OUT OF ALIGNMENT; ENGINE MOUNT BOLTS WERE MISSING THE LOCK NUT THAT HOLDS THE MAIN ENGINE MOUNT BOLT TO THE MOUNT CAUSING IT TO MOVE FORWARD AND BACK AND UP AND DOWN WHICH DIDN’T ALLOW ENGINE TO STAY ALIGNED CORRECTLY WHICH DAMAGED THE COUPLING, KEYWAY, END OF SHAFT, AND CAUSED THE PSS SHAFT SEAL TO LEAK BADLY. REMOVED PROP AND HAD TO ENLARGE HOLE IN RUDDER TO REMOVE DRIVE SHAFT. PSM HAD TO RAISE THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE ONE INCH TO GET THE ENGINE AND SHAFT ALIGNMENT CORRECT, THE RUNNING GEAR HAD TO BE REPLACED AND THE PROP HAD TO BE BALANCED TO CORRECT ALL OF THESE ISSUES

After two trial runs – one each day, we are happy to say that the boat appears to be fixed. Since this was the sixth mechanic, we are hoping that all is good and this is a permanent fix. We decided to go out for dinner to celebrate but Peter was unable to walk to the recommended restaurant since he either pulled a muscle or has a pinched nerve so we settled for the restaurant at the marina. Our plan was to leave early Saturday morning and head to Port Austin at the top of the thumb.

Saturday arrived with good weather and nominal winds, at least at the beginning of our journey. Peter is still having difficulty walking but there is nothing that would keep him from leaving Port Sanilac and running the boat. We arrived in Port Austin with no problems – a bit windy at times but still doable. He ran the boat at varying speeds to continue to test outcomes – all good! We would like to catch up to a few people we had been traveling with earlier on the trip and they are at varying days ahead of us. It is doubtful that we will catch up until sometime next week but that is assuming the weather/winds cooperate. While Port Austin looks like an interesting town to stay another day, Peter is not only anxious to leave and is not really capable of walking around town anyway. Next stop will be cutting across the mouth of Saginaw Bay to Harrisville, MI. This will be the first time that we will be totally out of sight of land.

Sunday we went to Harrisville and were joined by new loopers who began their loop last week from Port Sanilac state harbor. They are first time boaters and took lessons to prepare for the trip. Peter met them in Port Sanilac and I met them in Port Austin. While their boat is faster than ours, at this point we are just more motivated to keep moving so we will see them on and off on the journey. After Harrisville, we were planning to go to Presque Isle on Monday but then continued on to Rogers City. They needed to stop in Alpena to pick up some items they ordered and then have reservations in Mackinac Island for the weekend. We will probably see them again after we are both on the east coast of Lake Michigan.

We planned to travel on Monday since the winds did not look like they were going to cooperate on Tuesday so wanted to make the most of the water before we got stuck. We decided to stay another night in Rogers City and I took advantage of the time to locate an urgent care type facility for Peter to see a doctor. If the weather continued to be nice, he would want to keep traveling and eventually, he wouldn’t be able to walk at all. We were able to make an appointment for Tuesday morning. The marina had a courtesy vehicle so we were able to get a ride since we have found that Uber does not seem to exist in this part of Michigan and Lyft is spotty. Turns out that his sciatic nerve is pinched – they gave him a shot and steroids and pain medication. Wednesday, he was better already – still not great but moving much easier. So, of course we traveled and arrived at Mackinaw City. We have traveled over 200 miles since we left on Saturday without issue. On our next stop, we will be in Lake Michigan.

Most of the marinas we have stayed in have been operated by the state of Michigan. They have very reasonable rates but services vary from site to site. Many have laundry (some free), all are pet friendly, some have fuel and courtesy cars, and most seem to be within walking distance to small towns. It appears that on the east coast of Lake Michigan there is a state harbor every 20-30 miles so we will need to plan since there will now be many loopers traveling this route to get to Chicago by early September before the locks are closed for repair.

Since I have commented on the color of the water compared to the Hudson River, I have posted a few photos from when we docked today – it’s amazing to be able to see below the water right in your slip! Another thing that we found unusual – not a common occurrence in NY – is docking bow first. Everybody seems to do it, but not us!

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