Straits and Narrow

Saturday, June 13

Beaver Island to Mackinac Island

Lake Michigan to Lake Huron

58.4 miles

Well, today’s the big day.  We finally get Twoflower to Lake Huron.     We were about the third boat out of  the harbor at 8 am. 

Feather seems to have gotten over the upset of her last trip.  She immediately assumed the position once we put up sail.

Our planned course takes us through Gray’s Reef Passage, a narrow passage through a nasty reef.  (https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=209 )  Fortunately, we had the place to ourselves with the exception of one lone sailboat going in the opposite direction.

 

By 1030 am, we can see both lights for the Gray’s Reef channel, and in the binoculars we manage to find the Waugoshance lighthouse on the outskirts of Wilderness State Park. Hopefully. we are not among the last to see it.  Maybe it can stand another November gale or the crushing ice of a UP winter. The lighthouse is being slowly eaten by the Lake and the group that had been fighting to keep it safe has given up recently because the state of Michigan won’t support their efforts. (https://www.freep.com/picture-gallery/news/local/michigan/2021/03/12/northern-michigan-man-spent-years-trying-save-crumbling-lighthouse/4646205001/) I had only learned of this lighthouse recently, reading the article referenced above. I hope that the state gets their act together at least enough to save some of the historical artifacts.  At the distance we were unable to get iPhone pictures.  I hope I have worthy pictures on my real camera, but those will have to wait til I’m reunited with my real computer.

At 11 AM, Chuck says he can see the uprights of the Mackinac Bridge in the binoculars, and we tack towards Gray’s Reef.  At 11:45, for the second time of the day, we have three lighthouses in our field of view:the two lights for Gray’s Reef Channel and, in the distance, the White Shoals light. The White Shoals Light is painted much like NC’s own Cape Hatteras Light, the lighthouse that started my obsession with them. Candy cane stripes, only this time in red.

At  12:15, we put up the main and we are fully under sail for only the second time of the trip; the winds, when there have been winds, have been overpowering or directly on our bow.  In any case, we’ve put some hours on the Genny this trip, but not much on the main.

We adjust course to go between St Helena and the Mainland due to building waves and pass the St Helena Light on our starboard sidestep around 330pm. We can see the Mighty Mac clearly.

And just like that, 12 days after we left St Joseph, we’re in Lake Huron.

Feather even came above decks to see what all the fuss was about. She’s was, however, unimpressed and soon resumed her position supporting the port side of the hull.

 

I’d had a slip reserved at Mackinac Island for the 12th, but the wind had kept us on Beaver Island.  We thought the odds of a Saturday slip being available were slim so our plan was to dock in St Ignace and skip Mackinac in favor of getting home sooner.  At the last minute, we decided to call Mackinac Island Harbor and see what the situation was; so glad we did.