Mackinac Island to False Island

Monday, June 14, 2021

Mackinac Island to Presque Isle

74 miles (long day,  mostly motoring)

In fact, seeing the Altair (at least we think was the Altair) in full sail encouraged us to put up our sails, and while it didn't go smoothly in the wind and waves, we had full sails up by 845.  And back down again by 10 due to wind croak (apparently this is a thing... this is how Chuck describes it when the wind just suddenly dies down). It also did not go smoothly when we (I) furled the Genny (badly) in the high wind. 



At this point we were between the Poe Reef Light on our starboard side and the Spectacle Reef light to port.  



The next lighthouse on our tour of the lower peninsula is the 40 mile lighthouse (https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=183) which we passed under beautiful cotton candy cloud skies.  Chuck and I have been to visit this lighthouse by sidecar (motorcycle), but this was my first view from the lake.  The sight has a beautiful quaint little keeper's house, a lighthouse (now decommissioned) and guest keepers who stay in their own RVs etc.  There's a pilot house from a 1912 steamer named the Calcite which you can get on and explore.  Somewhere I have a picture of me at the Pilot's wheel.  I think the coolest thing about this site is that you can (at least the last time I was there, you could...) walk up the beach and see a shipwreck in the sand, the Joseph S. Fay, a wooden steamer sunk in 1905.  



It's possible... just possible... that we may have intended to stop for diesel fuel in St Ignace before heading to Mackinac Island (actually we'd planned to stay in St Ignace, before the whole Mackinac Island thing happened).  It's also possible that while we talked about going to get diesel I StnIgnace before heading south that when morning came for us to leave Mackinac Island, we didn't feel like backtracking to St Ignace. It's also possible that we discussed crossing to Cheboygan for fuel, but then the wind picked up and we thought we might actually be able to sail (which was true for a limited time).  
        
                                    
Feather resigns herself to more of this sailing nonsense.
                                   
And then we were on to Presque Isle (which means False Island).  First we spotted the Lighthouse. Then the Keeper's house.


And then the other lighthouse (more on this in the next post)



And then we were home for the night.





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