Weal Sea Travelogue
Dan & Pat Harrington

Chicago to Bahamas, C34
E-Mail Dan and Pat at: saildan@pocketmail.com
They would love to hear from you!
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July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005

January 2006
February 2006
 

12 July, 2005
Departed Muskegon, MI at 0805 hrs today. Overcast but warm with a few sprinkles. However, sailing was for 1st 40 miles: winds about 14 kts out of ENE. Did about 6 kts. Arrived Ludington, MI at 2030 hr. (43 deg 57.22 N, 86 deg 27.316 W). Dr. Bob Claflin, my previous Department Head at Purdue, came down to our boat in the marina and shared a bottle of wire with us as we talked about our trip. Later, went out to Turkey dinner at Favorite's here in Ludington. Plan to head for Frankfort, MI tomorrow.

7-15-05
(aden.): Met Jim & Beth s/v Lucky Dog out of Milwaukee, WI in Leland yesterday. They sailed with us to Charlevoix, MI and anchored in Oyster Bay. I took a swim; really warm clear water. Jim & Beth came over on their dinghy later and we spent evening in the cockpit watching the sunset and talking over a bottle of  wine. Hit the sack about 2230.

7-16-05
(Sat): Up at 0500 (I'm often up between 0400 & 0600 on the boat). Clear & warm and no wind. B.P. = 29.22 and steady; Weighed anchor & depart Lake Charlevoix (Oyster Bay), MI @ 0805 for the Straits of Mackinac (45.48.9 N, - 84.43.7 W). This are the strait which divides the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan (Are you checking your geography / maps Ryan, Sean, Matthew, Brendan, Shannon, Alex, Sam, & Ben - Grandchildren ?). Very warm (78 F), and clear. Absolutely no wind - seas like a mirror; having to motor. Clear overhead but on Lake Michigan we had moderately heavy fog / sea mist near shore until we reached south side of entrance to Little Traverse Bay (~ 45.22.0 N, 85.18.5 W.) Stayed near shore and depended on our chart plotter to show the way... Fantastic device! However, still kept sharp lookout and watched our compass. Mist / fog lifted about an hr our of port. Heading nearly directly N. Passed through Gray's Reef Passage (45.45.6 N,-85.08.8 W) at 1305. Telephoned Chris & Ben H. (s/v Chrisea) & Simon & Sue K. (s/v Fortuna). Also telephoned St. Ignace Marina for a slip... no good places to anchor in this area. Turned east to toward the Mackinaw Bridge ("Big Mack"); its visible from about 20 nm away! Sailed part of the way but finally had to turn on the Iron Genny. Passed under Big Mack (45.48.9 N, 84.43.7 W) @ 1715. Now officially in Lake Huron! Entered St Ignace Marina (45.51.58 N, 84.43.6 W) in upper peninsula of Michigan @ 1830. Saw the two-masted wooden schooner "Rosemay" {built 1925) anchored at our dock. Lots of people here wanting to see the end of the Chicago-Mackinaw sailboat race which started earlier today in Chicago.

7-17-05
(Sun): Slept in, up at 0715. Left dock @ 0815. Moderately foggy again (visibility about 1.5 nm), and I'm using chart plotter to find our way. Warm, clear overhead and B.P. = 29.93. No Wind again!; motoring. Passing between Bois Blanc Island (45.42.0 N, 84.30.0 W) and mainland of lower peninsula of Michigan.. keeping near shore.. must keep alert for freighters! Can hear them blowing their fog-horns every 2 minutes (SOP). 0930 - Received first VHF radio call from Paul &
Mary Slotegraff (s/v Cool Change)! They had just departed Hammond Bay, MI anchorage about 25 nm south of us. We've been staying in contact by telephone until now. They are headed for Presque Isle with Gary & Mary (s/v Concession) and Arne & Bev (Scandia, a C42). These will be our sailing companions for the next few months. Stopped and took on 23 gal. diesel in Rogers City (45.25.0 N, 83.46.4 W). Arrive. Presque Isle @ anchored (45.20.2 N, 83.28.5 W) with about 10 other boats in 7 ft of clear warm water in Presque Isle Harbor; ~ 1 nm south of the marina. Paul came over in his dinghy and brought us over to Scandia where the group had gathered for coffee & tea. Met Arne and Bev for first time. We had met Gary & Mary a few week previously in Holland, Michigan. Also met another couple, Carl and Linda (s/v Discovery, a 40 ft boat) who were there as well. They are also headed for the Bahamas for a 2-3 year cruise but are sailing by themselves.

7-18-05
(Mon): Dan up at 0430, overcast. Had coffee, cereal & cheese in cockpit. NOAA weather channel issued small craft warnings for lower Lake Huron later in day. 0615 thunder storm came through Presque Isle Bay; we sat snug at anchor. NOAA marine weather forecast is for winds out of S and possible thunder storms, small craft warnings for lower Lake Huron. 0815 - our group in contact by VHF. s/v Discovery departed about 0800. Called back by VHF. Said lake had 1-2 ft waves and winds at 200 deg. Not great sailing. Because of forecast of possible TS and less than favorable winds, our group decided to stay put in harbor today. O630 - used dinghy with new Nissan outboard (thanks Lee Kreual - works great) for 1st time. Everyone gathering over at s/v Cool Change (Paul & Mary) for snacks. 0645 - one of groups noticed that Weal Sea was moving sideways away from the group!... DRAGGING ANCHOR! 3 of us jumped in Arne's dinghy & motored over. Discovered anchor was fouled with weeds.! Moved Weal Sea to new location in 10 ft of water and re-anchored with 90 feet of rode (rode = anchor line for the land lubbers among our friends receiving this log). That gave us a scope of 9 to 1 (scope = length of rode vs. depth of water). Normally, 7 to 1 is adequate. Rejoined the party and discussed next day's sail to Harrisville, MI. Decided to hail everyone on VHF channel 16 then switch to CH 72 & weigh anchors at 0700. Returned to Weal Sea ~ 0230 & hit sack at 2200.

7-19-05
(Tu): Up at 0545; Hailed group at 0635; Weighed anchor at 0700. Partly cloudy; T=65 F; BP=29.85; Winds = NW @ ~15 kts. Great sailing weather. Next stop Harrisville, MI (44.3.7 N, 83.16.9 W) about 50 miles south. Arrv. Harrisville, MI 1645 - small but protected harbor. Anchorage space limited. Weal Sea & Cool Change anchored out. Scandia & Concession took slips since they had trouble getting their anchors to hold & tight spaces. Pat & Mary (Cool Change) rowed ashore to shop for groceries. Group decided to weigh anchor at 0700 tomorrow for East Tawas, MI.


7-20-05
(W)(Harrisville, MI: 44.39.4 N, 83.16.5 W): Dan up @ 0515. T=57, BP=30.02, Clear. No cell phone towers. Refrig. off - low batteries. Put in Ice till recharge. Gary (Concession) found broken wire & nuts under engine. Looked like safety wire from oil changing hose under oil pan to me; sure enough that was it. Gary replace with ss wire. Departed for East Tawas (44.16.4n, 83.29.1 W) @ 0835. Wind from S on the NOSE; motored. Now partly overcast & seas <1ft. Paul & Mary (Cool Change) departed for Port Sanilac, MI to pick up rental auto to attend Paul's mother's 90th birthday in Godreich, Canada; will rejoin us on Sat. or Sun.
Arrive East Tawas 1505 & took slip @ state dock ($33) so I could check batteries. Fueled up & pumped out.

7-21-05
(Th) East Tawas. Dan up @ 0630. Clear, T=70, BP=29.98; Very nice resort area with great beaches. Decided to stay here another day. Ladies shopped & melted the credit cards. Also did laundry. Rerig. now working; apparently shut down because of low batteries. However, suspect will eventually have to replace it. Tried to install new alternator with 3-stage external regulator. Problem: new alternator is slightly larger diameter and belt-adjusting bracket is too small and wrong shape. Will have to have one made / welded somewhere; probably Detroit when we lay-over to visit my cousin Mary Christine & John as well as her brother Jim. Hope to also see Chuck & Linda Reed from the Chicago Catalina Assoc who moved to Detroit area recently.

7-22-05
(F): Dan up 0530, BP= 30.00, T=70 F, clear, wind NE~14 knt.
Depart @ 0705 for Harbor Beach on East side of "thumb" of Mich. Motor-sailed, wave 2-4 ft. Ave SOG (speed over ground) by GPS was 7.4 knots! Hit 8.2 at one point.
Arrived Harbor Beach (43.50.48 N, 82.37.47 W) @ 1420. Not a great harbor. Anchored 12 ft water about 100 ft from sea wall. However, LOTS of weed and concerned about dragging anchor. Also Hundreds of squawking sea gulls on the wall (squawked all night long)! Pat baked bread again. Heading for Port Sanilac, MI tomorrow about 20 miles South.

7-23-05
(M) Harbor Beach, MI (43.50.48 N, 82.37.47 W). 0530 Dan up. Clear, T=70 F, BP = 31.01. Weighed anchor and departed for Port Sanilac about 25 nm S (43.25.48 N, 82.32.48 W) @ 0715. Wind out of N @ 4-6 knot. Almost no headway under sail; decided to motor. Arr 1130. Very weedy & small harbor. Decide to take slip. Paul & Mary's boat (Cool Change) was already in a slip. Paul telephoned & said would be turning from Canada between 2400 & 0100 tonight. Ladies went shopping for provisions. 1830 hr - From the sea wall we watched the sailboat fleet in "Port Huron to Mackinaw" sailboat race fleet heading north - 50 to 75 boats were visible 4-7 miles out. Weather forecast indicates rain and possible thundershowers tomorrow. Will likely stay put.

7-24-05
(Sun): 0700 - Dan up. Raining off & on and cleared in afternoon. Ladies went shopping. Paul changed oil on his boat.

7-25-05
(M): 0530 - Dan up. Breakfast 0615. 0645 - Dan began to experience sudden onset of nausea with vomiting and mild diarrhea followed by increasingly abdominal pain. He thought it would pass... no luck; 0800 Extremely severe abdominal with continued nausea and dry vomiting, almost curled over with pain. Decided to go to hospital. Harbormaster took to Hospital in Sandusky, MI ~15 m East of Port Sanilac. Based on symptoms, hospital immediately suspected renal calculi (kidney stones). X-rays confirmed diagnosis, in fact he had bilateral (both kidneys) calculi! Decided to keep him overnight to see if he flushed the stones. Harbormaster take Mary & Pat back to boats. Scandia & Concession also decided to wait for Dan & hold up in port. Dan on medication for pain & IV fluids to try to flush calculi. No luck.

7-25-05
(Tue): 0530 - Dan up in Hospital. Calculi still not flushed. Doctor (Mark English) decided to release Dan on medication with information on how to handle flushing the calculi. Dr. English was returning to his home in Port Sanilac and gave him a ride back to Weal Sea. Great to be back. Pat & ladies had been working on silvered port light (window) inserts to keep sun out & temp down. Group will sail for Port Huron, MI (42.58.22 N, 82.25.07 W) tomorrow if weather improves.

7-26-05
(Tue): ERRATA - Previous msg had 2 "7-25-05" entries. Second one should have been "7-26-05" (the day Dan returned from hospital).

7-27-05
(W), Port Sanilac, MI; 0600 hr Dan up. Temp 59F, BP 29.80. Rained last night with heavy winds; currently overcast and windy. National Weather channel forecast of 15-25 knots winds out of N-NE with gusts to 30 knot, and waves 5-8 feet! I am NOT going out. Suppose to improve by late morning-early afternoon. I told this to G.McD (Concession) who wanted to GO! I said No Way; told him he could go if he wanted but I was stay put. The rest of group subsequently met at the harbormaster's office and all agreed it was a NO GO; they were not ready to risk it either. 1030 hr - weather better and sun breaking thru clouds, winds down but 10-20 knts. Group decided to go. Fueled up and headed out. Our destination is the Channel Ecarte, in Ontario Canada: this is a small protected channel off the east side of the St. Clair River on the north side of Walpole Island. We've picked up another Catalina, a C-36 "Mariposa" (Butterfly), owned by Howard & Kathy Staley from Ohio. Howard is very experienced & familiar with this region & its anchorages as well as those in Lake Erie. Lives on South Bass Island (Put-In-Bay) in winter. He's volunteered to lead us for the next few day & is the one who suggested Chenal Ecarte as anchorage.

Arrive. Channel Ecarte @ 1905 (42.37.6 N, 82.28.9 W). Put up yellow "Quarantine Flag" and telephoned into Canadian Customs / Immigration (1-888-226-7277 = "CANPASS") to obtain our Canadian Report Number. I gave them our Vessel Documentation number & they already had all our information on hand from our previous visits to Canada (North Channel) in 2003 & 2004... we're in their computer forever! Assigned Report #2080613. Channel Ecarte is beautiful scenic channel anchorage with marsh grass on the Walpole Island side and lovely cottages on the other. Its about 75 yds across where we anchored. The channel, however, is weedy and has current of 3-5 knots going from St. Clair River to Lake St. Clair! After our experiences in Harbor Beach and Presque Isle with weeds, we put out 175 feet of anchor line. (I am still using my rope rode but carry 50 ft of High Test G-4 anchor chain which I will be putting on soon. Purchased it for the coral reef.) A few mosquito’s on the channel but we have screens on the port holes & hatches... no problem.

7-28-05
(Th), Channel Ecarte (42.37.6 N, 82.28.9 W): 0615 - Dan up. Clear, sunny, BP 30.09, T = 60F. Fueled up (7.45 liters) at small local marina on the channel and took on water. Diesel $3.75/liter. US dollar 20% higher than Canadian dollar. Very light winds today and we had to motor. St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair & Detroit River are VERY BUSY - freighters, power boats & fishing boats. River current running 3-5 knots with SOG by GPS of 6-10 knots. On entering Detroit River from Lake St. Clair we were overtaken by a Canadian warship.. Very impressive. Needless to say we gave him lots of room. Arrv "Crystal Bay" (an island in the Detroit River), Canada (42.06.86 N, 83.07.17 W) @ 1705 hr. Lots of weeds and rocks. Crowded and could only put out 60 ft of rode (anchor line). Because of the groups schedule, our delay due to my "kidney rocks" and the weather, as well as our having to anchor out in Canada, Pat & I will not be able to meet up with Mary Christine (my cousin) or Chuck & Linda Reed as previously planned. I telephoned them both & explained the situation. We are planning to head for South Bass Island & "Put-In-Bay" tomorrow. 2200 - we hit the sack.

7-29-05
(F) Crystal Bay, Canada, east side off the Detroit River: 0715 - We're up. Clear sunny, T 75F, BP 30.10. 0815 - raised anchor. Huge amounts of weeds! Pat's always at helm when I pull in the anchor. Problem! - no headway & we start to drift toward the rocky shore 50 yds to port. Pat keeps increasing the engine throttle but no luck... are we also aground? I take helm and put it in reverse while Pat watches for rocks; we began to move. Cool Change is on our starboard about 100 yds off shore and is also having problems with weeds as well as rocks. Paul (Cool Change) is dead in the water & he goes over the side and clears his prop which is completely fouled with weeds. Scandia, a C-42, is starting to move slowly. Because they draw 5.5 ft, Weal Sea and Cool Change, both C-34 wing keels drawing about 4.5 ft, go first. Both Mariposa and Concession were able to take advantage of a small cove for anchorage the night before. No weeds but there was a current. Concession! Tried to anchor with us the previous night but scraped bottom and retreated to the cove. 0845 - We make it to the main shipping channel just north of the bay and head south for Lake St. Clair.

0905 - Enter Lake St. Clair. Numerous fishing boats at channel entrance; they are oblivious to sailboats and cut in front of us expecting us to move. We are bigger than them and play "chicken" with a few; they back off. Very shallow; freighters in front & behind us. We stay close to the Green Cans on our starboard side to keep out of their way. Good NW wind and we put up our sails but continue to run engines to be able to get out of the way of freighters which continually overtake us. 0915 - ENGINE ALARM GOES OFF! We are over-heating... Temp reads 200 F! I immediately kill the engine and sail off to our starboard Green Can side of the channel then drop anchor. We all monitor channel 16 and I alert our "Bahamian" flotilla (we are at the tail end) of our situation. Everyone slows down but Cool Change turns around & offers assistance. I suspect I know the problem... plugged engine water intake; hope my impeller is still intact (I shredded one 2 years ago due to a similar occurrence). Open cabinet door in the head to access water-intake strainer and sure enough it's packed with weeds! Pull out as much as possible but cannot clear thru-hull even with a stiff wire. I'll have to swim under boat and pull out the weeds by hand; I've done this before to remove weeds as well as a "bait fish" in the intake. Put on swim suit and pull out face mask ready to go over. However, Paul (Cool Change) has already dropped and anchor along side and volunteers to go in. He clears the intake and also the prop, which like his, was also fouled with weeds. Start engine & am pleased to see engine temperature drop & water coming out the exhaust on the stern; impeller is OK. Pull up anchor & continued.

Enter the Detroit River & continue on past the downtown waterfront. Enter Lake Erie & head for South Bass Island & its famous resort harbor "Put-In-Bay" (41.39.5 N, 82.49.0 W) & the Commodore Perry Memorial Column. Arrive 1605. Had to cruise in the mooring field about 30 minutes waiting for one of the "day visitors" from the mainland to leave so we could get a mooring. You monitor channel 10. When they announce an open mooring (e.g. "Charlie 1 [i.e. mooring ball C-1] is leaving"), you make a dash for it... its "first come, first serve". Cost $35/day for the mooring which also includes free water taxi service. Went ashore... typical tourist resort town: restaurants with over priced food, bars, and T-shirt stores. Masses of tourists, some driving rented golf carts, as well as lots of "bikini clad babes", many walking down street carrying their drinks. Marina itself was filled with rafted-up power boaters playing loud music and drinking. Went to Harbormaster's office to find out where to check in with US Customs & Immigration. They have a Video phone outside the office specifically for that purpose. Unfortunately, the Harbormaster said, its frequently Out-Of-Order and when it works, no one answers. He said one couple spent 8 hrs trying to check-in. I went out side with the other captains. Finally got the phone to come-on. However, let it ring for 15 minutes and NO ANSWER. Our gov. spends huge $ to install fancy video phone but no one answers them. (Some Home Land Security System we've got. Honest citizens try to follow the law & are frustrated by inefficiency. Contrast this with the Canadian Check-In: immediate, courteous & pleasant response!. There was also an 800 number for check-in posted on the window of the Harbormasters office. Went to public telephone and tried again for 15 minutes. NO ANSWER AGAIN! Harbormaster said this number connects to the Sandusky Office. If no one answers, the call is forwarded to the Cleveland Airport Immigrations & Customs Office. However, they are busy & usually don't answer either! We gave up up: [For the record we arrived at 1605. We bought nothing in Canada except Diesel $6.00 US.] The ladies plan on doing laundry tomorrow & locate one. Ate out at Fish & Chips with the group then return to the boats. Hit sac about 2100 hr.

7-30-05
(Sat.), Put-In-Bay, Lake Erie, South Bass Island, Ohio: 0615 - up. Group is planning to meet to do laundry at 0800. Pat goes with the group but I stay on board. I am having problems with my alternator; still have old one on engine until I can get to some place where I can get a bracket made for the new one with and external 3-stage regulator. The current one is not charging my house batteries. Paul loans me his Honda EU 1000i gasoline generator. Paul (Cool Change) and Arne (Sacndia) come over in their dinghies and help me checkout the system. Batteries VERY LOW! Repaired an extension cord (thanks Arne & Paul) and got the generator running (These Hondas are very quiet. I ended up running this one all night!). Went ashore and picked up water and gasoline for the generator. Hit sac about 2200 hr. Group agrees to head for Rocky River, Ohio tomorrow (just west of Cleveland). Went to bed about 2300, hr. Let alternator run all night. Got up about 0300 and put in more gasoline!

7-31-05
(M) Put-In-Bay, S. Bass Island, Lake Erie, Ohio: 0630 - We're up. T 70 F, BP 30.20, clear, sunny but little or no wind; another motor / motor-sail day. Hoist anchor and depart @ 0735. Concession left early. Traveled around W side of S. Bass Island and saw a home on shore made of the front half of a freighter; must have cost a fortune. Lots of fishing boats at the S end of S. Bass. An uneventful sail. We were initially headed for Fairport, OH but decided to cont. to Cleveland, OH. Arrive. 1808 h & anchored at E. end of waterfront basin in front of Forest City Yacht Club (41.32.5 N, 81.39.25 W). Only problem is that this is at the end of the take-off and landing runway for Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport (similar to Chicago's "past" Meigs Field). Did see a large 2-masted wooden s/v Niagara sailing in the East Basin between the airport & the breakwater on the way out into Lake Erie; beautiful. Fairly poor holding here; weeds and clay. Put out 175' of rode. Started up Paul's (Cool Change) Honda EU1000i generator to charge batteries. Hit sack ~ 2200 h. (One boat dragged anchor during the night with 50' of chain but was OK).

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*re-posted from Capt. Dan's E-Mails