First of all, sorry for the silence! Just know that we have been having a great time up here in the North Channel (even with ZERO internet or phones). Lots of posts to coming so don't give up on us yet ;)
We had a bit
of a white-knuckle ride up to the Les Cheneaux Islands from Mackinaw City, to
say the least. The winds were rippin’ across the straights and we had to zig
zag (technical term – FYI) our way between Mackinac Island and St. Ignace in
the Upper Penninsula while fighting some steep, stacked six foot plus waves
that wanted to hit us on the side (not good). Despite their efforts they only
had us rolling good a time or two, or three. I, as usual in rough weather, was
perched on the high side bench with Lexie laying down behind me and my legs
wedged against the other side of the cockpit to make sure neither of us took a
nasty spill. I know I’ve said it before, but she is the best boat dog, she just
sleeps the whole time, maybe sticking her nose up for a sniff or two then it’s
back to snuggling under her blanket. Makes our lives so much easier in
stressful times like this!
Loving the scenery |
However,
once we got around the back side of Mackinac Island we had a fantastic downwind
sail, 20-25kts behind us and we were cruising along at 6.5kts with just the
headsail up. Unlike many times before, we weren’t getting rocked by big
following seas, it was a peaceful (yet speedy) path right up to our channel. I
love it when that kind of thing happens.
We anchored
in Government Bay, just north of Government Island, the only public island in
the chain. We knew we needed somewhere to 1) take Lexie to shore and 2)
somewhere that we could walk around and explore without taking a 2 mile ride
into the main town -Cedarville- multiple times a day. We spent a little time
trolling for fish in the dinghy (no fish) and went into Cedarville to grab some
groceries. On the way we stumbled passed the historical museum and I managed to
squeeze in a good 30 minutes of looking around it, much to Ron’s disinterest. But
most of our time was spent checking out Government Island. There were multiple
campsites around the island, all connected by small paths and, despite all the
sites, we didn’t run into anyone else. It felt like we had the place to
ourselves and it was fabulous!
After being
stuck on a leash for a while, Lex got to run, sniff and swim to her little
heart’s content. One evening we even had our own little wiener roast and
enjoyed the first bon fire of the trip…until the mosquitoes found us.
Just a snapshot of a couple pics here for you, many more to come...once we get a steady internet signal...get ready!!
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