Final Cruise to Winter Slumber

*** Detroit, MI to Algonac, MI ***

Last cruise navigation of the year –

Our night in Detroit had some Motown vibes going on with our self-proclaimed harbor ambassador, Art, playing some good music well into the night. We rose to a beautiful morning on the Detroit River and the views looking across the river to Canada were magnificent. The lines were tossed, the bow pointed north, we cruised by the state park amphitheater that bears Aretha Franklin’s name, and we just had to break out with a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Leaving Detroit

Our 36 mile cruise along the USA and Canadian border would take us by beautiful Belle Island, onto Lake St. Clair with some of the bluest water we’ve seen. It rivals the blue hues of the Florida Keys. It was one of those magical days on the water; calm, beautiful blue skies, warm, and not much traffic. Just the perfect last day on the water and one of those days you don’t want to end. But not only would the day end, it would be the final curtain to our 2024 cruising and the last 18 months on board Now or Never.

Beautiful day on Lake St. Clair

Oh, the places we have been, cruising more than 6500 miles (more than a complete loop), and seeing so much of our beautiful country since we left on our second start of the loop (April 2023 after saying goodbye to Remy). Lots of reflection and a bit of reality. We would be heading home by the end of the week for more than a few days, and off the boat for months. It is going to be a long winter.

Past 18 months crusing, navigated the East coast three times

After crossing Lake St. Clair and navigating into the St. Clair River, the Captain turned to port and we arrived at Algonac Harbour Club, Now or Nevers winter home. Algonac Harbour Club is the site of the old Chris Craft factory. The original factory building and water tower are now part of the marina. Now or Never will spend the winter here. How cool is that? It is a full service marina with indoor climate controlled storage. This would be a first for us and Now or Never. The last two winters Now or Never has floated in the warm Florida waters and prior to that the frigid Ohio River where we winterized and shrunk wrap her. This would be a pampered winter for our girl. No winterizing, no extreme weather (hurricanes to snow), no worries. Pretty sweet.

Now or Never the lone boat at Algonac Harbour Club

We would spend three nights on board along the marina wall with our days filled with getting her ready to leave for an extended period. We were the only transients at the marina, and just one of a few at the marina all week. Post Labor Day, it was beginning to look a lot like fall, where marinas look like ghost towns, especially during the week. That was good for us, it kept us on track as we had a lot of cleaning to do. The bugs in the Great Lakes, especially the midges and spiders have been atrocious this summer and impossible to keep up with. Inside cleaning and outside cleaning, cleaning from the wear and tear of daily life, and cleaning for putting her away for a season. Tasha went through every drawer, closet, and cabinet, cleaning, organizing, with a tad of purging wrapped in for good measure. We would fill the truck with “stuff” we have accumulated on board and finally learning there is so much we don’t need (Tasha still struggles with this a bit).

The captain would go to work in the engine room and change the oil in all 3 engines, our 2 Cummins diesels, and the Yanmar generator. Dave would also change out all the fuel filters, transmission filters, anodes, and perform other general maintenance tasks. We have a few things that have broken that are on the winter list. It took the full three days, and had we more time, we would have used that too.

On the morning of pulling the boat, we moved the last of our items to the truck and went about storing shore power cords, water supply hoses, and dock lines. All were removed and stored and they won’t be needed until our return.

We departed the wall and headed to the fuel dock for a pump out prior to our scheduled 9:00 AM pull time. With the crappy job done prior to 9, we were told to just stand by at the fuel dock and then watched the lift driven to the pull bay.

Promptly at 9, the marina crew arrived and asked if our captain was able to maneuver the boat into the slings or should they prepare to do so. The captain, not one to turn down an opportunity for a new adventure, slowly pulled the boat into the bay where the travel lift and slings were waiting to cradle the hull.

Lots of maneuvering of straps to get her ready to hoist

The marina crew went to work adjusting the slings in perfect precision to not only lift but then maneuver Now or Never onto another apparatus once she had her bottom cleaned. We were able to stay on board while masterful precision was taking place below. Once the slings were tight and ready to lift, we climbed off and she was lifted out of the water.

Travel lift pulling Now or Never out for winter

The travel lift uses two nylon straps that go under the boat to support it and lift out of the water. With the boat completely out of the water and moved over land, they started power washing the bottom. It is common practice to immediately power wash the bottom while it is still wet because if it dries some of the marine life becomes difficult to remove.

Our captain checking our running gear

This is always a nervous time for boat owners as the condition of the hidden bottom is now revealed. You hope you don’t observe any damage, blisters, peeling paint, or bent props. We weren’t sure what to expect as we hadn’t seen the bottom since the repairs in Virginia in July of 2023, you remember, that time we almost sank our boat. Here is our blog post in case you missed it. https://mannaboard.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=6527&action=edit For the past 14 months, Now or Never had been cruising and sitting in both salt and fresh water, her bottom hadn’t been photographed or cleaned since March (right before we left Melbourne), and we had hit bottom with the props Labor Day weekend. Clearly, we were excited upon inspection, the bottom and all of the running gear were in perfect condition. Some of the anodes need to be replaced but that is normal routine maintenance.

Maneuvering from the travel lift to the transporter

The yard hand had no sooner competed the power washing when we saw this impressive, sturdy, shiny, expensive looking, power boat hauling device approach our boat. It was surrounded by a group of yard hands who followed it to the Now or Never. The operator of the brand new hydraulic transporter operated it with a large “remote control” that was connected to a sling around his neck. Everyone manned their stations as they slowly lowered the boat onto the trailer adjusting each of its arms while it was still in the travel lift slings. Finally, content with the placement the hydraulic transponder took control, and the slings were removed, and Now or Never was off on another adventure being backed into the old Chris Craft building.

The heated storage building is massive and includes the original Chris Craft wooden boat factory and additions that have increased the size of it. David commented that it reminded him of the government warehouse full of classified items in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. Now or Never was backed the entire length of the massive building.

Original factory vs. current storage building. Now or Never sits up against the back wall at the top of the photo. Backed the entire length of building.

We were surprised to see that we were only the eighth boat that had been pulled for the year and were placed against the back wall of the building, mere inches off the back wall. With it late September, we thought we might be middle of the pack. Since it’s a first in, last out process, we know we will be one of the very last boats to be put back into the water next spring.

Once Now or Never was backed in and placed on jack stands, Dave was asked to disconnect the batteries, they tagged the boat, and indicated they were done. We could stay as long as we liked to work on anything and would have full access all winter long. Before they walked off, we learned that Now or Never was the first boat to be moved with the new hydraulic transporter, and it was the first time our guy at command control had ever used the controls. He assured us, his many years of playing video games, made it easy. Wow! He did a great job, and we were just glad we didn’t know that earlier.

Going through the doors and all the way to the back

We looked up, way up. We had no way to get up to our swim platform and access our boat. Tasha went on a hunt and found a work trailer with a step ladder that we could “borrow”. Not so hard for Dave but for Tasha to maneuver using the top rungs of the ladder to climb aboard was not a favorite move.

Final home for winter

Dave spent a couple of hours trouble shooting our bow thruster to no avail. This is something we have missed since it quit on us in the last lock of the Trent Severn in early August. With one last look around, grabbing a few more things, we locked up Now or Never, and departed the property for our 300 mile trip home to the Hoosier state. Our last 300 miles on the boat took us 21 days as we cruised through two states. This 300 mile trip, the afternoon through three states. While much more efficient, certainly not as much fun.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Long Winter

We cannot say enough good things about Algonac Harbour Club, their team, facilities, equipment, and professionalism during this process. If looking for a place to dock, winter, or get work done in the St. Clair area, this is your place. Our estimated target for launch is mid-May. The weather in the great lakes can be cool that time of year so perhaps that will give it time to warm up a little. While that seems a bit late, it has its benefits too, as we don’t have a permanent slip in Michigan and when the boat gets pulled out of the building, it will go directly in the water and we will have just a few days at Algonac Harbor to get situated and be on our way. This also gives us the winter to determine our process for transportation to get back to the boat with all our gear for our 2025 cruising season.

Our 2025 cruising plans as we discussed loosely on the way home include continuing with our slow roll journey, soaking in as much of this adventure as we can, following the Michigan coast line North up through Lake Huron, head back into Canada via the North Channel, navigate the Soo Locks, put our bow into Lake Superior, head back to Killarney, ON, navigate both coastlines of Lake Michigan, head into the inland rivers at Chicago, making our way to the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers where we will cross our wake (complete our loop). From there, we’re not sure where we’ll head with the boat and/or if we will continue to cruise, that’s a year away and a lot can change.

Soaking in our few last days on the water

As for now, we’ve got nothing but time on our hands, and spring cannot come soon enough.

Cheers!  David, Tasha, 

                  & Remy forever in our hearts!   –   Loop Dog for 1 year and 3357 miles

Little spray never bothered our boat girl, Remy!

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