** Algonac, MI to Port Austin, MI – 122 miles **
Our first week back on board went quickly, with lots to do to get Now or Never ready to cruise. We made the trek to Algonac just after Memorial Day, much later than we hoped, but certainly not unexpected. Both of us growing up on Lake Erie experienced many bitter cold kickoffs to summer and this year was no exception. Our sleeping quarters registered at 49 degrees one morning upon waking, good thing we had an extra blanket!
Thumb Coast Travels – Brrr, it cold inside and out!
We were able to load the boat while on jack stands in the storage building. Driving right up beside Now or Never, it was a fairly easy task. Dave travels light and while the truck was packed full, he was only responsible for two bags and the bourbon. Let’s just say Tasha is usually prepared for about anything.
Back to Algonac to load up the boat
Ahead of schedule (when does that ever happen in a boat yard), the crew showed up, ran the hydraulic lift up underneath her, kicked out the jack stands and blocks, and Now or Never was on the move via remote control the full length of the original Chris Craft factory building to the water. Transferring her to the travel lift and dropping her back in the water, the full splash took about 20 minutes. Then it was testing time for the bow thruster, yes – it worked! Bingo! Dave spent several weeks replacing the bow thruster this winter (he could not find anyone to work on it) and hadn’t been able to test it out of the water. Fingers were crossed that his work, well worked. The bow thruster had gone out on our very last lock of the trip last fall on the Trent Severn Waterway. The captain can operate the boat fine without it, but it sure is nice to have. Dave moved the boat in strong winds about 100 yards to a slip at the marina with the help of the bow thruster. We stayed a week enjoying the area.
The launch of Now or Never, May 27, 2025
The week included a lot of cleaning, organizing, reprovisioning, and some fun. We headed to Harsen’s Island, only accessible by ferry and just a quarter mile from the mainland. Our truck was crammed on a ferry 3 vehicles wide, several deep, for a ride across the North St. Clair Channel. With the current pushing, it was very much a sideways trip. We intended to grab lunch and explore the island. However, lunch didn’t come to fruition. Through our drive around the island (24 square miles), we discovered there wasn’t a whole lot to Harsens Island. We had been watching the ferry launch continously every day and the abundance of vehicles loading and unloading and thought it might be a bit more exciting. There were some killer houses and boat houses bigger than any house we have ever lived in, but not much activity. Lunch would come after the ferry ride back on the mainland.
We’re on a ferry passing another ferry. Karen and Danny – gold loopers
Friends Karen and Danny make their home dock on Lake St. Clair, and we were able to meet up with them for dinner. We first met 4 years ago in Florida while they were on their loop. Needless to say, they finished 3 and a half years ago! The great thing about the loop is meeting some wonderful people and keeping connected. We have seen Karen and Danny at least once each year since meeting and have plans to catch up in Florida again this winter.
Being that Now or Never was stored in the old Chris Craft factory for winter, we found a local museum with everything Christ Craft. A neat collection that David could have spent hours in but we compromised at just over an hour.
Chris Craft Museum in Algonac, MI
Photo of Chris Craft factory in production and the building today where Now or Never was stored all winter
It is always hard for us to get and stay moving, we typically like most of the marinas and ports we visit, get comfortable, and tend to stay longer than originally planned, thus our 4 year plus loop journey. Algonac was no different. This year seems a bit off, the cool (cold weather), the starting over off the beaten path (most loopers are in the state of New York at this time), the starting over knowing no current loopers (everyone we’ve met before has completed their loop), and having lost our buddy boat, the Bohonek’s, on Live the Dash. They too completed their loop last year. It’s taking us a bit of time to get back in the groove of cruising.
Ironic though, it was Jordan from our buddy boat that helped Tasha with transportation from the rental car drop off at the Detroit airport. Tasha had driven our truck home and rented a car to get back to Michigan. Some of the most challenging parts of the loop are getting back and forth from home to the boat. Jordan was flying in for a survey/sea trial (he is a yacht broker now) and Tasha timed her return with his late flight. He dropped her at the boat before heading north to Port Huron to meet with his clients.
Our trek from along the Thumb Coast from Algonac to Port Austin, MI
Now or Never pulled away from the dock in Algonac early morning after Tasha’s return and headed north on the St. Clair River, a beautiful river with topaz blue water. The United States on our port and Canada to our starboard, the thirty mile cruise was uneventful, just what you want after the boat has sat all winter. A chilly Tuesday we were amazed at the number of small fishing boats, all in the middle of the channel. We dodged them all the way. Some even played chicken with a freighter as we heard several warning signals and the fishing boats did not seem to care.
Crew back at the helm, Goodbye Algonac, Baby swan came to say goodbye, topaz blue water
As we turned up the Black River making our way to the River Street docks in Port Huron, we heard someone holler at us from shore. It was Jordan on his clients boat tied up on the sea wall. We knew he was in town but not certain we would see him on the river. His fast paced schedule allowed him to join us aboard Now or Never for 24 hours, as he took his perch on the steps of the aft deck where he spent most of last summer. It was a great flashback to our incredible summer traveling with his crew.
Now or Never on the Black River, Rooftop lunch, Jordan and Dave back together!
Port Huron, a favorite ours, did not disappoint. A great place to people/boat watch. Our dock was situated in a community park just steps from the vibrant downtown. We could get used to this place. Three nights in Port Huron turned to four and then the realization set in that we may may never cross our wake if we don’t keep moving. Our second travel day had us leaving the tropical blue, protected waters of the St. Clair River (albeit killer current), for the wide open waters of Lake Huron.
Port Huron river walk, 1 of 2 draw bridges, park with ship, self serve kayaks and Zebras on the roof
From a barstool in the US our view was the shoreline of Canada along the St. Clair River
FUN FACT: The current is killer in the St. Clair River because ALL the water from Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron flow down the St. Clair River to Lake Erie, then to Lake Ontario, to the St. Lawrence River, and into the Atlantic Ocean. That’s a lot of water and you can feel the resistance as you navigate north. On the other hand, as we cruised south last fall, we sure felt the push and picked up speed going with the current.
Lake Huron has the second largest surface area of the Great Lakes covering just over 23,000 square miles. The lake includes some of our favorite cruising grounds – the North Channel and Georgian Bay. We found it surprising that Lake Huron has only 5 cities with the population exceeding 10,000, two in Canada, and three in the US. Lots of beautiful shoreline and small beach towns, you just have to deal with the cold seasons which this year encompasses June! We would only visit one of the 10,000+ population town on our journey, and that was Port Huron.
Lake Huron
We would visit three ports on the open water and thumb coast of Michigan in addition to the two on the St. Clair River. The new ports were Lexington, Port Sanilac, and Port Austin as we cruised north – destination Canada. All unique and all very small. The east coast of Michigan is so remote compared to the west coast; it really doesn’t seem like the same state.
We left Port Huron enjoying an easy cruise of thirty miles on open water to the harbor at Lexington, about a third up the thumb coast as Michiganders describe the geography. As the day wore on the winds were kicking, and the spray was coming up over the bow. Not Tasha’s favorite calm seas but doable. If we waited for her optimal conditions, we would be waiting awhile.
Leaving Port Huron, onto Lake Huron. Tasha digging out and preparing life jackets – just in case
Our captain masterfully led us through the shallow entry to the harbor and slid into the narrow dock amongst the strong winds. Good thing we didn’t realize how narrow the dock was until we got tied up, it would have added an extra layer of stress. Lexington is a large harbor but very empty. We were an easy, few blocks from Main Street. We enjoyed the company of two boats from the Detroit Yacht Club for one night and then we were the lone boat with just a few seasonal boats in the harbor for the second.
Lexington, MI
We arrived in time for a late lunch, headed up the hill, and plopped down at the bar at the Village Inn. A busy place with good food. We then took advantage of the sunshine and walked the 1 block town, with a few shops, and a bench for Dave to visit with a local. It was a sunny, cool weekend and there were people out and about. We also frequented a dive diner named Wimpy’s for breakfast (twice for the captain) where the cook was the waiter and the bus boy, he did it all. We were surprised to learn the population was under 1,000 but now we know how the cool and the bartender knew everyone’s name.
Wimpy Diner (Lexington) Popeye Collection
We stayed a second night waiting for winds to subside.
Our next cruise would take us to Port Sanilac, just 12 miles north of Lexington. The vastness of Lake Huron was felt on this cruise as we cruised three miles offshore with land in sight to our port and wide open water to our starboard. We would see no other boats on the water. We certainly felt alone and small.
Port Sanilac, MI
A smaller town, Port Sanilac with just over 500 persons, left us frequenting one of two eateries, the town dive bar. The dockmaster indicated there was also a must do while visiting Port Sanilac, and you can’t get the full jest of it unless you’ve been to the Alli Bar in person. We went for happy hour, and while we were happy and enjoyed a cold one, we were all alone, the sole customers of this establishment for happy hour. The Alli Bar is an antique shop turned bar and outside live music venue. We had the whole place to ourselves and spent a couple of hours just gawking. One could visit time and time again and not take it all in. Some blasts from our childhoods, some cool stuff, and a lot of just plain junk, but mesmerizing none the less. We also visited the states oldest hardware store.
Alli Bar in Port Sanilac, MI
The first mate has become downright lazy when it comes to meal prep, so we found ourselves at the Blue Water Sports Bar & Grill (the other was a diner that closed early afternoon) for a second time in one day, and as we walked in for dinner, we were greeted by a familiar face! It was the cook in the tiny diner from Lexington who had served up breakfast this same morning and day prior! With only a handful of people around it sure was a small world, or small towns, we felt like a local!
The following day we were off in questionable conditions for the first mate, but by no means unsafe or bad for most. If you’ve been following us awhile – you know Tasha leans on the side of very conservative cruising conditions. It was our third day on the open water of Lake Huron and the third day we saw no other boats. Strange, this big, beautiful water and no one taking advantage of it. All was good (or decent) on our 59 mile voyage until we motored out past the protected waters of the thumb coast and turned west and were greeted with strong winds and waves. We cruised a few miles in the less than Tasha approved conditions, past a lighthouse that was our mark before we could turn south and head into the harbor at Port Austin. Upon the turn south, the wind and waves were slamming us on the beam, and we were rockin’ like a bucking bronco. Our captain was as cool and calm as Al Cowlings driving OJ. Tasha holding onto the rails for dear life (it wasn’t that bad according to the captain) had secured the cabin before we left but we could still hear a few things being tossed. Luckily, the Makers Mark on the back deck (that should have been stowed and the cabinet closed) did not fall any further – thankful for the small lip of the slider cabinet that saved it.
Port Austin, MI
Neither of us have ever been to Port Austin, but both very well aware of the name and the legacy. Tasha’s Dad Kurt found the rocks just outside the Port years back and mangled his props. Severely mangled. So much that one of his props became a feature in an end table and was quite the conversation piece over the years. Happy to get in with all the winds and waves and not hit the rocks like Kurt. Upon docking and coming our unscathed, a toast to Kurt was made, he would have been happy for us!
Port Austin, MI
We later learned from the harbor staff, that there was a road from the harbor to the lighthouse that the light keeper drove to maintain the lighthouse. They abandoned the road, but the rocks lay just below the surface and if you don’t follow the charts precisely, well, you can call it a bad day. Our captain saw 7 – 10 feet water below us in spots coming in and with 3 – 4 foot waves hitting us on the beam and the rise and fall of the boat, we were all too aware of what could have happened. Luckily, it was a good day for us.
We would spend two days in Port Austin, another small town with just couple of shops and watering holes. They had a very nice visitor center but not much to promote. We spent the majority of our time route planning and reading. We walked into one dive bar for dinner to find the entire place slammed, it was exciting to see people, lots of people. Twenty minutes after arriving, like a light switch, the place emptied, totally. Inquiring minds asked the bartender, “was it us?” We learned it was Bocce Ball night in town, and all came for pre-event drinks. Those would be about the only people we saw.
Port Austin, MI
The weather kicked up the second day, much more than our bronco ride the previous day and water was splashing up over the break wall. Another very quiet marina, they were reconstructing part of it and only 6 boats were in the harbor. We were the only ones on board, except for the attack of the dreaded Mayflies. A one day only show but flash backs to our time on Lake Erie. Yikes!
Mayflies attack Port Austin
It’s been a bit of a cold, lonely few weeks, with very few boats anywhere (with the exception of the St. Clair River fisherman), each harbor has been extremely empty, and no one on board. It really seems more like early spring or late fall rather than June. Amazing to have this huge lake all to ourselves or so it seems. Port Austin concludes our thumb coast tour of five ports and next post we’ll cross over Saginaw Bay and make our way up the rest of Michigan’s east coast looking for boats, people, and sunshine.
Cheers! David, Tasha,
& Remy forever in our hearts! – Loop Dog for 1 year and 3357 miles
Our sweet boat dog!
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