Off the Beaten Path – Lake Huron

** Killarney, ON to Detroit, MI **

Just a few tears were shed as we left Killarney and were back onto Georgian Bay, this time headed south, another side trip of our Great Loop journey. Our week would have us ending on Lake St. Clair for the holiday weekend. We would stay in Canada for the next few days and cruise the Eastern Shore of Lake Huron. 

We would have loved to have stayed longer, we’ve said that before, though we had a weather window to make it all the way down Lake Huron with only one down day, after that it didn’t look good for a bit, so we cast off the lines, and took off early morning in calm seas.

The red line is our travels, the black line marks the US / Canadian border

Most parts of this great adventure, are just that, a great adventure. New waters, new towns, always something to see. The beginning of this side trip down Lake Huron felt a little utilitarian, a means to get us to Lake Erie, to boat on the waters of our youth. We were a bit glum in losing our cruising partners and the towns along the Canadian side of Lake Huron weren’t high on our adventure list. We were also trying to get to the St. Clair River before big weather hit five days later. Schedules always make cruising more stressful and weather is no joke on the Great Lakes. This wasn’t our favorite leg and you can tell by our chronicles.

With a little more than fifty miles to Tobermory, ON where we would dock in Little Tub Harbor, where they don’t take reservations, but you are on the expected guest list. Not quite sure how that works and what you do if there is no room but luckily, we didn’t find ourselves in that scenario. We cruised with cool breeze and bundled up on the bridge. Tobermory is at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula that connects / divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. Georgian Bay is a large bay, some say the 6th Great Lake, and we would be crossing the open waters of the upper third of the bay. Land was very far off for most of the trip.

A cool day on Georgian Bay

We fueled and tucked into our slip of two nights by 1:00 just in time before the lake got a little sporty. We reminisced about our week in Killarney, all too short, but knowing we would return next year made it a bit better. Once we got tied up in Little Tub, in came a homemade trawler from the hull of a fishing boat. Six energetic young men proclaimed it was a bachelor party, hoped we didn’t mind some noise, and invited us for drinks later that obviously, we did not partake in. But we were thinking, this could be an interesting night.

Tobermory, ON

Little Tub is a bustling tour boat port. In addition to numerous tour boats, there was a huge ferry, the Chi-Cheemaun, also known as “The Big Canoe,” moored here. The Big Canoe travels between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island in Georgian Bay, Ontario, taking passengers, cars, RVs, and boats. All vehicles are loaded with the bow lifting up for them to drive into the bellyof the ferry. The ferry is a symbol of the area and a Great Lakes tradition that dates back to the 1930s. The 67 mile route take about 2 hours by ferry. If you were to drive, it is over 400 miles.

The Big Canoe

Interesting tidbits about the Chi-Cheemaun: 

• Size: The ship is 365 feet long and has a beam of 62 feet. 
• Capacity: It can carry almost 650 passengers and over 140 vehicles, including RVs, buses, and transport trucks. 
• Amenities: The ship has a cafeteria, children’s play area, lounges, and gift shop. It also has an upper deck with Muskoka chairs to view Georgian Bay. 
• Experiences: The ferry offers sunset dinner cruises, art exhibits, storytelling, stargazing, and live music. 
• Scenery: The ferry offers scenic views of Georgian Bay and its shorelines. 
• History: The tradition of taking a trip on the Chi-Cheemaun began in the 1930s when the wooden vessel Kagawong first ferried vehicles across the bay. 

A good bowl of Red Pepper soup, but not even close to Sherry Snyder’s at the old Pepper Mill

We found a great little brewery, The Tobermory Brewing Company and Grill, for dinner and then headed back to the boat. The bachelor party was in full swing, and they were having a good time, swimming off the back of the boat, music, and a lot of laughs. Not at all too loud, nothing inconsiderate, just guys having fun. However another boater did not feel the same as our crew and and they were louder and more obnoxious than the bachelor party guys. And this was all before 11 pm.

We stayed a second night in Tobermory as the wind had kicked up the seas weren’t the calmest for our maiden voyage on Lake Huron. We walked amidst the busy port full of tourists, out a few blocks to check on Lake Huron, and enjoyed our day, Tasha more than the captain who took to buffing the boat and working on the water tank sensor.

The Captains work is never done

We rose to a calm Lake Huron and had a wonderful 7 hour cruise to Port Elgin, ON, 61 miles south. Port Elgin has a beautiful beach near the marina and on this 80 degree day, the beach was packed. We took off on foot in search of dinner, the dock office had told us it was just a couple of blocks to downtown and we would find a variety of restaurants. It was a longer walk than expected and all up hill. After a long day on the water, we were hoping for an easy night. The walk back was easy.

Port Elgin, ON. (expecting lots of snow!)

From Port Elgin, we headed to Goderich 57 miles south. It was a pleasant day on the water, and we were having a good travel day until docking time. What a shit show, luckily no one witnessed it. Wind, current, too narrow of slip, short finger pier, and a piling 4 feet into the slip from the back of the dock, all this and non-existent assistance from the marina. All this in one slip and there were lots of other empty slips. We stayed on board for the evening, grilling out and calling it a night early.

Storms were building all over the state of Michigan and Tasha was keeping up with the latest forecast. Our shit show entry into our slip had us a bit nervous about our exit, much to our delight, the winds were calm for our 6:30 am departure. We left early as we knew we had to move to beat the storms and building seas and put 67 miles of open lake behind us before they dominated the area.

Storm Dodging

The weather wasn’t perfect but not what was forecasted later in the day. Scattered thunderstorms were all around us, as well as all of Michigan including Lakes Michigan and Huron. The seas were a bit confused when we got into open water, and it was dark. Dark o’clock early morning and dark from no sun, just dark clouds. With multiple weather apps being watched to guide us, we powered up early in our cruise to beat some thunderstorms with strong winds that were building and would pass just north of us, we then had to back off and poke to let other storms move across south of us. Loopers we had been with in Tobermory and started 30 miles south of us that morning got caught up in the storms and said it was ugly. We could see them doing circles on our NEBO app staying out of the mouth of the St. Clair River until it passed. We managed to dodge it all and only had a bit of light rain for the whole 67 mile run. Our weather apps were our friend this day.

We entered the mouth of the St. Clair River, returning to the US and US waters, and checked in with US customs after being in Canada for two months. Not sure we had even been cleared by customs before our friend Brian was welcoming us back to the US and had a photograph of Now or Never on the St. Clair River entering the US. There is always someone watching! With the port cameras he was able to follow our journey.

Now or Never entering the US

Entering the states at Port Huron, MI

The weather continued to deteriorate, and we got tied up in Port Huron on the Black River just in time for the skies to open up and the winds began to howl. The next few days would have lake Huron kicking so it was a do or die day and we’re happy it was more do than die, it has to be obvious to you by now that Tasha doesn’t handle the die situations very well.

Port Huron is another stop on our memory lane tour, the docks along the Black River with access to town and the bowling alley we frequented with Kurt (Tasha’s Dad) on our travels through. Port Huron is a great small walkable town, with a beautiful river walk, easy access to downtown, and great refuge after coming off Lake Huron. We stayed three nights. We would then travel down the St. Clair River with a strong current with us to Lake St. Clair.

Port Huron, MI

Brian caught us on cameras the following day too!

The St. Clair River divides the US and Canada. We stayed mostly in US waters, though you can cross over into Canadian waters while traveling without checking in with customs as long as you don’t stop, anchor, or dock in Canada. We would travel 45 miles in all much of it west on Lake St. Clair and then back east to avoid shallow water and to spend our holiday weekend at Bouvier Bridge Marina. Ever so carefully and slowly we travelled but we still found shoal water. Upon arriving at the channel to the entrance to the marina and following the navigational aids, we touched bottom. The boat jerked, spewed up sediment from the bottom, and sounded like a concrete mixer with the gravel churning.

Not what we want to see, feel, and hear

Knowing that the bottom consisted of weeds, sand, and gravel the captain pushed forward though about 50 feet into the marked channel before the sounds subsided and we were moving without dragging. We had been warned that it would be shallow there for a boat like ours that draws 4’ 9” of water. It didn’t help that we had just put a few hundred more gallons of diesel in just a few miles back. A subsequent video inspection showed no visible damage though it’s easy to knock your blades out of alignment and that wouldn’t be visible by camera. We would have to wait until our departure to see if we had done any damage.

Using the Go-Pro to assess any obvious damage to the props and running gear

We were meeting with friends Danny and Karen from On Line at their home port. We first met them early in our looping journey in Clearwater Beach, FL in 2021 and have met up with them by boat and car a handful of times since. They completed their loop in 2022 and now boat in their home waters (St. Clair and Great Lakes) during the summer and explore America by land in their RV during the winter months. Bouvier Bridge does not offer transient dockage, though their boat neighbor was gone for the weekend, and we were afforded the opportunity to dock in their slip. Fully expecting to pay a transient rate, we were totally surprised when they told us there would be no charge. It pays to have wonderful friends with connections.

Lake St. Clair and Danny and Karen

Labor Day weekend was enjoyed with cook outs, fireworks, a boat ride on another Carver, and swimming in the clear, topaz blue waters of Lake St. Clair. We have chosen the less cruised path with our looping side trips and find ourselves many times alone on this voyage. We were spoiled traveling with the Bohonek family for so long, but once again we’re on our own with very few if any loopers around. Being with Danny and Karen for a few days over the holiday was wonderful.

We departed 7 am Labor Day and were off through the buoys one more time, with a little guidance from the locals to “favor the reds”, we thought we made it through, then shudder, shudder, we were back on bottom grinding ourselves out. Better than our trip in but still not the way we wanted. The first hour was in the upper smaller bay of St. Clair Lake and the seas were calm. As we entered the larger and deeper side of the lake, seas and winds were building, not rough, but big swells with white caps and bigger swells than our first mate would like. We had a couple hours of this until we would hit the Detroit River.

Along the way

The captain tried revving up our Cummins and getting on top of the waves for a smoother ride, but as we approached 2000 rpm a shimmy would occur, just enough to make us back down. Whether or not the shudder was from fouled props or damaged blades we weren’t sure, and it wasn’t a good time to find out. We didn’t feel the shimmy at our regular cruising speed of 10 – 11 mpg, so we continued on. We’re hoping it won’t get worse and we’ll be able to make our cruise through Lake Erie and back to Algonac where we will pull the boat for winter. Dave can get a better look at our running gear and send the props off for tuning over the winter if needed.

Making it to the Detroit River, seas were fairly calm again, this was the end of a holiday weekend and there was a lot of boat traffic cruising faster than us keeping the waters a bit choppy. We would wind down the river in Canadian waters past downtown Detroit and the iconic Renaissance Building, we had heard from a couple of their engineers that they will be selling this building. It is such a monument to the good ole GM days.

Detroit and Detroit River

Our destination would be a southern suburb of the motor city, Wyandotte, where we would have a T dock to ourselves in this quiet post-holiday marina. This would set us up for a good run to Lake Erie with questionable weather this week. The next couple of days would be tolerable for our crew (Tasha) though the rest of the week would be a wash even for our Captain.

Motor City Sunrise

Our week included 5 bodies of water, including our second great lake, our 16^th state, Michigan, as well as 327 miles. We toasted the unofficial end of a great summer and the beginning of the next leg of our cruise down memory lane to Lake Erie where we both grew up. We’ve been waiting for this for years.

Cheers!  David, Tasha, 

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

Our fisher girl

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