Great Loop Day 017 Sept 14, 2016, A Short Jaunt and Chinese Food
Presque Isle to Rogers City, Michigan
“I feel that we’re all lighthouses, and my job is to shine my light as brightly as I can to the darkness.” - Jim Carrey.
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Day 17 Wednesday, Sept 14, 2016. Easy 18 miles to Rogers City. Left at 1230pm. Arrived at 330pm. But first had to visit the old and new lighthouses at Presque Isle. Started walking about a mile and then realized I had the MapMyRide app on my phone and started it up. For those unaware MapMyRide is an app that measures and records your running/walking/biking mileage. Works great on land unfortunately not on the water. Got my photo shots of both lighthouses and the grounds with my digital Canon DSLR Rebel Eos t4i. No ghosts to report. Took a good look at Lake Huron with wind from the north sending long rollers inshore. Predicted winds were to subside to less than 10 mph making it doable to travel but would be rolly for the first 10 miles or so till the winds drop.
Got underway saying goodbye to Wayne, Tom, and Mitch. Mitch said he will see me later in Rogers City where he lives. Heading out of Presque Isle Bay was child's play but playing the rollers took some skill. Big boats can take these waves quite well. Small boats like mine can and do bounce around in ways that can be unsafe if not unpleasant.
Boats like planes can pitch, yaw and roll. Pitch is when the bow goes up and the stern goes down. Mostly in ‘following’ seas, when the waves come from behind. Pitchpoling occurs in high seas when the stern is raised by a back wave sending the bow into the trough with such force the bow doesn't have time to recover. Actually flipping the boat over. Broaching is when the boat is parallel to large waves flipping it on its side. Most sailboats can recover due to the heavy weight of their keel. Yaw is going from side to side. A wave from the starboard bow can force the bow left going up the wave and then right on the back side of the wave. The best option is to strike the wave at a 45-degree angle. Luckily for me, the rollers were out of the north, and leaving Presque Isle bay I set a course for the northwest. At least for a few miles then slowly made course corrections to the West. Doesn't make for pleasant boating rocking back and forth. That's when you learn what you forgot to secure below. Think; clean up in aisle 2! All my heavy stuff is low in the boat with smaller lighter stuff on top. At one point during this trip, my coffee container got loose, dumped over, and opened up spilling coffee all over the rug. Nooo! Anything but not my coveted coffee! Recovered most of it, lesson learned. Having a fully charged hand vacuum comes in handy to clean the leftovers.
Electronic navigation worked flawlessly except for the eTrex GPS recorded 17 miles. I check it every 15 minutes if not more. Found out that when the unit slides between the cushion and the traveler in the cockpit it can turn off. And that it did. Double checking the Google Map distance feature should have traveled a mile longer. Now for the future, I'll set the Garmin handheld to measure GPS distance along with the eTrex as a backup.
Pulling into Rogers City was easy. Found my appointed dock and settled Mickey in with dinner and got to check out the town.
Rogers City is a quaint little town. Sav-a-Lot grocery store, Family Dollar, and small restaurants within easy walking or best yet using the bikes provided by the marina. On our arrival, I met another Looper just starting his journey. Paul and his wife bought a 36ft trawler in Florida sailed it here this spring and will leave for Mackinaw City in the morning. We exchanged boat cards and I wished them well.
Checking Google Maps I found a Chinese restaurant nearby and used a borrowed marina bike to get there. Ordered takeout as I wanted to spend time studying the charts and the potential marinas up ahead. Mackinac Island was on my itinerary and a must-see stop. A lot will depend on the weather and this time of the year it can get brutal, especially for a small sailboat like the Sea Marie.
Earlier Paul and I were discussing having heaters onboard. I had a nice little one but I left that one at home. Mike, a marina employee graciously offered to drive me to an Ace Hardware store that has heaters for sale. Before you know it I'm in possession of a small ceramic heater. The cabin gets quite cozy so I may not need it but just in case I have one. Hearing of our discussion Mike brought over a small heater the marina owns for my use. How nice of them. Mitch did show up and we had a nice chat. Maybe it's the small-town attitudes but I noticed people seem friendlier the farther North I get. Tomorrow I have 2 choices. Go to Mackinaw City or Cheboygan. I think Cheboygan, is closer and has more people to talk to. Was going to have a rest day but as I often say, the weather is my mistress. Must take advantage of these last few days of good weather. Oh, and Mickey is doing fine. He is spending the days below in the cabin and comes out to check the life on the dock at the marinas. A few boaters stop by and say hi and pet him. Mickey enjoys the company.
So until later, Fair winds and gentle seas...
The ceramic heater will surely come in handy later this fall.
I had to check my calendar and yes it was 2016. Seems the town just got the release of the epic action movie Ben Hur (2016) but it was in 3D so a more recent edition of the classic.
Eating Chinese food at Chee Peng Chinese & Thai Restaurant.
Nice and snug below.
Rogers City Michigan Sunset.
Scott Stanley Sikorski Henry, if you go to Mackinaw City, which is where the Shepards ferry service is to Mackinaw island, down the street from the marina was a neighborhood bar called the KEYHOLE, check it out, they had skeleton keys and others I have never seen before. also, check out people that smoke fresh fish there from home and sell it reasonably if you like smoked fish. be safe.
Pogo Bob
Also, when you get to Mackinaw City, they will likely dock you right across from the ferries. Don't be scared. It's close quarters, but they do it all the time! Also, don't drag your feet too much. We were a couple of weeks ahead of you and it took us a month to get down the length of Lake Michigan.