We awoke to a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and their was finally some warmth in the air. Forecast was calling for winds of 10-15 knots from the SSE and temperatures around 75F inland. A perfect day for sailing!
After breakfast we stowed all of our gear and prepped the boat for departure. We got off to a relatively early start at around 8am. With it being that early, the winds were fairly light. We attempted to sail for a bit, but as we rounded the island we lost the vortex affect caused by the Straits of Mackinac. So, we furled in the sails and headed towards the Les Cheneaux Islands just about 10 miles north and east of Mackinax Island under motor.
As luck would have it, just as we cleared Mackinac Island, the winds picked up again. I was incredibly happy to be able to set the sails again! Plus, the winds that were promised were actually delivered. We were forced to beat a little close to the wind in order to avoid tacking back and forth to get to our destination; but it was alright. Sailing at 5-6 knots was perfectly fine with both of us!
The wind got a little too strong coming into Hessel, so we took down the genoa. Even with just the main, we were able to carry about 5 knots of speed most of the way. A little before the city we lost the wind, due to it’s protected geography (huge bay). Which was fine, for we would only really be able to motor through the little channels that lay ahead.
Once into Hessel we were severely limited as to where we could wander through the chain of islands known as the Les Cheneaux Islands. There was a channel that was very clearly indicated on our chart plotter. However, the buoys in the channel that were meant to show the outer extremities of the waterway did not coincide with our GPS. Kind of a big problem; as we draw 5ft and a lot of the surrounding water outside of the so-called channel was as shallow as 2ft in some areas. Not a good idea to deviate!
The islands were incredibly beautiful. And, trafficked by a number of smaller boats. Mostly fisherman and some pontoons. People on shore and in most of the boats we passed looked at us like we were out of our minds. We were definitely the biggest boat on the water system that day by a factor of two. Additionally, most boats our size wouldn’t be able make it through the shallow channel due to their draft. We have a shoal draft-wing keel and the boat is sitting fairly high because we aren’t loaded down yet.
There were definitely some anxious moments though. When the depth finder would read below 6ft, everything came to a halt (engine to neutral and we would peer off the back of the boat to see if we were dragging mud up from the bottom. The lowest we saw the depth finder read was 5ft 2in. That gives us only 2 inches of clearance from the keel to the floor of the channel! Fortunately, we exited the winding channel system unscathed and had a short cruise to our anchorage.
Government Bay turned out to be the perfect spot to anchor. We were protected and we even met up with another sailboat that my parent’s met a year or so ago in the North Channel, Minnehaha (Gozzard 44). Jim and Frances are both incredibly nice people. And, they have a beautiful boat! Throughout the night, two more sailboats joined us in the anchorage: Meander (Hunter 36 from Colorado) and Catamount (Island Packet from Vermont).
There was also a Nordic Tug in the anchorage that Jim and Frances knew. Jeff and Deb were the owners of the tug (from Oshkosh, WI!), and we got a chance to socialize with all of them on Minnehaha for a few hours over cocktails and light appetizers. I even got to take a tour of Minnehaha; which was fantastic! Beautifully maintained and just a gorgeous boat throughout. Thanks again for the tour, Jim!
The night ended in a relatively leisurely fashion. My dad fished for a bit while I cleaned up the dishes from lunch and our snack before heading over to Minnehaha. We even were able to watch anther episode of Homeland; which again was awesome!
We have a big day tomorrow with a longer passage to De Tour Village, MI for fuel and provisions before nosing into Canada the next day. The weather forecast looks good, and we are both looking forward to more fantastic sailing!