If you read our previous post you already know we spent less time in Chicago than we had wanted. We basically woke up the next day to learn some new information on the locks along the Illinois River. In an attempt to make a long story short we have known for a few months […]

  Grand Haven was similar to the other “smaller towns” we have been staying in as we travel down the western side of Michigan. The municipal marinas are often right along multi use pathways in the city’s downtown and a great location for us as boaters. Being as we typically back into a slip it

   It was great to spend time with Laura & Doren exploring Traverse City and the surrounding areas but we needed to keep moving. Wow, good morning from Traverse City. No filter – nature at it’s best.  From TC we made the quick 1 our run up to Sutton Bay and anchored for the night.

   We met Heather and Kent in St Ignace and boarded the morning ferry to Mackinac Island. We had an opportunity to move around the island via foot, horse or bike (no cars allowed). As our condo for the night wasn’t ready until 4pm we loaded up Penny dog in a bike carrier and rode

  We backtracked a bit dropping The Roskas off in Killarney which is where we had picked them up. It was well worth it to have them visit us and be able catch up in person. We had a great time showing them a little bit of this crazy trip we are doing.  We then

  Brittany & Mike Roska (Britt and Kent are cousins) We arrived at Kellermans (think of the resort in the movie Dirty Dancing), er uh Killarney Mountain Resort, on Wednesday to find Heather out running and Kent on the top deck of the boat with one beer in his hand and two beers waiting for

   We left Midland with our paper charts highlighted with suggestions on where to go. The staff at the marina hold a cruisers talk a few times a week and will review the small craft channel and suggest anchorages. The small craft channel is the safe route to travel through all the islands and rocks. 

  From Parry Sound we headed for the Bustard Islands. We had been anticipating this stop for it’s reported remoteness and wildlife. We dropped the hook towards the back of the anchorage as there were already 6 or so other boats that were enjoying the “long weekend”. After 2 nights the local boats left and

We have been exploring the Georgian Bay but posting a blog update via email or even a more robust approach is not going to happen. Even when we think we have WiFi or cell signal it is not really reliable. In a way this might we a good thing – we are less connected and

   Orillia was a great stop as we happened to pass through on the weekend that the 42nd annual Scottish Festival was occurring. This was a chance for us to take a break for a few days from locking. Temps and humidity skyrocketed ("feels like" temps of 110F). We were happy to be at a