Day 59 - Tue 26 Jul 2016
Docked – St. Ignace, MI

[photo: for all the lovers of incredibly maintained classic boats]

We both slept pretty late (0645) after the somewhat late night the evening before, and awoke to a brightly sunny day with light wind. As we readied for departure, Lin and Sandy walked down the dock to say goodbye, and they were getting ready to go for a morning swim – in water less that 70F! It made Diane shiver just looking at them.

It was an easy 2-hour run to St. Ignace, passing close to the N shore of Mackinac Island on the way. Despite the forecast for W wind under 10 kts, we had whitecaps and waves big enough to notice for the last hour of our run. We got into the marina, decided to fill up with diesel, and then took our assigned slip. There were not all that many slips open because there were at least 35 sailboats here that had just completed the Chicago-Mackinac race.

Not too long after we arrived, Bear Holiday came in. They are having engine starting problems and will need to find a mechanic in the vicinity. I spent an hour scrubbing the nasty bugs off the boat while Diane cleaned the interior. I walked up to the office to register, pay, and get my shower. After that we got the bikes out (first time in a while) and headed out to explore. First, we went N along the waterfront on a very pretty brick sidewalk. There were very few pedestrians out and we were traveling at a sedate, sight-seeing pace, so it worked out wonderfully.

Once we ran out of interesting things to see, we crossed the road and headed back, stopping at the Ojibwa museum. It runs on donations and has some pretty interesting historical narratives, videos, and exhibits inside, plus some pseudo-authentic exhibits outside, as well. We enjoyed our stop there. Along the way on both sides of the road, we found a mixture of touristy shops, restaurants, and attractions. Nothing was interesting enough to us at this time to investigate, so we headed uphill to the grocery store.

We had to go up several inclines that were way too steep for our one-speed bikes, so we walked them up. At least we knew it would all be downhill back to the marina. The store was quite nice and we found everything we wanted, but the selections were not as good as we might have hoped for. Not far from the store was a fish monger that sold both fresh and smoked fish. We elected to buy a pretty large piece of smoked trout.

The ride back was easy, of course, and we stowed our bikes and provisions on the boat. Being later in the afternoon, we made a beverage and did a slow walk on the docks, admiring the variety of sailboats that were here, many of them having just finished the race (obvious by the numerous sail bags on the decks).

We sampled some of the smoked trout for an appetizer and found it to be very good. While I rested, Diane walked to the hardware store for some water filters and then took a shower. Supper was the second half of the pork stir-fry from a few days ago. We each retired to a place comfortable for our temperature needs – Diane inside and I in the breeze on the flybridge.

Tomorrow, we plan to catch one of the early ferries to Mackinac Island with our bikes for the day. It should be a fun and tiring day.