So the plan is to do a clockwise lap of the Lake Huron's North Channel from Mackinaw City to a bit east of Killarney, Ontario and back west along Manitoulin Island returning to Mackinaw City in a few weeks...maybe.
We wandered up here Friday morning thinking most of the weekend travelers would escape the city Thursday evening. Wrong again. Traffic was very heavy but we arrived at the marina in time for darkening NW skies.
A radar that indicated rain was imminent.
And, sure enough, the skies opened.
Kathy didn't seem too concerned.
Saturday morning was a little nicer. This is prep day for the cruise. Unload all the fishing gear and load everything else we own and might use in the next few weeks. It's a day long process...or at least takes us that long to get done.
At least we had a nice day to get it all done. The Shepler guys were busy washing the boats.
The rest of the marina was still quiet.
It's a sign of the times. There used to be a waiting list to get a slip here. This will be one of the busiest weekends of the season and our pier is perhaps 25% occupied (can handle up to a 32' boat) and the other pier is about 75% full of the larger craft. The addition of a new state marine next door hurt business here, but that facility is far from being full as well. This town needs about 1 1/2 marinas for a few weekends in July.
Even "Marina Mike" was at it early this morning.
We usually don't see him much before 9:00 am. This was about 3 hours ahead of that schedule. He's the asst. marina manager and was in charge of the city youth games in the park today. He earned his pay today.
We took a bit of a break mid day and participated in the strawberry ice cream social in the park.
That was put on by a women's club here in the city. Next to that, the local high school boosters were selling cherry and apple crisp. We had some of that after dinner.
So the inflatable is loaded and we're all set to head north tomorrow. Forecast is looking very good for a smooth ride to Harbor Island in Potagannissing Bay off Drummond Island.
Tomorrow the adventure begins.
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