It's hard to take in, that moment when you cross your wake and complete the 6,000-mile waterway tour-of-the-U.S. called The Great Loop. Such mixed feelings! Behind you (well, behind me anyway), months of diverse experiences and emotions. So much delight and even thrill but also, sometimes, discouragement. Such determination but also, sometimes, doubt. Dozens of … Continue reading Crossing The Wake
Presque Isle is French for "almost an island." That's sort of like a boat on The Great Loop, isn't it! Seems like every state with a large lake has a Presque Isle. We are at the one on the Sunrise Coast of Michigan, on the NE corner of the Lower Peninsula. It's called the Sunrise … Continue reading Almost an Island
We're just 100 miles or so from De Tour Village in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where the Mainship Many Moons will close the loop -- i.e., finish The Great Loop -- and then continue a few hundred more miles to her home port. Loopers call this closing of the loop "crossing your wake" because when a … Continue reading Close to Closing
This post is labelled "yikes" because a "thumb" sounds tame...but wasn't. It's Lake Huron. One of the Great Lakes. It can mess with you. And it did, with us. You probably know that Michigan's Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. (By now, you also know that the crew of Many Moons is from an … Continue reading The Thumb. Yikes.
The river I knew the least is the one that made itself known most dramatically...by almost stopping us in our tracks. (Um, wake. 😄) At 6:30 this morning, Many Moons slowed to trolling speed (3 mph) in the St. Clair River as we neared its northern end on the U.S./Canada border in lower Michigan. We … Continue reading Up the St. Clair River
We're sitting in a marina in downtown Detroit, hearing music from all directions and from various vehicles...cars, boats, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters...a constant musical parade going by! Plus the sounds of a live concert nearby. This city sure loves its music. (I guess that's why it's also called MoTown?) There's a prominent but friendly police presence … Continue reading Back in Michigan! (Motor City)
They call it "Key West of the North." Put-In Bay is a summer playground on South Bass Island, one of four significant islands (and several smaller ones) in western Lake Erie, in the State of Ohio, just a few miles from the Canadian border. Yes, I know there's a lot of geographic pointers in that … Continue reading Lake Erie – The Islands
As we enter a 2nd summer on the Great Loop, Mainship Many Moons has passed three more milestones: 5,500 miles under way, 19th state, and longest one-day run ever. Travel on a boat is sometimes measured by such milestones. We are now 235 miles into our carefully-planned westward progress across troublesome Lake Erie - troublesome … Continue reading Three Milestones for Many Moons
What to do when the waves on the lake are as high as 7'? Put the bikes on our little dinghy and row them to shore! Easier said than done, but we figure it out. It's our 4th night in Erie, Pa. and our 2nd night at anchor at Presque Isle State Park but we … Continue reading Lake Erie Pounds On
Did you know that Pennsylvania touches Lake Erie? I didn't. (It borders the lake for 45 miles, at its northwestern tip.) Did you know that the U.S. tried to conquer Canada? I forgot. (It was the main objective of the War of 1812, when the U.S. declared war on Great Britain. Canada was a British … Continue reading State #18 & The War of 1812
For Many Moons 