We're still here!! A SCA [Small Craft Advisory] for this stretch of the coast had 2-3' waves SW with SW winds 12-20+ mph, and possible TSMs; there were breakers visible on the breakwater. Our new looper friends left at 06:30 before it was at its worst and called me after 5 miles out, reporting 3' waves on their port stern quarter; they have stabilizers on the hull which make quite a difference, as well as having 60,000 lb of weight which helps. They said it was not comfortable coming out of the harbor. That just confirmed our plan to not leave today. (Just heard they turned back halfway due to fog).

Harrisville Harbor of Refuge is another MI State operated one [State has ensured there is a Refuge Harbor at least every 50 miles for the 3 Great Lakes it has coastline on. It has 90 slips of which 49 are transients. The State has been renovating all the marinas over the past few years because they had apparently been neglected for so long; and the ones we have stayed at are indeed impressive, with new docking, all slips labeled clearly, new fueling pumps, etc. The all tend to hire high school seniors for the summer; they are keen, polite, helpful.

The winds are really blowing us off the dock [good for the fenders] which strains the 5 lines; so, of course I added another line - just to be safe. The sun is now out but lots of cumulus clouds around - the one photo of the fuel dock just after sunrise shows a TSM coming towards us. Everyone who lives on the 'Lakes' keeps reminding us how normally windy it is and how the Lakes are essentially 'small oceans' and those who think they are just big inland rivers/lakes will not enjoy them.

Chatted with a fellow who has a houseboat [see photo] which has a sail! The sail was intended to stabilize the boat when under motor power; but he never uses it (doesn't have it anymore) because it has a long 2' deep keel from the midships aft which gives him enough stability, despite having rounded hull of a sailboat. He has an autopilot which allows him to 'tack' in 5' waves, sliding up and down the waves! He lives at the far end of Saginaw Bay and says it has the worst waters in the Great Lakes - only 12' avg depth at that end enabling 5'+ waves to quickly form.

Maintenance: sponged out the rainwater in the engine bilges and the small amount of coolant. Confirmed where the 'sacrificial' zincs for the engines are located - there are 3 for each engine, 2 on the aftercooler [cools the heated air from the turbocharger going into the cylinders - thus 'after' cooler - colder air can be compressed more and improve combustion] and 1 on the heat exchanger. The zincs are in contact with the raw water being used as a coolant and help prevent galvanic corrosion of metals in the engine. I will replace them once we are in Mackinaw City.

Photos: one of our looper friends with the 49' DeFever; these are a full displacement hull trawler which cruise at 7mph and reach a sizzling maximum speed of 9 with the current behind them, he says. Heavy - 60,000 lbs, solid, good liveaboards type of boat. They sold their house last year and have been on the loop since last spring, just like us. They were living in Chicago; their kids are still there. Had a great docktails visit with them last evening, reliving experiences.

From the Admirals Desk:

Big Boat event of the day. An 80' Burger named The Lucy Penguin just docked beside us. Beautiful boat, classic and classy! Crew of 4 and an apparent owner who doesn't look very knowledgeable. Google says he may be a new owner. The boat holds 3300gal. of fuel so maybe he's just dazed by a $10,000.00 refueling bill!! Diesel is about $3.30/gal.here.

A cleaning day today. Sheets, bathrooms, and myself. The marina laundry is within a reasonable distance so I try to get the sheets done.

A non-whiney weather comment. It was hot and very humid with a strong SE wind, until about at 3:30 then the wind abruptly changed to a strong northerly wind and it immediately became chilly! It was so humid this morning that the engine room was sweating! I'm usually the sweaty one. A plus to the weather change is I could turn one AC unit off and Rob could take off his fleece vest!😂😂😂

We have a mystery leak in our stateroom. The trim on the shelf on both sides of the bed is damp. It must have happened yesterday afternoon after we docked here. I know it was dry until then as I use the shelf as a hand hold to get up on the bed. The real mystery is how both sides got wet!? And only the suede trim? The shelves are dry.🤔🤔. We had some heavy rain here yesterday but????? Boats have occasional leaks but as long as they're above the water line are more annoying than catastrophic.

Having salmon, Italian creamy corn salad, and marinated potato salad tonight.

Good night.

Planning:

Have changed our reservation at Presque Isle Harbor to tomorrow night and wx looks 'good'.

Comments:

Terry  •  28 Jun, 2021 - Burger yachts are every boater's dream although heavy on maintenance

Ernie R  •  28 Jun, 2021 - Marg, I hope you are compiling a looper cookbook! I don’t think D.A. is in the SCA category!

Ann R  •  28 Jun, 2021 - Marg, I’ll second Ernie’s comment about the cookbook! All your menus sound wonderful. Please share recipes!