Log 8 - Back In The USA
We had a great time in Sault Ste. Marie! We met a group of people from the Cheboygan Yacht Club and were invited to do dinner with them both nights we were in Canada. Needless to say we both completely destroyed our diets!
As I mentioned before, this was "Summer Fest" weekend in the Soo and there was always something going on. On Saturday afternoon we took the boat tour through both the US and Canadian locks. This was very interesting and now we are inspired to take our boat through the locks and make a run up to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior.
We left the Soo this morning (Sunday). Armed with our charts, we headed for the down-bound Channel on the St. Mary's River. The Paul R. Tregurtha, a 1,013-foot freighter, who had just come through the Poe Lock on the US side, accompanied us.
Thanks to a current of about 3 knots and a speed limit for the freighters on the upper St. Marys, we were able to stay ahead of him for about 4 hours. We maintained a speed of 8+ knots most of the trip. However, once the ship cleared the Rock Cut at Neebish Island he kicked it into gear and passed us like we were standing still. It's quite a thrill to have a 1,000 footer pass you at about 15 knots. Luckily the channel was 1200 feet wide at this point, but he still was within 100 feet us. The ship looked like a small skyscraper as it came by.
Besides our freighter escort, the high point of the trip was eagle watching. The Army Corp of Engineers has placed platforms on the tops of all the large channel markers for nesting. Every platform we passed today had a family of eagles. Most families consisted of a male, female, and at least two eaglets.
The downbound trip was much more enjoyable than our up bound ride. It was sunny, we had charts, the wind and current was in our favor, and we managed to stay afloat.
It's a beautiful evening here at Harbour Island. During dinner we could hear the Loons singing. Our friends from Interlude came over for coffee after dinner. As we were sitting in the cockpit visiting we could see three deer grazing on shore. It doesn't get much better than this!
That's all for now.
R&R