Christmas Letter 2011
Charlotte retired this year and I took maternity leave, really a self financed sabbatical. After decades of dreaming and preparing we both figured it was time to go, and so we went to the North Channel of Lake Huron in deepest, darkest Canada. This time, not really. Canada was light from early in the morning to well after 9 o’clock. We spent about 12 weeks on Carrie Rose and were in no big hurry to disembark when we finally arrived home.
She proved a good friend and for other than the two weeks we were stranded in Little Current, Ontario awaiting mechanics and parts and mechanics (it’s a long story), she safely took us over 1200 miles up and down the east coast of Lake Michigan through the Manitou Passage, Gray’s Reef, the Straits of Mackinaw and under the Mackinaw Bridge. Then we skirted the northern border of Lake Huron and took a left up DeTour Passage into Canada’s archipelago known as the North Channel.
We were not alone, having connected with Sir Tugly Blue, Dolly, Jenny Jo and O Be Quiet. Better mates we could not have hoped for. We listened to the song of the white-throated sparrow, sheltered in pine and rock studded anchorages, spent days piloting through fog and more days surfing down waves. We also had cocktails at 5:30, collected rocks, road our bikes and lost 10 pounds.
What a privilege to spend a summer wandering on fresh blue water. The memory continues to keep me up at night and writing so if I have peaked your interest go to Chicagotug.blogspot.com to see a few pictures.
