CC Yacht Delivery: Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan

I'll try and catch everyone up on the last two days aboard Obsession. On Sunday we pulled out of Geneva, OH at 5:30 in the morning. Lake Erie was flat and calm. You could not have asked for a better day. We had a really nice, relaxed run up to the Detroit River.

From the river, we cruised up to Downtown Detroit and got some great shots of the skyline. We needed to stop for fuel so I asked for some help from Ray Batt. Ray was too kind in providing great information on all the possibilities of fuel stops on the river all the way up to Port Huron. Then Ray said he would come out on his Boston Whaler and meet us on the river and we could follow him into Kean's for fuel. Kean's is right across from his home port of the Detroit Yacht Club. The facility and service was great and we were in and out in 25 minutes.

It was very kind of Ray to help us and take time out of his Memorial Day weekend with family to lend a hand. Thank you Ray. It was great to see you as always!

At 11:45am our tanks were full and we were on our way up to Lake St Clair heading for Lake Huron. About 2:00 we passed the 43 Tiara I was on and moving from Mobile to Chicago. Mike and his wife Lynn had just dropped off his step-father Bob in Harbor Beach and were heading home to Detroit. I got a good running shot of his boat.

By 2:20pm, we were out on a very calm Lake Huron. Waves were about a foot, but it was a very comfortable ride. We finished the day at 7:00pm in Harrisville, MI with overcast skies and drop in temperature of 20 degrees. We covered 329 miles. That is a new record for me for the most miles traveled in a day.

We had a nice meal at Shotmakers Bar & Grill before heading for bed. We were all tired after a very long and productive day on the water.

Monday brought us some new challenges. We had heavy rain and wind. We decided we would take our best shot and see what we could tolerate on a rough day.

Seas were a very sloppy 3 feet this morning, but manageable when we left the dock at 5:50am. As the morning progressed, the seas would periodically smooth out and then get rough again. Since the marina was closed last night when we got in at 7:00pm, we were not able to fuel up. So we needed to travel 54 miles this morning up to Presque Isle for a fuel stop around 8:15. We took on 360 gallons before heading back out onto the lake around 9:00.

Then the real fun began. FOG. Lots and lots of fog. I hate fog. The fog was so thick you couldn't see 50 feet in any direction. Fortunately we had a great color, HD radar and AIS. The AIS was invaluable today and we could see and be seen by very large ships. We talked to several cargo ships over 700 feet long and passed them within 1 mile and never saw them. We could hear the fog horn and see them on AIS and radar, but zero visibility. Its a little unnerving if you have never done it before.

We continued on under the Mackinac Bridge and on past Beaver and Manitou Islands. Once around the bend, the seas picked up considerably and they had a small craft advisory. Seas were building to 4 feet and projected to build to 7 feet by 5:00pm.

We decided we had enough fun for one day and turned toward Leland, MI. We still covered 214 miles today. We will probably have to spend Tuesday here as well since the forecast looks terrible tomorrow as well with winds 20 to 30 kts and seas 4 to 5 feet with occasional 7 footers. I didn't take a single picture today since we couldn't see a thing. Hold a white piece of paper in front of your face you will have the same view we had for most of the day.