12-Jun-2021 Saturday River Street Marina, Port Huron MI to Michigan State Harbor, Port Austin MI (83.5 nautical miles 96.1 statute miles)

42°58’41.0″N 82°25’46.1″W
42.978050, -82.429482
Elevation: 577 feet Lift: 0 feet
States (1): Michigan

Vroom. Vroom. Vroom. I’m all about driving my Donzi through someone’s boatyard this morning. Donzi cigarette boats and pontoons paraded the channel last night until 2AM.

Along the Way

Since the camera went to bed early last night I thought I’d take a quick picture of the marina wall we stayed on. Last night the boat owners dragged picnic tables from the park grass to the side walks next to their boats. Others set-up their own patio furniture.

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We are off

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Here on Huron!

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Then it was hell.

There must have been a million files swarming yes dear… today. It was like God took his pepper shaker and blessed our boat. The flies only redeeming qualities were that they didn’t bite and were stupid, making them relatively easy to kill. I coward in the downstairs salon. No way was I going to stand outside and take pictures. Dale turned the autopilot to head further out into Lake Huron hoping to move out of their range.

Dale took out the hose and sprayed down yes dear… to get the flies off. The carnage was great. The scupper drain water ran black with carcasses of dead flies. No kidding! Dale continued to defend, spray down the exterior of yes dear… against the plague of flies for about 2.5 hours.

I can’t help wondering how fishermen deal with the flies. They must really like to fish.

I continued to cower on the inside. I too had challenges. Some of our screens do not seal completely tight. Flies were streaming through yes dear’s… screen gaps. If I owned a burka I would have put it on. After waring out my both fly swatters I took to spraying the flies with Mrs Meyers cleaner. It slowed them down enough for me to wipe them up with paper towels and squish them. We had one sticky trap. I placed it in a strategic spot and in 20 minutes it was covered.

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Once in the marina and plugged into shore power, we hunted down the remaining flies inside yes dear… with the vacuum cleaner.

I am traumatized. I’m may to have to add therapy to my existing list of weight watchers, marriage counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous for when we complete the Loop. I hate flies more than spiders. Spiders eat flies.

Back to the voyage

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You know how lower Michigan looks like a left hand mitten? Tonight we are at the tip of the thumb of the left hand Michigan mitten.

I glanced at a bucket in the cockpit as I stepped off yes dear… The fly aftermath was right there in black and white. The mid-deck and upper helm on yes dear… looked this bad too. But, it wasn’t as evident because the blue gray carpet camouflaged the massacre.

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Dale has had a hankering for Revel Stokes Pecan Whiskey for over a month now. It’s been out of stock at every liquor store we’ve checked at. We stopped at the liquor store here in Port Austin, the one that has the Bentley parked outside of it. BTW liquor stores in Michigan are called party stores.

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They didn’t have any Revel Stokes Pecan Whiskey either. The woman working behind the counter was a font of knowledge. Business was slow so we visited with her for a while. She said that there is currently a plastic and glass shortage in the US that is affecting liquor supplies and probably other supplies. She showed us several bottles of liquor that are currently using mismatching bottle caps because it’s the only color bottle caps available at the moment. She hasn’t had Corona beer in stock for 4 weeks and is having similar issues with other beers and some liquors. She didn’t attribute this shortage to ‘China issues’ but rather the reticence of American workers to go back to work.

She also said that there have been unusually heavy hatches of flies this year. We told her we had experienced that.

Down the street we stopped a little bar restaurant. We ordered pizza. The choices were traditional round or Detroit square style. We went with Detroit square.

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I commented to Carrie, the bartender, as we paid the bill “You look tired. How long have you been on your shift?” Her reply was “Only since four. I just had Covid really bad and I’m still recovering. I really shouldn’t be here.” She wasn’t wearing a mask. She was wearing a chin diaper.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Lake Huron has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes.
The Lake’s shoreline stretches 3,827 miles. The vast number of islands in Lake Huron contribute to the high shoreline mileage.

Great Lakes Loch Ness Monster.
An old Ojibwa legend claims that a water monster lives in the Lake Huron. The monster, Mishebeshu, is said to live in a den at the mouth of the Serpent River. (Canada)

Over 1,000 Shipwrecks have Occurred.
While Lake Superior is well-known for shipwrecks due to the SS Edmund Fitzgerald wreck in 1975, Lake Huron has had numerous wrecks too. Fathom Five National Marine Park houses artifacts from 22 of the wrecks, only a small fraction of the wrecks. (Canada)

Lake Huron has an Underwater Forest.
Off the shores of Lexington, Michigan you can find 7,000-year-old petrified trees

Lake Huron has a Salt Mine under it.
Goderich Mine, which is the largest salt mine in the world, partly runs 1,800 feet under Lake Huron. (Canada)

Drolleries and Yuks

What do you call an iPhone’s battery?
~Apple juice.