Big Bay Harbor to Marquette

Day 20, August 19 

We had a rolly night’s sleep.  Our place on the wall at Big Bay Harbor was directly in line with the breakwaters so although there was no wind or fresh waves, the rollers from yesterday still made it into the marina so we were rocked all night long.  (A song?)

We did the breakfast thing, cleaned up the boat and headed out for the open waters and Marquette at around 9:00.  There was virtually no wind in the bay but the leftover waves were still rolling soon as we turned south in the open lake.  We began our trip motoring and since we didn’t have a tremendously long way to travel today, we motored along at about 5 mph.  As the morning progressed, the wind began to come up so I raised the sails and motor sailed along at about 6 ½ mph.  It was great fun until about ¾ of the way to Marquette, the wind died so I pulled down the sails and motored until about the last 6 miles when we picked up a breeze from the northwest so I unfurled the jib and allowed her to pull us along.

The scenery along the way is really great.  However, the air was quite cool and the breeze caused both of us to wrap up in several layers to stay comfortable.  It was a partially cloudy day and when the sun was out, we were fairly comfortable, but when it slipped behind a cloud, it was cool.  I think the high today was about 66.

Marquette Ore Dock

As we pulled into the harbor in Marquette, the most prominant feature is the huge ore dock that was built to load the lake freightors with iron ore.  They pulled loaded train cars on 4 tracks and then dumped them in to hoppers.  Each hopper had a chute that dropped the ore into the hold of the ships.  It is an amazing sight.  This one is no longer active, however, just up the lake at Presque Isle, they still use one just like it.

Hinkley Cruiser

We arrived at the Cinder Pond Marina at about 3:00 and were directed to a dock  inside  the marina.  The space between the rows of slips is quite narrow and, fortunately, there was no breeze so the landing was uneventful.  As we passed the fuel dock, we passed a beautiful cruiser and the guy asked where we were from, and we told him near Columbus, Ohio and he returned that he was from Cleveland.  After we got situated, I wandered down to visit with him and it turns out that the boat was made by Hinkley, a company who made really nice sailboats.  He commented that the company realized that the boat owners that they use to make the fine boats for were getting older and moving out of the sailing realm.  This boat is amazing.  It is powered by water jets and is fully computerized.  The craftsmanship is outstanding.  It would take me three pages to discuss all of the features that he and I talked about on this boat.  We did not discuss price, however.

Panache at rest in Marquette Harbor

At around 4:00, Janine and I walked to the local maritime museum and were thoroughly entertained by the wonderful displays and artifacts of the Lake Superior shipping and rescuing services.  There was also an extensive display honoring a local submarine skipper who, during WW2 commanded his boat and another to attack a Japanese fleet in Leyte Gulf north of Luzon in the Philippines.  He sunk a battle ship and another boat while the other sub sank one causing the fleet to turn around and halt their attack. 

From there, we caught a cab and road to the outskirts of Marquette to a Menards to get some peat moss for our composting head.  The cabbie who took us out and back was a young kid and when we began to ask questions about the area, he took us on an extended trip around through the Northern Michigan University campus where they have a huge dome athletic facility that is reported to be the largest wooden dome in the US. 



Northern Michigan University Dome



This place is 14 stories high, houses 5.1 acres of athletic facilities, and has a deck that required 108 miles of fir decking for the 8,000 seats.  They used 781 douglas fir beams to build the roof which they covered with canvas.  It is a monster.

We dined at an Irish Pub named “the Wild Rover” where Janine and I shared some Scottish eggs followed by a wonderful whitefish sandwich. 

Back at the boat, I had to do some work on our composting head and then have it pumped.  Janine got to go do the laundry.  Yipee!

Sunset over Marquette Marina

And then Ice cream from a local stand before bed.