WE DID IT! TIME TO CELEBRATE!

Mackinac Island, Michigan
16 September 2022

Yes, we crossed the North Channel, with some very fun small-town stops along the way, AND we returned to the U.S.A. via Drummond Island on Wednesday, September 14 (after 78 days in Canada), AND, most importantly, on Thursday, September 15 at 11:50 a.m. we arrived on Mackinac Island, where we officially started our American Great Loop Adventure 392 days ago!!! So, in boating terms, this is where we “CROSSED OUR WAKE!” WAHOO!!!

Gary’s t-shirt reflects that sometimes we feel pretty “Loopy;” my shirt shows the most common route of America’s Great Loop!

There’s a tradition in the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association) that while you are “in progress” on the Loop, you may fly a white AGLCA flag on your bow (called a burgee). (This also makes it easy to identify other Loopers when docked and creates many friendships…a very nice bonus!) AND, when you cross your wake, you are entitled to fly a GOLD AGLCA burgee. If you choose to do the Loop more than once, you are entitled to fly a platinum burgee. There are some Loopers who have gone around multiple times…there’s even a book called, “Once Is Not Enough!” We now know that you can’t possibly see everything the first time around. However, we feel very satisfied with what we have done…quite proud, actually…and we are content to just do the Loop once.

We’ll share all the totals and other thoughts in another report later, but meanwhile, we wanted to share a few highlights from our enjoyable trip across the North Channel.

The day before we started this segment of our trip, you may recall we were at the beautiful and classy Killarney Mountain Lodge Marina & Resort (which is at the end of Georgian Bay and the beginning of the North Channel). It was September 8th—the day that Queen Elizabeth II died. It was quite touching to see the resort’s very large Canadian flag flying at half-mast.

A few days later, Gary chose to attend a small Anglican Church in Kagawong, Ontario. At the service, a large portrait of the Queen was displayed, draped with the appropriate black band of mourning across it. Prayers were said for the Queen and it was quite an emotional experience for many in the congregation. It meant a lot to be able to witness this in a country that is part of the British Commonwealth.
The church itself had quite the nautical theme…the pulpit was shaped like a bow and their was poignant Scripture from the Old Testament on a banner in the small sanctuary.

           

The North Channel was similar in some ways to Georgian Bay. Both are located across the top of Lake Huron, both have many, many islands filled with pine trees (and rocks seen and unseen), well-placed markers (!!), lots of little inlets, anchorages and several small towns. It is also quite beautiful. However, it was much less populated, with very few waterfront “cottages” except in or near the few villages. There were no “island homes,” which meant there were fewer opportunities to have “rocktail” parties! Unlike Georgian Bay, there was very little boating/recreational activity except for a few small fishing boats and kayaks and an occasional Looper boat. There were fewer narrow channels and navigation wasn’t nearly as intense. This cruising ground was much more relaxing and very beautiful!

          
The First Nations people have been in the North Channel area for more than 9,000 years. We especially enjoyed visiting both Little Current and Kagawong because they are on Manitoulin Island where 40% of the population is of “aboriginal” origin and many are still fluent in their native language. There is a keen interest now in teaching the language to the younger generations and to preserve the culture of these First Nation peoples. At the little Anglican church, there was a wonderful illustration of the Tree of Life reflecting this local culture. We also learned that Manitoulin Island, which sits between the North Channel and Lake Huron, is the largest fresh water island in the world! 

           
We went through our last Swing Bridge at Little Current, Ontario. It only opens once an hour so we were pleased to arrive just 15 minutes before noon and got right through.

           
We visited the small town marinas at Spanish (above) and Blind River, but our very favorite stop on the North Channel was the village of Kagawong (from the Ojibwa word that means “where mists rise from the falling waters”). Not only did we enjoy the remarkable art studios of Richard & Barbara Edwards, but we loved going through their Old Mill Heritage Museum. Both were housed in the original pulp mill that shipped pulp down to Chicago for use in creating paper for the early Sears Catalogs! The townspeople are still quite proud of this. We just never know what we’re going to learn when we visit these wonderful, remote places!

      
Another highlight of the week (for me) is that Captain Gary shaved off his beard! After 13 months of it being covered up, I can now see my honey’s sweet face again! Whee!!! Another cause for celebration!!!

           
As we travel to beautiful Charlevoix and then to Traverse City (where we will leave the boat to sell), we will begin to fully take in all that we’ve learned, all the wonderful people we’ve met, all the natural beauty that surrounded us so often, and all the ways S.L.O. Dancer has kept us safe and comfortable as our amazing “home away from home.” We also know we will continue to savor this “Adventure of a Lifetime” for the rest of our lives.

We continue to be grateful that you have chosen to cruise along with us. That has made us especially fun to share our journey with you.

Stay tuned for a bit more information (I’m still compiling various statistics), as well as a few insights and afterthoughts. Blessings always!

P.S. #1 – (Written September 23, 2022 from Beaver Island, Michigan) As you can see, it has taken us awhile to get our most recent Blog posted. Since this was written, we had two very rough cruising days especially from Mackinac Island to Charlevoix, MI (on the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan) where weather kept us an extra day. Charlevoix is another one of our favorite towns and we were docked just a block away from downtown, so it was a great place to be “stuck.” Fortunately I’d gathered some boxes so we could start the packing process. We finally got to Traverse City on Monday, September 19—our last cruising day. (We both felt pretty sad about that…more later.) We spent the next three days packing and, by late Thursday, all boxes were packed, offloaded and shipped, donations were made to a local food bank, the boat was spic and span and ready to sell…and we were pretty wiped out! 

One of our favorite Looper couples recently retired to Beaver Island and invited us to spend the weekend with them before flying back home to California. (We first met them in Peoria, IL, spent many days cruising together down the rivers to Mobile; saw them again 3 different places in Florida and have kept in close touch ever since.) Their cozy and beautiful home in the remote southern end of Beaver Island right on Lake Genavereth has been the perfect place to “do nothing” but simply enjoy our friends, take in the beauty and relax. (Photos above). (I slept 14 hours the first night we were here!) Today we took a wondrous walk through their fern-laden forest of cedar, pine and birch trees. What a wonderful way to renew and restore before heading home! We fly home Monday (9/26) and hope to write some more in the next week or so. Cheers!

P.S. #2 (Written from Los Osos, CA September 28, 2022). We are home!!!

I love this airport sign that greets us each time we arrive back in San Luis Obispo (aka SLO). We definitely live in “The California Less Traveled!” We are still pretty weary from the last two weeks of final cruising, packing, shipping, cleaning, traveling, etc. and now we have lots to do to get things back in their places after storing all our bedroom and bathroom stuff in the back bedroom (my project/craft room). How grateful we are (a) that we leased our home for a year while we were gone; (b) for all the amazing experiences we’ve had in the last year and (c) to return to our home overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean, Morro Bay, Morro Rock (below) and the peaks and farmlands of the Los Osos Valley. Now we know there is beauty of some kind everywhere we go, as reflected in many of the photos we’ve included in our blog posts.

We’ll write more sooner or later. We head to Colorado October 5-10 for my 60^th college reunion (Colorado College, Colorado Springs), so it will probably be after that before we post anything more. Thanks for your patience! Cheers!