Our plan was to be up about 6:00 and ready to go by 7:00am. I woke up about 4:30 to a very loud thunderstorm. I dozed in and out and heard that storm leave and another one move in. We got up around 7:00 and listened to yet another pass over. The only bonus from all the rain was a very thorough boat wash. We had been plagued for the last two days with those pesky gnats. The side of the boat that was out of the wind was just covered with them. What a mess. The rain really helped clean things up.
We listened to the marine radio and it wasn’t sounding too good. We were trying to decide whether to go or stay. The forecast was for intermittent thunderstorms. We had a light breakfast and manage to log on to a weak internet signal to check the radar. It looked like most of the weather had passed over and just another small storm would move in. Even better, waves on the lake were forecast as 1-2’ and the wind was supposed to stay at 5-10 miles per hour.
By 9:30 we’d made the decision to cross the lake to Tobermory, Ontario. We stowed the bikes, disconnected our power and started removing lines. By 10:00am we were leaving the marina. We knew that today was going to be a long day and had wanted to get an early start. Before leaving Mackinaw we called the Tobermory Marina to make sure that we would still find a slip getting in late. They assured us that they would have room.
Lake Huron was pretty calm all the way across. We had some mild rollers here and there; but for the most part the trip was pretty comfortable. The lake was incredibly deep; our depth finder was registering 550 feet plus; and then would start to blink because it couldn’t get an accurate depth. Dan and I took turns watching the horizon and doing some cleaning. I went below at one point and started the generator and vacuumed the cabin. I’ve now realized that being below for too long while underway tends to make me queasy. When I got back topside I took a little nap which helped settle my stomach. After my nap I went below and made us a sandwich.
As we neared Tobermory we started to see a little fog. Visibility was down to about 3 miles. That seems like a lot; but when you’ve seen nothing but water for hours and the chart plotter shows land; you expect to see land. We wound our way between the islands and arrived in Tobermory at 5:15. Our trip took 7 hours, 15 minutes.
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