Day 2-256 to Port Austin, MI home of Michigan's largest farmer's market

We left the dock at River Street Marina in Port Huron just after 7:00 am. Our timing was very good because the two bridges open on demand over night so we went through without any wait. We entered the St. Clair River to head north for several miles until we reached Lake Huron. Then I realized that for the third day on the water in a row we caught the end of a sunrise. I fully intend to break this pattern as soon as possible... In the picture at the right the sun is rising over Sarnia, Ontario across the river from Port Huron.

We then passed the Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock from the waterside. She does duty as both a buoy tender and ice breaker. She had just returned to her home port here after having collision damage on her stern repaired. Early last winter she was hit by a ship that she was helping free from the ice.

     We also passed the Port Huron Lighthouse on the water side. It provides a majestic welcome to Port Huron and the St. Clair River. For many sailors she also provided a welcome to much safer waters leaving the storms on Lake Huron behind.

    We headed north along the Michigan shoreline with the main shipping channel bearing away to the right (north) so we soon found ourselves alone. We stayed about 3 miles off the coast to take advantage of a slight tail wind (8 mph), also we got a slight lift from the waves hitting the left corner of the stern. Altogether, we gained about a half mph due to the wind/wave lift. I made the call to adjust the course since any closer to the shore we would lose the wind and small waves while further off shore the wind and waves would be stronger. I guess that I made a good call since the National Weather Service kept reporting 2 foot waves beyond 5 miles off shore and we were 2-3 miles from shore.

Our trip for today was 28.8 miles with a time of a little under 3.5 hours. After about 20 miles, we turned toward the west and entered Traverse Bay. The lower part of the state of Michigan has the shape of a hand with the fingers together and the thumb sticking out to the right  (or east). Our destination was the Port Austin State Harbor in Port Austin about 10 miles inside of the southern side of Traverse Bay. As we approached the port, we had to stay about 2 miles off shore to round the Port Austin Reef Lighthouse.

     Sure enough, just a short distance east of the light we could see waves breaking over some rocks just sticking above water level (picture at right). In this case, the term reef refers to the shallow rocks, which are a hazard to navigation, rather to reef in the more classic sense of a living coral reef.
     The Port Austin State Harbor is owned and operated by the state of Michigan. I first found this out when the young dock hand who helped us with lines refused a tip since he was a state employee. The marina has been totally rebuilt during the past two years, and it is a beautiful facility. The first (floating) docks that had been completed last year were left in place over the winter. Obviously, the marina freezes over during the winter, and the ice moves around in the wind, which normally breaks up docks and bends pilings. They used an air bubble system to circulate the water and keep ice from forming along the docks. I have seen this system used along the east coast where the winters are far less severe to protect boats left in the water over the winter. I guess that the system also works much further north where they get "real" winter.

     Tonight we walked to downtown Port Austin, which is just beyond the edge of the marina, for dinner. The people on the boat next to us had recommended "The Bank" as a good place for dinner. Indeed, it was in an old bank building that provided a wonderful décor. As usual, I had the fried perch dinner, and the perch were the best yet. Unlike most fried perch, which are often heavily coated with corn meal, these perch were just lightly dusted with flour before being fried. The light coating preserved more of the "fish" taste. Shortly after returning to Lucky Us we were treated to a wonderful sunset over Lake Michigan (picture at left). A pretty end to a nice day on the water...  Sunrise, Sunset!