June 25-27

Welcome to Sandusky, Ohio (they have an Exchange Club)!!!!
The Lighthouse at Marblehead
Chautauqua of Lake Erie

We spent Wednesday driving (rental PT Cruiser) to Port Sanilac, MI to get my car. And that afternoon, another storm came thru (a daily ritual up here)! Thursday, we drove around the Sandusky and Cedar Point area (huge amusement park). Checked out Marblehead and Lakeside which is a gated community founded in 1873 by the Methodists. It is a nurturing of the mind, body and spirit for families to come and enjoy all the amenities of summer-time fun along with faith and fellowship. It is known as the "Chautauqua of Lake Erie". We enjoyed some time here and the shopping was very good!

This is "perch & walleye country"......many marinas to choose from and fish is BIG time industry!

Another HOT 'n HUMID day (Friday)....just back from McCarthy's Irish Pub and settling in watching the skies as today's storm is a'comin!

June 22-24

Hi all...........we are hanging out in Port Clinton, Ohio for a few days! Nice little town about 40 miles east of Toledo on Lake Erie. This beautiful mural is downtown....each arch represents an area (left is Lake Erie, middle is Port Clinton and to the right, Ottawa County).
While out for a dinghy ride, we came across this crane just perched atop a nun buoy
We've never seen "floating homes" before, but Port Clinton has some and they are priced, starting at $99,900... One way to avoid real estate taxes!

June 21

What a day in Put-In-Bay (known as the Key West of the Midwest and famous for its many bars, boats and Mardi Gras beads)! It was a warm, sunny day and after going out for breakfast, we did laundry and cleaned Catrina inside and out! Around 2:15, it started sprinkling and whoaaaa.....all downhill from there with a tremendous storm that lasted 3+ hours producing very high winds, very heavy rain and lots of hail. In all our years of boating, this was the worst storm we've encountered and very thankful to be tied up to the dock!

Some of the ice (hail) that landed on Catrina - with all the rain, couldn't get a better picture!

This is the famous "Boardwalk", one of the top ten waterfront bars in the USA. It's one of only 2 bars on the Great Lakes to earn this distinction (the other is Green Bay) - neat place!!!

Perry Memorial in honor of Commodore Oliver Perry who took down the British Navy and won the first US Naval fleet action.

June 20

Happy First Day of Summer! We are in Put-In-Bay, Ohio which is on South Bass Island. This is a very busy touristy town with people coming by ferry or boat. Over 1,000,000 visitors per year and although automobiles are allowed, the main mode of transportation is golf carts along with bikes. There are lots of shops (mostly t-shirt and souvenir type) and restaurants.

It was a beautiful day and we'll stay over till Sunday to soak up this summer-time fun!

June 19

Today we motored 43 miles down Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River passing by Detroit. We are in Gibraltar, Michigan tonight and enjoyed a 7-mile bike ride past the lovely homes on Lake Erie's waterfront. Catrina has now been on all the Great Lakes. Detroit skyline
GM Headquarters

June 18

We did more cruising today from Port Huron to Harrison Township, MI (Metro Beach) and a distance of 38.5 miles. It was another cloudy and chilly day, but we were going with the current on the St. Clair River, so made good time! We met Larry and Sharon last summer in Georgian Bay (Tobermory, Ontario) and reunited tonight with a great rib dinner and visit.

June 17

A rainy, cool day here in Port Huron. We rented a car and ran several errands. More of the same weather coming tomorrow, so we'll probably stay over another day before venturing on down the St. Clair River.

The economy has not been kind to this city as there are many empty stores in the downtown and outlying area - even some of the chains didn't make it! We walked downtown tonight and had dinner at The Black River Cafe in an old building with the original brick walls, tin ceiling, and wooden floors - charming and delicious!!!

June 16

We are back in the USA after crossing this morning (ONE mile) from Sarnia, Ontario to Port Huron, Michigan. Been raining off and on this afternoon and again this evening - tomorrow, only a high of 59!!!

June 15

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!!!! Mark enjoyed his day and since he couldn't be with any of our kids, here's a picture of "Dear ole Dad' hanging out at the marina entrance. We had good chats with our Dads and all the kids and grandsons! Enjoyed a long bike ride along the beautiful Sarnia waterfront - perfect sunny Sunday!!!

Tomorrow, it's back to the US (1 mile across the St. Clair River) to Port Huron.

June 14

Hello from Sarnia, Ontario across the St. Clair River from Port Huron, Michigan and the good ole USA.....Happy Flag Day, America!!! These flags are flying proudly at our Sarnia Bay Marina. We left Port Franks this morning after a rainy night - it was cool and cloudy most of the trip to Sarnia....but then, turned out to be a sunny-blue-not-a-cloud-in-the-sky kind of day! Went for a long bike ride. After enjoying the small-town ambiance of Goderich, Bayfield, Grand Bend and Port Franks, we are hanging out in this "big-time" city of 73,000 for 2 days (our last "hurrah" in Canada.)

June 11-12

We've had 2 relaxing, fun days in Grand Bend. This is a very popular beach community with all the touristy shops. But it also has some very nice gift shops, restaurants and just a delightful little town to check out by foot! These Canadian folks love their flowers and they are abundant in their yards, flower boxes, etc.

Found the post office today to buy some stamps for cards back to the US...$1.01 for first-class stamp (.95 + tax). Short day tomorrow (7 miles or 1 hour) to Port Franks.

June 10

The rain started during the very early morning hours and continued into the afternoon - we hibernated on Catrina with good books and our laptops. Then the sun came out and the air was oh-so-fresh and a welcome relief from all the heat & humidity. We went for a long walk around charming Bayfield!Here's Catrina settled in her slip at the Bayfield Marina.

Beautiful Bayfield Sunset

June 9

Catrina and crew motored 11 miles (2 hours) this morning to Bayfield. What a charming, quaint little town of 1,100 year-round residents that swells in the summer time! It was another hot steamy day and had a rain shower this afternoon. I helped boost the Bayfield economy with my shopping - this is a shopaholic paradise and would've loved to had my female family members and friends here to share it all!!!!

We had a yummy lunch at DaVinci, did 4 loads of laundry and got groceries. Cooled down nice in the evening so went for a dinghy ride on the Bayfield River. We love that it stays light till almost 10:00. The gas prices here at the marina are almost $6 per gallon! !! And their sales tax is steep at 13 percent!!! BUT, "Life is Good" up here in Canada........reading good books, keeping in touch thru e-mail and enjoying the warm Canadian hospitality! Planning to stay here another day and then move onto Grand Bend on Wednesday.

June 8

It was a hot & humid Sunday here in Goderich. After we did a bit of tidying up on Catrina, Mark hoisted me up the mast to untangle some halyard lines. He doesn't like heights....and I don't have the strength to winch him up that high!!!! Anyway, nice breeze and view and been a while since I'd been up there!!! That's me waving and dangling from the middle mast

We walked "uptown" as the marina is in a valley and the town is at a much higher elevation (like 172 steps)!!! Beautiful views and once again, that gorgeous turquoise water (are we really in Canada OR the Caribbean)? HA! Ate lunch at this neat Irish Pub.

That's Mark walking around the Courthouse Square and checking all the flea market goodies! Back in the lingo of this country with "Celsius", "Kilometers", "Looney's & Tooney's! " Late afternoon storm with lots of thunder, lightning and rain (3rd day in a row)!!!

Hoping to move on tomorrow but more storms predicted?

June 7

Hello from Goderich, Ontario. We crossed Lake Huron today (in fog) and plan to visit some of these neat little towns along Lake Huron's lower eastern side. Goderich is known as Canada's Prettiest Town (it is charming) and salt was first discovered here in 1866. Sifto's Mine is the largest salt mine in the Western World. We were given a piece of pure salt as a token of welcome. Beautiful turquoise water as we were entering the harbor
"Thyme on 21" where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner after 6:00 Mass at St. Peter's
Mark sitting on the porch of "Thyme on 21" studying the map of Goderich
Catrina proudly will be flying the Canadian flag while we're visiting

June 6

Had a great 2-hour sail up around the "thumb" from Port Austin to Harbor Beach. Winds stopped about 5 miles before the finish, but of course as we come in to the gas dock they came back very strong. Speaking of gas, we paid $4.59; good thing we don't use much. Strong thunderstorm came through around 7:30 pm. Gave us a good show.

June 5

We stayed over in Port Austin another day - Mark got a haircut, we went for a long walk, read and took a nap during the severe storm that blew through - much needed rain for this dry area! When we were out walking we came across this new Veteran's Memorial Waterfront Park - beautiful "purple heart" planting of petunias and marigolds.

June 4

We enjoyed 2 days in Caseville and today we motored to Port Austin (top of Michigan's thumb). Still waiting for some wind to let us "sail away" and save on the gas - ha!!!

Some of these little towns are in dire need of rain - grass is brown.......strange with all the rain back home!

June 2

Happy 23rd Birthday, Ryan..............our Navy fighter pilot son! It was a beautiful day and great to be back on the water! Hard to believe we're starting our 14th season on Catrina. We motor-sailed 36 miles (5 hours) and are now settled in at the Caseville Municipal Marina in Caseville, Michigan.

Caseville is home to "Cheeseburger in Caseville" celebration. This is the 10th annual coming up in August and this little town explodes with thousands here for the 10-day event! Cute shops and many restaurants to choose from (my kinda town). Mark says we'll stay here 2 days!

Life is GOOD!

June 1

We left Skipper Bud's Marina in Bay City this morning and had 5 bridges open for us! But..........we didn't get too far before we had a glitch with one of Catrina's engines. Stopped at Bay Harbor Marina in Essexville and Mark got the problem fixed. I gave Catrina a good scrubbing and we enjoyed the beautiful day/evening! Looking forward to getting into Saginaw Bay tomorrow and sail away...

May 30

2008 Launching of Catrina in Bay City, MichiganThere she goes on a rainy day to kick off the seasonCatrina is ready to be set in the water "gently"

Stepping the mast