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Hello folks,

Lorain, Ohio, proved to be a welcoming port and very friendly. Again NIAGARA was alongside with us.  The large fleet of 17 vessels was now down to just two ships but, in fact, that's about all the dock space that is available in Lorain so it was definitely value to scale.  The docks are along a municipal park in downtown Lorain and the town was running a summer movie series there.  This resulted in the crews of both ships sitting on blankets and watching the film "Goonies" on Friday night.  Fine entertainment.

We departed Lorain on Saturday, August 26, bound back for the top of Lake Huron and a visit to the port of St Ignace.  This visit would require two more trips through the Detroit River, but the run up had plenty of time so I decided to make a stop at the port of Algonac on the St Claire River.  Algonac has long had a history of being friendly to visiting tallships, as well as being the home of Chris Craft Yachts.  We pulled in on Sunday night and stayed through Tuesday morning, allowing us to get in some maintenance time, as well as enjoy a barbeque with the Clay-Algonac Historical Society, the hosts of our stay.  Many thanks for the warm welcome.

From Algonac it was up to Lake Huron and some freshening north-northeast breezes. As we got onto the Lake, the prediction held more of an easterly breeze so we shaped for the NE to get up under the land of the eastern shore of Lake Huron.  My hope was that the wind would stay east enough for us to stand up above Goderich, Ontario and get some kind of a slant or wind angle to clear Thunder Bay on the western shore and so make for the Straights of Mackinac.

Such was not to be. The wind held out of the north and, after all that strategizing, we were barely able to get over the top of Michiganās "Thumb", across Saginaw Bay and into the refuge of Tawas Bay.  We arrived late Wednesday morning and the wind just refused to cooperate.  At last light that day, as the wind laid down a bit, we put to sea only to find that, with the seas at 6-9 feet and the wind on the nose, that we were unable to make way and were "embayed" at the mouth of Saginaw Bay.  After 5 hours of trying and seeing no lessening of the wind or sea state, I turned the ship around.  We were back in Tawas Bay in an hour and a half.

Finally on Thursday afternoon, the weather did lay down and we made an offing, cleared the Thunder Bay area, shut down the engines and had a pleasant sail all the way to St Ignace, arriving just after lunch on Friday.  Here we encountered another problem.  The wind had indeed veered around into the east making for a great sail, but leaving the town of St. Ignace wide open to the wind and sea.  It was impossible to land PRIDE II on that exposed dock.  Finally we repaired to Mackinac Island where we lay secure throughout the day Saturday and waited for the wind to shift.  The island itself was quite an experience, where no autos or trucks are allowed but all heavy moving is done by horse-drawn drays or carriages. A very handsome island.

Sunday morning early found us alongside St. Ignace at last and open to the public.  The town was full of people, many of whom were in town to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day.

On Labor Day, while so many were walking over the bridge, we were sailing under it, in very light air and with seven USCG patrol vessels making sure that we and the Bridge were secure at all times.  Strangely, the Coast Guard asked that we not fire cannon salutes while passing under the bridge, though I suppose it was a prudent measure.

We departed St Ignace in the late afternoon of Labor Day in light air and motored down Lake Huron.  The wind finally filled in off of Saginaw Bay and resulted in a fine sail, which petered out as we got to the south end of the Lake.

On Tuesday, September 6, we began our 4th run in the Detroit River System and by that night were enjoying a pleasant sail in the Bass Islands in western Lake Erie.  This breeze got us out past Cleveland by Thursday morning, with the breeze truly filling in by Friday morning.  This afforded us one final morning of tacking and jibing off the mouth of Presque Isle Bay before putting in at the Maritime Museum in Erie, PA.

This my last stop before being relieved by Captain Jan Miles who will take PRIDE II out of the Lakes and back to Baltimore.

Best to all and "watch below!"
John Beebe-Center