… including Mackinac Island
When in Little Current, Den was able to catch a ride with Matt from “Toes in the Sand” to Sudbury (half-way to marine store where part was sent) to pick up the part from a marine store employee. (Matt and Anne are experiencing transmission issues with their boat and thus have use of a loaner car. A big thank you again to them for their help.) Unfortunately, though all involved agreed that this was the part malfunctioning, it did not fix the issue. Little joy in Little Current at that point.
Departed Little Current in afternoon. Rough crossing to Kagawong in Mudge Bay. Operational lighthouse (established in 1880) below was a welcome sight coming into the bay. Its fixed red light is visible for seven nautical miles.
Tied to a wharf (farthest boat on right below). Lovely village.
There is a beach right next to the small marina. We walked the short walk to Bridal Veil Falls (below left). Kagawong is Ojibwe for “where mists rise from falling waters.” Picture on right is of a small waterfall on the way to the larger Bridal Veil Falls.
When visiting the small museum the next morning, I noticed this picture (below) and determined that I hadn’t worn the correct type of hat to the Falls.
Lake Kagawong flows down into the river below, running over the falls on its path. The museum and township office are housed in a building that was formerly a mill which used the water power to drive its machinery to process the abundant spruce into pulp. Water from the river was re-directed into a lengthy handmade round wooden sluice. Wet pulp was baled and shipped to Michigan to make Sears-Roebuck catalogs. Though the mill closed during the Depression, it later reopened as an electricity operating station, the sole provider of electricity for the entire Manitoulin Island until 1949.
The other very interesting item of note in Kagawong (beside the “Chocolate Works” store, of course) was St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church.
The pulpit is constructed from the bow of a boat that wrecked during a storm on August 23, 1965. There were four casualties, and this was installed in memory of those lost.
On Saturday, July 20, left Kagawong for Gore Bay. Can’t really anchor out, as don’t have use of the inflatable to take dogs to shore. Butch and others told us about “Norm” in Gore Bay who is a skilled mechanic who could possibly help with the inflatable motor. We were fortunate enough to find him and get his opinion on Sunday. On Monday, after calling about possible parts and shipping times, we decided that we didn’t want to stay in Gore Bay for days waiting for a part so left in the early afternoon. At Gore Bay, we’d had a chance to catch up with Butch from “Bandit Too” plus Linda and Conrad of “Water Mark” who we’d first seen in Little Current. They rent a place in Port Charlotte every spring and love the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda!
Later Monday, we arrived at Meldrum Bay … still part of Manitoulin Island! Nice, peaceful little spot with one general store that has a phone booth outside. We saw several phone booths on Manitoulin Island, each apparently operational and remarkably undamaged or mistreated.
Because the weather forecasted for Wednesday was looking nasty, we tried and were able to get a spot at St. Ignace on Tuesday, a day earlier than we’d reserved. This was especially fortunate, as it was a busy time with sailboat races finishing up. However, it was an 8.5 hour day on the water, complete with rain during the latter half of travel. Wednesday was spent provisioning and going through all the mail we had sent from Punta Gorda to this marina! Had dinner with Loopers from “River Song” (Darlene and MIke) and “Lily Pad” (Charles and Laura).
Thursday was Mackinac Island Day. Took the ferry over. The ferries don’t mess around, as they get you there in a mere 18 minutes.
Below left shows the rooster tail of another ferry in the harbor the first day here and then on right is the rooster tail behind our ferry on return trip today.
Automobiles are banned on Mackinac Island, so walking, biking, and horse-drawn vehicles are the only means of transportation.
Because we had the dogs, we weren’t able to bike around the island’s eight-mile circumference, but we managed to see many historic spots including, of course, the Grand Hotel, built in 1887.
I couldn’t get just a single picture from the front of the hotel with all of the 660-foot front porch in it so had to take two, one left and one right!
After the War of 1812, fur trade flourished on the island, with John Jacob Astor establishing the American fur Company. Later, commercial fishing replaced fur trading as the island’s primary industry. Today, tourism is the predominant industry, and this was very clear to us today! Among the stores for tourists to frequent are numerous fudge shops, and it is interesting to watch it being made. In the picture below the employee is using a scraper on a marble tabletop, checking for the change in how fast the mix flows across the table after he flips it over.
Looking to leave tomorrow (Friday, July 26) for Petoskey with some of that fudge on board to sustain us through our travels.