Change Comes to Meldrum Bay

I first sailed to Meldrum Bay in the summer of 1976.  We had a Cal-20 with very few modern conveniences.  No running water, no sink, no stove.  Just a cooler, a porta-pottie and a 10 gallon jug for fresh water.   

Meldrum Bay was also very primitive.  It had a general store and an ice cream place.  The docks were old and worn and the town offered little except a place to stop and check in with Canadian Customs.  There was an old icehouse near the dock.  For $.50 the dock master would go in the icehouse and slide down a block of ice, covered in sawdust.

 

Laurie, Hayley and I first sailed to Meldrum in July of 1998.  Our boat had a full galley, hot and cold running water, a real toilet, actual navigation instruments and a VHF radio.  When we arrived, I remember thinking that in the 32 years between my visits, I had change more than Meldrum Bay.  Same old rickety docks and dock house.  The same ice cream stand and the same general store.  The icehouse had been replaced by a real freezer, but other than that, not much had changed.

On June 22nd, Laurie and I left Presque Isle and sailed across the lake to Meldrum Bay.  I was immediately struck by the changes.  The old docks and steel caissons have been replaced by modern floating docks.  They have built a breakwall to protect the harbor from the nasty north winds.  There is a new bathhouse and boater’s lounge that also houses the customs booth.  The general store has been reopened and is now called, “Meldrum Bay Country Store and Artisans Loft.”  The old dock house is still standing, but just barely.  The windows have been removed and it looks to be demolished soon. 

The Meldrum Bay Inn is still running and still serving up great meals. 

Best of all, the people are still friendly and seem genuinely glad to have visitors.  I hope that never changes. 

The First Week on Board

Since moving aboard Glory Days on June 16 in Bay City, we have traveled to Tawas, Harrisville, Presque Isle, and are now in the North Channel.  Last Thursday we left Presque Isle Harbor in rolling seas and 25 knot winds that were more northerly than forecasted.  After about a half hour Dan said, “We’re retired.  We don’t need to do this.”  We went back to Presque Isle and had a very nice day, including a walk to the lighthouse.  The next morning we left and had a beautiful six hour sail to Mississiagi Straits in 15 knot west winds.  We are working on getting used to the fact that this is our lifestyle now, not one of the vacations we have been used to over the years where we had two weeks to get to and from the North Channel and back to work by Monday. 

We ended up spending three nights anchored out in Presque Isle, one night at Meldrum Bay, three nights in Long Point Cove, and are currently at a marina in Blind River.  In Presque Isle, Dan made the mistake of jumping into the water to bathe without checking the temperature.  He had quite a look of shock on his face and swam quickly back to the boat.  We later checked and found out the water was only 55 degrees!  Since then, he checks before he dives.  The water in Long Point Cove was comfortable for swimming.  We have fished, kayaked, read, hiked, and biked when we were in towns where they provided bikes for boaters. We had an excellent dinner, as usual, at the Meldrum Bay Inn (pan-fried whitefish and smoked trout fettuccine alfredo.)  The daughter of the owners of the inn has reopened the general store next door.  Alcohol is available for sale there---important information for most boaters.  In Blind River we are provisioning, doing laundry, and catching up on the internet.   I have noticed that I am sleeping better and longer on the boat than I have in months, maybe years.  I think this sailing life agrees with me.  Tomorrow, on to Bear Drop Harbor.

Do you know where the "blank" is?

Sailboats are filled with places to store things.  Because our boat is an older design, it has more places to put things than more modern boats.  There are at least 25 different compartments or “lockers” to store things.  We have read about people who live aboard that list each locker and what is in it.  We are clearly not that organized.  As we loaded that boat in Bay City, we each took care of storing different items.  As a result, Laurie does not always know where I put things and I don’t always know where she put things.  And neither of us can always remember  where we stored things.  Many sentences now begin with the phrase, “Do you know where the “blank” got put?”  This question is usually followed by a quizzical look and then a lot of searching and rummaging around.  We eventually find what we are looking for and often run across other things we thought we left behind. 

Right now we are sitting at anchor at Presque Isle, Michigan.  There are no other people around and we feel pretty isolated.  We have always loved PI and on this trip it represents “getting away.”  We feel like we have made it “to the north.” 

We had a big thunderstorm yesterday off Middle Island.  Lots of rain, lightening and winds to 35 knots.  The boat and crew handled it well and it was over in about 30 minutes.  The plan now is to spend the day here and cross the lake to the North Channel tomorrow.  I don’t know when we will have Internet service again, so it may be a while before our next post.

D&L

Some anchorages are hard to leave

As we have cruised over the years, we have come to realize that the longer we stay in a particular anchorage, the harder it is to leave. The mud seems to grab the anchor over time and it is tough to pull off the bottom when it is time to leave. Midland has turned out to be a tough anchorage to leave. Moving out of our house of 26 years, disposing of our belongings, taking care of paperwork and saying good bye to friends and family has been a huge task. Bigger than either of us anticipated. Friday morning we headed to Bay City to the boat and loaded everything aboard. It was sunny and hot and we caught the 1:30 pm bridge opening. Just past the bridge, we realized our engine temperature gauge was not working. So back to the dock for some repairs. After a quick fix we were on our way again and got to Tawas Bay about 10:30 pm and anchored in the bight. Saturday we moved to a dock and enjoyed a Father's Day visit from Hayley and her puppy Charlie. Sunday morning we realized we had left the power cord to the laptop in Midland. So as I write this, Laurie is traveling to Midland to retrieve the cord. The plan is to leave in the morning and head to Harrisville or Presque Isle if the wind cooperates. From there we plan to cross the lake to the North Channel. More later.

Will we really be ready?

We are nine days from our planned departure date and we are asking ourselves if we really will be ready. There is still a lot to do. We both wake up in the morning thinking about what we need to get done. We have planned our big move from the house next Tuesday. We will move furniture to Hayley and Dan2's house and the rest will go to the storage unit. I have been telling everyone that I will prioritize stuff in the storage unit, with the important stuff going in first. Anything that doesn't fit will go to the Salvation Army. The dining room set sold Saturday but the bedroom set has not. So at this point we are still sleeping in a bed, but eating on our laps. There is nothing magical about leaving on June 15, but I am anxious to get going.