Well we’ve been on the water for a week now. Tonight we find ourselves in Munising at the west end of Pictured Rocks Nat’l Seashore. There’s a live band concert here in the park at the marina, playing oldies but goodies in quality fashion with a strong audience of local families, couples and tourists. I haven’t seen this many kids running wild and having fun (outside of a school yard) in ages! When the band revved up “Do You Believe on Magic”, I thought to myself.. I most certainly do. I’m in Munising on a boat (a long way from Ashland) and that in itself is pretty magical. But in reality, I think what I really believe in is people. At our 1st stop in BLK River Harbor, the swimming and sunsets were great, but the dockmates were friendly and helpful as we all faced some minor issues in getting on and off the dock due to wind.

Ontonagon was our next stop. The town was ok, but the people who helped us with our mechanical problems at the marina (Matt, Mike, Mike and Steve) were the best of the best. They were knowledgeable, willing to help, and friendly – and they all loved and welcomed Zeke on their boats and in their offices. We spent 3 nights there because of weather and needed repairs with no regrets. We will definitely see some of the people again in coming months and years.

Coming into Houghton Saturday under the lift bridge on the tail of the Ranger III ferry was fun and the pizza at the Ambassador was tasty. We started down the canal again early Sunday but had to turn back due to an unexpected hose failure. We tied up at the free downtown dock and Ned rode his bike to an auto parts store, found a good hose replacement, re-connected the fitting at both ends and we were off again shortly after noon. To me, having a partner who has the confidence and ability to remedy problems on the fly is also a bit of magic! Because our travel day was cut shOrt we looked for and found an anchorage near the south entrance of the Ship Canal Which was definitely magical. It was a small nook on the back side of an island on the original Portage River. Peaceful setting, great swimming and totally secure from wind in 10 feet of water. We enjoyed the solitude after the frequent noise and wakes of boats speeding up and down the canal near the lift bridge. Spent the next night in Marquette with it’s beautiful lakeshore and marina and many sailboats. Then onto Munising today. Looking forward to cruising the Pictured Rocks tomorrow and meeting more friendly folk in the coming days.