Day 17 - if the phone doesn't ring it's me.

We were up at 6:00 am and off the hook by 7:00 am for the 70 mile cruise from Meldrum Bay, Canada to Mackinac Island, Michigan to check in with US Customs and then on to St. Ignace.

We made the normally 10 hour trip at 7 kts in 6 hours by running at 22 kts for two hours and at 7 kts for 4 hours. This is a good compromise for time Vs distance Vs fuel cost. We filled up fuel in St. Ignace. We did not buy any fuel in Canada. We had burned 234 gallons while in Canada. Our fuel burn at 7 kts is 1.5 miles per gallon. Our fuel burn at 24 kts is .6 miles per gallon.

There are still Mac Race boats from Waukegan at St. Ignace. There is Misty a J111 owned by Tom and Carol MacIntosh and Nana an Ericson 39 with Billy and Dorothy McCaffery aboard. It is a small boating community. Billy and Dorothy came over for pre-sundowners and brought a lovely bottle of red wine. Dorothy retired from public service and her co-workers bought her a wine of the month subscription as a retirement gift. We were the direct beneficiaries.

Here is a continuation of “Life on Changing Latitudes,”

First world technology challenges in a foreign country. Canada might seem like a friendly next door neighbor but she will turn you upside down and shake all the money out of your pockets if you use an American cell phone or iPad on her cellular system. For those of you who have not traveled outside the US this is called roaming. The charge for roaming is at a minimum $2.00 a minute and often much more. I learned this lesson the hard way on a cruise in the Bahamas with Bev and Dave Feiges on their 60′ Kady Krogen named Cloverleaf. Captain Dave warned me not to use roaming in the Bahamas. After a few minutes I was getting frantic emails from my office saying my phone bill just jumped $200, then $400, then yikes! The same thing would happen in Canada, so three of the crew turned off their cell phones when we were 50 miles from the Canadian boarder. Imagine no cell phone for 8 days? The humanity. My cell phone was operating because I have an international call plan from my office. Four people relying on one cell phone for 8 days. The horror. The horror. There were opportunities to get online from time to time to check email when we could get WiFi at a restaurant or marina but the connections were often frustratingly weak. The three happiest people on Mackinac Island were Dale, Andy and Priscilla when they could finally turn their cell phones back on.

Clearing US Customs via camera phone went very smoothly. I was asked some basic questions and provided my passport number. No one else had to show their credentials. If you want to smuggle someone into the US have them meet you in the North Channel.

There are fireworks at St. Ignace Harbor tonight. The perfect end to a perfect day which included dining on BC pizza.

Tomorrow we plan to cruise 50 miles down the Mackinac Straits to Harbor Springs. The forecast for Monday is a little blowy from the north 20 – 25 kts with waves to 9 feet so we may have a layover day in Harbor Springs.

Photo of the US Customs camera phone at the Harbor Master shack at Mackinac Municipal Marina.

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