Our Voyage

Grilled hamburgers, chips and drink.  The goof ball on the left just ate his second burger and was guilty.  No fireworks, on the 4th but we did the 2nd for Canada day – does that count?  And we got a bagpipe serenade from atop a bluff overlooking the harbor while we watched the sunset over Lake Huron.  It was like magic. 

See, we are still little kids, even if our toys do cost a bit more. And Brian is a teenager.

These houses look awfully close to being houseboats to me.  The Great Lakes are very full, about 4ft above chart depths.  Great for us, we could go anywhere we wanted.  But not so good for these guys who probably panic with every high speed motor boat that passes by.  After seeing all the water going over Niagara Falls and down the St. Clair River (we fought a 5.5kt current for about 1mi at the top).  it’s hard to believe there is any water in the lakes to flood with.  I wonder if flood insurance covers their loss?

As a high schooler, I used to pile in the car with friends on a Friday night and cruise 4th street in San Rafael and look for other kids we knew, jumping cars and going out to eat at Jack In The Box.  Michiganian’s continue this fine tradition today using their boats.  We anchored in this tiny cove carved out of St. Clair Lake shoreline by Edsall Ford for his yacht and all day long there was a parade of boats.  Some would stop for a while, some might raft up, others just drove the circuit.  It was a hoot, the comings and goings but none stayed the night, we had it all to ourselves.  We continued to observe this behavior throughout Michigan– it’s in the blood to cruise.  Freedom baby.  But I note it is almost exclusively motorboats, after all it is motor city.

Lucy was so smitten; she almost swam over to join them as they tootled around our anchorage.  We didn’t know where they came from but every hour or so one or two would come by always with women.  Their seaworthiness was certainly questionable and the bartender did all his own navigation which came across as a secondary function to the guest enjoyment.  But why not guys?  I only have a theory, but I note there isn’t a restroom.

These towers house corporate headquarters, the largest structures in Detroit.  With that much corporate management it’s a miracle they ever produce a thing let alone cars American’s would want to buy.  This may be a little dramatized as I think there are a few other tenants in this behemoth complex but it makes for a great story so it must be true.

Why can’t industry spend a few bucks to make it look pretty?  It always looks like it’s in a state of disrepair or they’re squeezing every last nickel out of it.  Why don’t they throw away the trash and rake the yard so it’s at least tidy?  The Detroit River has many of these places, most look abandoned but some not, like the ones above.  It makes for a very entertaining passage imagining what goes on in these places and the people who had the vision and ambition to build them.  How did they sell the concept for such vast expenditures in capital?  It’s really a marvel it ever worked but it would all the better if they looked a bit more tidy.