Planning Our Next Big Adventure

We are hoping 2012 will bring us another great summer and our next big adventure. We have decided to broaden our cruising destinations with the addition of a trailer for our boat! Although Lake Michigan still has a lot of places we have yet to explore there is a place that has peaked our interest for some time....The North Channel of Lake Huron! At first I was a little apprehensive about this trip because of the complete lack of civilization, detailed/current maps, and of course all those rocks to smack the prop on, but the more images and information we found on this destination the more intrigued we became by it's natural beauty and isolation from the outside world. The North Channel is considered by many to be some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world!

For Christmas we received a copy of what many consider The North Channel's cruising bible, Well-Favored Passage, from Ben's parents Bill and Kathy! We had met the author Ralph Folsom at the Strictly Sail show in 2011, but didn't purchase his book then simply because we didn't think we would ever make it that far north. Ben's dad held onto Ralph's contact info and surprised us with a personalized copy of the new 37th anniversary edition of this legendary cruising guide! We are looking forward to meeting the Ralph and Pixie at their cruising the north Channel seminar at Chicago's Strictly Sail Show next weekend!

 A copy of Well-Favored Passage signed by Ralph Folsom and Pixie Haughwout.

 Planning a big trip like this is a lot of fun especially in the middle of winter!


We plan to stay at anchor the majority of the time, only going to a marina when needed to restock provisions and recharge the batteries. This is completely opposite of the type of boating we have done in the past were we would spent every night tied safely to the dock in a marina. Changes will also have to be made in the way we use our boat, and especially the way we cook. Instead of using our electric cook top and fired up our electric Mr Coffee pot in the morning we will be switching to using propane to cook everything in order to conserve our battery bank. We may also need to replace some of our halogen lights over to more energy efficient led bulbs.

The possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in person along with the chance to see a bear in it's natural habitat has us so excited. We plan to add a new photo gallery to this blog to help share all the pictures we plan to take on this trip. Of course we will keep you posted as details about this trip unfold!

Links:
Well-Favored Passage
Lakeland Boating Lake Huron Cruising Guide
A great blog with a lot of North Channel info