Boating with Sunset Delight: Michigan: St Ignace (Day 2)

Day: 49
No boat travel today

Clark has come to judge a marina by the WiFi they offer. Many places in Canada either did not have WiFi or did not have working WiFi. We learned after a while to ask if they had working WiFi instead of just asking if they had WiFi. I, on the other hand, have decided that the best way to judge a marina is by the showers they offer. At St. Ignace Marina, the facility has new docks and new washroom facilities. If I had to pick a place to be laid up waiting for a boat part, this would be the place.

The only drawback to the marina is the layout of the docks. We are on D dock and have a pretty hefty hike to the washrooms. The dock layout is a virtual maze and after we arrived here I said we needed to use our bicycles to go check in, which turned out to be a very good idea because we could not find the main office at first and went to two annex buildings first before finding the right place to register. Yet another opportunity for exercise has presented itself!

Our plans for the day did not change as a result of the engine issue we have. We had our rental car and saw no reason not to proceed with our road trip. Before we could leave, however, Clark and I had to take car of ordering the required engine part. We ended up going to our faithful parts provider in NJ since we could find no authorized dealers of Yanmar parts in the state of Michigan. We had the phone number for one from Google which, when called, said it had been disconnected. Between taking care of that business and Clark ordering paper charts by phone, we got a late start to our road trip. I packed a lunch to take with us as I saw how things were going and knew we would end up eating in the car as we drove along.

We read the brochures and decided on Sault Ste. Marie on Lake Superior as our first destination. Travel time by car to the Soo Locks from St. Ignace is just over an hour. By the time we left the boat to start our excursion, it was already after 1:00. Before getting on Highway 75 to head up to the locks, we stopped at the Holiday gas station to put air in our bike tires. Our bikes require about 90 PSI in each tire to give peak performance. They had deflated to 55 PSI. I need all the help I can get on these bike trips, so I was glad to find a place with free air to fill up.

In addition to our bikes, we ended up needing to fill the back, passenger-side tire on the car which was basically flat. With no manual in the car it took a while to figure out what the orange "!" meant. Hurray for Google as they showed every Ford Fusion symbol on the dash and what it meant. With the tire as flat as a pancake I had my doubts as to how long the air would hold, so I texted the car rental rep who said that they would pay for repairs if I take the car to the repair shop across the street. By the time he responded, however, we were already well on our way to Sault Ste. Marie.

Upon arrival we first stopped at Sault Ste. Marie to get the scoop on where to go, what to see. The person who greeted us helped tremendously with advice on additional sites to see while in the area. Our agenda doubled just standing there for 5 minutes. Clark asked if it was possible to do it all in the time remaining for the day, and she agreed we could fit it all in and reminded us of closing times of some agenda items so we could plan accordingly.

We left the visitor center with two agenda items for Sault Ste. Marie: 1) the Soo Locks, and 2) the tour of the Valley Camp freighter maritime museum. The Soo Locks are U.S. government operated and tall metal fencing surrounded the locks to keep oglers at a distance. An observation deck is provided for visitors to get a great view of the proceedings safely. We climbed up the two flights of stairs to take a look around and get a few pictures.

McArthur Lock (named for Gen. McArthur)
Closed - waiting for repair part: hinge for gate

Lock A, the McArthur Lock, was built in 1943 and is only 800 feet long. This lock primarily serves pleasure craft and smaller vessels. With this lock closed due to door hinge problems and waiting for repair parts (I know how they feel), all pleasure craft are being sent to Canada to pass through their lock until the repair can be completed. The lock had been closed for 3 days already and it was unclear how much longer it would take to repair (good thing we came by car).

2 Freighters sitting outside of lock area

Aerial View of Locks (I won't tell how Clark got that picture)

Opened in 1968, Poe Lock is the largest of the 4 locks at 1200 feet long and 32 feet deep. The opening of the Poe Lock allowed larger vessels to do business and operate on Lake Superior. Locks C and D, Davis (1914) and Sabin (1918) Locks, are not in use. Plans have been approved to replace these 2 locks with a bigger lock equivalent in size to the Poe Lock as a backup should the Poe need repair or maintenance. I gathered from comments made by the tour guide that these plans have been in place for years. Although the project funding has been approved, no funding has been set aside to allow construction to begin. As the guide said, "The check is in the mail, just don't cash it when it gets to you." Due to the volume of commercial traffic on Lake Superior, large amounts of money would be lost should the Poe Lock need to close for days for repair.

View of North Channel from Sault Ste Marie Locks grounds

Lock buildings

1873 and 1943 Soo Locks Dedications Carved into Wall

We left without seeing a vessel lock through.

Just a mile down the road from the Soo Locks, the Valley Camp Maritime Museum became our next stop, as recommended by the visitor's center rep. Given our plans for the rest of the day, we walked the grounds but decided against paying the entrance fee to go on board the freighter Valley Camp.