A Rainy Day: Government Bay to Harbor Island

Leg 7 of our 2022 cruise up north

(to read about leg 6, Garden Island to Government Bay, click here)

I had originally thought we’d be staying put today while thunderstorms rolled by. Overnight there had been some rain, and by mid morning a quick check of weather radar showed some thunderstorms north and south of us, but not much threatening stuff headed our way from the west. I’ve been wrong about decisions like this before, but we didn’t have too far to go so we headed out anyway.

With a light northeast wind in Government Bay, we set sail immediately after weighing anchor and sailed out of the Les Cheneaux Islands into Lake Huron. After clearing some of the shoals nearby, it got rainy and a little foggy, with visibility about 2 miles. We got more wind than expected, too, and after turning east we eventually reefed.

Our goal for the day was Harbor Island, near Drummond Island, Michigan, near the east end of the U.P. It lies only about 30 miles east of Government Bay. Harbor Island is a pretty spot, and makes a good place to prepare for crossing the Canadian border.

Harbor Island is in Potaganissing Bay, and getting there involves sailing north up the Detour Passage. The Detour Passage isn’t particularly treacherous, but it is at the south end of the St Mary’s River, which is the only way to travel to Lake Superior by boat or ship. Almost all shipping traffic to or from Lake Superior (which is rich in minerals like iron ore) transits the Detour Passage, so we definitely needed to be on our toes looking for shipping traffic. To enter the passage we would round Detour Reef Light.

The fog was still a little restrictive as we got closer to Detour Reef Light. Zooming out on our chartplotter with AIS revealed a ship approaching from far out on Lake Huron. The Edwin H Gott, a 1000 footer, was heading towards the passage at over 14 knots. The AIS estimated our CPA (Closest Point of Approach) at only a few hundred feet (less than the Gott’s length), and would occur at the same time we’d arrive at the light. The CPA estimate stayed pretty consistent for 10 or 15 minutes, and I didn’t see the lighthouse until under 2 miles out. In some ways it was a little creepy to know a ship, invisible in the fog, was quickly approaching us on a collision course… but also super nice to know about it early on!

We had several options here, but the easiest would be for us to pass astern of the Gott and follow them through the passage since they were faster than us. Conveniently, Kristin wanted to flatten the boat so she could make lunch, so I furled the jib and we slowed way down. The Gott appeared in the fog in front of us, crossed our bow, and continued on towards Lake Superior. We followed her through the passage, though it was a beat into the northeast wind.

Harbor Island is a horseshoe shaped island, with a tiny entrance that opens to a harbor “inside” the island. It’s also a National Wildlife Refuge, and is uninhabited. Much of the harbor is too shallow for Priorities other than near the entrance. Since it’s a popular spot for cruisers going to or from the North Channel (like us) I’ve never been able to anchor “inside” the island. Today, however, we snuck in!

(to read about Leg 8, click here)