Day 18- Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Well, today went as planned!

We awoke and departed the Waiska Bay and made our way back to the Soo locks. When we woke up, there was a lot of fog, so we went back to bed for a short spell to let it burn off. Besides, the locks don’t open until 9am, so no sense getting there too early!

The trip was only going to be 13.9 miles, so only a few hours at most. We were now going down river, so we had a current pushing us now! This is so much better than fighting the current! We left around 8:45 and got to the lock around 10:15am. I again called on the radio, and the lock master told me it would be about 15 minutes. This seems to be a theme here… We waited at the line, and due to no wind, were able to just float in place and wait. So much better than having to constantly maneuver and jockey around.

It was the same lock master coming back, and he inquired how the night was. Those Canadians are so darn polite! He joked it was easier for us this time, since we knew what to do now. It really was easier and less stressful, even with the tourists gawking and watching, waiting for something to happen! The lock is actually approachable in areas, and I was chatting with some people as we were waiting to be lowered.

Once at the bottom, we were let out and the marina was right around the corner. We approached and I made VHF contact, and was directed to a dock. We found it and tied up by 11:30am.

I forgot to mention this small problem that has been making me crazy the last couple of days: we were listing pretty good to starboard, as if the boat was too heavy on one side. It started off slow, then became more pronounced in the last day. What could cause this? I did get some diesel fuel the other day, but I put an even amount on each side. The tanks have a hose between them that should allow them to self level. I checked the levels of each tank, and verified the starboard side was much more full than port side. This was making me crazy. I changed fuel filters thinking that may help. It didn’t. Now we’re in this marina and it is very clear we are listing even more. I had turned off the fuel tank for the trip here, thinking if there was a clog, I would find out once fuel stopped getting to the engine. The engine ran well the whole morning. DUH! I f’ing turned off the wrong one! I got turned around entering the engine room. Stupid mistake! Now we had used even more fuel from the lower tank, and were tilted even more! I so badly wanted to get fuel in the other tank to level off, but knew that since we were already docked, I wasn’t going to do that now. Maybe tomorrow. My brain was going crazy with why and how to fix. I am somewhat mechanically inclined, and will attempt to do whatever I think needs to be done. I checked the fuel levels again, and opened both fuel tank fill ports at the same time. Usually I do one at a time. I verified the uneven amount and wanted to scream.

Lauren had made lunch for us, and was waiting for me to finish my post trip engine room/bilge check. Once done with that, I retrieved the bikes and off we went! We rode around the city (American side) and checked things out. We got lost (just went the wrong way- twice!) and then made it to the downtown area. Very charming. There are a couple of breweries, restaurants, hotel, mini golf, lots of souvenir shops, etc.. What you would expect at a place like this on the border- it reminded me of Niagara Falls.

We stopped at the Soo Brewery for a pint and some rock ’em sock ’em robot battles. Lauren won. We continued on to the Soo Lock Museum and viewing area where the freighters come through. In the museum we checked out a movie loop they had playing- this is where we found out ther are 4 locks, and each is named after military generals or engineers. There is one lock called the “Poe” lock- say that out loud and we cracked up like school kids. There is also a McArthur, Davis and Sabin. The first locks were constructed around 1855 and the are is the 3rd oldest settlement in the USA. There are several museums around town, and we only went to the lock and a small ship wreck museum on the same government grounds. All of this was run by the US Army and Department of War. You’d think we have had enough of ship wrecks by now.

We were told of their ‘famous’ Mexican restaurant “The Palace”. We took a short ride to a grocery store a half mile away or so, and returned to the boat to clean up and walk Frank before dinner and that’s when I noticed it- Whats this? The boat is not listing anymore? How could that be? Here is my theory- somehow a vacuum was created at some point and/or the fuel vents are clogged (maybe bugs in there?) but when I opened both tanks ports at once, it evened out?! I still will continue to monitor this, but after verifying fuel levels in each tank, they are indeed even now.

We ate dinner at The Palace, and walked down ‘the strip’ a bit more. We ended up getting some ice cream to enjoy and made our way back to the bikes and then the boat. I scrubbed the boat down now that the sun was not so hot (it needed it!) and Lauren did some tidying up of the inside. After another walk with Frank to gawk at a mega yacht that had docked next to the marina, we retired to watch the Indians beat the Twins. Tomorrows plan is up in the air- we want to head back to Lake Huron and get closer to Mackinac, but we don’t want to stay in De Tour again; the only problem is there aren’t any marinas out past De Tour, and we don’t want to go the opposite direction of Mackinac. It will also depend on how fast we go coming back down river, with the added bonus of the pushing current. We have loose plans, but tune in and I will let you know where we ended up!