..."Back in the US, Back in the US, Back in the US (SR)"!

So our return back into the States and the clearing of customs using a smartphone app called, "CBP ROAM" is surprisingly and remarkably easy and quick. So quick in fact that in "testing" it in bed, early in the morning before we weighed anchor at our last anchorage in Canada's East Grant Island, I inadvertantly "submitted" it and was promptly instructed to have "the captain and all passengers available for a phone call or possibly videophone/facetime call"................. yeow!

That got us both out of bed and dressed quickly while we awaited our next instructions. Luckily we got a phone call and only had to answer some basic questions before we were electronically cleared! No more reporting in person to a TSA dock with documents and boarding for confirmation of foodstuffs, plants, contraband, etc.

From there our plan was to fuel up in our old standby entry point, Detour Village either way and then make an assessment of whether we had a weather window to make the run through the Straits of Mackinac. You might remember that our passage of the straits last fall was quite "lumpy" and that much dishware in the galley and many books and shelf items succumbed to altered and shifting gravity and found their way to the lowest part of the boat, cat and dog emptied stomachs and leaking portholes prepared the carpet in the master cabin for shop vacuuming and later commercial cleaning............so we were prepared to hunker down in Detour if needed.

Fortunately the wind/wave forecasts were very favorable and we promptly cast off after refueling to take advantage of this good fortune.

But unfortunately our lack of knowledge of local events had us heading into the Straits of Lake Michigan on the weekend of "The Longest and Oldest Freshwater Sailing Race in the World!", "The Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac" ("The MAC" - 300+ miles), and it's extended play companion event, "The Super MAC", a continuation of the race from Mackinac Island down Lake Huron to Port Huron!

The implications of all this were that the marinas ahead of us were totally booked up and that if we chose to travel on we would be heading into the whole fleet of some 300 racing sailboats (remember that boats under power must give way to boats under sail). Being a big sanctioned race, this event included international entries and some seriously fast multi-hull race boats.

As we left Detour Passage and made the turn west into the Straits we were lucky call ahead and to find a slip available in St Ignace for the night with the provision that we might have to move or leave in a day or two once the racing boats and all their fans started showing up.

Due to some really bad weather for the race, 6-8 ft seas at the start in Chicago (one sailor overboard/never found) and 40 kt winds from the north (the direction that they were trying to go) and then no winds later near Traverse City, many boats retired early and we were able to wait out the weather and traffic in St Ignace. While the record times for this race are 18 hours/multihull and 23 hours/monohull, it was clear that no records would be broken this year and with a Saturday morning start, the last boats crossed the finish line on Tuesday!

After 5 days of race watching and events in St Ignace the calm winds and seas continued and we made the second of two long open water crossings of Lake Michigan to the safe harbors of Petoskey for another extended stay.

With all that as a distraction it finally dawned on us that we weren't in Canada anymore..................sigh.

The Detour Passage lighthouse and the turn in to the Straits of Mackinac

Thanks to GPS technology all the boats are equipped with transmitters to track race progress.

One of the really wierd things about the Great Lakes is that wind and waves can be from opposite directions! This can make for very rough conditions if the winds and waves are big and hitting you from the sides/beam.