The morning was warm and humid. The skies promised heavy rain and winds. Seemed like a good morning to do laundry. The boaters lounge was full as people came and went doing laundry and taking showers. It is nice to meet so many people. The skies did open up and it rained real hard for about 2 hours. It slowed down about noon and John and I went out for lunch.
After lunch and some quiet time, the clouds parted and the sun came out. The winds got higher though. We walked to tour the retired Coast Guard Ice Breaker Mackinaw. I learned a lot. This ice breaker was commissioned in 1944 as part of the WWII effort to keep the ores needed for the war effort being shipped so that they could be turned into munitions, etc. The ship worked until 2006 when it was replaced by another that requires less personnel to run.
The ice breaker has 3 propellers. There are two under the stern as you might expect. There is one in the front. The ice breaker bow goes up on the ice. Then, the front propeller takes the water out from underneath the bow and the ice collapses under the weight of the ship. The ice breaker can also tow ships. These are the huge ships that carry goods across the Great Lakes.
John got this picture of me as a "Coastie".
Until the 1980's there was a terminus of the railroad here. The railcars were then loaded on ships and moved across the lakes. The skeleton of the railcar terminus is still visible.
Tomorrow, the winds should calm down during the day. I hope to go to where you can have Lake Huron on one side and Lake Michigan on the other. If all goes well, we will head to Petosky on Saturday.
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