Meet Ernest Hemingway

Captain Pat has a new nickname. We sent family the photo above, and my sister-in-law Vicki writes back “Pat has the Ernest Hemingway look going on!” Ha! Our friend Tevi says “Captain Pat may need to trim his goatee.” I love their comments.

Reminds me of last year on our Looper trip when Captain Pat grew out his beard and hair. His son Andrew has for some time greeted his Dad with “Hi, Old Man.”  When Andrew first saw Pat with his new look he proclaimed “Wow, Dad, now you really do look like an old man!”

This past Easter, when visiting the kids in Arizona, Pat takes granddaughters Violet and McKenzie to school. Riding there they say “Grampy, why don’t you and Nana move to Arizona?” Grampy responds, “Well, maybe we will when we get old.”

They reply, “Grampy – you and Nana are already old!”

Gotta love the honesty of kids. And yes, this trip is proving we are indeed already old.

The Edmund Fitzgerald

We leave Sault Ste. Marie, exit through the locks, and journey 40 miles to Whitefish Bay and Harmony Bay.

Most Loopers do not venture to Lake Superior. It’s too far north and has a reputation for rough seas. You’ve probably heard of the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I admit the only thing I knew about the Fitzgerald was that Canadian Gordon Lightfoot wrote a ballad about it. The Edmund Fitzgerald demise occurred in Whitefish Point, where we stayed in Lake Superior.

Curious about the Edmund Fitzgerald, I did some research. The Edmund Fitzgerald went down November 10, 1975, in winds exceeding 70 mph and waves described by her Captain Ernest M. McSorley as more than 30 feet tall. The 729-foot ship was only 17 miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior when she and her entire crew slipped beneath the waves that fateful night.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was named after the President and Chairman of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Conceived as a business enterprise, the ship launched June 8, 1958. With a capacity of 26,000 tons, she was the largest ship ever built on the Great Lakes. Fitzgerald’s normal course during her productive life took her between Silver Bay, Minnesota, where she loaded taconite to steel mills on lower lakes in the Detroit and Toledo areas.

There is still controversy as to what caused the ship to sink during the fateful storm. In 1977, the U.S. Coast Guard pinned the sinking on massive flooding of the cargo hold caused by faulty or poorly fastened hatch covers. The slow flooding supposedly went unnoticed by the captain and crew until it caused an imperceptible but fatal buoyancy loss and eventually sent the Fitzgerald plunging to the bottom.

Thankfully, Sunshine fared much better in her voyage across Lake Superior. We had some fog but no storms or rough seas.

Harmony Bay and Pancake Bay

It is windy and we have a secure anchor so we decide to stay two nights in Harmony Bay. We then pulled up anchor and go to Pancake Bay. Off in the distance we can see people on a beach.

Two kayakers paddled past our boat. They tell Captain Pat there’s a nice beach on the shore where local campers in RVs vacation. Even though it’s chilly, Captain Pat decides to take the dinghy to explore the beach. I stay behind. I like to have my alone time on the boat.

About 10 minutes later I hear his voice on the two-way radio:

“Cindy?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a really nice beach, with walking paths and flowers and people. I’ll come back and pick you up.”

“Oh. Ok.”

I’ll admit I wasn’t up for it, but I donned my water shoes and life jacket. He arrives with the dinghy and off we go.

What a surprise.

As usual once I’m there I love it. I’m not as adventurous as Captain Pat. I am grateful he sometimes pushes me to try new things. Like going on a 6,000-mile boating adventure called the Great Loop.

We beach our dinghy on the sandy shore. We meet a woman playing endless fetch with her yellow lab, Daisy.

Daisy is relentless – she keeps barking for someone to throw the stick in the water for her. She reminds us of our “Buddy” back home. We chat with the woman, a nurse, and she is grateful for Captain Pat keeping her pup occupied.

The beach has walking paths with grasses and flowers, and it’s the first time we see our beloved birch trees growing out of the sand on the beach.

I had just read about “pudding” stones – see the blog on Drummond Island. The stones on this beach are also unique. I wanted to bring so many to the boat, but “no” says the Captain. I did manage to bring these. I add them to our collection of stones from Killarney, Baie Fine and Croker Island.

We leave Pancake Bay for a return trip to Sault Ste. Marie. We see windmills, lighthouses and freighters as we travel through Whitefish Bay and Pointe Louise – my namesake! (And my mother’s, niece Tina’s, and great niece Anna.)

We stay two nights at Sault Ste. Marie – our final days in Canada. We leave Sunday, August 5, and arrive Drummond Island, Michigan!

Good bye for now, Canada!