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McKernan Creek Anchor Before Joe Wheeler State Park

We like anchoring in McKernan Creek! After leaving Grand Harbor Marina, we made two anchorage stops before we got to Joe Wheeler State Park. The first, Little Bear Creek (above and below), was a new spot for us while our stay at McKernan Creek was our third time at anchor there. Both anchorages met with our satisfaction and provided a colorful and comfortable night on the hook. On the move again early the next morning we passed the bridge at Florence, Alabama (below). To get to McKernan Creek we had to lock through the Wilson Lock and Dam. At 110…

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Kismet Anchorage, Diamond Island, Tennessee River

Returning to Diamond Island to Anchor

Diamond Island welcomes Kismet back to its beautiful anchorage. A beautiful fall day presented itself to us as we headed out, from Clifton Marina early the next morning, with a plan to anchor out at Diamond Island. With bright blue skies and a pleasantly warm day, we basked in the scenic beauty along the Tennessee River during our cruise. Lots to see with many boats on the water, some Loopers passing us, and people fishing or relaxing along the sandy shoreline of the river. The houses along the river are interesting to look at and we enjoyed seeing this herd…

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Trawlers, Lick Creek, Tennessee River

Trying to Stay Dry in Lick Creek

Kismet says "Hi" to 0 Regrets in Lick Creek! Staying in the travel mode of leaving late and quitting early we only cruised 15 miles today, stopping to anchor out in Lick Creek. This was our first time in Lick Creek, a new experience in a natural setting. We worked our way into the unmarked serpentine channel with the aid of our GPS, and traveled past a few deadheads and very shallow water to an area with 5 to 9-foot depths. It was well away from the river barge traffic, so we settled in for a cozy afternoon warm and…

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Tennessee River

Blue Creek Anchorage By Cuba Landing Marina

Blue Creek anchorage is just past Cuba Landing Marina. Leaving Pebble Isle Marina we had our sights set on an anchorage we'd never been to before. Twenty miles upriver at MM116 of the Tennessee River is Blue Creek, Cuba Landing Marina is located there. (The photo above, and below, shows the entrance to the marina and the cove we anchored in.) Having just left a marina we inched our way past Cuba Landing to a shallow, relatively open cove. We found a few more boats anchored there for the night in 5 to 8 feet of water. We've never anchored…

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Pebble Isle Marina Boat Sign, Tennessee River

Pebble Isle Marina – Known For Their Southern Hospitality & Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Pebble Isle Marina owners Randy and Tami are well known for their infectious southern personalities. On our way to Pebble Isle Marina today, At MM-78.2, we passed the Louisville and Nashville RR Bridge (above). It is a non-functioning bridge at this time, probably only used for fishing now. Shortly after the bridge, we passed an abandoned, partly submerged, building (photo below). The Tennessee Valley Authority purchased many acres of land in preparation to create Kentucky Lake. The Kentucky Dam was completed in 1944, when the area was flooded and many towns below the new water level disappeared. Lake Barkley was created in the early 1960’s…

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Produce on Kismet

Landing in Duncan Bay – Tennessee River

Duncan Bay was our choice for a peaceful night on the hook! Our three-week goal was to travel 250 miles on the Tennessee River while meeting Loopers on their southern migration and concluding our trip after attending an AGLCA Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina in Rogersville, Alabama. With three weeks to enjoy this famous heartland river, it felt good knowing we could really take our time leaving a spot late in the morning or deciding to stop early in the day to relax and familiarize ourselves with a new anchorage. With that said, we left Green Turtle Marina,…

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Kismet, Green Turtle Marina, Tennessee River

Third Time’s a Charm – Tennessee River Cruise

Kismet will be cruising the Tennessee River for four weeks! For die-hard boaters, like us, there's no better feeling than heading out on the road (for trailerable boaters) on the cusp of an adventure, we were just itching to do a little river cruising. We took our Kismet on a 680-mile road trip, from Traverse City, Michigan, before we floated her off of the trailer today into Lake Barkley at Green Turtle Marina, in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. Our intention is to cruise the Tennessee River for the next four weeks. We had spent a couple of days at home, prior to departure, rigging…

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Ranger Tug Kismet Boaterhoming RV Park

The Little Red Tug Is On the Move Again – Cloverdale RV Park

Cloverdale RV Park made us think we should do more RVing! The little red tug, Kismet, is on the move again, we're headed south this fall to cruise the Tennessee River; a 220-mile trip (approx.) from Grand Rivers, Kentucky to Rogersville, Alabama. The first stop was Cloverdale RV Park in Cloverdale, Indiana. Not a lot going on here but it was a very friendly stop for the night and very quiet with a tranquil setting. It had wide open grassy sites that were mostly empty and the park was surrounded by trees dressed in their fall colors. There is a…

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Oneota Trail Sign, Mackinac Island, Michigan

Mackinac Island – The Path Less Taken

Mackinac Island is our FAVORITE Michigan cruising destination! Mackinac Island is a very busy tourist destination during the day. So when visiting the island, Jim and I try to focus our daytime activities on walking in less congested areas. Our favorite route starts by walking up the steps leading to the steep bluff just across the road from the marina. Most day-time visitors to the island walk or ride bikes along the path at the bottom perimeter of the island. It's fairly busy there at the bottom, that's why we choose to climb to the top of the island. The view…

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Ranger Tugs Kismet at Mackinaw Island Dock

Launching in Mackinaw City – Post Wedding Trip to Mackinac Island

Mackinaw City seemed to be the logical choice to launch Kismet for our trip to Mackinac Island. Our son, Skyler, got married to, Sarah, on Labor Day Weekend. Most of our summer was focused on this big event; except for a few boat trips, we stayed close to home preparing and enjoying all the activities. I have to confess it took quite a toll on our blogging ability. After it was over, we needed to decompress and Mackinac Island came first to mind. This island is unique in its ability to transport a visitor back in time, one of our…

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Festival Charlevoix Harbor, Charlevoix, Michigan

2012 Venetian Festival – Charlevoix, Michigan

Charlevoix the Beautiful! In stark contrast to our time cruising the North Channel this summer was our five-day stop in Charlevoix, while on our way home, for the 2012 Venetian Festival. One of our all-time favorite festivals. We called Charlevoix's harbormaster, Hal (below-right) to receive our slip assignment soon after we arrived in Round Lake. Before we knew it we were tied up snug on B dock ready to partake in the festivities. Thanks, Hal! Our dock mates, Jan and Jean (above), spent considerable time and effort planning a weekend-long dock party on B dock complete with a tiki hut…

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International Bridge

Heading Home from Spanish – North Channel, Canada

Loading Kismet at Spanish Municipal Marina. Heading back to Spanish, time to load our boat onto the trailer to drive back to the states. This was the first bad weather day of our trip. No sooner had we got the boat secured onto the trailer and into the parking lot when it started to rain hard. You can tell from the photos how dreary it was during our trip home. Heading over the bridge at Sault Saint Marie was a little stop-and-go as we neared customs. Not long after crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, we were looking for a place to…

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Ranger Tugs Kismet, Croker Island, North Channel

Croker Island – A Rocky Paradise

Croker Island – Rocks, Bears, and Blueberries! As cruising trips go this one ranked up toward the top of our list, but like all good things they must come to an end. We left Little Current to make way for one of our favorite anchorages in a popular cove at Croker Island; this will be the last real stop of our North Channel trip.             The cove at Croker Island has a high rocky bluff that protects anchored boats from high winds and/or foul weather from the big waters of the more exposed North Channel. While…

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Frazier Bay Hill, View, North Channel, Canada

Frazer Bay Hill – View From the Top

Frazer Bay Hill – You Can See Forever! On our second day, back at anchor in Marianne Cove, Jim talked me into hiking up Frazer Bay Hill. He'd heard the view, overlooking the Bay, was spectacular and well worth the "climb" up. Well, it certainly was steep and very rocky, but we were rewarded with a view of Frazer Bay that was just plain stunning. We dinghied a short distance from the anchorage (you can see the sailboat masts peeking out of the cove - top-left) to start our hike up the hill.     We followed these faded red…

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Lisa Kismet, Mary Ann Cove, North Channel

Back to Marianne Cove Anchorage

Marianne Cove anchorage, is a popular spot among boaters cruising the North Channel. We returned to Marianne Cove anchorage to spend another peaceful night in Canada's North Channel paradise. The view off the back deck of Kismet at sunset (above). Coffee in the morning on the back deck of Kismet while in the Marianne Cove anchorage. Don't I look relaxed? It's a guy thing (above). Early morning chores getting done. I love trying to capture the reflections of the trees on shore in the water (below). Okay, I think I have about a hundred of these photos, all different of course,…

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Cottage at The Pool, North Channel

Day Trip Up Baie Fine to the Pool

Baie Fine, a Canadian fjord, runs east and west up to the Pool. We liked Marianne Cove so much, we decided to make it base camp for a few days. On the morning of our second day, we pulled anchor to take a day trip up the majestic Baie Fine, a fjord that runs east and west. Baie Fine is a total of about 10 miles long, narrowing abruptly for the last two-mile stretch to the confines of its end, "The Pool." We had a clear, calm blue sky day for a slow poke of a cruise making it that much easier…

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Ranger Tugs Kismet, Mary Ann Cove, North Channel

First Time in Marianne Cove

Lots of Room in Marianne Cove Tonight! On our way up Baie Fine, we saw this marker on shore (above). It's a marking for the red buoy – the channel through this area is so narrow they had to mark it on the rock instead of a red buoy. On this day we chose to try a new anchorage (new to us) at Marianne Cove. We've anchored at the Pool (located at the furthest end of Baie Fine) before and enjoyed that area, but we've heard so much about how well-protected and beautiful Marianne Cove is, we decided to stop short of the Pool and…

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Lunch Dock, Killarney, North Channel

Dinghy Ride to Killarney from Covered Portage Cove

Around lunchtime, our second day, we joined Charlie and Linda in a dinghy ride over to Killarney to take advantage of the famous fish and chips at the Herbert Fisheries Red School Bus, located right on the channel in town. The fish and chips are very good, a little pricy but we enjoyed every last bite. SIDENOTE: A Visit to Killarney nowadays does not include a visit to the School Bus Fish And Chips stand. The bus is now gone a relic of the past. Shortly after lunch, we parted ways with Charlie and Linda. They wanted to dinghy back…

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Kismet Anchored, South Benjamin Island, North Channel

South Benjamin Island – View From The Top

South Benjamin Island, a Rocky Delight! Topping off our great anchorage find is the incredible view from the top of this South Benjamin Island. This is where Jim found all those yummy blueberries and where we went to stretch our legs and enjoy the view when we felt cramped on the boat. Great weather during our stay here, hot temps with unseasonably warm water for swimming. Life is good for the crew of Kismet tied up to this little South Benjamin Island. We took a long hike on the island that sits in front of the Benjamin's, it protects the…

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Victor with bag of Wild Blueberries on Dinghy

South Benjamin – Where’s the Beauty?

South Benjamin – It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I reference this because we recently spent time at the Benjamins, South Benjamin specifically, and it is our contention that the rocks on this island are gorgeous, Not to mention the blue beauties Jim found on those rocks. We recently cruised Lake Powell, in Utah/Arizona, the landscape there is ALL rock and water. Both are beautiful, however, the difference between the two locations is dramatic. Lake Powell has very large, rock buttes, plateaus, and mountains, and not much greenery except for Navaho Mountain, whereas…

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Kismet Anchored, South Benjamin Island, North Channel

South Benjamin Island Cove – Three Days of Peace and Quiet

South Benjamin Island Cove – Time to Relax! It's amazing how we can spend a few days on the hook and not get bored. At South Benjamin Island cove, we both had chores to do, organizing our belongings on the boat, we swam in the unseasonably warm water, played games, read books, cooked, ate, and just plain relaxed. This is our big trip of the summer, we're taking it well ahead of our son's wedding in September. Things will be crazy when we get home, so we are enjoying the restful calm right now. Can you think of a better place than…

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Anchor Line to Rock, South Benjamin, North Channel

Tying Up to Boulders on S Benjamin Islands

We left Spanish early the next morning and made our way through Little Detroit, a channel so narrow it's customary to make a "Securité. Securité. Securité." call to announce your intentions so boaters, on the other side of the channel, can stand clear. You wouldn't want to be passed by a speeding boat and veer off the center of the channel onto those boulders lurking below the water. S Benjamin Islands – Mooring Cove Available for Kismet. We had one of those magically calm cruising days for the short 12-mile run (approx.) to our first scheduled anchorage at South Benjamin where we…

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Marina Sign, Spanish, North Channel, Canada

Road Trip… Canada Here We Come – Spanish Marina

In light of some of our road trips recently, the one we took today was relatively short. We started by heading north along the scenic route of northwest Michigan. We drove Kismet across the Mackinaw Bridge, through the Upper Peninsula, across the border into Canada, and finally, 260 miles later, we launched her in Spanish, Ontario – right in the heart of the North Channel. We stayed one night at Spanish Marina getting things organized and prepped for our two-week North Channel boating fix, it had been five years since our last visit to this magical Canadian wonderland, way too…

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Kismet Anchored South Benjamin, North Channel, Canada

The Crew of Kismet is North Channel Bound

The North Channel is one of our favorite cruising destinations. There I said it! For those that have been, it is most likely one of your favored destinations as well. If you haven't been, the following posts and photos, although very nice, can't possibly do justice to what Mother Nature provides the boating community. The North Channel is located in Ontario, Canada, and resides in a stretch of water 160 nautical miles long at the most northern point of Lake Huron. This body of water is bordered by Georgian Bay to the east, mainland Canada to the north, and the St Marys…

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Kismet Cruising Torch River, Michigan

Winding Down Our Torch Lake Weekend

Kismet is heading back to the Torch Lake Bridge after a nice time at anchor during our Torch Lake weekend, we just barely squeaked under the bridge with only inches to spare (below). As we made our way through Torch River we were reminded once again how beautiful this stretch of water is. The river is fairly shallow with lots of dead-headed logs, so paying full attention while cruising through this area is well worth the effort. By the time we ended our Torch Lake weekend and reached Skegemog Lake the wind had picked up. We were fighting whitecaps as we approached the…

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