Trailer Trawler Life Kismet Slider

Kismet Slider

FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

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EVERGLADES

EVERGLADES

Shark River

Kismet Slider

RENDEZVOUS

RENDEZVOUS

Palm Island, Florida

Kismet Slider

LOVERS LEAP

LOVERS LEAP

San Juan Islands – Stewart Island, WA

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SOUTH SOUND

SOUTH SOUND

Tacoma, Washington

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BLAKE ISLAND

BLAKE ISLAND

Puget Sound, Washington

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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

Cypress Creek Anchorage – Tennessee River

We left Duncan Bay knowing we'd travel south on the Tennessee River for only 4 hours, so it wasn't going to be a long day. Twenty-nine miles later, at mile marker 62.6, we made a starboard turn into Cypress Creek, then another right into the first cove. What we found was an anchorage that provided us with calm waters in very protective, natural surroundings. Because of our short cruise day, I took advantage of the calm water by continuing my work on the dinghy davit bracket installation (see next post). I like to maximize my downtime by having a few…

Installing Our New Hurley Davit System

October 8, 2012
Jim Favors
•KISMET UPGRADES

Hurley Davit System Worked for Kismet! We had been towing our dinghy for over a year when we finally decided to get serious about finding a davit system. Towing is easy and inexpensive, however towing can also become problematic in rough seas or at higher speeds, so we wanted to find a solution, a viable launch and retrieve system where the dinghy would rest upright while overhanging the swim platform slightly. We thought it should be lightweight and detachable when needed, We also needed it to be somewhat flexible, so we could still use our swim platform without completely…

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,…

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…

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…

Mackinac Island – The Path Less Taken

September 9, 2012
Lisa Favors
CRUISING, GREAT LAKES

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 daytime 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 chose to climb to the top of the island. The view…

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…

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…

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…

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…

A Little “Downtime” in Little Current

Little Current – The Biggest Little City in the North Channel! A trip to the North Channel wouldn't be complete without a stop in Little Current, the biggest little city in the North Channel. It's true that Little Current is not only the largest city in the North Channel, but has everything a cruiser might need with gift shops, parks, restaurants, and grocery stores, all within walking distance of the marinas. Little Current is also home to the North Channel's Cruisers Net, somewhat similar to the net we encountered during our trips to the Abaco Islands. We had a great…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

Meeting Captain & Crew of the Thomas James

Thomas James – Visit with an Exchange of Boat Tours! While cruising through the Killarney Channel, on our way to Collins Inlet, we received a call on our VHF. After switching to channel 68, Bill, the guy hailing us, told us that, as he was standing on the balcony of his channel-side home, he noticed our red Ranger Tug slowly cruising by. He said he was so excited to see the "cute tug" he'd love to have a tour and chat with us about it as he had never seen one in person before. As we were trying to figure out his…

Keyhole Island – A Little Peek Into the Northwest Side of Georgian Bay

Keyhole Island on the Northwest Side of Georgian Bay. Georgian Bay is on our cruising bucket list, a trip like this deserves a dedicated stretch of time to explore properly. With that said, we decided to get our toes just a little wet. After we left Covered Portage Cove, we passed through the channel in Killarney for a short, one-day, cruise and anchor in the northwest side of Georgian Bay. Four miles or so east of Killarney is the western entrance to Collins Inlet and a 10-mile run to Mill Lake. It was Collins Inlet, a narrow channel, where we spent…

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…

Doubling Our Pleasure in Covered Portage Cove

Rendezvous with Freedom's Turn in Covered Portage Cove! Doubling our pleasure comes to mind when we think of our visit to Covered Portage Cove in the North Channel. Not only was it our first time anchoring in this cove, but we also had the pleasure of rendezvousing with friends Charlie and Linda on Freedom's Turn (above). We met them in 2008 while doing our second Great Loop boat trip and cruised several times together, including a trip to Chattanooga and even the Bahamas. With a lot of shared cruising experiences in common, we were excited for the reunion in Covered Portage Cove. We…

Covered Portage Cove – The Perfect Anchorage

Covered Portage Cove anchorage – High rocky cliffs and near-perfect protection from the elements. From South Benjamin Island we made our way past Little Current, Strawberry, and Heywood Islands as we skirted south of Frazier Bay to enter Lansdowne Channel on the way to Covered Portage Cove, just west of Killarney, the old provincial outpost that separates Ontario's North Channel from Georgian Bay. We had only dinghied to Covered Portage Cove anchorage in 2007 when we had docked our boat for a few days in Killarney. We vowed then to put it on our list as a future anchorage spot. When I…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Road Trip… Canada Here We Come – Spanish Marina

July 12, 2012
Lisa Favors
•TRAILERING, CANADA-EAST, CRUISING, North Channel

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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