Finishing up

We spent all day yesterday completing the task of winterizing Onapua. As well as replacing the water with antifreeze in the engine, head and water tanks, I had to disconnect the batteries, drain the engine water pump so that the impeller wasn't sitting in antifreeze all winter. I loosened up the engine belt and swapped it end to end. The worst thing I discovered was when I came around to adding distilled water to the batteries. Each of my 4 batteries needed about 16 ounces to bring the levels up to cover the plates. Terrible! Thinking about it afterwards, it is probably due to the fact that I have been Motoring through all the locks on the Erie Canal and the Trent Severn Waterway and have been overcharging the batteries.

I met Dan and Francine when I was in the Caribbean doing the Cuba Salty Dawg Rally and they were the ones who suggested that I check out the North Channel. Dan has been helping me and I must say that I had no idea how much effort winterizing a boat takes.

I bought a huge tarp from harbor freight and we had to cut it down to fit.

Then we had to turn the edges to make a hem and install grommets. The idea is to stop the tarp flapping in the wind by pulling it tight around the boat. In the end it looked very good and I am confident that very little snow will get inside the boat.

It was a very sad day leaving her and knowing that I will not be back until May of next year. So check back to this blog again in 6 months, when I will resume my cruising this time hopefully in Lake Superior. In the meantime I will be going down under to NZ to enjoy another summer.

Winterizing Onapua

I spent yesterday adding antifreeze to all my water systems and covering the boat with a gigantic tarp I got from Harbor Freight.

It was quite difficult wrestling with the tarp in the wind and getting it tied down tightly.

It has started to turn cold here so my timing for hauling Onapua has been impeccable.

Hauling Onapua

Yesterday, I had Onapua hauled and placed in the yard. What a sad occasion it turned out to be. Take a look.

After that I started the process of winterizing it and I used 12 gallons of antifreeze through the engine and the holding tank for the head. I still have to empty out my water tanks and run antifreeze through it. After that I have to put a tarp over the entire boat to keep the snow off.

Menominee Day 2

I had never heard of this town and wondered why it was such a popular place. Well the answer comes from this.

Here are two of four Jet propelled littorio class battleships for the navy that are being built here and providing employment for the surrounding areas.

I am getting my boat ready for winter storage and have taken down all my sails.

Usually I use this blog just for Sailing on Onapua but I have been tossing up whether to use it for my travels down under. Mmmmm.....

Menominee

Well I made it and am tied up in the marina.

I crashed when I got here and had a good sleep to catch up. Last night the fog was as thick as pea soup some I didn't get much sleep.

Leaving Mackinac Island

Today I am going to Marinette Minaminee over in Wisconsin, a distance of around 150 Nm and I will travel overnight tonight and hopefully get there around noon on Tuesday. As always you can follow my location real-time through my satellite Inreach device by clicking on the following link.
http://share.garmin.com/PeterRyan

Mackinac Island Day 3

Can you imagine what it would be like to live without cars. Well imagine no more because Mackinac Island has biking, boating and horse transportation but no cars. So take a look at what it would be like on Main Street, Mackinac Island without your favorite automobile.