Travels with Jan & Ron: 7/24/15 Port Huron to Grosse Pointe Yacht Club on Lake St. Clair

After breakfast at a local restaurant (Cavis), we headed down river toward Algonac for fuel and a pumpout. We were so fortunate to go through the St. Clair River on Friday, because both Saturday and Sunday the river was to be closed (for 6 hours each day) for the speedboat races. We stopped for fuel at Algonac- Sassy Marina. It was a little hard to find, since it was off the main channel and had poor signage.

We began to hear the Coast Guard on channel 16 trying to get someone to switch from channel 16, the emergency and hailing channel, to channel 22 alpha. At first the person was incoherent. Then he said he didn't have a channel 22. Several different Coasties tried to talk with this man. He was becoming more and more irate and was definitely under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. He was slurring his words and was belligerent. His first response, when asked his location, was none of your business. Later he said he was on a kayak, then in his yard, and then on a fishing boat. He told the Coast Guard it was none of their business and he could do anything he wanted on HIS radio. Little did he realize that a large fine and imprisonment was a possibility. The Coast Guard asked all calls on channel 16 to cease unless it was an emergency. After about an hour, we believe that they must have located the man and the chatter ceased. Wonder if he's in jail. He certainly needed to be in rehab.

When we exited the St. Clair River, we entered Lake St. Clair. It is shallow and you must stay in the channel, which is not well-marked. Our electronic charts were invaluable.

We arrived at Grosse Pointe Marina and called the harbormaster, who raised the interior drawbridge to let us in to our slip on the outer wall, East Wall Dock.

This marina is massive. Docks have different names: East Wall Dock, Lakeview Dock, Bitter End Dock, Tee Dock, Shoreline Dock, Bridge Dock, Moby Dock, Gas Dock, Hickory Dock, Lakeside Dock, Hoist Dock, Inner South Wall Dock, Outer South Wall Dock. We were glad we printed a map of the marina layout ahead of time. (yes we have a printer on board). There are two bridges within the marina, the drawbridge and a swing bridge. We never saw the swing bridge because it was on the other side.

Our slip was as far as you can get from the club--a very bad spot for dog owners. The drawbridge is the only way to get from our dock to the marina and boaters take priority over walkers. If the bridge is up, you must push a button to request that the bridge be lowered. It is manned 24 hours a day by a real person.

According to one of our boat neighbors, the marina pool cost $7 million.

The club has 3 restaurants, 2 pools, a ballroom, and outdoor wedding venue, and tennis courts. As you enter from the road, you first come to a security gate. About 1/4 mile in, you arrive at a circle drive and a valet parking station.