This part of the trip did not get many photos. I can't explain that but we were eager to get to Jefferson Beach Marina at St. Clair Shores where we would meet up with my brother Tim and his wife Kathy on their boat. JBM is the home port for their boat, the Amigo.
Funny story, I was on the cellphone with him at various points going down the St. Clair River, giving him postion reports and progress and ETA etc. But it turned out that I only assumed I knew where JBM was and Tim assumed that too. My vague recollection from years past was that it must be somewhere on the entrance to the Detroit River. We were all the way to Belle Isle well into the entrance of the Detroit River when it dawned on me that it was clearly somewhere else.
Before JBM existed the land was a giant amusement park called Jefferson Beach. In our high school days if we wanted to go to a first rate amusement park with all the rides we would go to either Jefferson Beach or another called Edge Water Park which also no longer exists.
Soooo I called my brother back and told him my predicament. He said "WHAT!! I emailed you all the information!" Well I stammered, I thought I knew where the marina was. Pat is on my case by this time as well. It was just me on my side of this issue. Tim had no idea we were so far as the Detroit River so he asked me if I saw such and such a building. I saw one that looked like it could be the building at approximately the direction and distance he described. I said no problem we are ok now and we would be there is just a bit.
Well it quickly became clear that this was not it because we were going toward Canada which ruled it out. I called him back on the phone and he figured we were really lost now. I politely explained we did know where we were, the problem was, we did not know where he was. I asked him what town JBM was near. He said St. Clair Shores. I said ok we would find it now. We got a road map of Michigan out, looked up the letter and number in the city guide to find St. Clair Shores and bingo there it was, way up almost the entire distance of Lake St. Clair which we had just come across. We had passed by JBM about an hour or so earlier.
We turned around, went back the entire distance and sure enough the building he described for a landmark was there. Very visible. Very tired on arrival but we were eventually tied up in the slip next to the "Amigo." In the Great Lakes, slips are called "wells." So we were tied up in the well next to the Amigo.
One more little issue that was plaguing us. I had for several days been complaining about the the power steering as it would operate in jerky movements and really complain with squeaks and squeals. Pat said, the pump in low on power steering fluid. I said, no, a boat is different. But fast forward and you know the story about who was right about the fluid level.because as it turned out the ram had over time developed a leak.
At JBM, it was clear we needed a repair yard. Tim gave us a couple of names but said he heard really good things about the repair services of Emerald City Marina which, as it turns out, is part of the Nautical Mile and located next door to JBM. Our first planned stop Tuesday would be Emerald City to let them have a look and tell us how much aggravation it would be to fix the problem. In the meantime Pat, me, Kathy and Tim would enjoy time together talking boats etc and enjoying the amenities of JBM.
www.jeffersonbeachmarina.com
www.emeraldcityharbor.com
Coast Guard bouy tender at its dock along the way
Another big ship
A few houses on the river just south of Port Huron
One of many ferry boats ecountered that cross from Canada to the U.S.
A large cruiser on her lift with some people making preperations.
An interesting looking "salty"
A wheelhouse from some long ago dismantled
boat, most likely a ferry boat, that is now used for a dock house.
This is part of the St. Clair flats, analagous to the Mississippi River Delta. The location of the flats is right at the exit end of the St. Clair River where it empties into Lake St. Clair. Harsen's Island is the big piece of real estate in the flats. As kids we went with our parents many times to the Idle Hour Hotel on the island with the boat we had at the time. The Idle Hour had a real nice dock for short term transients. I think we were often longer term than they were happy with. Johnny Schlagle, a popular Detroit radio DJ of the day was there one of the times we visitied. The Idle Hour has since morphed from a hotel into a yacht club. There was also a friend with a house on Harsen's Island on the water, with a dock who we would also visit from time to time.
A devleoped area of Harsen's Island showing a canal leading to houses off of the river.
Looking back at the last bit of land as we exit into Lake St. Clair. The nice Sunday afternoon attracted many boats whose owners wanted to get into shallow water and enjoy the lake. Our next few minutes took us right past JBM and on into the Detroit River where my usually sound planning skills took a dive.
