Celebrating Our Anniversary In Sault Ste Marie

Please Share With Your Friends

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Sault Ste Marie?
For us, there are two things: the Soo locks and the big ships that transit the locks.

St Mary’s River

We felt some excitement and nervousness as we prepared to leave Whitefish Point and headed towards St Mary’s River.

“I wonder how many ships we’ll see tomorrow on our way to the locks?” In the past few days, we’ve seen several freighters moving from Lake Huron to Lake Superior and vice versa.

“And how much room is there in the channel for us to pass alongside freighters?” We took one more look at the charts to note the narrow areas of the channel and if we could go outside the markers.

Anniversary

Yesterday, Aug 8th, 2024, was our 44th anniversary. Today, we were headed to the Soo. We looked forward to spending a few days at such a unique location celebrating our 44 years of adventures together. Anniversaries and birthdays are helpful prompts on the calendar for us to reflect on the past, enjoy the moment, and plan for the future. I’d like to say that’s how we approach every day, but routines and busyness can get in the way. Anniversaries and birthdays are like bookmarks in time that motivate us to pause and take more notice of our past, present, and future.

A Look Behind Us: In Marriage

Looking back on our years together, we’re thankful for all the adventures we’ve shared, the enjoyable and the difficult. Some of our adventures were planned, like sailing trips, family days, special events, or trying a new hobby. In other cases, unexpected adventures found us, like financial woes, health crises, relationship challenges, or bad weather while we were at sea (and on the hard).

A Look Behind Us: On Meraki

Looking off the stern of Meraki, we kept an eye on the freighters coming up behind us and calculated when they would catch up to us. We also noted the channel markers behind us. To stay in a narrow channel, it’s important to keep looking forward and behind, as the current can sometimes trick you into thinking you are in safe water, but you are not. If you’re not attentive, it’s easy to drift outside where you want to be! How true in life as well. If we aren’t attentive to different markers in our lives, we may miss the warning that we’re drifting outside where we want to go.

Looking back on our sailing years together, we realize we’ve developed a strong sense of teamwork. Working together on a sailboat is a necessary skill, and we believe that the spirit of teamwork is equally important in marriage.

Enjoy the Present

Enjoy The Present Moments: In Marriage

We enjoyed the present moments together while in Sault Ste Marie in various ways, including walks around town, eating out (we loved Oh! Crepe), doing errands together (yes, there is joy in going to the hardware store together and finding what you need), and walking in the rain.

Let me elaborate on walking in the rain. Our friends Jeff and Mel had offered to let us use their truck while we were in Sault Ste Marie, but we opted to walk here and there and everywhere, even in the rain. Why? That’s exactly what I asked Tony: “Why are we walking in the rain when we have a truck available?”

“I guess I’m a stubborn cruiser who only uses a car when necessary.” That sounds about right. Our style of cruising has typically been to walk or use a courtesy bike from a marina or public transportation. Upon reflection, it makes sense that this is one way we enjoy the present moment: walking around town, rain or no rain.

Speaking about walking around town, Sault Ste Marie is a very walkable town. Their bright, cheery crosswalks brought a smile to our faces as we crossed the streets.

Another way we enjoy present moments of life together is through being lifelong learners. There was no shortage of opportunity in Sault Ste Marie! Watching the freighters transit the locks and looking around the visitor center brought a sense of awe, and we learned some new facts about how it all worked. We found it all fascinating. We highly recommend planning a trip to Sault Ste Marie. In the meantime, do you want to see how locks work? Check the Sault Ste Marie website out!

Enjoy The Present Moments: On Meraki

Our days on the water going to and from Sault Ste Marie couldn’t have been any better! We had a great sail to the Soo, and transiting the locks went easy. Sharing the Canadian locks with a tour boat, we felt like celebrities, as many guests took our picture! I also took a picture of them.

We stayed at George Kemp Marina in MI for a few days and then moved across the river to the Canadian side. We didn’t know if or when we’d be back to Lake Superior, so we wanted to see the Canadian side before we moved on.

We read about the strong current when entering Roberta Bondar’s marina and thought we were prepared. It’s no joke, there is a strong current! Tony was at the wheel and compensated just fine as he brought us into the harbor and to our slip. After getting tied up, we mentioned the strong current to the harbor master. She shared a story of a recent motor boat that did not handle the current so well and rammed into the dock, damaging its bow and knocking the electrical pedestal over into the water; yikes!

Our explorations in Canada included strolls on their riverside walkway, lounging in red chairs, finding a sourdough bakery (yum!), and visiting an art gallery.

Leaving the Soo and heading down the river went smoothly. We had a calm and sunny day for our passage. The first thing we noticed was St Mary’s hydroplant which we’d like to learn more about! As we went down the river, there was always something to enjoy along the shoreline or on the water. A few highlights were the reflection of trees on the water, seeing an eagle, and dancing with the freighters as they passed.

Looking Ahead To The Future

Looking Ahead To The Future: In Marriage

Life planning for retirement (outside of finances) is surprisingly challenging for many retirees. We thought we had a plan, but things don’t always go according to plan! Therefore, we’re in the same boat as many others as we consider how to redesign our retirement plans and pivot. Fun fact: Pivot was one of the possible names for our sailboat before we settled on Meraki.

Back to life planning—we’re attending workshops, researching, brainstorming, and trying different ideas. With sailing as just one piece of our puzzle, we view planning from two vantage points: land life and cruising. In both environments, we strive to find creative ways to pursue a happy, healthy, vibrant retirement that reflects our values and personalities. Maybe that sounds easy to you. We thought it would be, but it’s proving more difficult than anticipated. We welcome your input and suggestions!

Looking Ahead To The Future: On Meraki

In the short term, after leaving the Soo, we headed to the North Channel, which has been on our bucket list of places to sail to for many years! How exciting to get there! We were so excited to meet up with Jeff, Mel, and Ava, who were already in the North Channel on Caribbean Soul. They are boating friends we met in Bimini, Bahamas. We are tickled to think about spending time with boating friends in different locations. In this case, it’s quite a different location!

In the longer term future, while we’re not exactly sure where Meraki will take us or when, we are gaining confidence in her sailing capabilities and liveability. Here are a few possibilities: we may go out the Erie Canal to the East Coast and South. On the other hand, it would be quite an adventure to take the St Lawrence Seaway to Nova Scotia. Or, we may enjoy more of the North Channel and the Great Lakes. It’s nice to have options! One thing is for sure: we’re looking forward to more sailing trips on Meraki!

Happy Anniversary!

We had a memorable 44th anniversary by spending a few days exploring Sault Ste Marie, reflecting on our adventures together, and looking forward to the ones to come!

Please Share With Your Friends