THE BIG STORM

An Adventure By Eric and Gayle Locke

After months of getting Knight’n Gayle ready for our 2005 extended sailing trip, my wife, Gayle, and I were finally ready. The radar pole had been fabricated and now mounts the 2 kW radar dome along with the TV and GPS antennas and the boat’s speed transducer had been replaced.

We left the Clinton River on Saturday July 23 heading for Lake Huron. We then sailed up the Michigan coast from Lexington, to Harbor Beach, Harrisville, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island.

We entered the North Channel through Detour Village where we had some of the best white fish since being in these waters 2 years previous. We checked into Canada at the hospitable port of Thessalon with wonderful facilities and free bikes to use during our stay. After catching up on the laundry we headed further East into the North Channel.

We moved on to anchor at East Grant Island then further east to Blind River. Fellow boaters said one of the best protected anchorages was Long Point Cove which was just a little further East in the North Channel and not too far from Beardrop Harbour, another recommended stop. We decided to spend a night at Turnbull Island on our way. We had no idea what an adventure awaited us at Long Point Cove.

On Tuesday 9 August 2005 we awoke to a hazy day at Turnbull Island with the weather report indicating rain and possible thunderstorms moving in by evening. We enjoyed a lazy morning before heading to Long Point Cove.

The trip was only a little over 3 N miles from Turnbull Island. Long Point Cove looked like a very well protected anchorage. There were several sailboats and trawlers in the cove but we found a place to anchor closer to the back of the anchorage in about 15 ft. of water with a reasonable amount of swing. I set up Gayle’s suspension chair at the bow so she could read while I took off in the dinghy to explore the large rocks surrounding the west end of the anchorage. I took a few pictures from on top of some high rocks and then started back to the boat. There was a Mainship trawler anchored in the west end and I heard someone say something about the Clinton River. I stopped and chatted with Fran and Ron on “Muddy Rudder” and found out they were from the Metro Beach area. Then I heard some thunder and decided to get back to our boat. Radar showed a band of rain headed towards us. Well!!! It turned out to be the most hellacious thunderstorm I have ever been in. As the storm quickly approached, Gayle and I sat in the cockpit watching the lightning light up the sky north and west of us. I saw the sky turn a greenish color west of us and told Gayle I thought we were in for it.

We closed up the boat just in time to see a wall of water rush towards us from across the anchorage. Then the winds hit and the boat started dancing back and forth. The wind and the water became so pervasive that we could not see ahead of us. I was praying our anchor would hold as well as the anchors in front of us. The winds picked up to over 70 knots (my estimate put them in the 80 knot range). With all the lightning I had turned my instruments off and had no way of