Once again, yesterday's weather was not conducive to doing anything outside. The forecast was for 50% chance of rain which turned into raining 50% of the time. Besides the rain, the wind was really stiff. Not a good day for outdoor activities.
Today's weather has done an about-face with blue skies and only a light breeze until after lunch when the wind returned. We got out on the water for a few hours which was very pleasant. Without any wind to fight, I enjoyed a leisurely two-hour paddle around our little bay which is off the main river so has little current. Jim fished for two hours without a single nibble. None of our neighbors caught anything either so it wasn't just our not keeping fishermen's hours.
Jim's fishing pontoon
My Sea Eagle Kayak
With the wind rising again this afternoon we put the boats away since we won't have another chance to use them before we leave on Wednesday.
While we're here, I should mention the pronunciation of the name of the village. It's pronounced like a road detour, not deTOUR as one might think. The village is on the DeTour Passage, a narrow strait separating the easternmost point of the Upper Peninsula from Drummond Island. I haven't found anything online about how the place got its name, but it looks like this much shorter western passage was considered to be a detour from taking the longer route to the east of Drummond Island along the Canadian border. From looking at shipwreck maps it appears most shipping traffic has used the shorter passage, although there are a few wrecks on the longer route. DeTour Passage is one of Michigan's many underwater shipwreck preserves which are frequented by divers.
Tomorrow we'll be going into the village to check out the big July 4th festivities which include a parade, float competition, fire department lunch and live music among other things. We're really curious about what kind of float competition is put on by such a tiny place.
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