Granite Island lies 6-7 miles out from the coast north of Marquette. Literally a rock, it is privately owned and has a lighthouse on it (click here). It is a nice distance for a crossing. A past saturday, things looked stable enough wind wise to give the crossing a try.
The view from a couple of miles out looking west back towards the mainland and my launch site. Winds were 15-20 mph making the early part of the paddle easy. Eventually some waves from the southwest built and combining with the seas built by the western winds, made for some work using correction strokes to keep the boat on course.
The view about 30 minutes out from Granite Island and with the island in the sun. The lighthouse is on the left.
A closer view of the island when going around it. It turns out the same plans were used for the lighthouse in the Huron Islands. Hard not to think of the keeper and his family who was often stuck out here once the fall storms started because of distance from the mainland made it too far to row.
Coming back to Little Presque Isle and the launch site. Here are the three headlands between here and Marquette. Closest is Little Presque Isle, next is Partridge Island and in the distance is Presque Isle, the northern tip of Marquette. The smudge on the horizon is McCarty’s Cove which is just north of the lower harbor.
The landing at the mouth of Harlow Creek with Little Presque Isle lit up by the sun.
sam