A beautiful run up the St. Marys River today, so nice outdoors that we wore shorts and T-shirts for the first time while traveling this year! Sault Ste. Marie means “rapids of St. Mary”. A lot of European (French & English) and Native American history here. The city was named by a French Jesuit priest who settled in the area. Ojibway Indians are native to this land. As is typical with most things English and French, there was a lot of feuding going on over the years. Not so much between the Americans and Canadians.

We passed only one freighter on the way up, a 1001’ “James R. Barker” bound for Indiana. He was going downstream at 8.5 kts and I was coming upstream at 16.5 kts (against a 2 kts Current). The captain was very courteous when I called and asked on which side he wanted me. Our run time was about 3.5 hrs, dock to dock. Water temps ranged from 55’ to 58’. The George Kemp Marina is owned by the City and is a nice, clean, and well attended dock just east of downtown Sault. Ste. Marie. After hooking up, we walked most of the downtown area, checked out the locks (where they will have an open house tour on Friday) and scoped out a place for dinner tonight. On the way back to the marina we stopped at Soo Brewing Company for a local brew. We have had some very good local beers as we’ve toured the northern Great Lakes.

Just met a sailor coming from Marquette, MI who told me water temps in Lake Superior are 38’!! We’ll be here for several days as we explore the locks, the Sault, experience Canada Day (1July) and Independence Day before assessing our entry to Lake Superior.