Monday, July 13 – A DAY OF REST & RELAXATION.......yeah, right! Our intentions were to have a relative low key day of relaxation here in Hessel, Michigan. We stopped at the tiny town market for a cup of coffee and a muffin which was a good start for being casual.
From there, we headed to the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, MI. This small 2-year college offers an degree in boat building. This is a non-profit educational center teaching the art and craft of traditional and contemporary wooden boat building.
They provide a comprehensive course of study in the methods, materials, and professionalism required of today's wooden boat builders. The first year prepares the student for a career in the wooden boat industry. The second year is geared to advanced boat building and the construction involved in a modern yacht. They have been in existence since 2006 and have over 90% job placement. They actually don't have enough students to fill the job opportunities. This upcoming fall they already have 20 of the 24 slots filled, three being girls and one guy coming all the way from France.
Two boats they just finished this past term.
Marsha makes sure the job was done right.
The first projects that the students work on is making a stool and a tool chest. Paul is admiring the wonderful work this student did.
State of the art workshop.
Paul is drooling. He would love to have a shop like this.
Marsha couldn’t get over all the 100’s of clamps they had.
One of the old wooden boats.
They also offer workshops in metal casting, building your own Northeaster Dory, Paddle Making, Pram building, building a Dinghy, Knots & Rigging, Kayak building, Marine Finishes, Photography and building your own paddle board. So if you're looking for a way to spend several weeks this summer, come on UP North and build yourself a boat! If you can’t build one, at least take the tour. It is very informative.
On the way home, we stopped at a couple gift shops, a Northern Spruce furniture store, a saw mill, and decided on taking a hike in the William B. Derby Nature Preserve. So much for a casual day of rest and relaxation.
The Derby Nature Preserve is a 200-acre preserve located right in Cedarville, MI. It includes a 3.5-mile loop trail that travels along the inner Les Cheneaux channel shore. This trail is a beautiful hike through fairly level terrain. It loops through a dense forest of predominately Northern Spruce trees. The trail is made up of the spongy material left over from falling spruce needles and is nice to hike upon but be careful of the Michigan limestone sticking up through the needles and especially the Spruce roots that frequently reach out to trip you.
This delicate fern grew all along the forest floor.
After that casual morning, we eventually returned to the RV to relax for the remainder of the day. On Tuesday, we head north to Saulte Ste Marie, MI, so stop back and travel along with us.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!
