Between the professors who had decided to tag along and the equipment that they thought they might want for their investigation, they were convoying up north in three rented minivans. As expected, the hardest part of the entire endeavour had been finding a charter boat on short notice. Apparently, nearly all of them were booked months in advance, and Dr. Forsyth had had to call companies in an ever-widening circle until he finally found one in Petoskey that was available.