Our day for travel from Drummond Island to Mackinaw City, MI, was picture perfect! The water was like glass, there was no wind, and it was absolutely beautiful. We had an easy, open run, and enjoyed every minute of it. We pulled into the Mackinaw City Marina basin, fueled up (cha-ching!), and headed to our assigned slip over by our old friends from the Erie Canal on KatieSue!
We had a great reunion with John (Betty’s in California, but will be back in a couple of days), and also caught up with some new friends on Drake’s Dream. This is a great couple that we seem to keep crossing, but we’re always arriving as they’re leaving, or visa versa, and we’re trying to figure out how to be in the same place at the same time long enough to share a meal or a drink and get to know each other a bit! Perchance somewhere on the Michigan coast…
Roy and I strolled around the “downtown” area of Mackinaw City a bit in the afternoon – it reminds me of Disneyland. It’s not like a real place at all! Very charming and touristy, but nothing practical in any of the stores, and certainly nothing without “ Mackinaw City” printed on it! Now, if you want fudge, you’ve come to the right place! But a bottle of milk? Forget it!
We’d made arrangements to have dinner with John, and had a great time catching up! They had some real adventures in Georgian Bay and the North Channel, and ran into quite a bit of not very nice weather. All in all, sounds like our weather has really been extraordinary over all, so far, and compared with what others have had to deal with. We’ve only been delayed a couple of times, and not for long at that.
The next day Roy and I took our bikes on the ferry to Mackinac Island. It was an absolutely perfect day – clear, sunny, mid-70s – it doesn’t get any better for biking and exploring! Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw, like the City – go figure!) Island is a car-free environment. Yep, only horses and buggies, pedestrians, and LOTS of bicycles allowed! It was lovely not to have to worry about motorized vehicles, and quiet, too, and easier to breathe, I might add!
We had a great time! We first walked all around the little downtown, touristy, shopping and restaurant district – a little more upscale than Mackinaw City, and more expensive, too! We ended our little walk at the Butterfly House, and it was absolutely fantastic! And probably the cheapest thing, bar none, on the island, at only $6. It was really well done, with a case with many and varied chrysalises, many with butterflies just emerging, and then a large room filled with flowers and LOTS of butterflies!! We loved it!
When we were finished there we rode our bikes all around the 8 mile perimeter of the island, stopping for a hot dog lunch midway. It was beautiful! The different views, the water, so crystal clear and blue, and the flora and fauna were all a real treat. We got back to town, had an ice cream cone, and took the ferry back to Mac City.
That night the wind blew. I was awakened in the middle of the night to the sounds and feel of the boat thumping against the piling, and Roy on the bow over my head rearranging the lines and adding some more to try to get the boat away from the dock. He wrestled for a time with it all, and wasn’t very cheerful when I wandered up to see if I could help, so I crawled back into bed and let him struggle.
The next day was a work day – Roy wanted to get his “spare parts kits” in order and figure out what he wanted to order to have on hand when he changes the engine and generator oil and filters in Grand Haven, further down the Lake. I did a little grocery shopping in the afternoon, and we all kind of looked around and watched the weather – the wind was really blowing, and we were hoping to leave the next day. We were sure hoping for the wind to lie down. It was coming out of the east, which wouldn’t be great coming through the Straits of Mackinac, but once we started south on Lake Michigan, the land should give us some protection. Or so we reasoned. Still, less wind would be better…
We had a fun dinner that night with John AND Betty (back from California), and, although the food wasn’t stellar, we had lots of laughs and fun. They were hoping to leave, too, although not going to Harbor Springs, but we were comparing weather notes. I think the consensus was that it would have to be pretty bad for us NOT to leave!
We woke the next morning to plenty of wind, but clear skies and a firm desire to go, even if it meant an uncomfortable few hours at the beginning. As it turned out, getting through the Straits wasn’t difficult at all, it was the turn south, when we were still pretty far offshore, that proved to be the most difficult. A full-on beam sea, but the waves weren’t all that big, and everything on Mer Sea was stowed for rough seas, so it really wasn’t that bad. And it only lasted 45 minutes to an hour before improving significantly. So we felt we’d made a good decision. There wasn’t a single moment when I was worried, or really uncomfortable, come to think about it.
I must say something here about the Lake. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but Lake Michigan is absolutely clear and beautiful. The water varies from stunning dark azure to Caribbean-like aqua. You just can’t believe how gorgeous it is. The eastern shore of the lake, which is the shore we’ve chosen to travel, has sandy beaches all along it, due to the pounding of the water from the primarily south-western winds. We’re hoping to get off the lake before those winds kick up this fall. If they can pound hard enough to make rock into sand…Well, let’s just say that that wouldn’t be what I’d signed up for!
So far, however, the lake had been frisky but manageable. We arrived in Harbor Springs and were lucky enough to get a slip at the Municipal Marina. They don’t accept reservations, and it is Labor Day Weekend, but it’s really late for the boating season here, which officially ends August 15 (now THAT tells you something about the weather…). As a result, and because of our early start and early arrival, we got one of the last few slips available. Whew!
What a charming town Harbor Springs is! Tons of little shops, restaurants, and fudge and ice cream stores. Lots of activity around the marina and in the park adjacent and the whole little village area. We made contact with Didi, whom we were hoping to get a chance to see while we were there, and spent some time wandering around enjoying the little town. Seemed like lunch the next day (Friday of Labor Day Weekend) would be the best time to get together with Didi, so we made our plans accordingly. Had fun chatting with some marina neighbors and some passersby. It was a perfect relaxing afternoon in an idyllic spot.
The next morning we’d decided we’d go out for breakfast. This is always a big treat, and not something we do often, but there’s a place in town that had caught our eye in our wanderings, and we’d decided that this was the place! It was delicious! We knew we’d be having a late lunch with Didi, so ate heartily to tide us over.
Our visit with Didi was wonderful. It was such fun to have a chance to catch up, and she took us to her club for a delicious lunch with a lovely view. It was a perfect, sunny day, and we had a great time sharing stories. Always so much fun to see friends along the way!!
The plan is to leave on Saturday and head to Charlevoix. It’s a short trip, but the weather seems to be deteriorating, so we’ll see what the day brings.
As it turned out, the day was just fine. We left early in hopes of getting a slip on this busy Labor Day weekend, and, as it turned out, our friends on Drake’s Dream were just leaving as we were arriving. We were sorry to see them go, but we did get their slip, so that was some consolation.
Charlevoix was a great town! There’s a large, full-service and fully stocked supermarket just a block from the marina, lots of little shops and restaurants, and a native son who built some unique houses that are fun to go look at. They are made of rock, with shake roofs, and no two are alike, and none has a straight line anywhere! They are called “mushroom houses” by the locals, probably because of the combination of color and roof lines. Here’s a link to them, if you’re interested:
www.interestingideas.com\roadside\charlevoix\index.html
I was having such a great time in Charlevoix that we decided to stay another day, and to forget about making the long trek to Traverse City, which would have been fun, but quite out of our way. We’ll just have to save it for the next trip! Roy was also watching the weather, and it was beginning to look like something might be brewing that would end up delaying us somewhere down the line, so we had to take a careful look at our float plan. We decided to skip ahead to Leland from Charlevoix, not even venturing into Grand Traverse Bay at all. We heard some pretty negative things, justified or not, about Northport, so that made the decision easy. And everyone said that we’d really enjoy Leland.
Well, everyone was right! Leland is a really cute town, with an old restored part that used to be the fishing “shanty town”, and now houses little shops and restaurants. There is also a goodly number of shops in the “regular” part of town, and a lovely big park with gardens that I spent some time enjoying. Lots of roses of different varieties that I sniffed and enjoyed – ah, that heavenly fragrance! I also bought some delicious smoked whitefish paté that we enjoyed and shared with friends for a while. My only disappointment was that my cruising guide said there was a farmers’ market on Tuesday mornings, and, alas, that is not the case. Perhaps there was at one time, but not any more. I went bouncing off to where it was supposed to be at 9:00, and there was only an empty parking lot. So we got a late start and no fresh veggies. Oh well…
Our ride to Frankfort was eerily calm. We’ve had that a couple of times on big bodies of water, where there are no other boats, and the water is absolutely dead still calm, and you really feel like you’re alone in the universe. It’s an amazing feeling.
I was happy to finally see Frankfort, since I have a good friend who lived there for a time, and I’ve always wanted to picture her there. We chose to stay at a private marina (versus a municipal marina, where we’ve been staying at a very low cost) because we really needed to do laundry, and there didn’t seem to be any laundromats in town that we could access. Boy, are things after Labor Day quiet here on the lake! We had our choice of slips, and basically had the run of the marina as well!
We went on to Manistee the next day. This was another new “marina” experience for us: nobody answered either the phone or the radio, so we thought they might be closed, although that wouldn’t stop us from tying up there. The depth was very shallow close to shore, so we went in bow first (we usually go stern first) and had quite a stretch to get our power cord to reach – but we made it. When we checked out the office, there was a note on the door saying that there would be someone there in the office from only 5 to 8 PM beginning Sept. 6 (that day). In case there was any doubt that the boating season on Lake Michigan was over…There were envelopes and a price list also on the door, and the note instructed us to fill out a short form and put that and cash for dockage in the envelope, and slide it under the door. We did.
Within a few minutes, we heard from our friends on KatieSue. They called us and asked where we were! We told them and they ended up joining us there in Manistee. Meanwhile, I’d done some snooping, and found Manistee to be a great little town – complete with a fine little health food store, a big, good supermarket, an auto parts store where Roy got some supplies for the coming oil change, and fantastic people. It used to be one of the 10 richest towns per capita in the country, back during the lumber boom era, and the downtown is an old Victorian town, beautifully preserved. There’s a boardwalk running the length of town so that you can walk anywhere you want and still get there by walking along the river, and the whole thing is very well done. We learned that it’s a predominantly Polish town, and that we’d just missed the big Polish festival. Oh well, we might never have left if we’d been there for that!
The bad (read: windy with high waves) weather was definitely closing in, and we decided to go ahead and leave at oh dark hundred and try to make the run all the way to Grand Haven on Thursday the 7 th. Roy and I got up at 5:00, and the fog was thick! We hoped that it would burn off or blow off, so went along as though we were going to be leaving at 7:00 as planned. As fog will do, it would kind of clear a bit, then close in again, so we decided to try for it. We left the dock at 7:15, and VERY slowly and cautiously (there was a ton of small fishing boats going out, with dim navigation lights, and we didn’t want to run anyone over!) inched our way out of the basin where the marina is. We hoped that when we got to the lake, since it would be more open, that perhaps the fog would have cleared a bit. Vain hope. In fact, it was worse, if that is possible! We CAREFULLY turned around (remember all those small fishing boats? the practically invisible ones?) and headed back to our slip to wait for the fog to lift.
Finally, at about 9:00, we were able to get out to the lake. We pumped up the throttle and tried to make a run for Grand Haven, but the water was so choppy, with 3 to 4 foot waves, and the interval was so short, it was a tough ride. Not fun at all. And that is why we’re doing this, remember??? So we decided to pull in at Pentwater, about 30 miles down the coast. We pulled into the municipal marina, where the dockmaster helped us get tied up, and very shortly thereafter KatieSue came in behind us.
I spent some time exploring Pentwater, and found it to be a great little town. Plenty of little shops and restaurants, a reasonable grocery store, a great wine store, and even a “day spa” – I signed up for a massage that very afternoon!
John and Betty were visited by a couple who are inlaws of their neighbors in New Jersey, whom they’d met a year or so ago, and who have a condo on the water in Pentwater. They’d seen the boat come into the harbor and had come over to investigate. Amazing! Talk about a small world! This same couple took them to a produce stand where you could also pick your own blueberries. Betty bought some great produce for me while there, and I also got a ton of freshly picked blueberries, courtesy of her and John. We were set for a while!
That evening we had the treat of going for cocktails to the home of our local hosts, and then having dinner at the yacht club. What fun we all had together! It felt like we were old friends in a very short time together. The food was good, the company even better, and a fine time was had by all!
The next morning I made French toast from the bread with cherries and walnuts in it that I’d bought at the health food store in Manistee, and made blueberry maple syrup to go with it. YUM!!! It was a hearty, delicious breakfast! The excitement that day was to be the wine tasting benefit event scheduled to take place in the tented area next door to where we were docked. Oh, this would be after the weddings that took place on the dock earlier in the day (fishing boat captains getting married…). It was an adventure-packed day!
Betty, John, and I had a great time at the tasting, sampling many delicious wines and lots of yummy food as well! It was a wonderful event, all the proceeds of which went to the local hospice. There were 11 wine distributors represented, and the place was packed. There was a silent auction of artwork, and even some things just flat-out for sale. The whole town turned out, as far as I could tell, and it seemed to be a great success.
We were able to work our way a little further south the next day, September 10, to Grand Haven, where we were planning to pick up mail, and Roy was planning to do his oil change. We were able to fuel up there at a great price ($2.47/gal) before going to our slip, so we were ready to cross the lake if the weather ever let up. The wind was just ferocious, still!
Because of our need to have a marina where we could receive mail and where Roy could do his oil change, we’d chosen a marina in Grand Haven that didn’t happen to be really close to town. The weather was cold, rainy, and windy, so I just holed up on Mer Sea and read for the majority of the day. We did go out to a bad restaurant with John and Betty the second night (why break our unbelievable streak?), but, other than that, hardly left the boat.
We were able to leave Grand Haven after two days and go a bit further south, to South Haven. The docking experience there was interesting: the slips must be about 14’ wide, and we’re 13.5’. Not much wiggle room! Roy did a great job nudging Mer Sea in, and we spent some time trying to figure out where to put fenders (there wasn’t room, but we would bang on the pilings without them). Well, we finally got it sorted.
This turned out to be a really nice small town - a resort town, like all these along the lake. But there was more of South Haven than there was of some others, and I took a couple of long walks to do some shopping and to find a produce stand and the Farmers’ Market. Nice as it was, we were happy to see that we’d be able to leave for Chicago after two days in South Haven.
The trip to Chicago was happily uneventful. It was a total of about 78 miles, and we were actually much further offshore than we’d ever been before. It was a long period without seeing land, and the seas were 3 to 5 feet and rocking us quite a bit. It was a long ride, but safe and just a bit rolly. As long as you were always holding onto something when you were on your feet, it was fine! As we neared Chicago, and could see the skyline, our old friends on Tardis literally appeared on our radar – so we’d be in Chicago together! Fun!
Here’s a photo of Mer Sea approaching Chicago, courtesy of Tardis:
So we made it to Chicago, finally, and started lining up fun things to do while in town. But that’s for another journal…