Days 33 -37 Mackinaw City

Sailing across the Straits of Mackinac from Les Cheneaux to Mackinac City was like slalom skiing over the wakes of the ferries speeding to Mackinac Island and back on both sides of Osprey. Captain Bob was vigilant and concentrating, and I was snapping photos of the Island, Mackinac Bridge, and the ferries.
We've been here in Mackinaw City since, visiting the shops, stopping at the ice cream stands, tasting fudge, and bicycling around town. There's a voyageur encampment across the street from Straits Marina Harbor where we're docked. We wandered over there to see the men in their big shirts and red thigh high socks (just leg in between), selling pelts, wooden whistles, and other historic goods. Bob and Rob also toured the 290-foot Coast Guard ice breaker Mackinaw which is moored next to our marina.
Straits Harbor had their grand opening while we were in Hammond bay. It is beautiful with all brand new, wide docks and lots of friendly staff, but there are still some kinks to work out. Boaters need some signage or markers to make the entrance visible from the water. The showers sputter lukewarm water and turn off every 15 seconds. The bathroom lights turn off unexpectedly, too. Unfortunately, they don't have fresh water available at the docks yet, but we begged and borrowed 6 hoses, and were able to fill our tank from the marina office building.
With the high winds we've seen some exciting docking occurring in the marina, but yesterday was the most dramatic. We ran to assist a 36-foot Carver as it crash landed into the slip beside us. The wind was gusting to 25 mph, and the captain couldn't control the boat. It blew in sideways knocking out one of the dock-posts. Two little boys with no life jackets were the only crew, and there was only a bow line prepared. There was no spring line or stern line so those on the dock trying to help had nothing to grab on to except the boat itself. Thankfully, no further damage occurred to anyone or anything.
We're waiting out the weather and hope to proceed to Petoskey either tomorrow or Wednesday.