Day 50 - Ludington

This is why we didn't go out today. This tower is 30 feet high. Lake Michigan has a nasty temper!

Days 47 & 48 - Ludington

Thursday
We left Frankfort before dawn, following a line of fishing boats that looked like a string of pearls ahead of us. After enjoying another brilliant red sunrise, we skirted around a hundred or more drifting fishing boats and cruised by countless dunes sculpted from the sand along the east Lake Michigan shore. As we passed Big Sable Point Lighthouse, we were in 2 to 3 foot waves that frustrated my attempts to snap a photo that wasn't crooked or blurred.
We arrived in the busy Ludington Municipal Marina early in the afternoon under warm, sunny skies. The marina is on Pere Marquette Lake and is adjacent to the dock of the Badger, a car ferry that crosses to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Friday
This morning, our faith in people was reinforced when a marina employee knocked on the boat and said he had found my camera near where we'd locked up our bicycles last night. He put it in the shed for safe keeping, then looked through the pictures to see if he could identify the owner. Apparently, he recognized a part of Osprey in one of the photos. I would have been heartbroken to have lost that camera!
There must be a fishing tournament going on. The marina was nearly empty when I woke. When the boats started coming in, men lugged obviously heavy coolers to the crowded fish cleaning area. A string of rainbow trout of various lengths was hung nearby.
I was thrilled to find a laundry facility here at the marina. I haven't been able to do laundry since Sault Ste. Marie! There were only 2 washers and one dryer, which took 1 - 1 1/2 hours to dry a load, so it took me all morning to finish, but there's a pleasant lounge with books and magazines and TV to help pass the time.
Later, Bob and I hopped on our bikes to browse the town and restock our library at the used book store.
I took Riley for his last walk of the day as the Badger got underway to the accompaniment of bagpipes from a lone piper on deck. Riley and I continued on to admire the sculptures and listen to the music of an accordion at a nearby park.

Day 43—446—Round Lake, Leland, Frankfurt

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Sunday, - Round Lake

Still at anchor in Lake Charlevoix, we listened to the weather report in the evening. One phrase stood out in the deep, Arnold Schwarzenegger voice of NOAA weather, “possible winds in excess of 60 miles per hour.” We made a quick decision to seek shelter at the Charlevoix City Marina at a dock. We tried calling on the radio and by phone but got no answer, so we motored over. They had to have an opening on Sunday night. Wrong! It was full. We tried the 2 other nearby marinas with the same results, so we found a deep bay that was only exposed directly to the south. By the time we were anchored night had fallen, but we felt kind of secure.

Then the cell phone rang. It was Judy. “We got permission from the Charlevoix police to dock at the fuel dock. Come on over.”

The anchor was up in a jiffy. We didn’t even take time to wash off the mud. We just laid the chain on the foredeck. Judy and Rob were waiting to help us tie up at the dock. Ah, that felt so much better!

Of course there were no high winds. Heavy rain for a short while, but that was all.

Monday—Leland

Osprey nosed out into Lake Michigan at the 7: a.m. drawbridge opening, and we began another day of smooth water travel. The clouds covered the sky with thick, morphing shapes all day, but no rain fell.

By 11:15 we were in the pretty little marina at Leland on the Leelanau Peninsula. After 3 days at anchor, electricity (without the generator) and fresh, running water were luxuries. Bonus! We were only charged half price because the office building is not complete and there were no showers, bathrooms, or laundry facilities available.

Leland is a picturesque town with big, beautiful homes, lots of flowers, galleries, and gift shops, and a well-stocked grocery store. Along the river next to the marina under a wooden fish, weather vane about 10 feet long is the historic village of Fishtown, with shanties that fishermen still use to clean the morning catch and smoke the fish. Other shanties are filled with shops. We especially liked the Cheese Shop where we ordered sandwiches and purchased Michigan wine and cheese.

It was our first hot day! I wore a sleeveless top, sunglasses, and a hat—just like in summer!

Tuesday—Leland

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Early Bird Restaurant, restocked our groceries, then walked around the town. We sampled a variety of Michigan jams, salsas, chutneys, marinades, dressings, and nut butters at one shop, then visited several galleries, a book store, and clothing shops. We walked along the river and took pictures of the dam, and we walked down to the beach. I wished I had my camera to capture the colorful bathing suits and umbrellas and the blue, blue water, with the sand dunes in the background.

Day 46—Frankfurt

Monday morning we awoke to a fog that prevented us from even seeing the seawall, so we had our tea and coffee, walked Riley, and waited. We entered Lake Michigan at 8:00 a.m. and discovered that the fog was localized over the marina and surrounding land. Another gorgeous day on the lake. We. paralleled the Manitou Islands which were blanketed in clouds, also. When we crossed the 45th parallel, we conducted the secret ceremony on deck to celebrate the occasion—half way to the equator. We continued past the appropriately-named dune at Pyramid Point, and Sleeping Bear Point. We did not see the sleeping bear.

By 1300 (That’s 1:00 p.m. for you landlubbers), we had passed Point Betsie Light and were tied up at the dock in Betsie Lake in the town of Frankfort. Of course we had a frankfurter picnic in honor of the town.

Day 43 - Lake Charlevoix

We can't believe we've been out for 43 days. Still not tired of this!

Last night NOAA Weather predicted a line of thunder storms. Bob confirmed it on radar, then lengthened the anchor rode, calculated angles to be sure we wouldn't go bump in the night with any surrounding boats, brought out the foul weather gear "just in case," and we waited for our first storm at anchor. . . and waited. . . and finally fell asleep. This morning we could see several anvil-shaped storm clouds and a classic line of water-laden storm clouds along the warm front ready to give Osprey a bath. We felt the gusty wind turning the boat in a wide arc. Light rain polka-dotted the water at first. Then the lightning came and Bob made up a hinky-pink poem:

Lightning - Loud Clouds

It didn't last long before the sun peaked between the clouds, and then pushed the clouds aside and shone down with the warmest day we've had yet. It reached the low eighties!
Boats came out from everywhere rafting together, pulling hot-dog skiers and screaming tubers, and surrounding us with their wakes going in every direction. When I tried to make grilled cheese for lunch, I had to do a quick hot pad save before the pan went flying to the floor as we bounced around. We must be in the Lake Charlevoix summer fun bay!

Day 41 - Charlevoix

After saying good-by to the last sunrise on the "Sunrise Side" of Michigan, Osprey held her head up high and sailed proudly under the Mackinac Bridge. The colossal towers looked golden in the morning sun, and when we looked up through the grillwork from directly below the imposing structure, we could see the sky.












And then Osprey met Lake Michigan. Now our little
trawler has dipped her keel in 4 of the 5 Great Lakes - only Ontario is still a stranger. Lake Michigan carried us along on water as smooth and shiny as silk all the way to Charlevoix.

As we dawdled in the lake waiting for the half hour when the drawbridge would open, we heard a "Security" announcement on the marine radio. It was the Beaver Island car ferry, Emerald Isle, announcing that they'd be going through the drawbridge, too. We let the huge vessel pass and followed her under the bridge.

We entered Round Lake, where we saw a floating hamburger stand that delivers food - and smoothies! - to other boats via dinghy. The only spot left for anchoring was near the busy fuel dock, so we decided it was too crowded. We motored on to Lake Charlevoix and set the hook in Loeb Bay for the night.

GetAWay had braved the waves and left Mackinac City 2 days ago. She too arrived today in Loeb Bay. We were so happy to see Rob and Judy again! Judy had already planned a grilled chicken and spaghetti dinner for the four of us, so we spent a pleasant evening catching up and playing Rummicubes.

Day 40 - Mackinac City

Yep, we're still here!
Last night we had an enjoyable visit from friends, Bev and Rich, who are vacationing in Petoskey. They took us to The Dam Site Inn near Pellston where we had delicious all-you-can-eat chicken dinners.
Today we played miniature golf (a recommendation of my niece, Amanda). Our scores were 10 over par, but one of us got a hole in one on the last hole! I won't say which one, so I don't embarrass Bob.
We've been loving being rocked to sleep every night in the boat. I think we'll need a special bed when we get home!

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.