Repairs are not Us.

Great breakfast spot in Muskegon

This morning we went to breakfast with our Atlanta friends, Steve and Ruth.  We had delicious omelets and blueberry pancakes at Toast 'n Jams.  Ruth is particularly talented at finding these hidden treasure restaurants.  This one was the only lively business in a dying shopping center.  We thoroughly enjoyed the meal.  Then we went to West Marine and Auto Zone to buy hydraulic fluid and gear oil.  We returned to Aunt Aggie.

We opened up the stern section to add hydraulic fluid to the reservoir there.  This took a while.  Then we put back together all the pieces of the stern hold.  George turned the wheel and determined that it was moving better than yesterday.  So he thought we were good to go.  We did our regular morning checks, started the engine, took off the electric and lines, and said good-bye to Ruth and Steve.  We were off, headed to Holland, 30 miles away. 

About five miles out in Lake Michigan, George noted that the steering was not working quite as well as he had expected.  He was turning the wheel around and around in order to move the rudder.  We heard moaning sounds from the rudder as though it was an animal in pain.  What was happening?  

Our steering problem was not fixed.  We did have some control but not as much as we would like.

I called Grand Haven, the next port, just 10 miles away.  North Shore Marina said they could give us a pump out, which we also needed, and someone could look at our steering problem.  Yes, we could spend the night in their marina.  So I cancelled the reservation at Holland and called Sue and Dan to tell them we were not coming there.  We motored on to Grand Haven.

The day was lovely, and the water was fine.  We were pretty much alone on the lake, so we were not worried about running into anyone.  However, when we got in the harbor with other boats, we were nervous about our steering issues.  George slowly moved into the harbor and into the marina.  

We got to the fuel dock for the pump out.   After the pump out, a mechanic named Jim came out to look at our steering issue.  He worked on the boat for over an hour and determined that we did need more hydraulic fluid, but we had put it in the wrong place.  So he added fluid correctly.  Then he helped us get into a slip.  

We had a snack lunch at 3:00 pm and went to the pool.  Steve and Ruth joined us for happy hour there. Tonight we had dinner at a brewpub, Old Boys.  We really enjoyed it.  We sat outside and shared terrific Mexican layered dip, chicken and feta pizza, and chocolate brownie sundae. 

We had hoped that we could get our bow thruster delivered here tomorrow, so Jim could get someone to reinstall it.  Then we would be all set for Chicago and the rivers below.  We are not sure if that can happen.  We may just move on to South Haven tomorrow.  

Lake Michigan Beach this morning.  

ps.  As we left for dinner with Steve and Ruth, Jim, our mechanic, drove by and said, "Have a good evening," from the window of his car.  I said, "Isn't that nice?" 

George replied, "Uh oh. He's driving a Mercedes."

Visitors from Atlanta

Dinner with Ruth and Steve

We had a second great day on Lake Michigan. The weather was cloudy, and we expected fog.  However, we had more of a haze on the water and no fog.  So we motored from 7:00 am - 2:00 pm and arrived at Muskegon.  The ride was uneventful except for our exclamations about how calm the water was.

It actually was glassy at one point.

We traveled with Sue and Dan (Tranquility) and came to the municipal marina at the back of Muskegon Lake.  Since it was Sunday, the lake was full of boaters.  All sizes and shapes of boats were out today.

The trip to Muskegon was so smooth that my shells didn't slide out of the window.

As we pulled to our dock in the marina, our steering stopped working.  There was no action from the rudder when George turned the wheel.  ??? He and I explored the rudder/wheel connection for a bit. 

(Hmm. I see what you mean. It seems not to be working.) Then our company arrived: Ruth and Steve Berberich, friends from Atlanta, came to see us.  They are traveling in their RV to see Ruth's family in Michigan and Wisconsin, and they included us in their trip.  It was great fun to visit with friends from home.  They brought lots of goodies, so we had a tea party immediately.  Then they met Sue and Dan, and Steve took Dan on an errand to CVS. (It was exciting to have access to a car.) Dan is a wise man in the way of boats, motors, rudders, and hydraulic fluid, so he came over to look at our problem.  Dan took a lot of time looking over the boat, following lines and figuring out what was going on. He is a treasure. He advised George about adding fluid. So we have to buy and add fluid before we can leave tomorrow.

We had happy hour together, marveling at the cool breezes and the terrific view from the marina.  

Bringing together friends from different parts of our lives was a treat.  They are all adventurers in their own ways. 

View from the restaurant where we ate dinner.

The Best Day

 Lighthouse at Point Sable

This morning we read the weather forecasts and felt confused.  We could not get a clear vision of the weather on Lake Michigan.  One forecast looked fine, and the other predicted 3 - 6 foot waves.  Around 9:00 am we decided that we were staying in Frankfort for another day.  In a sort of depressed mood, I decided to make pancakes for breakfast.  

I got the butter out of the freezer and prepared to shave off some slivers.  The phone rang.  It was Sue from Tranquility.  She said, "This is the best day on the lake. The water is flat.  You have to come." They had just exited from Manistee about thirty miles south of us.  Sue is my lake soul mate.  She hates the bumpy water as I do, and she even gets actually ill.  I just get stressed out.

So then I called Patriot, which had left our dock at 7:00 am.  Chuck reported that the waves were two feet or less, from the east.  He said they were staying close to the beach. 

George returned from the restroom to find me ready to move.  I put away the butter.  No pancakes today.  Sue had called at 9:22 am.  We were underway at 9:45.  We moved!  

The water was lovely with only 1 foot of wave.  After we passed Manistee at mile 30, we got some two foot swells.  But that was the extent of our wave action.  We had an uneventful and quiet trip for 53 miles to Ludington.  We were so excited to be moving. 

We arrived at Ludington and joined Tranquility (Sue and Dan) and Spirit and Nearly Perfect on the wall.  Palmetto Paradise came out from Frankfort with us, but passed us along the way.  They are here too.  We felt like celebrating. After docktails we went for a great dinner with Dan and Sue.  

Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day, and we hope to travel to Muskegon.  We have friends from Atlanta, Ruth and Steve Berberich, who will meet us there in their RV.  I hope they can have docktails with this group.  It is an experience to meet loopers.  

Night falls at Ludington Marina.

Exploring Frankfort, MI

Looking down Main Street in Frankfort, MI. 

Looking the other way, Main Street runs into a beach.

Today we stayed in Frankfort because the waves were predicted to be in the 3 - 6 foot range.  We cleaned the boat on the inside.  George even vacuumed.  Yahoo!  Then I went to the library and read out on their porch. After lunch we walked around town.  Almost everything you need is on Main Street: bank, restaurants, 3 ice cream parlors, a hotel, a couple of bars, a True Value Hardware, clothing and gift shops, a cinema, and a pharmacy. (I did not see a grocery.)  We found the light bulb we needed for our salon at the hardware store, which felt like a good omen.  Then we discovered delicious ice cream.  There are lots of folks riding bicycles here.  The bike path runs through the park beside the lake and marinas. There's a lake-themed playground in the park too.

At 5:00 pm we had docktails with folks from other boats.  Patriot hosted Field Trip, Penny Pinchin', Mazel Tug, Aunt Aggie and Palmetto Paradise, new to us loopers from South Carolina.  We enjoyed meeting them.  They are good story tellers and regaled the group with their tale of meeting a big black bear on their walk up to Lake Topaz.  

George and I returned to Aunt Aggie and had a yummy supper of hamburgers, brussel sprouts, carrots, and corn. As George was putting away the grill, he heard a jazz band.  So we walked into the park and listened to a ten person combo playing Dixieland.  After that pleasant break we're back home, ready to play bridge online. We hope to move tomorrow to Manistee, just 30 miles south.  

Talented Michigan musicians entertained us tonight.

Lake Michigan kicks our Butt

 I tried to get a photo of the 4 - 5 foot waves coming at us, 

but you can never see the depth.  

Forecast:  Light winds with waves 2 feet or less.
Reality:  The forecast held true for 2.5 hours in the morning.  We left Leland at 7:00 am and found quiet seas with 2 foot swells.  Around 9:30 am the waves built, and we saw whitecaps forming. Then
we got 3 and 4 foot waves on our bow.  Once they built to this height, they never backed off.
There was no break between the waves.  Pound, pound, pound - they came one after another for the next three hours, 3,4, and 5 footers.

We had planned to go to Arcadia, a 55 mile trip. Starting at 9:45 am, I got messages from Penny Pinchin' and Tranquility that they were getting pounded. We were too. What was this?  Why was this happening?  Tranquility and I Think I Can decided to leave the lake at Manistee instead of going to Luddington. We couldn't stop before Frankfort.  I called the marina at Frankfort and asked for a slip. Then we continued.

George did a great job, driving straight into the waves.  He kept us on course and going about 8 mph.
I had to drive once when he went for a bathroom break, and it was pretty exciting.

My joy in reaching Frankfort was only matched by my tiredness.  The adrenaline left me worn out.  We took a long nap and also greeted lots of loopers coming in to the marina.  Many had longer days than we did with strong waves. Some are just arriving.

The good news is that at this point on the lake there are many marinas just 10 - 30 miles apart.  We are not sure about tomorrow's forecast and our plans. It's getting hard to trust the forecast.

View off the front of Aunt Aggie is the Public Library!

View from the stern is a peaceful mooring field.

Last Day in Leland

The sun came out this afternoon, so we got a sunset!

Today the winds finally calmed down around 4:00 pm.  It was cold and grey earlier.  Now the seas are quieting.

We have prepared for a day of cruising tomorrow:  I stocked up on groceries and wine, filled up the water tank and put away the hose, and recycled. George set up the log book for tomorrow, took off our garbage, checked the oil and coolant, and adjusted our fuel tank hoses.  We just have to take off 12 lines and the electrical cord, and we are out of here.

George has a cold.  Boo!  He has plenty of liquids, DayQuil, hand sanitizer, and kleenex.  He's so congested he couldn't take his nap.  You know that's serious.  Just kidding.  He'll be fine.

We are going to play online bridge in a minute and eat chili for supper. There's no real news here.
Several sailboats and two trawlers came into the harbor today.  Everyone is pulling out and heading south tomorrow.  So excited to move again.

Peaceful evening sky in Leland

Day 5 in Leland, MI

As I was washing dishes this morning, I saw a rainbow!

We had a great night of sleep on Monday night.  The wind was still high, about the same mph.  However, the wind direction was west, so the breakwater stopped the waves from coming in. On Sunday night when it was so terrible here, the wind was from the south, and water came piling into the harbor.  We had dramatic rocking on Sunday, but it was quiet yesterday.  We were grateful and slept nine hours.  

I was washing dishes and saw the rainbow above.  We had a few minutes of sunshine.  Then we settled in for a cold and rainy day with a high of just 62 degrees.  It feels like winter, which is scary.

However, the forecast is for warming and sunshine starting on Thursday.  All the loopers are planning to move on Thursday.  Some folks south of us can move tomorrow.  We are eager to get south on this lake as the wind seems milder there.  

It's been a quiet day in Lake Michigan.  I shopped a bit and ran into loopers here, visiting from Charlevoix by car.  Everyone is just as antsy as we are.  This afternoon George and I spent time planning our visit to Chicago.  It has seemed so far away and unattainable, but now we can see that we might arrive there next week.  Woohoo!

As soon as we get a break in the rain, we are headed out to find supper.  I never got to the fish store today, so we will try to catch a burger instead.  

This photo shows the crazy wad of lines and fender tied to our center cleat,

trying to keep Aunt Aggie safe and off the docks.

Windy!

Poor Aunt Aggie is tied every which way to the dock at Leland, MI. 

We have to climb off over the two foot space.

Last night the wind built until it was howling around 10:00 pm, right when we tried to go to sleep.
The sounds were a mix of whooshing, a deep bass drum, and squeaking ropes. This was combined with waves rocking and jerking the boat.  Sleep was impossible.  George went outside twice in the dark to adjust a line and add a line.  We have Aunt Aggie positioned with lines on both sides, so she doesn't hit the dock.  However, this made getting off the boat tricky.  We said we were just going to tough it out.  Around midnight George was trying to sleep, and I was sitting in the salon reading and checking Facebook.  (Note:  When you check Facebook too often, it becomes less appealing.) He said, "Let's go to the lounge."  Woohoo!  I had wanted to walk down to the very nice and comfortable Boaters' Lounge earlier, but it was hard to exit the boat.  Now he wanted to go too.  We would do it.

We gathered a blanket, phone, water bottle, and jackets and locked Aunt Aggie.  With difficulty we climbed off the boat.  We had to wait for it to swing back toward the dock, put one leg over and grab onto a pole, pulling ourselves off.  It was a commitment:  Once one of us got off, the other had to follow.

When we entered the quiet rooms of the lounge, I was thrilled.  The chaotic sounds of the wind were outside, and we were in a dark space with couches.  The monitor on the wall said the wind at that point was 25 mph, gusting to 28.  We sank happily onto the couch and napped, dozed, rested until 6:00 am.  At that point we turned on the tv and watched two episodes of Twilight Zone.  Really fun!

We returned to Aunt Aggie, who was still rocking and rolling, and climbed into bed at 7:00 for two hours of deep sleep.  Our friends, Ron and Michelle on Spirit Journey, called at 9:00 am to chat.  They jokingly said they were waiting in the lake for us.  Where were we?  They had better protection at Frankfort, 45 miles south, than we had.  But we're all stuck in place until Thursday.

The wind is high again today.  I left the boat mid-morning and went to pay for a few more days stay and had a good chat with the dock master.  Then I went to the grocery and dumped our trash. Even with the high winds, tourists are all around Fishtown.  In a few minutes we are meeting the crew from Southern Comfort in the lounge to chat and maybe play cards.

Now we are used to getting off and on the boat in the wind, so we're not worried about falling.

Sunday in Leland

 View of Leland River from Bluebird Restaurant

We had a lovely morning in Leland.  We had coffee and read the Atlanta newspaper.  Then we went
to brunch at the Bluebird Restaurant.  It was terrific.  They had delicious eggs, french toast, sausage and bacon + potatoes (no grits, George noted). Then a table of tasty dips.  I tried warm artichoke and parmesan, one of my favorites, and asparagus hummus (a new taste). There was a separate fruit display and two tables of desserts.  I could not eat any desserts, but I enjoyed something from every other category.

You know you're in a touristy place when the grocery looks like this. 

We had a good chat with Caronell, a friend from home.  Then we ran into the grocery for more Michigan wine. As we walked back to the boat, thunder started booming.  We could see dark clouds on the lake.  A storm was coming. We had several hours of rain, but Aunt Aggie was snug and dry.  I finished a silly, fun novel, Tricky Business, by Dave Barry, and George did some engineering work.

We had a long talk with Jessie, our daughter-in-law, on the phone.

I took this photo to show the water rushing through the marina, but you can't really

get the effect.  Beyond the breakwater, there are whitecaps on the lake.

The sun came out, I went for a walk, and George took a nap.  We have a few more folks to call, and then we might play bridge online.  The first calm weather day this week is Thursday, so we have lots of time on our hands.

Note:  I added a paragraph about Charlevoix to my Top Towns page today.

Exploring Fishtown at Leland

We are in Leland, Michigan, which has preserved its Fishtown.  Every village on the lake used to have a fish town, the part of the town down by the water where fish were off loaded, sold, and smoked. Lots of these have been lost.  They were torn down to make room for condos and shops.
Not in Leland.  Here they saved the buildings along the Leland River inside the breakwater.  Some of the buildings are repurposed as food shacks; some are homes; some are ice cream or The Dam Candy Store; but some still sell smoked fresh fish.  Today George and I took a walk around Fishtown. This was just our first pass; we will explore more in the days to come. This was George's first walk for pleasure in two weeks.

Here is a view from the top of the hill. The river runs through Fishtown. 

A shoe store in Fishtown uses Topsiders as planters.  

I will do this at home.

We said a sad good-bye to Dan and Sue this morning when they took off for Frankfort at 8:00 am.
They are good friends, and we will miss them.  They cooked a feast for us last night:  pork loin, potatoes, corn on the cob, peas, bread, and apple sauce.  It was a treat.  Today they decided to move on.  The wave heights and wind speeds were just beyond our comfort level, so we stayed here. I hope
we can catch up to them again soon.

There are two other looper boats here, but we have not met them yet.  Something else to put on the To Do List.  We will be staying at least until Wednesday unless the forecast changes.  So we have time to shop in Leland and meet new boating friends.

We are tucked inside the breakwater here at Leland Harbor. 

There are whitecaps in the lake, and the wind is picking up.

We expect high winds for several days.

We have lots of lines on Aunt Aggie and are snug here.

Made it to Leland, MI

Leaving Charlevoix behind five other boats at 11:00 am.

We left Charlevoix today with Tranquility (Sue and Dan) and Corsair (new friends from CA and Utah).  We heard the waves and wind were going down in the afternoon, so we waited until 11:00 am. 

The first hour was bumpy with waves 2 - 3 feet high, with a gentle curve more like swells.  They were coming on our bow.  

The second hour we crossed the opening to Grand Traverse Bay, and the waves stayed from the southwest. They did not diminish, but they didn't get worse either. After we passed the mouth of the bay, the waves did lessen.  They were 1 -2 feet in height, on the bow or starboard and choppy.  There were whitecaps forming.  I spent the four hours playing solitaire, knitting, and fixing George snacks.  I only drove when he took a bathroom break.  

Here is Aunt Aggie on the low seas. The travel was uncomfortable but not dangerous.

That's about as good as I can hope for these days.

We came into Leland Harbor at 3:30 pm and got a slip right beside Tranquility.  They invited us for a dinner feast, so we are pretty excited.  It is a beautiful afternoon.  The marina is filling up.  The dock master said we will not be traveling until Tuesday.  I have not checked out the town, but the marina building is new and very nice.  So we are settling in here for a while. 

A couple more photos from Charlevoix:  There was a man-made trout stream

near the marina office. 

Speckled trout in the stream look content.

Charlevoix the Beautiful!

I didn't take any photos today in Charlevoix the Beautiful. 

Here is Asa the Adorable looking askance at something in San Francisco,

with mighty dog Oji at his side.

That is the city slogan: Charlevoix the Beautiful!  Gutsy call but true.  This is a lovely, active city.
There was a yoga class in the park at 8:30 am.  I was being lazy, so I watched from afar. A bit later I went to the farmers market and bought peaches, tomatoes, potatoes, and a small berry pie.

George and Dave from Penny Pinchin' took our bow thruster to an electric motor repair shop in a nearby town. That was a morning field trip.  Today is Dave's birthday, so I'm glad that it was an easy errand. This afternoon George called Ray, a motor parts dealer in the Northeast and paid for the parts we need. Ray will send those to John, the motor repair man. John will fix the motor and send it to a marina further down Lake Michigan, where we will retrieve it and get it reinstalled by a mechanic.  Even though this has its Rube Goldberg aspects, we are hopeful that this will work.

George has been doing a good job pulling into slips and making turns without the bow thruster.  However, it is difficult with any wind or current or limited space. So maybe in a week we will have our bow thruster and be able to move with abandon.

Louie on his way to Japan this summer.

The weather here is gusty.  Winds are around 20 mph.  They will quiet after midnight.  Most loopers are traveling tomorrow when the wind is predicted at 10 - 15 mph from the west, and waves will be
2 - 3 feet.  Even though that is not my favorite traveling scenario, I do want to go.

We have spent three nights here. We have only gone 60 miles or 17% of the trip in five days.  At this rate we will spend a month on Lake Michigan.  Our whole schedule will back up.  We are resigned to having a travel day and three or more days in port, but it is a slow life.

We will go to Leland tomorrow along with Tranquility and Corsair, our neighbors.  Always Home is coming too from Petosky.  I expect to see Seahorse there also.  So once we arrive, we will have several boats with whom to celebrate.  Our trip tomorrow is only 35 miles, which will take four hours. They may be 4 uncomfortable hours, but I am trying not to fret.

Since we are in port, I pulled out the crock pot today and cooked a pot roast.  I just added potatoes, onions, and carrots.  Yum!  I am making tiny cooked potato appetizers for docktails tonight since I have so much time.  Recipe:  Cut small red potato in half.  Cut a slice off the rounded end, so the potato sits level. Boil potatoes for about 5 minutes til cooked but not mushy. Bring to room temperature on a platter.  Top with French Onion Dip (my favorite food) and a slice of black olive.
Voilá!

First day of school for Addie, and supportive sister, Zoe.

Charlevoix is charming!

Looking toward Round Lake from Charlevoix Marina

We've had a great day in Charlevoix.  We slept in til 7:00 am and called the marina office at 8:00 to say that we want to stay another day.  They can only take reservations on the day that you arrive.  After breakfast I did a bit of house cleaning, and George started on some engineering work.  

I went for a walk with Sue and Dan (our next door neighbors on Tranquility) to look at the mushroom houses.  This is an interesting architectural phenomenon in Charlevoix.  In the early 20th century Earl Young designed and built several of these houses using local stone. He wanted the houses to fit the land. Mr. Young only had one year of architecture school and began by building a house for his family.  Then he bought land on a high point here and built several of the houses.  A new mushroom house is being built in this neighborhood on Park Avenue.  It has a thatch roof, which I have never seen on a house in the 21st century. 

This is a half house. The roof is cedar shingles.

The houses have unusual curves.  When I visited, I felt as though I was looking into a fairy tale.

After our walk I had lunch and a short nap before going to the movies with George.  The cinema is right downtown and has three movies with matinees.  We saw The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  Did you watch the TV show when you were a kid?  I was in love with Illya Kuryakin.  The movie was fun because of the ancient (1960s era) technology, the clothes, and the Cold War mentality.

We had a large crowd of loopers for docktails tonight.  We met loopers from Texas, California and New Orleans.  Also Penny Pinchin' and Tranquility came.  Lots of jokes were made about the wind and putting the boat up for sale or winter storage.  We are all in the same boat here, stuck by the wind. But this is a great town in which to be stuck. 

This morning Corsair, a 42 foot Grand Banks, left the dock at 8:00 am.  We thought, oh well, they are so much bigger than we, they will be ok with this weather.  At 10:00 am they came back.  They said it was just too rough.  They were being tossed all around the boat.  The south wind coming up Grand Traverse Bay was terrible.  We will all stay put tomorrow.  We hope we can move on Friday.  

We had a big group for docktails at Charlevoix.

Charlevoix, MI

Woohoo!  We made it to Charlevoix today.  The weather was good for us.  We had cloudy skies and calm wind.  For most of our 54 mile trip, we had waves under two feet.  Around 12:45 pm we had two foot seas on our port and 2 - 3 foot swells behind us.  So there was about 45 minutes of confused seas that were bumpy and not fun.  George did a good job controlling the boat. Otherwise, we had good travels.  We arrived in Charlevoix at 2:30, came through the bridge and into the municipal marina.

 George is driving the boat on Lake Michigan.

When the water was swirling around us, I tried to take a photo,

but I cannot really capture the liveliness.

This is a wonderful boating town.  Michigan built marinas along the coast, so boating would be safe. The buildings and docks are new and well maintained. There is a charming town right off the water with a grocery, shops, banks, restaurants and pubs.  The marina has a park and a water pad for children.  In the park right now the community band is playing their Tuesday night concert.  We have our doors open, so we can hear it.

The Community Band ends their concert with "Stars and Stripes Forever."

Tomorrow I have lots of possible activities.  We can walk to a cinema for the matinee showing.  We can also walk a few blocks to see the mushroom houses.  Someone has built several houses shaped like mushrooms. Cathe Echterhoff had told me about them over the weekend.  Today I saw information, so I can go and check them out.  We can also do some boat maintenance.

We will be in Charlevoix for a few days since high winds are coming tomorrow.  We are well tied and
content to stay here and explore. Dan and Sue from Tranquility are beside us in this slip. Penny Pinchin' is here too.  So glad to be under way on Lake Michigan!

"Should I stay or should I go? If I stay there will be trouble, and if I go it will be double."

This morning we got up at 5:00 am and made our preparations to leave St. Ignace at 7:00.  A rain storm came through about then, so we waited an hour.  We stood up to take off our lines and realized we were fogged in.  So we waited another couple of hours for the fog to lift. By then it was getting late for us to drive 60 miles to Charlevoix.  Should we stay at St. Ignace another night? Should we go on to Charlevoix? Should we change our route and go to Beaver Island instead?  So many decisions!

We had already debated the weather forecast:  Winds from the NW at 10 mph, showers and thunderstorms, and waves 2 - 3 feet high.  This is not my favorite traveling weather, but I fear this is life on Lake Michigan.  The dock master told me we would not get a better wave height than that.
He looked at me incredulously and asked, "Are you bothered by the rocking?" Well, hell yeah.
The Tennessee-Tombigbee River now looks like nirvana.  All we worried about there was being run over by barges and getting stuck on the river bottom.

Do you remember your literature studies?  Good stories have a conflict.  There are three main types:
man against himself; man against man; man against nature.  Today we have worked through all three.

Man against himself:  I am afraid of venturing out onto Lake Michigan for 60 miles.  I have heard so many scary stories of storms coming up and forecasts that change and high wave situations. Once
we reach the Charlevoix area, we can travel just 30 - 40 miles each day.  This first jump is a big one though.  I am tired of being worried and scared; it wears me out.  I did not sleep well last night, and I was emotional today as I tried to sort through facts and hypotheses.

Man against man:  George and I discuss and research in these situations until we are both sick of each other and the problem.

Man against nature:  I will have to live with some discomfort on Lake Michigan in order to reach Chicago.  However, it is hard for me to set out in the morning with fog or rain.

So this was a hard morning.  I walked down to talk to the dock master, Kevin, and after he shook his head and seemed surprised by my limitations, he followed me back on the dock and made a suggestion. He said we should go over to Mackinaw City.  It's just an hour.  It would get us started, and we would be across the strait, which is full of ferries and swirling water.

It turned out to be a good idea, and I appreciate his help.  We waited for the fog and took off about 10:00 am.  We were waked by four ferries on our way over to Mac City, and everything fell.  But we got into a new spot a bit closer to our goal for tomorrow.

I took a long nap after lunch, did laundry and took a walk.  This is an upscale tourist village with lots of fudge and popcorn shops and restaurants.  Tomorrow we will try again.

Here is the bridge that connects upper and lower Michigan at St. Ignace. 

That commercial freighter came under toward us as we crossed.

Mackinac Island

George, Martha, Cathe, and Tom

Last night we went to dinner with Cathe and Tom and watched fireworks.  Cathe has a goal to spend the night in every US state, and she has visited two with us:  Delaware and Michigan. I like those kind of reachable goals. Today we said good-bye to Cathe and Tom and then got on a ferry to Mackinac Island.  It was so fun to be with them, and they were helpful.  (They took me to the grocery and delivered us to the ferry station.)

We enjoyed our day on the island.  Since George has a hurt ankle, we took the horse drawn carriage tour.  We usually would walk or bike.  This was a new experience.  The guides were knowledgeable and witty.  The ride was comfortable.

We heard the history of the island and experienced both the touristy and the forested areas.
There are many historic buildings preserved as well as Fort Mackinac, which saw action in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. There has been peace on the island since 1815. Most of the island was a native American burial ground when the Europeans arrived.  There are three cemeteries:  Catholic, Protestant, and post - for the soldiers who died at the fort.

       

Mackinac Island is a state park. In this part the only sound was the clip clop of the horses.

The guides are connected with their horse teams and groom the horses each morning.  The horses were formerly workhorses on Amish farms.  They work from ages 5 - 20ish. On the island they work four hours a day. There was a good bit of horse poop chat.  While the guide was talking about the horses, he said, "Beefaroni." George and I were the only ones to get the Kramer reference.

Richard, Hannah, and Chance were our second team for the forested section.

Random Facts: John Jacob Astor made millions in the fur trade here. There are now 18 fudge shops.  There can be 4 - 6 weddings on a weekend. Lilacs were brought to the island from France. They have a public school with 80 - 100 students. They have no buses, and no snow days. The population is about 500 year round. The Grand Hotel is the largest employer. It was built in just 93 days.

Arch Rock 

St. Ignace, MI

Sunset last night at Drummond Island, MI. 

Today we came across Lake Huron to St. Ignace, Michigan.  We are in the Upper Peninsula.

The water was glassy as we crossed fifty miles of lake.  We are amazed at how smooth these last three days have been.  This gives us hope for our travels on Lake Michigan.

As we left Drummond Island, we passed this large commercial ship and

a tow pulling a double barge. It's been a long time since we faced commercial traffic.

We had to pay close attention with the binoculars.

We heard three security calls this week.  Here are the reasons the US Coast Guard is sending out warnings on the lakes:

Thursday:  A 44 foot sailboat was taking on water and needed help near Turnbull Island in the Northern Channel.  We were approaching that spot, but since we move just 8 mph, they had been rescued by the time we got there.  A boat from North Channel Yacht Club came out and helped them and also towed them in to shore.

Friday:  A diver was in the water in the Mackinaw Strait, hanging on to the side of a boat.  That was far from us yesterday. There also seemed to be a partner in the water.

Today:  Be aware that a swimmer is in the water from 0600 hours until 1200 hours between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island, single-handedly towing a barge. What some people do on Saturday surprises me.

Our friends from Atlanta, Cathe and Tom, have been in Michigan for a week.  Today we met them in St. Ignace and had a great visit.  They came bearing goodies - wine, beer, and homemade cookies - and we heard about their touring near here.  Then we went to dinner. We returned to the boat and watched the sun set as we waited for fireworks. We had time to discuss our children, grandchildren, and mutual friends, so now we are all caught up.  An excellent fireworks display over the water started at 10:00, which is when it really gets dark.  Tomorrow they are returning to take me to the grocery.  

This sign was on the grocery store at Killarney.