Lake Michigan - Part I

 TRAVEL DAY 107 - Mackinac Island to Petoskey

August 31, 2023

7.7 Hours/58.6 Miles

    With high winds predicted for Lake Michigan in a few days, set to last 3 or 4 days and the Labor Day Weekend holiday, we decided to make our way to a safe harbor. A long travel day ahead of us, we steamed out of Mackinac Island Harbor. When I say steamed, the cold air and cool water of Lake Huron provided a steam stream from our exhaust as we traveled through the Straits of Mackinac and over to Mackinac City Marina to fill our fuel tanks. Being out of Canada meant more affordable fuel, and this marina provided the best fuel prices in the area.

 

Petoskey Municipal Marina

    Loaded and ready, we moved under the Mackinac Bridge, into Lake Michigan (the 3rd & last Great Lake of our trip) and around the Waugoshance Lighthouse headed south. This would be an uncharacteristic long travel day for us.

 

Mackinac Bridge 

Waugoshance Lighthouse

    Lake Michigan as any of the other Great Lakes is not to be underestimated or taken for granted. High winds on these lakes have created waves that have taken down many a seaworthy freighter and sent them to the bottom of 100 plus foot cold clear waters. Today however, we had a light chop and sun.

A smooth Lake Michigan

    Passing Sturgeon Bay and into Little Travers Bay on the west coast of Michigan, we targeted Petoskey. We had heard a lot about this little bay front town from the crew of Pony, a Looper we had traveled with on the Trent-Severn Waterway. We booked 2 nights at Petoskey Municipal Marina. Once we got here, we wanted to stay longer. The marina manager indicated there were no more vacancies, but when we checked on line the next day, our slip was available, so we snagged our 3rd Night. Success!

Runaway - Shorebilly Too - Better Together - Next Chapter - MV Side Trip

Petoskey - Day 2/3

    Friday morning we set out with Pickleball equipment and scooters to Riverbend Park for some exercise. When we arrived, there were 4 players but they made no indication they wanted anyone else to join in, so we just played singles on the other court. About an hour later, some folks showed up and we played them for a couple of hours more.

Downtown Petoskey (the sign to it anyway)

    More winds predicted, so we extended our stay an additional day. The extra day allowed me to clean the cruddy decks while the crew cleaned the interior.

Pau Hana (Done Working)

    We got the sad news that Jimmy Buffett had passed away. A few of the boaters got together and toasted the beach music troubadour with Margaritas and a rendition of "Margaritaville". To quote Buffett, "...I can't believe the old man's gone, but now he's incommunicado, leaving such a hole in a world that believed that a life with such bravado, was taking the right way home".

 

Toasting Jimmy Buffett

    The boat next to ours Reel Adventure Charters came back in from a day of pre-fishing for a tournament the next day. I was admiring his catch when he grabbed a King Salmon out of the cooler and sliced off 1 whole side for me. I told him there was no way we could eat all of that & that I would end up sharing it. Captain Craig's son said "no problem" & proceeded to give me more Lake Trout fillets. Only 1 thing to do now, docktales & a fish dinner!

The Crew of Angler Management

Fresh Fish & Friends

  

Mackinac Island to Petoskey

TRAVEL DAY 108 - Petoskey to Charlevoix

September 3, 2023

2.82 Hours/19.2 Miles

    We took a chance on the next day's weather and headed out early. The wind was mild and Little Travers Bay was pretty calm. We passed several boats fishing the tournament and headed out around Nine Mile Point, Big Rock Point and North Point to Charlevoix. I navigated the boat close to shore to dodge as much of the southwest wind as possible and although there were no whitecaps, there was an easy 4' swell with perhaps 2' waves on top. The period between the waves as probably 3 - 4 seconds so the ride was not uncomfortable. Once inside Charlevoix Harbor, the water flattened out nicely and we cruised the Pine River Inlet timing the US 31 bridge perfectly for a 10:30 am opening.

Michigan Beth

 

Charlevoix, MI

    The inlet opens up to Round Lake and the surrounding town of Charlevoix. We made our way to Wards Marina for a much needed but expensive $30 pump out. Once off the dock, we called Charlevoix Municipal to confirm our slip. Round Lake is so protected and the stiff SW wind wasn't apparent at all as I backed the Troll in for a starboard tie.

 

Perfect Timing

    What a great downtown, with tons of shops and restaurants. We walked the main street and found the Bridge Street Tap Room for an IPA and a killer grilled cheese sandwich. After lunch the crew shopped some and made a stop for ice cream. We are now "below the bridge (Mackinac Bridge) and Trolls live below the bridge. We fit right in. 

 

Charlevoix Trolls

    With one of the warmest days in awhile, we dropped the dinghy and headed to the end of Round Lake and into the larger Lake Charlevoix. Running Lil' Scuz through the immense lake and over a lot of boat wakes in the busy waterway, we made our way to the beach for a swim in the cold Michigan water. We chatted with the swimmers and watched them play a game of Frisbeer then back to the boat for Tacos & TV.

 

Frisbeer

Charlevoix - Day 2

    We couldn't tell it in our protected slip, but lake Michigan was blowing at 18 kts and expected to increase. Labor Day for this part of the US means the official end of summer and we expected to make the most of it.

 

Beach Day!

    While performing some maintenance, I opened a compartment to find that our holding tank had collapsed. This is not good. We had just had it pumped out and a collapsed tank can usually only mean one thing. The vent was clogged. Now how to re-inflate it? I decided to just keep flushing water until it "popped" back out. Once it did, I took a heat gun to the crease to straighten it back out. Once that was done, I cleaned the clogged vent out & we were back in business. Success!

The Little But Mighty Bridge Walk

 

Mushroom Houses

    I was able to get the repair done and still make the "Charlevoix's Little But Mighty Bridge Walk", a 35 year tradition that benefits the local food pantry. Afterwards we took a walk to see the "Mushroom Houses". These houses were designed by Earl Young, a self taught architect  appear to "sprout" out of the Charlevoix hills.

Mushroom House

Mushroom House

Petoskey to Charlevoix

       TRAVEL DAY 109 - Charlevoix to Leland

September 5, 2023

4.65 Hours/34.9 Miles

    More wind on the way so we made an early break for our next destination. Timing the 8 am bridge opening in Charlevoix, we pulled out of our slip at about 10 minutes to 8. Bridge up and we motored out of the inlet and into the harbor. The water looked good but I knew when we got to the opening of Grand Traverse Bay, the long fetch would provide some open exposure and a heavier sea condition. Manageable, but the waves did pick up and we rode them until we reached the south tip of the bay. At that point the seas calmed down and the remainder of the ride to Leland was perfect.

  

Goodbye Charlevoix

    We got into the stone jetty protected harbor with virtually no wind, bow in, port tie. Our intention was to stay 2 days but the weather forecast called for high winds for at least the next 3 days and a storm front was slated to move in the next day. 

High sand bluffs

    Leland is called Fishtown for the cute New England style buildings at the harbor and the fact that it is one of the last active fisheries in Michigan. The hills surrounding Leland and the adjacent shore of Lake Michigan here are massive sand dunes. The beaches are sandy with lines of polished oval stones in millions of color combinations and aggregates. At the Leland Beach, we sorted through thousands of stones and placed a few handfuls of them in our bag for some artsy project in the future as a reminder of the day.

 

Colorful rocks on the beach

    We strolled the town into some shops and the local distillery, Grand Traverse Distillery With a very nice Cocoa Bean Vodka in my hand, we made our way to Docktales at the marina boaters lounge. We got to meet a whole new group of Loopers, 1 that was starting their loop from here at the end of the month. We toasted the new Looper and the old.

Dove, Puffing, Regular Eggs, Sun Dancer, Surprise & Vamanos

Leland/Fishtown - Day 2/3

    

    Rain. Nice to be dry, but not a lot of fun to be stuck on the boat. At least we were in port and once the rain let up, I headed into town for more exploring, afterall, we hadn't tried the winery yet, and this part of Michigan has plenty of them. As the day progressed, more Loopers showed up and the late afternoon, there were 13 and more expected tomorrow.

 

Rain

    With a check on the wind & weather forecast, it looked as though Pau Hana would be in port for at least another day. Oh well, there are certainly worse places to be stuck and more places to explore.

 

Fishtown slough 

 

Leland

    No beach day today. The night brought a power outage to the marina and high winds that stirred up the clear harbor water to a pale silty green. We woke to 25 mph winds and cold temperatures. Another day at the dock.

 

Charlevoix to Leland