Michigan:Charlevoix Frankfort, Pentwater, GrandHaven, Holland (Days 107-111)

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Leaving Mackinac Island was calm but foggy and spooky.
This is the Mackinac Bridge off our port(left) and starbord(right) bow.
We could see this big guy on our radar long before he emerged from the fog.  We were going about 8 knots and he was bearing down on our exact same heading at 15 knots.  Obviously, we changed our course.
We made our way all the way to Charlevoix in one day.  At this point we were making haste to get to Holland to help my mom with my Dad’s “party” of remembrance.
We were lucky that the municipal marina right in town had a cancellation.  They called us while we were waiting for the draw bridge to the harbor to open. This is a very nice marina with a splash pad for the children and a fish pond with fish food dispensers.
We of course went paddle boarding.  We also went shopping and I got a new dress so Mike took me out to dinner.
We were even treated to a concert in the park next to the marina.
The next day we set our course for Frankfort, Mi.  We enjoyed seeing all the dunes on the shoreline.
The most famous dune is Sleeping Bear Dune. This 450 foot dune is part of the National Seashore Park.  The Sleeping Bear is an Ojibway legend about a bear and her two cubs who swam across Lake Michigan.  The cubs didn’t make it and the mother bear was looking out to sea and was buried by the sand.  The two islands off shore, North and South Manitou Islands, represent the cubs.
We also passed the Point Bessie Light House. Another well known Michigan landmark on the lake that has been in operation since 1858.
After docking in Frankfort, we took our dinghy  out for a ride to the beach. The water was a warm 76 degrees. See the dunes behind us.
After dinner we took another dinghy  ride around to meet some loopers anchored in the bay.  We noticed a beautiful sunset was going down so Mike wanted to race out to the beach.
And we made it.  I did make Mike give up his shirt for me because I thought it would be too cold.  Sure glad he made me go.  It was a beautiful sight.
I took these photos of the pier and the Coast Guard station as we left Frankfort in the morning.
Leaving early has its rewards.  The sunrise was beautiful coming over the dunes along the lakeshore.
The wind picked up a little bit by the time we arrived in Pentwater.  Mike went out kiteboarding and I rode my bike around town and was able to get just close enough to get a picture.
This was a long run and we were tired but we didn’t want to miss another great guitar player at a local pub.
The weather was a bit iffy but we wanted to try to get to Holland before the storms came in.  As we approached Grand Haven, we could see we weren’t going to make it so we ducked into the harbor for a very late lunch. These are some photos from the channel side restaurant where we had lunch. You can see the Jackie B waaaay back in the photo on the right.
We had just missed the Coast Guard Festival and this ship was just leaving.  The town in really cute and there is a lot of art work on the channel walk.  The storms passed south of us so we decided to venture out into the lake for the short run to Holland.  Well the waves were larger than forcasted and we had a rough run.  The dinghy  fell off the lift on the back of the boat and we had too much excitement but not enough hands to take photos.  It really was a dangerous situation with me at the helm in high seas and Mike on the swim platform trying to save our dinghy . We had to slow down and tow the dinghy in. We made it into Holland just as the sun was setting.
As you can see the dinghy and Mike both survived. These are Lindsay’s oldest two going for a ride with Zoom.  “Big Red” is the beautiful lighthouse marking the Holland Harbor.
Our son Rob’s oldest two got to run the dinghy. I think they like it.
We see lots of ships coming into harbor from our slip at the marina.
The kids were with us at the pool when another big one was going out.
We were really luckily to get this shot of this ship all lit up leaving the harbor as we just returned to the boat after dinner at my mom’s house.
 
This is the view from our bedroom window at my Mom’s where we will be staying after we put the boat away for the winter. Meeting with the doctors in October to get my knees fixed.  Hopefully we can continue the Loop in 2023.
Our Journey
“If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.” 
St. Thomas Aquinas



 

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