More Stops Along Lake Michigan

We left Mackinaw City Municipal Marina and went under Mackinaw Bridge at sunrise on Sunday, August 19. We traveled to Petoskey, Michigan, and stayed one night. Today was another windy day and we had a bumpy ride for a while. After getting settled into our slip at the marina in Petoskey, we explored the town for the afternoon, had dinner in town, and then called it a night.

Across from the marina in Petoskey was a sand castle that we were told was built by someone in one day. They had a sand castle building competition, and the one we saw was truly amazing.

From Petoskey we headed south on Lake Michigan to Charlevoix (20 August). Our plan was to go to Leland from Petoskey, but Leland was having thunderstorms and could not guarantee us a slip once we got there, so we decided to scoot into Charlevoix and wait out the weather. This was another very windy day and, as always, a challenge getting into a slip. Plus, we competed with a tour boat, “Emerald Isle,” for space as we approached the Charlevoix swing bridge. Size does matter, and we moved over as much as we could so the tour boat could get past us before we attempted to go through the bridge. Thankfully, the captains on both boats were competent!

In Charlevoix, there were beautiful homes along the shore line as you go under the lift bridge. One home is so beautifully landscaped it looks like a home that you would see in a Thomas Kincaid painting.

Both Petoskey and Charlevoix were good stops with nice marinas and good restaurants in town, and convenient to just about anything needed.

We left Charlevoix on 21 August and made our way to Frankfort and stayed at Jacobson Marina for one night. This was another nice marina with friendly staff and clean facilities. We walked into town, which was within walking distance of the marina, window shopped, and had dinner. We were visited by an injured swan who hung around our boat for some time. As you can see, one of its legs appears to be injured. We say “appeared” because after Mike gave him/her a slice of bread, he/she put its leg down and swam away normally. We may have been conned by a bird!!!


On Wednesday, 22 August, we headed to Pentwater, MI and stayed at Snug Harbor Marina for two nights because of rain and thunderstorms. We had a rough ride from Frankfort to Pentwater and were once again glad to be in a marina. There were several other “Loopers” here when we arrived. We all had happy hour later in the evening on picnic tables at the dock. The next evening, we enjoyed a band concert in the local park. These concerts are performed by local musicians, as well as visiting musicians, once a week at 8:00 p.m. during the summer months. There was a Farmer's Market in the park on Thursday, with a variety of home grown vegetables, home made cookies, herbs, and other goodies. Snug Harbor Marina had very nice facilities with a large, clean laundry. Large laundries at marinas are the exception rather than the norm.

We decided to leave Pentwater for Grand Haven Municipal Marina on Friday, 24 August, at 8:00 a.m. Today was the roughest day we have had on the water since we began the trip. We were in 3 to 5 foot seas, and occasional 7 to 8 foot seas, most of the trip. Thank goodness, the wind was not howling to add to the discomfort. It also rained off and on the whole trip, and as our luck for today would have it, it was raining as we docked the boat. We made it to our slip and were exhausted after such a trying day on the water. We wanted to take pictures of the waves, but it would have been dangerous.

While in Grand Haven, we were visited Friday afternoon by friends Ginger and Laura on STARGAZER, who finished the loop in July. In this picture you see Ginger and Laura in the blue shirts, Mike's brother Tom, and sister in law Sue, plus Mike and Cathy from XPLORER. Ginger and Laura live in Muskegon, which is not far from Grand Haven, so they drove over to see us on Friday afternoon. We went to dinner and had an enjoyable evening with them. We were very happy to see them again.

Other boating friends we made while traveling along the Tenn-Tom, Keith and Becky from MORGAN’S DREAM, drove from Saugatuck to see us on Saturday. They were kind enough to drive us to a Super Wal-Mart to provision once again. We hope to see them again in Knoxville in late October or early November as they make their way back south for the winter. We can’t believe we failed to get a picture of them while they were with us. We were having such a good time we didn't even think about taking pictures.

On Sunday, long-time Army friends, Mike and Pat, drove from Kalamazoo to visit with us. We were stationed together several times, and the two Mikes deployed together several times as well. It was so good to see them again. We have not seen them in nearly ten years, and it was good to catch up on everything with them. We are not going to wait ten years to see them again.

One of the highlights of the town of Grand Haven is the musical light and water show on the waterfront every evening at 9:30pm. On a hillside overlooking the marina (we had front row seats), there is an area about 100 yards wide that has numerous water fountains and multi-colored lights installed. There is also a very good sound system. As music is played over the sound system, water is directed into the air about fifty feet, moving back and forth and up and down in sync with the music. The colored lights provide a surreal background for all of this, and the results are absolutely fantastic.

We enjoyed our stay at Grand Haven, but we had to move on while the winds and seas were somewhat calm. So, we left Grand Haven Marina on Monday, 27 August and headed to Saugatuck for a night. Saugatuck is a fun town with many unique shops and arts and crafts, but the marina we stayed in left a lot to be desired.

Across the harbor from Saugatuck in Douglas, MI, is the SS Keewatin, a retired Lake Michigan steamship. This ship was the last of the coal burning overnight passenger steamships that sailed the Great Lakes. This ship served the Great Lakes for 57 years. It was built in 1907, retired in 1965, and arrived in Saugatuck in June 1967. According to one of the locals, the ship was bought by the owner of Tower Marine, who had the ship dry docked and turned it into a museum. Unfortunately, we did not get to tour the museum.

On 28 August, we arrived at South Haven Municipal Marina. We will be here until Friday, 31 August, at which time we will cross Lake Michigan to Chicago. We will spend Labor Day weekend in Chicago. We will also have a crew change in Chicago. Brother Tom and sister-in-law Sue will disembark Irish Ayes and head for Cincinnati for a few days until they fly back to California. Brother Jerry will come aboard with us for the trip back to Knoxville. Stay tuned…