Upper Lake Michigan

Oh my gosh!

What a surprise it was to pull into Leland Harbour and find this wonderful old, but restored, fishing village. They call it the historic Fishtown. It was once a thriving fishing port but now the small fishing shanties and related buildings such as smoke house and ice hut have been converted to gift shops. There is still a fishing operation there today but it is also full of tourists.

Fishtown 

 

Unfortunately we don’t have a cruising guide for Lake Michigan so we have no idea what to expect when we pull into these ports but luckily we have Pat and Lynn off of Adamant 1 who are travelling with us. They have been to all these places before and seem to enjoy being our tour guides.

Adamant 1

 

One thing I will say......Lake Michigan is a freaking big lake! The beauty is breathtaking with mountainous sand dunes, beautiful beaches, crystal clear turquoise blue water and colourful towns every 25 miles or so. But it goes on forever! We have been on this lake for over a week and we are only half way down. It doesn’t help that every time we move it seems we have the wind straight on the nose but, hey, that’s sailing. Every sailor dreams of those perfect days with flat seas, 20 knots of wind, on a beam reach... but we also know that only happens a couple of times a year...if that... so we take what we get and make the most of it.

From Leland we sailed to Arcadia (not Frankfort like I said in the last post). We only stayed the night so can’t say much about it. Today we sailed in rain and fog to Pentwater, another funky town. Very nice. Tomorrow we are sailing to Whitehall......but more about that....next time.

 

Beaver Island

 

Leaving Charlevoix

 

Huge sand dunes line the shore.

 

and beaches

 

Leland

We are on our way to Frankfort today but thought I needed to post some pictures of Leland, where we were yesterday. 

But more about that ...... next time.

Charlevoix

As much as we wanted to stay, we knew we had to leave Beaver Island.  The next day we motored to Charlevoix. If we hadn't left when we did we would have been stuck there for days as bad weather came..... in spades!  So here we are held up in Charlevoix instead. Lol.

 

I will say, there are worse places to be "stuck".   Charlevoix, in my opinion, rates a 10 in the Wow factor.  This is not a sleepy little town.  Instead it's a bustling, artsy fartsy, affluent, area filled with nautically inspired boutiques, pubs and restaurants.   There are lots of art galleries too, which I LOVE and artists painting on the dock that lines the beautiful waterfront.

 

Just beyond the harbour where we are anchored is the magnificent Lake Charlevoix and it is big.....huge in fact, and is like no place I have ever been.  There is no way we could have explored it all with our dinghy.  The lake is long and narrow with high hills on either side.  The shores are lined with massive homes, parkland, and beaches.  Pictures do not do it justice

.

Since we've been here we have had all kinds of weather.  The first day, just after we anchored, it started to rain and we thought it would never end.  It came in buckets along with thunder and lightning.  It did stop, of course, but then the wind came and blew all night between 30 and 40 knots with gusts to 45 knots!   Needless to say we didn't sleep much that night.  The next day was perfect and we could have left but I was out voted by 5 other people.  Since then, the wind has picked up again and coming from the direction we want to go.

 

 

 

  The entrance from Lake Michigan

  The town at sunset.

  Folly in the background

  Many beautiful homes.

 

  One of several "mushroom homes" built in this area by the same person.

 

  View of the harbour from the shoreline park.

  On Lake Charlevoix.

 

  A public beach on Lake Charlevoix

Of course, I'm not complaining; and like I said, there are worse places to be held up.  We will be here until Thursday and, believe it or not, we haven't decided where our next destination will be.  We will just have to see where the wind takes us.  But more about that.....next time.

Beaver Island

Up until now we have been sailing in familiar water but once we passed under the Mackinaw Bridge and entered Lake Michigan we felt like the adventure was about to begin.

We had an epic sail from St. Ignace to Beaver Island and when we arrived we found this spectacular protected harbour and the quaint town of St. James.  How is it that we have never heard of this place? 

After we explored the area today we found it to be rich in history.  It would be a wonderful place to visit and spend time exploring but we need to move on.

Tomorrow we will sail to Charlevoix Michigan.  But more about that....next time.

Mackinac Island

St Ignace Harbour light

 

Who would have thought checking into the U.S. would be such a hassle? After 6 hours they finally cleared us and we were on our way. I know the border control officers are just doing their jobs but, honestly, that was ridiculous! It’s over now. We all (us and the two other boats checking in) figured we would make terrible inmates. 

 

We couldn’t wait to get going the next morning so that’s exactly what we did. It was another early start as we had about 45 miles to go and we wanted to arrive while there was still some day left to enjoy. Since there was no room in the marina at Mackinac Island, we took a very nice slip in the lovely town of St. Ignace.

St. Ignace is a town on the mainland just a short ferry ride to Mackinac Island. If you have never been to Mackinac I highly recommend it. No motor vehicles are allowed on the island and as a result horse and buggy, or bicycles, are all you will see. How cool is that?! Today we spent the day exploring this unique place and had a great time doing so.

Tomorrow we will sail under the Mackinac bridge into Lake Michigan.....another milestone....but more about that.....next time.



 

 

 

 

 

Traffic cop

 

North Channel

If I didn’t know better I’d think I was on vacation.  You’d never know we were on a schedule.   Life on Folly has been fun and relaxing just as it should be.  From Killarney we made our way west making decisions on the fly and going wherever the spirit and the wind decided to take us.

 

Our first stop was East Rouse, which is not much of an anchorage, but it didn’t matter to us as we only planned to stay the night.  There were four boats there when we pulled in and, believe it or not, they were all from the Midland Bay Sailing Club!  It was nice to catch up with Nick and Sandy on Mistral and Peter on Gesundheit. 

 

The next morning as we headed for Gore Bay we made a split decision to turn north.  We couldn’t help it!  It was like a force out of our control.  We were drawn to the Benjamin’s like dust to a t.v.   It was a beautiful hot sunny day and it just made sense.  After all, it’s going to be a very long time before we come this way again.  We were so glad we did that.  The anchorage was quiet, the weather was gorgeous, and, as always, the scenery was breathtaking.  We only stayed a day but we savored every minute.

 

We did go to Gore Bay the following morning, and low and behold we met more M.B.S.C. folks.  Bruce and Denise off of Oblio are great friends and it was such a treat to spend time with them before we head south and lucky for us we met his nephew Henry and his wife Linda from Kitty Kat who are also doing the same trip as us. 

 

It was an early start when we left Gore Bay.  The sky was grey and it was lightly raining but the wind was good.  We wanted to make it to Meldrum Bay about 25 miles to the west but, true to fashion, we changed our minds once we got to open water and decided to go straight to Milford Haven, which was 57 miles away.  Thinking it’s better to be ahead of schedule than behind, we were, once again, happy with our decision.  Besides, Pat and Lynn from Adamant 1 were there and we were anxious to see them.  

Sunset at the Benjamin's

 

 

 

We needed a burgee line.  I was voluntold to go up the mast to attach it to the first spreader

 

 Love bugs....look at the heart!



 

 Harley

 

 Folly

 

 South Benjamin's

 

 South Benjamin's

 

 Me

 

Today as we sit in our anchorage we can see Drummond Island across the channel.  Tomorrow we check into the States but more about that.......next time

Hope Island and Beyond

Hope Island and Beyond

What a way to start!  It was a fantastic sail out to Hope Island that first day.  The wind hovered around 25 knots and the waves were tame.  By the time we got there Greg, Nancy, Noah and Sarah were waiting for us on their boat Windsperation.  In case you don’t know them, this is Harley’s brother and family.  We always have an awesome time when we are with them and this was no exception.  We swam and ate and totally blissed out together on laughter. 

Too bad they couldn’t come with us but they all have jobs so we had to say our goodbyes on Sunday.  It’s also unfortunate that I have no pictures to share of them as my camera decided to give me grief.   I did, thankfully, get it working again.  Better late than never I suppose.

After a very rocky night at anchor we headed out at 0400 Monday morning.  It’s a long 90-nautical-mile trip from Hope to Killarney.  The conditions were favourable for most of the day.  As expected, the wind died for a couple of hours but it picked up again and when it did it was fabulous!  As good as it gets!!  It took us 14 ½ hours.  Not bad.

We love this area and the North Channel but this time we are just passing through.   Next week we check into the States at Drummond Island.  But more about that…. next time….

Day One

Day One

Right on schedule.  Today under sunny skies, and after years of preparation and joy in our hearts, we untied the dock lines to begin this new chapter in our lives.  One we hope will be filled with wondrous adventure and exciting challenges. 

Nobody is more surprised than me that we actually made this date that we set months ago.  It wasn’t easy, as we ran into a few obstacles, but we worked through it tirelessly.  We now have renters ready to move into our house September 1st, I have the support of my entire family to help make sure my mom is taken care of, Folly is in great shape, and the horrendous amount of forms have been filled out.  We're as ready as we ever will be.  So. ....in the spirit of the Olympic Games that are just starting too......let the games begin.

Today we will sail to Hope Island where we will wait for the right wind to sail the length of Georgian Bay.  But more about that next time…..