Lake Michigan, the Adventure Continues

We have had an incredible journey. Having traveled 2,329.74 nautical miles since leaving our home port of St. James, NC in April, our beloved 340 Sundancer was getting tired. She had traveled 14,167 nautical miles in her nine years. We spent two weeks in Charlevoix looking at all options and on Wednesday, September 14th we traveled to Traverse City to pick up our new Regal Commodore 4060. After three days of intense effort, moving from one boat to another we departed Traverse City to continue toward Chicago on Lake Michigan. Traveling the 28 mile length of Grand Traverse Bay and back into Lake Michigan, our first stop along this incredible coastline was Leland with its National Landmark District called Fish Town, a collection of ancient ice and fish shanties along the Leland River, now specialty shops and restaurants. An enjoyable stop, we were happy to, once again be exploring unknown territory on this incredible adventure. The coastline of Western Michigan is beautiful with tall bluffs and sand dunes, some as much as 480 feet tall. The sight from the water was breathtaking as we cruised past Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park with its tall sand dunes, white beaches and forested bluffs. Along the way we stopped at Frankfort which was tucked behind the breakwaters on Lake Betsie. Our next stop was Ludington, a small waterfront town, then on to Grand Haven a proud Coast Guard city.The Grand Haven waterfront facing the Grand River is the location of a stadium from which to view the “world famous” Musical Fountain with synchronized water, music and colored lights. We were disappointed to learn that they only perform on Friday and Saturday evenings this time of year, we had arrived on Sunday. With a rain delay on Monday we were delighted when there was an unscheduled performance by the Musical Fountain! A real treat! Continuing on, we stopped at St. Joseph, Michigan and from there made the trip across Lake Michigan to Chicago. Being a foggy day we were unable to see land for most of the trip. The skyline of the Windy City gradually came into view through the fog as we neared the coast once again. We are currently enjoying this magnificent city.

Carp Captives in Beautiful Charlevoix, Michigan

What are Carp Captives? Carp Captives are boaters wishing to transit the Illinois River south from Chicago through a one mile stretch where the Army Corps of Engineers have set up an electronic Carp barrier in an attempt to stop the spread of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes. This river is the only option for those of us traveling the Great Loop along with many other pleasure boaters. The recent news is that pleasure boats may transit by being towed through the affected area after turning off and disconnecting all electrical systems on the boat. The back log of boats waiting to go through is beginning to work through; we plan to resume our trip this week, arriving in Chicago around the 26^th of September. In the meantime, we have been enjoying beautiful Charlevoix. On September 1^st we cruised through the draw bridge separating Lake Michigan from Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix where we proceeded to Hemingway Point to visit our friends Bob and Janet Halderman. What a wonderful visit, great food and great friends! Of course, what do boaters do when not on ones own boat? They ride on a boat belonging to someone else. This time on a tour of Lake Charlevoix and over to Little Traverse Bay to see the beautiful lakeside villages of Bay Harbor, Petosky and Harbor Springs on a Chamber of Commerce gorgeous day on Lake Michigan aboard the “Heaven Too”.

Thank you very much, Bob and Janet! After our visit, we returned to Round Lake and the beautiful village of Charlevoix with its excellent City Marina complete with dancing waters where children may “beat the heat”. We continue to enjoy this beautiful area with its lovely lakeside homes and the whimsical “Mushroom Houses” built by Earl Young between 1918 and 1973 using the areas natural elements and thousand of rocks and boulders left by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age. We have enjoyed the areas extensive bike trails as well while awaiting resolution of the Asian Carp situation.

Storms Over Mackinac

The Canadian portion of our adventure came to a close on Friday, August 28th when we checked back into the United States through Customs at Drummond Island, Michigan. Our trip through the waterways of Canada exceeded our expectations! It was an incredible adventure with memories we will cherish for many years. We departed the North Channel a few days early as the weather forecast predicted deteriorating conditions. We headed to the customs dock at Drummond Island arriving at 9AM planning to cross Lake Huron before the wind picked up in the afternoon to find the Customs office didn’t open until noon (information not contained in our cruising publications). Once the paperwork was completed, we headed through De Tour Passage into Lake Huron where, as predicted, the swells were beginning to build and the winds were increasing. Our speed being an asset on this occasion, we covered the 45 miles in two and a half hours arriving at Mackinac Island at 3:30, happy to be securely tied to the dock and excited at the prospect of exploring this charming island with horse drawn carriages carrying tourists and Victorian homes dotting the hillside.The winds increased during the night, the roughest we have experienced on the entire trip. The morning found Harry out re-tying lines and Leslie finding more lines to add as the swells were coming directly into the harbor. The wind direction being the only one not protected from either the island or the breakwater, the rocks against the sea wall were only feet from our propellers! Having done all we could, we headed to Starbucks for Vente Mochas (the largest size they offer) and a good dose of “terra firma”. The wind calmed down as the day progressed and, though it had shifted to a more favorable direction, the rain continued all day. Sunday arrived with clear blue skies and cool temperatures; we set out to explore this beautiful island. We began by riding the eight miles around the circumference of the island viewing the Arch and Devils Kitchen, a group of small caves formed 350 million years ago, said to be one of the youngest rock formations on the island. There were magnificent views around every turn. We toured Fort Mackinac which sits prominently at the crest of the hill overlooking the marina.Sunday evening we boarded the horse drawn taxi and enjoyed dinner at the magnificent Grand Hotel. The evening was another highlight on this incredible journey! We felt fortunate to have four days to explore Mackinaw Island, even the horse drawn street sweeper added to the charm. We were glad we had extra time to visit this beautiful island! Departing Mackinac Island we cruised under the bridge which crosses the Straits of Mackinac entering Lake Michigan to begin the next portion of our adventure.