Day 358: Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Port to Port: Charlevoix to Leland, Michigan
Underway: 7:20 am Motor Off: 1:05 pm Miles Traveled: 35 Stayed At: Marina
Mile to Mile: Wow – the wind wasn’t on our nose today. We were actually able to motor sail comfortably all the way to Leland. And Lake Michigan was relatively calm. And we averaged 6.5 mph. And we didn’t hit any fishing boats while motoring through the fog. What a great day.
Our 3-boat caravan (Carina, Jubilate and us) left in time to catch the 7:30 am bridge opening and as soon as we cleared the channel, we hit fairly thick fog on the Lake. Jubilate lead the way and we all sequentially sounded our horns every 5 minutes for a little over an hour while the fog slowly burned off. We weren’t worried about any big ships but we did see a fishing boat pop out of the mist every once in a while. They were unlit and never answered our horns back. The fog didn’t last long – as soon on the breeze started blowing the fog blew away up our sails went. The wind was light but it gave us a little boost in speed and kept the boat stable in the rollers that passed by from the northwest.
Having all three of us out there sailing or motorsailing made the day go a lot faster (and made for some nice photo ops too). We quickly made our way down the shoreline and were turning into the harbor just in time for a later lunch (long awaited pulled pork sandwiches). This is a very new, high quality municipal run marina – a little pricey at $1.75/foot but you get what you pay for sometimes.
In case you are interested, the Leland Township Harbor is in the running for the best shower facilities. There were 8 individual shower rooms – all with there own doors believe it or not. No rushing to get the only shower at the marina. The showers were new and beautiful with tiled walls and floors, heavy duty stainless steel fixtures, a nice bench and large hooks for hanging up your clothes, lots of shelf space in the shower and great water pressure. What more can a traveler ask for? (And no spiders hanging down from the ceiling like at certain places to remain unnamed).
We really enjoyed exploring the unique shops just minutes from the Marina. Some of the shops were in some old wood buildings – Fishtown – built decades ago for the commercial fisherman who called Leland home. They have conserved these buildings so future generations can learn a little about the history of this town. This would be a great place to spend a few days.
We, of course, had docktails again. We met some other Loopers from Florida – Bill and Kathy on Tour De Loop – and had a nice get-together. There was a man and his wife sitting in some wood rockers in front of the main building enjoying the view of the harbor and we started chatting about boats and sailing. They used to be sailors until relatively recently. So they joined our little party and had a blast. It turns out Charles and his wife Janet like to visit this area and this year are traveling with their 19 and 21 year old granddaughters (I can’t wait till I get to do that). He is a Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan and also, on the side, develops and sells hybrid popcorn varieties. We talked about everything from sailboats to genetics to the history of popcorn. (Charlie, tell me when you get your book on the history and science of popcorn done, I will buy one).
We have another promising weather day tomorrow with favorable winds and no chance of storms until late so off to Frankfurt we go. One day at a time.