Day 359: Thursday, August 29, 2013
Port to Port: Leland to Frankfort, Michigan
Underway: 7:25 am Motor Off: 2:05 pm Miles Traveled: 41/35 Stayed At: Marina
First Things First: First time our credit card was denied – found out that it had been compromised and frozen (somewhat of a hassle to get it cleaned up).
Mile 70 to Mile 105: Lake Michigan was very kind to us today. There was no fog this morning and the lake was calm with the slightest little ripples slapping against the hull. We were able to motorsail for the first hour or so as the breeze flowed from the east southeast off shore. That soon died leaving the lake almost glass smooth – we motored along at 6+ mph enjoying up close views of the beautiful tree encrusted sand dunes that make up most of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The tallest dunes are over rise 400’ above the lake level. What more could we ask for.
It was a straight shot from Leland to Frankfort and we soon were turning into the inlet around the breakwater and motoring up to the marina (dodging the beautiful white swans that call this bay home). The municipal marina has high stationary docks and a nice park and bike path along the shore. Our slip was only maybe 50 steps from the front door of the library – in fact, I am typing this on the boat and using the library internet to upload everything to our website (as usual, the marina internet is useless). This is going to be a fun stop and it looks like we will be here for two nights waiting for the forecast winds to die down.
We made quick work of our normal boat projects – I walked a whole block twice to fill up 3 of our gas cans and get ice. Even though we got in fairly early in the afternoon, there never seems to be enough time to explore – between boat projects, checking in, meeting other boaters and getting organized, it is 5 pm and time for docktails. I did made a quick trip downtown to send a fax and scope out the stores and restaurants just in case we weren’t staying tomorrow. Many of the stores close at 5 pm which is too early for us to spend any money (I suppose that is a good thing).
We thought it would only be the three of us for docktails tonight – Carina, Jubilate and us – but we met Tom and Nancy on Terrapin (a 44’ DeFever) and Warren and Marti again on Tour De Loop so we had a full house under the picnic canopy at the marina. Tom and Nancy are Looper newbies having just started from Petoskey, Michigan. It was fun for all of us to be able to share a little “Looper knowledge” with them as they start out on this great adventure. It seems a lifetime ago when we were just starting out.
We skipped supper – we had too many snacks at docktails – and went for a walk with Warren and Marti downtown (thanks again for the ice cream). Guess who we found wandering the streets of Frankfort? Rick and Margi on Journey came sauntering down the sidewalk with Down Time (whom we also met back in Kingston, NY). It’s a crazy world we live in on the Loop.
We almost got back to the boat and got to talking to another couple – Dave and Judy on Sir Tugley Blue – and their son Barry who lives here and was visiting with his new baby. They have been traveling the Lakes for the summer and had lots of stories to tell. We probably talked to them for an hour and a half. We didn’t finally leave until almost 10:30 pm – so much for Looper midnight.
In Passing: Carp River Point, Good Harbor Bay, Pyramid Point, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Empire Bluffs, Point Betsie.
