Conquering Lake Michigan

At this point in our travels, it is time to conquer Lake Michigan. Having spent most of our boating years on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, we figured that this would be similar. We were wrong! First of all, Lake Michigan is huge and the water seems to rough up most afternoons. We also learned that we must get a swell forecast as well as the usual wind and wave forecast as Lake Michigan can have swells and waves coming from different directions which can make for a very uncomfortable day on the water! Where we could run the length of Lake Huron in a couple of days, it took us several half day trips to conquer Lake Michigan, but there were lots of fun vacation and cottage communities to visit along the way. We will start with Frankfort, Manistee, and Pentwater.

Frankfort

We enjoyed terrific views of the huge sand dunes on our southerly run to Frankfort. We also passed the Point Betsie Lighthouse which could be a new favourite for Heather! We hoped that we could ride our bikes to the lighthouse, but we were told that there was only highway access and that it would NOT be a safe or enjoyable ride. Instead, they suggested that we use their beautiful bike paths and

ride to Crystal Lake. It was a 20.8 kilometer bike ride, or about 12 miles, and Cam's e-bike was showing empty on the battery before we got back but he made it. It really was a beautiful run and the bike paths were lovely. We even saw nesting swans!

When we returned to the marina, we untied and went out to anchor because the

power at the marina had been upgraded and would not work with our boat. This was the second time this had happened to us so we knew we had an issue that we would have to diagnose and fix someday soon. The marina was great and offered us our money back for the slip. There was a steady parade of fishing boats out of the harbour right after everyone got off work and we could not keep track of them all as they passed by our anchored boat. Then, as the sun was setting, there was another run of the boats returning to the harbour, many well after dark.

On Saturday, we woke to pouring rain which continued until late morning. Fortunately, it stopped in time for us to dinghy to shore and go to the local farmers market where we bought lots of local fare, including gluten free baking. It was still dreary out so we poked around with the dinghy a bit, looking for other Looper boats.

We had noticed that our water level had gone down a fair bit by bedtime but we figured that we had been overusing it. However, we woke up to the sound of the pump running on Sunday at 5 AM! We were out of water! We managed to get a slip at Jacobson Marina where the power worked for us. We filled up with water, and worked all day to diagnose the issue. We finally realized that when we were first docked, we hooked up the water to the pressure water fitting. When we decided to anchor instead, we disconnected the water but we forgot to put the cap back on. The water back flowed all day and night out of the fitting. This is another part that needs to be replaced but putting the cap back on fixed it temporarily! We enjoyed the opportunity while tied to the dock to visit with some other Loopers and enjoy a fishing boat that reminded Heather of Theodore Tugboat.

Manistee

We docked in a slip along the river’s edge in Manistee right beside the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is a historical walk that runs from the lighthouse on the pier along the shoreline to Lake Manistee. We followed the Riverwalk reading the plaques about the history of the town as we went along. There’s a funny story where in 1853 the United States declared war on Manistee for over logging and sent the SS Michigan war ship to Manistee! At least five men were arrested and tried for timber theft.

Instead of taking the Riverwalk back, we returned via the downtown area, enjoying all the historical buildings. Manistee has done an amazing job of preserving their old architecture, while making good use of it so most of the old buildings still had shops or apartments in them. We dinghied back into Lake Manistee to see where we could have anchored. It was not very well protected from the winds and it was very weedy. We were glad that we were not on anchor! The USS Michigan was docked there. We wanted to do a tour, but they only did that on Thursdays through Sundays. In fact, it seemed

like most of the town was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays! Tuesday was a working day for Cam, so we were inside the boat when we heard five blasts of a HUGE horn. Five blasts means "you are standing into danger", so we hurried outside to see what was going on. A 630 foot ship called CALUMET was traversing the lift bridge and all opposing traffic had to pull over. The ship was almost as wide as the bridge opening at 68 feet! It was quite a show!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEMtWuG8Px8

Pentwater

We had a beautiful four hour run to Pentwater and we were greeted by our friends, Maggie and Bruce, from Currently as we arrived at our slip. Pentwater marks the halfway point down the lake--We were making progress! We spent the afternoon spending money at all the stores in town, as all good tourists should. Having become addicted to fudge after Mackinac Island, we were happy to find another good stash

of fudge, gifts for family, a UPF shirt for Heather that is not a souvenir shirt, as well as lots of other goodies. Keep in mind that we would be heading home a couple of weeks later and it seemed like a good time to do some Christmas shopping.

We returned to our boat for docktails with our friends. The last time we saw them in Drummond Island, they invited us to join them for dinner with other Looper friends but we declined, having just purchased fresh fish. It turned out that they were exposed to COVID that night and were only just recovered. It was their second time with COVID on their Great Loop! Unfortunately, none of us are immune but we dodged a bullet. Our time would come.

After dinner, we walked very brusquely to the beach to see the sunset. The beaches in Lake Michigan are amazing since there are dunes everywhere!

Next we continue on Lake Michigan with a great submarine tour in Lake Muskegon, and a light show in Grand Haven. If you didn't watch the inset video, you can watch The Boat is Almost as Wide as the River now.