Waiting to Cross Lake Michigan

Besides the m/v Knot Home being in Charlevoix, there were about 8 other Looper couples there. Two separate Happy Hours combined into one so everyone got acquainted. There were boaters from Florida, Florida Keys, Virginia, Ontario, Alabama, and Michigan. Also a friend of ours from Green Bay, Dan, was here on vacation on his m/v Margaretaville, so it was a fun two days in Charlevoix – even got to hear a community band concert from the boat. They had cable TV at the docks, rather a novelty since we hadn’t seen that in months.

It’s very handy being docked next to Larry “The Ice Man”. He kept us supplied with the surplus from their icemaker. This is Restless Wind and Knot Home at the new docks and Dorothy and Ginger on their boat.



Instead of anchoring out in Lake Charlevoix as planned, on Wednesday we headed out on the big water. High winds were forecast for the next day and we didn’t want to be stranded. After 5 ½ hours of mostly motoring, we came into Leland for fuel and decided to stay. They’re undergoing a renovation and expansion also. Since the showers and some other amenities won’t be finished this season, they’re offering a half price rate for dockage. This is their new unfinished facility – it’s going to be a great place to stop next summer.

Leland is a little village on the Leelanau Peninsula with neat little shops, galleries and eateries. The historical district, known as Fishtown, has the rustic shanties and docks reminiscent of a commercial fishing village over 100 years ago. It has charter fishing available and the only public ferry to the Manitou Islands, also a really nice sandy beach near the marina. This is what Lake Michigan looked like on Wednesday night from the beach – so peaceful. It hasn't looked anything like that the past two days. The howling winds make it a pretty angry looking lake.


As of this writing, we’re spending our third night in Leland. The weather predictions were correct and we’ve had two days of rain showers and very high winds. The boat is actually rocking around quite a bit in the slip! The small red flag under the US flag on this mast indicates a small craft warning is in effect. Waves occasionally spill over the rocks which is neat to see but I'm glad we're on this side of the breakwater.

The winds had been from the west but are now out of the north indicating the front is moving through. The current plan is to sail to Frankfort Saturday and cross Lake Michigan from there to Sturgeon Bay (Lord willing and the creek don’t rise). The finish line is in sight!