After St. Ignace, Michigan and our ferry visit to Mackinac Island, it was time to take on Lake Michigan. Jan and Jane were rightfully concerned about the water conditions on the big lake. Although it wasn't too bad it could have been a whole lot better.
After passing under the Mackinac Bridge we were in Lake Michigan. Our first port was Petoskey. We had no advance knowledge but it was Petoskey's Bay Festival weekend. It was a bonus to an already nice town. The festival included live bands, a food court and the other normal festival activities. It also included an Iron Man competition. The morning we departed we needed to leave early because the swimming portion was in the marina area.
We had fun at Petoskey with the "Ice Bucket Challenge". Jan and I were challenged by our Boston grandchildren. Mark and Jane helped by videoing the event. We DID IT! Jan thought it was surprisingly cold. All in all it was fun and we challenged our Mertz family grandchildren in Chicago. They made it a family affair and really enjoyed it.
Frankfort was our next port on Lake Michigan. After docking and getting settled we patronized a fund raiser supporting the local high school football team. While we enjoyed the food, we thoroughly enjoyed talking to Matt Stapleton, the varsity football coach, who is also the principal. That school is lucky to have such a welcoming man on staff. Their current record is, five wins and four losses. We also enjoyed a bicycle ride on a very nice path here.
We weren't able to get out and enjoy Pentwater as much because of the weather. We spent a day "catching up" on boat chores, etc. in the rainy weather. The fog in the morning delayed our departure allowing Jan to get some interesting picture of spider webs.
Just a side note, there aren't spiders in salt water. I didn't remember how much I disliked them and their droppings.
The Mackinac Bridge separates Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
We are now in Lake Michigan with Average Looper following us.
We saw a few of these lake freighters on Lake Michigan
Another lake freighter. We feel very small by comparison.
There are several light houses in Lake Michigan.
This one was out in the water not on land.
These extra large canoes are part of some sort of camp.
You can see some of the vendor tents in the background at Petoskey.
Petoskey is located in a beautiful bay.
This picture overlooks the marina.
Another beautiful sunset.
The triangle float was for the iron man contest the next day.
We thought this was a unusual building.
Thanks for the ice bucket challenge Staunton Kids!
This picture doesn't capture the beauty of this sunrise.
Our deepest water yet for the whole trip.
The purple is my radar showing me were land and other vessels are located.
The circle of purple around my boat is from the fog. It isn't there in clear weather.
Sleeping Bear Dunes.
This spider web was on our boat.
I'm liking salt water more that I thought.
This one was on the sailboat next to us.
They are quite interesting from an artistic point of view.
Fog in the morning delayed our departure.
The channel is completely enveloped in fog.
It's pretty though!
It's thick today. This is channel we need to transit to get back to Lake Michigan.
The fog has cleared enough to leave.
Radar and AIS help with navigation in poor visibility.
Yeah! It's finally clearing.
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