Craunological II -- Great Lakes Cruise 2023

  Tuesday, May 30th -- Harbor Springs to St. James, Beaver Island (38 miles) We did some chores and some shopping in the morning, then had an early lunch at Stafford's Pier right at the end of our dock. Had a lovely meal. That made two foody meals in a row in Harbor Springs. Temperature was in the mid-70s and again sunny and clear. We got underway at 1:20pm and decided it was warm enough to ride up on the flybridge, but both wearing jackets. It was a calm and uneventful run over to St. James, which is a little village at the far northeast end of Beaver Island. No one answered the phone or the radio when we called the municipal marina so we just picked a spot and tied up, as we were the only boat there besides a research vessel from Central Michigan University and a couple small local craft. A cruising sailboat pulled in after us and that was it for visitors for the day.  There's a nice old lighthouse (1870) and lifesaving station out on the point as you come into St. James har...

  Monday, May 29 -- Leland to Harbor Springs (53 miles) Yet another cool, calm day on the north end of Lake Michigan. We set out a bit after ten sitting up in the flybridge, but after about an hour retreated to the cabin -- it was just too chilly up top. Reported shore temps today are in the high 70s, but it sure isn't like that out on the water.  Our target was to spend the night in Harbor Springs, which we had heard from a number of Michigan friends is a charming town. But we stopped first at the Petoskey Municipal Marina for fuel (and a pump-out), as their diesel price was a $1.50/gal below that of the commercial marina in Harbor Springs that is the only game in town there for diesel. Since we knew would be buying over 100 gallons we figured the extra stop was worth it, and it only added about twenty minutes to our trip. We pulled into the Harbor Springs Municipal Marina at two. Both the Petoskey and Harbor Springs marinas were staffed by college kids. That would be a nice ...

Sunday, May 28 -- North Manitou Island to Leland Township Marina (14 miles) We woke to yet another calm, clear, cool day. John decided to tackle that sand dune, so he launched the dinghy and off he went. Janet stayed back to take pictures.   It took him close to 25 minutes, with half a dozen stops to catch his breath, but it was worth it. He's the little tiny spec at the top. Here are pics that he took along the way... This last photo was taken up at the top of the dune. The circle patterns in the sand come from little roots that stick out and get blown around (but not blown away).  After the hill climb we took a leisurely ride over to Leland, figuring we would find a place to watch the Indy 500 and then do some grocery shopping. John was here fifteen years ago on a cruise with his Dad and his nephew and knew it was nice little town. It turns out that the township marina has lovely facilities, so we watched the race in comfort. There is hardly anyone here in the marina, e...

  Saturday, May 27 -- Ludington to North Manitou Island (75 miles) We spent the morning working on the blog, as the marina WiFi was working much better than it was yesterday. Janet did a bit of shopping in town and we got underway at noon for a long run up the coast to North Manitou Island to anchor for the night. It was dead calm for much of the day, with a few stretches of light chop, and again too cool to ride up on the flybridge.  Sights along the way included the lighthouse at Big Sable Point,  Arcadia Bluffs Golf Club, the lighthouse at Frankfort, a kid flying a kite at the top of a sand cliff just north of Frankfort (you have to look closely), and the lighthouse at Point Betsie. Once past Point Betsie, the Sleeping Bear Dune comes into view. It is almost two miles long and 465' above lake level at its highest point.  Here is what it looks like from five miles away, and the high point at the south end from about half a mile offshore. If you look closely you can...

  Friday, May 26 -- Whitehall to Ludington (47 miles) Silver Lake State Park includes an area for off-road vehicles to run on the sand dunes. It is the only open dune ORV area east of the Mississippi.  Ed's brother Bill came over at ten to take us for a ride in the sand dunes in his open Jeep and it was a real thrill. Janet was brave and sat in the front seat while Ed and I sat in the back. We all bundled up because it was only about 60 degrees. You can see from his rear bumper that Bill is an experienced ORV guy. After our thrill ride on the dunes, Ed and Tami drove us back to the marina and we took off for Ludington soon after.  The lake was calm and there was hardly any traffic. We rode in the cabin again because it was too cold to go up top. Noteworthy sights during our run included the old lighthouse at the entrance to White Lake (where my Uncle Bill worked as a volunteer for many years), Little Sable Point lighthouse, dune buggies running in Silver Lake State Park, ...

Thursday, May 25 -- Saugatuck to Whitehall (57 miles) -- then by land to Silver Lake We started the day nervous about what Lake Michigan would be like after the front passing through and the NOAA forecast calling for 1-3’ waves. Our goal was to get to Pentwater, about 80 miles up the coast, so that we could visit friends from our FL condo -- Ed and Tami -- who have a summer cottage on Silver Lake. The day was sunny and clear, but only in the low 60s, so we decided to ride in the cabin. On the way out the Kalamazoo River we passed a place where they rent out beautiful little 50s vintage boats and a paddle wheel excursion boat full of school kids.   Lake Michigan turned out to be very calm when we exited the Kalamazoo River about 11am, and we had a calm, quiet run all the way up to Muskegon. We were feeling good about making it to Pentwater by late afternoon, then suddenly within the space of just a few minutes we had a light chop with whitecaps coming out of the north, and within fi...