Run west over to Beaver Island
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 harbor.
The marina is owned by the township but run by the Michigan DNR and apparently their website won't take reservations on the same day as arrival, so we signed in the next morning.
There's not much going on in St. James, though they do have a nice grocery store, and a couple bar food joints. We had dinner at the Shamrock Bar, which was reasonably full. We sat at the bar to watch the Tigers game and visit with the bartender, who was a bit of a character. He lives on the island year-round, along with 600+ other hardy souls.
John’s cousin has. Cottage on Beaver Island, and we spent a week there a few years ago. Took the Ferry over. Pretty quiet place. I bought wolf fur ear muffs as a souvenir. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but I have yet to find a need for them.
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