Summer Summary
All in all the summer was great! We revisited many former boating areas, added in some new areas (Georgian Bay, St. Mary’s River). Met a lot of great people and had interesting land exploration besides. Hallelujah was safe and we didn’t have many problems with engines. We did experience more wind in August than what we remember from former years but we are retired so we weren’t worried about being in a specific spot at a specific time. It was great to see old friends and talk about former times. We are looking forward to next summer – we think we will try to circumnavigate Lake Superior.
Sept. 11 - 25, 2012 Tues. - Tues.
We are at Anchorage Marina in Holland, MI for two weeks. The boat will go into winter storage at this location. We drove our car here last June and we now have it for use. Anchorage will do a list of repairs and updates that we have been putting
together. We choose Anchorage because of their reputation for carpentry work and they have refurbished DeFevers before. They are nice people to work with. We spend days doing some of our own maintenance project (sanding, varnishing, cleaning and replacing pumps). We also spent time with various marina folks making sure they understand our requests. We also had time to see doctors, old friends, and make plans for fall road trip. We decided to take our bikes to FL this year, so we had to get a bike rack and trailer hitch for the car. All in all the two weeks flew by with little time for relaxing.
together. We choose Anchorage because of their reputation for carpentry work and they have refurbished DeFevers before. They are nice people to work with. We spend days doing some of our own maintenance project (sanding, varnishing, cleaning and replacing pumps). We also spent time with various marina folks making sure they understand our requests. We also had time to see doctors, old friends, and make plans for fall road trip. We decided to take our bikes to FL this year, so we had to get a bike rack and trailer hitch for the car. All in all the two weeks flew by with little time for relaxing.
Sept. 10, 2012 Monday
We have one weather window day so we charge south to Holland. We had hoped to spend a day or two in Grand Haven, but that wasn’t to be. We had never been in Lake Macatawa before so this was a new lake to navigate. It is very shallow if you get out of the channel markers. We found Anchorage marina without too much difficulty and got a pump out before backing into a slip – a little stressful because the winds were building from the wrong direction for us. But we made it in without too much damage to the boat – the piers are concrete and interestingly, they were above our rub rail so we scraped railing covers a little. But we were tied up and settling in by 2:00 in the afternoon. We promptly went over to get our car that was in the Anchorage storage shed for the summer. Then we called Amy and Patrick Avery. They came over a.s.a.p. to make sure we were settled in and able to have dinner.
Sept. 5 - 9, 2012 Wed. - Sunday
We stayed in Whitehall due to weather – strong winds and high waves on the lake. Barb was glad we made the decision to come here and not Muskegon. At least we were close to stores and restaurants and know the area. Spent time taking bike rides, having docktail parties, met up again with Viking Star and 8 loopers went out to dinner. We also met up with some
old friends from years past, but not everyone we had hoped to see. We have finally stopped shopping (getting too close to the end of the trip and need to eat what we have). Days pass quickly while we continue to do some boat maintenance that we
had planned. And rain does keep us inside.
old friends from years past, but not everyone we had hoped to see. We have finally stopped shopping (getting too close to the end of the trip and need to eat what we have). Days pass quickly while we continue to do some boat maintenance that we
had planned. And rain does keep us inside.
Sept. 4, 2012
White Lake Channel Entrance
We had thought about going into Muskegon, but ended up in Whitehall, MI. We left here
two years ago June, 2010 and never thought we would be back. We docked at Crosswind, approximately 100 yards from our old slip at Moxie marina. Small world to be returning to this harbor. We promptly met a couple of other loopers who were lying over in this marina. The trip down the lake was ok today – but we never did see the other two boats that left ahead of us out of Ludington – they were both power boats traveling faster than us. The picture is of the White Lake channel entrance. Looking back I took some of these in 2010 as we left White Lake.
two years ago June, 2010 and never thought we would be back. We docked at Crosswind, approximately 100 yards from our old slip at Moxie marina. Small world to be returning to this harbor. We promptly met a couple of other loopers who were lying over in this marina. The trip down the lake was ok today – but we never did see the other two boats that left ahead of us out of Ludington – they were both power boats traveling faster than us. The picture is of the White Lake channel entrance. Looking back I took some of these in 2010 as we left White Lake.
Sept. 3, 2012 Monday
We moved to Ludington today. The lake wasn’t too bad in the am but were hearing reports of stronger winds and waves in p.m. We never saw them and arrived in Ludington at 1:00 to find some loopers that we have met there to grab our lines. We had docktails aboard One September and met a family doing the loop aboard Our Bubble. Very interesting couple with two small children and a dog. We knew there was weather coming and so planned on moving further south tomorrow. Two other loopers also had the same idea.
Sept. 2, 2012 Sunday
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes
We moved to Frankfort, MI today. Not a difficult run for us, but we were slower than other boats that are also heading south. We were able to stay at Jacobson’s Marina which is a very nice place and central to downtown. We walked to the beach to see the sunset and also out for Chinese (haven’t had good Chinese in ages!). The picture is of the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes as we passed. As you can see the sky is cloudy and there are some waves but not so bad that we rocked.
September 1, 2012 Saturday
We left Charlevoix for Leland, MI today. Weather isn’t too bad, waves are up a little but the stabilizers are working great. A couple of other boats traveling with us are weaving so they don’t roll too much. We made Leland in 4+ hours. Barb walked around town, stopped at the grocery store (how can we not stop at every grocery along the way?) and said hi to a number of loopers who are in the harbor. Leland hasn’t changed but we are trying to move with the weather at this point. Heard from Marsha today that her trip from Frankfort to Sturgeon Bay was difficult. We were glad to hear that she made it and there wasn’t damage to her little boat – waves are not really calm on Lake MI.
