Harbor Springs to Charlevoix, MI

Lake Michigan – onto another Great Lake

Friday & Saturday, August 01 & 02

Serenity glided out through Mackinaw City Harbor just after 6 am into a fairly thick fog. We could make out Mackinaw Bridge to the west and brightness in the clouds to the east. Fortunately Captain John had equipped the boat with a fog horn just before the trip which sounded every two minutes and we were using it this morning with about a mile visibility.



Mackinac Bridge almost lost in the fog
 

The fog slowly lifted as the sun broke through and we were always in sight of land but we were grateful for the radar which showed us that there were no big ships coming our way. The sun tried to break through but the fog was persistent and just didn’t want to lift. At one point it socked back in so we just could see about a half a mile.

We motored past an abandoned lighthouse
 

The wonderful part was that the water was as smooth as glass, the fog lifted at about noon and we had a wonderful cruise to Harbor Springs where we stayed for two nights.

Harbor Springs was a lovely resort town and the home of two new Looper friends – Meg and Jim – who had just barely completed the loop on Sanctuary the day before and were in the process of re-entry into life on land. They were so wonderful to us and to the other loopers there! Meg picked a couple of us up to drive to the grocery store and then had five of us over for burgers and fresh corn on the cob that evening. We all brought something to share - food and sea stories!

Dinner at Meg and Jim's cottage - Meg, Tanya, Stel and Kathy
 

 

Serenity is in good company at Harbor Springs with a 5 deck 
 mega-yacht in the background at a private marina
 

Captain’s Log: August 1, 2014

Departed: Mackinaw City, MI 6:10 a.m.
Engine hours: 7.5 hr. – 46.61 nautical miles
Actual hours: 7 hr. 35 min.
Arrived: Harbor Springs, town docks 1:45 p.m.
Wx: winds light and variable – lots of fog but calm seas

Sunday & Monday, August 3 & 4

We left Harbor Springs in mid-morning and made our way to Petoskey for a quick stop to pick up a part that John had ordered from West Marine. Good walk for us up the hill and back to the boat. Our entertainment for the morning was watching a guy with a water jetpack on his feet as we were leaving the harbor. He looked like he was having fun!

Jet ski followed closely!
 

He even did a few dolphin dives for us
 

Our destination today was Charlevoix which is entered through a narrow channel, made to connect Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix to Lake Michigan. At the end of the channel there was a draw bridge which opened on the half hour.

We were in line with three other big boats when we entered -
this photo was taken later when we were on a walk
 

We had to wait in Round Lake for about an hour until the marina had a slip for us. There was a lot to see with boats all around, condos, homes and a couple of architect Earl Young's mushroom houses. He lived in Charlevoix for most of his life and is best known for his quirky homes with flat roofs, stonework, organic feel and chimneys that look like they were decorated with icing.

This house had beautiful gardens
 

This one has personality and a turret
 

This one is called the "Half House" and we saw it on our walk later on

 

When we got to our slip the tall ship we had seen in St. Ignace and Mackinac Island was tied up at the end of the next dock.

Serenity is in good company again with Peacemaker, the tall ship
 

The dock lines on this ship were impressive
 

 
 

The next morning I was doing laundry at the marina lounge and struck up a conversation with a woman there. I discovered that she and her husband captain the tall ship and we found we had a lot in common. For my Vermont friends, they were in Colchester managing the cruise vessel Moonlight Lady when tropical storm Irene came through and broke it from it's mooring lines at Marble Island.

She invited me to bring John aboard for a private tour and meet her husband. He filled us in on some of the details of their adventures on Lake Champlain and then on the history of the sailing ship which had been built in South America 25 years ago. 

The ship was getting ready to leave the docks and we almost left on it. They had actually started to pull away when they put the ladder back and we scrambled down. We didn't think we would make very good crew for Peacemaker but we do seem to be getting used to traveling on Serenity.

Gwen waves good-bye as the tall ship leaves the harbor



Fun feature at the harbor was this "Fountain of Youth."
We could hear the squeals of delight all the way down the dock

 

Captain’s Log: August 3, 2014

Departed: Harbor Springs 10:00 a.m.
Engine hours: 4.4
Actual hours: 5 hrs. 30
Nautical miles covered: 19.78
Arrived: Charlevoix City Marina, MI 3:00 p.m.
Wx: Partially overcast, then clear, winds light and variable