A Tale of Two Cities - Muskegan and Holland

We went to Muskegan Monday 8/27/12 and Tuesday 8/28/12, for a couple of reasons: 1) Dan and Marilyn Lipka are from Muskegan. We have heard lots of stories about it and wanted to see what it was all about, and 2) We wanted to meet up with Terri and Pete Bates and didn't want them to keep chasing us down Michigan (we'd been trying to connect for days since they were in Mackinaw City and we were in Traverse City). Those were good reasons.

Wednesday, 8/29/12, we went to Holland MI, not expecting much. We visited Holland to meet up with Diana and Ron because we had such a good time with them along with Sally and Bob in Charlevoix and Petosky. When you spend all your time together, both Kermit and I feel the need to spend time with other people just to have balance.

We were surprised at the contrast. Muskegan is old. The marina is nice (more about the marinas later) and the bike trail is good, and the beach is fantastic but the city itself is older. We saw almost no people. We rode our bikes all over and encountered few people, at least compared to the other cities in Northwest Michigan. Muskegan was as deserted as Rogers City MI or Harrisville MI. We saw very few people at those cities also and the municipal marinas in those cities were about as occupied/empty as Muskegan. Mmmmm... Odd.

Holland on the other hand is busy and seems more active. There are shops in the town, few in Muskegan. The marinas are bustling. There were kids in the pool and on the beach compared to the deserted albeit beautiful beaches in Muskegan.

I am not sure what is going on but I thought it was worth noting. Back to the action.

We were ready  to leave Ludington on  Monday morning 8/27 at 8:00am on the dot. It was an almost perfect departure. No arguing or bickering. I got up extra early to finish cleaning, always an issue but especially so when we are expecting guests. The charts needed to move from the front cabin to the spot above the dinette, the spare food needed to be stored in the basket instead of on the bed, new towels in the guest bath, and a general scrub up. So no need for Kermit to poke the bear to try to get me up in the morning. We opened the door to stretch and review the weather conditions but couldn't see beyond our hands! It was fogged up! So we waiting. The bad news about fog is you can't see. The good news about fog is the water is flat. Very flat. So we were excited about moving. We had an extra cup of coffee on the back deck, watching and waiting. By 9:30 we threw off the lines and left.

Tom Houser: Note for the record books. This was the first departure without argument or problem. Someone must have that in the pool!

The ride to Muskegan was perfect. Calm waters, bright sunshine, good camaraderie. You can't ask for more. We saw almost no other boats on the water. A few small fishing boats was about it. We arrived at 2:30pm after traveling about 50 miles at about 10mph. We used about .8 gallons per mile according to our flow meters.
Very pretty lighthouse at the mouth of the Muskegan channel. We are accumulating quite a lighthouse photo collection. I suspect that is the looper's life!

Terri and Pete Bate joined us about 5:30pm on Monday. We rode our bikes to a dinner spot a few miles away, The Lake House Restaurant, with a great outdoor cafe. The food was ok but the companionship was outstanding! We had lots of laughs and caught up about kids and the latest action. There is only so much you can learn from Facebook. You really need a face to face now and again.

Terri and Pete said they slept well in the front cabin with the hatch open and the night sky overhead. One day Kermit and I will try sleeping up there. We always get great reviews but never tried it ourselves.

After a big breakfast onboard, we hopped on the bikes to visit the beaches. We walked in the water and called Marilyn Lipka to wish her a happy birthday! The beach at Pere Marquette Park is just spectacular. If you didn't know we were in Michigan you would think we were in some exotic Caribbean location!

On the way back from this beach, just above the beach actually, we saw a historical marker commemorating "Buster Keaton Avenue". This is a picture of the street sign. This neighborhood, called Bluffton is the site of the Keaton family Muskegon Actors' Colony. Evidently from about 1900 to the early 1930s the Keaton family and a bunch of other actors came every summer to Muskegon to hang out. The Actors' Colony died out when the Keatons went to Hollywood and Buster Keaton became famous. Fun facts you didn't know you needed to know. 

After Terri and Pete left we hopped on the bikes again and headed for the Farmers Market. Good choice! Great fruit and vegetables.The farmers said the drought and early freezes mean few apples. The September crop of blueberries has already come in early. They think we are in for an early winter. We bought the only Honey Crisp apples, blueberries, peppers, and the cutest little red potatoes, probably  no more than 1 inch in diameter, plus these exotic "strawberry tomatoes" that tasted, wait for it, just like berries!! We plan a feast on Labor Day weekend with the Lipkas!

So here is the thing with Muskegan. There is no one there. It started with our attempt to get a dock in the first marina, Great Lakes Marina. We chose that marina because it had a pool (we were having company) and it was across the street from "the great shopping district of Lakeside" with a grocery which we needed for some items we couldn't buy at the farmers market. We called for a dock. No one answered. After persistent calls, a woman answered and pointed us to F something. We entered the marina. Narrow fairways. No one around. The dock was completely inappropriate - too narrow, floating dock (too low) and too small. So we called in and asked about a more appropriate dock that appeared to be vacant on G dock. No answer. No answer repeatedly. I called on the phone. No answer. Well, this won't do. So we left with a warning over the radio that we will be sure to comment to the Great Loop folks about the hospitality. We got out the cruising books and selected the municipal marina closer to town. We were not disappointed. Another nice marina. Nice people (although we only saw 2 people working there and a couple of dockers. Nice bathrooms with the omnipresent book exchange (nothing I wanted). 

Curiously the next day in the looper forum was a note reminding people of the wonderful facilities and 50% discount offered to loopers from the Great Lakes Marina! From a harbor host - that is a person who agrees to offer hospitality to loopers along the route. Many times a harbor host is a person who already completed the journey who can also offer advice. I am sure the notation in the looper forum had nothing to do with our parting but unanswered radio call when we left that marina that we would be sure to comment on the looper forum.

Back to Muskegan. We visited the Museum of Modern Art because it has a reputation as a wonderful collection of American modern artists. It was having a centennial exhibit comparing art from the early 2000 to early 1900s. I particularly enjoyed the unusual collection of African American art. We don't usually encounter such pieces in other museums. I looked closely at the descriptions and noticed many pieces courtesy of the Knoll Company so I looked it up.

The Knoll Company has locations in PA, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon and a plant in Italy. They made modern furniture like the Saarinin chairs (like the kind Bunny and Evan had in their dining room), and other cool chairs like these:


  

Evidently some of this furniture was made in Muskegan. Now they have a small workforce in a ramshackled building coincidentally across the street from the marina.

A few years ago the company donated a bunch of its art collection (art, not furniture just to be clear) to the Muskegan Museum of Art. The art collection is very impressive and makes more sense when you know about the relationship with such a cool modern furniture company.

On the bike ride home, we stopped at a bunch of historical sites noted in the brochures but there were no people. Evidently historical sites in Muskegen are like old houses in other towns. The sign on the building shown in the first picture says, Depression House. Interesting but most cities have houses like that. They call them "houses". I took this picture in the absolute middle of the street and had no worries about getting hit by a car.

That evening a sailboat pulled in the marina. A very famous sailboat to loopers belonging to the couple from Sweden. Now they are not just from Sweden, they SAILED from Sweden. They have been sailing for 5 years, first down through Europe then to Africa then across to Brazil, around the Amazon, then up to Central America and the Caribbean and now to do the Great Loop. He said he wanted to meet real Americans not just visit NYC or Boston. He was looking forward to going to Minnesota to meet Swedish Americans. I didn't mention the Norwegian-Americans found in Lake Woebegon. He said they stop at Ikea whenever they can to eat Swedish food!! Isn't that wonderful?? I gave him a list of Swedish restaurants in Chicago and told him to visit Andersonville. I bet he will.

This is their sailboat. Notice the windmill powering a generator. They did not plug in to marina electricity like we do.

On Wednesday we went to Holland MI. Another perfect boating day and a second flawless departure. We left at 8am and arrived at 12:30pm traveling 50 miles using 48 gallons of gas. Not bad. At Holland we just about broke the bank filling up with gas. Gas here is $4.99 per gallon!! 

Holland has a lot of marinas but no municipal marina. We stayed at Yacht Basin Marina and called Ron and Diana for some fun. These are the folks we met in Petosky and Charlevoix. They picked us up and gave us a tour of the area. We had drinks in downtown Holland - very pretty and quite a bit of new construction. Then we went to dinner at Bil-Mar Restaurant in Grand Haven. This restaurant is right on the water. I mean right on the sand by the water. It was gorgeous. The food is not important when you have a view like that. The food was good too. 

 They even get a shout out for coolest toilet seat yet!

 Grand Haven is gorgeous. We missed out by not stopping there but at least we got to visit, thanks to Ron and Diana. The town is quaint.

 They have music and shops like Put-In-Bay with less wildness and more style. Compare this guy singing on a little stage to Mad Dog Adams at the Round House. Looks a little different, doesn't it.

They have the weirdest thing called the dancing fountain. This picture doesn't do it justice. Across the river from Grand Haven is a big slope with a sign commemorating Coast Guard. At 9:30pm every  night in the summer a little guy flips a switch and the fountain starts with lights, music and a speaker making introductions. It is so cool!! There are grandstands on the Grand Haven side filled with people who come out to see the fountain. And to think we would have missed this spectacle if Ron and Diana had not picked us up. This trip is amazing but it is mind boggling to think of the sites we are missing.

Kermit and I are having a wonderful time. We drop into bed exhausted but happy every evening. We made the right choice to take this trip now. 

We miss you all and wish you were here. You can join us simply by dropping a note and saying you want to meet up. 

I will leave you here in Grand Haven. We are off to South Haven next but the weather is bad due to Hurricane Isaac so we will see what happens. 

Ludington = salmon

Each place we go has its own personality. Frankfort was about good food, kind of old, with a confusing real estate price structure. Petosky was friendly and well kept. Traverse City had a nice bike path and those planets. Well Ludington has salmon. Lots and lots of salmon fishing going on here. So many that they keep the salmon fishermen in cages!

 

Here are the caged fishermen cleaning their catch. Doesn't it look delicious? The gross part was in about 1 minute the guy on the left turned on a grinder in the center of those tables and ground up all the bodies. It sent chills up my spine. I had to leave. 

 

As I left the cage, I saw these proud fellows with their catch. The guy on the left is over 6 feet tall. The guy on the right is about my size. That means the fish on the right is at least 2 feet long. That is a big fish!

Ludington has lots of marinas. More like what we are used to at Sandusky, but a bit smaller in total number of boats. We are staying at the municipal marina, because we like the municipal marinas. They generally cost about $42 per night. That works out to be a little more than $1 a foot, pretty reasonable. We paid $95 at Maumee State Park and $75 per might at Silver Shores in Wyandotte, not a very nice marina at all, although the people were great. So we prefer the municipal marinas.

The municipal marina is on one side of this great park with sculptures honoring Ludington's history.

 

On the other side is Harbor View Marina, a lot like Venetian Marina, even has a pool. And look at the gathering of dock sitters!  What dock? D DOCK! There are D Dock sitters everywhere if you look carefully. We sure miss our D Dock sitters!

 

Between and around these two nice marinas are large new condo developments, really pretty. We are seeing more people here than any other place since Mackinaw City. It is  kind of refreshing. Still the restaurants are not crowded, the  marinas and not crowded just pleasantly active, and the beaches are not crowded. 

We got a funny call last night from Don Donataccio. He is a regular reader and noted the blog about the cruise ship Yorktown that tried to dock at the end of our pleasure craft dock in Charlevoix. He was listening to his coast guard scanner last night (of course he was!!) and heard the vessel name "Yorktown" calling for help. Evidently this huge cruise ship, 257 feet long, was stuck in the mud off Fighting Island in the Detroit River!! They were stuck for hours through the night. Don listened to the entire report and called laughing because it was so funny. We have been through that area many, many times. It is very deep. Freighters run through there regularly. All you have to do is stay in the channel. Evidently the captain did not read the fine print!! Here is an update on the grounding:

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2012/08/yorktown_cruise_ship_temporari.html

Today we biked up the Ludington State Park to see the dunes. It was great fun. The water was clear and comfortable, probably about 74 degrees with nice waves that made for good body surfing. No dogs allowed. Thank goodness Rusty decided to stay back at the boat.

Looks like a great white-sand beach anywhere in the world!!

We have requests for more technical information about the trip. We can accomodate. Kermit has a spreadsheet with all the info in it.

We have been gone for 44 days and traveled 692 miles. That means we are now about 10% through the trip.

The engines put on 46 hours of travel time. Our average speed is about 18 mph, using 36 gallons per hour. Our NEW average speed is about 9mph using 8 gallons per minute. You can see why we are interested in slowing down.

We have used 792 gallons of gas at a cost of $3569. Average cost of $4.90 per gallon. Yesterday we filled up when we arrived at Ludington at a cost of $4.35 and we felt blessed. Our tanks are at least 7/8 filled if not completely filled right now.

Dockage has cost $1218 so far in this trip. The Michigan municipal marinas are about $42 per night. Our overall expenses have been much less than we expected so far. I hope that continues.

We made reservations in Chicago for 9/8 through 9/22 at a cost of 2.35 per night, still less than the cost of Maumee State Park and Silver Shores Marina in Wyandotte plus we will be staying at the new DuSable Marina, opened only a couple years ago.

Tomorrow we will leave for Muskegan. We will meet up with Pete and Terri Bate who are also vacationing in Michigan. They will stay on our boat for a couple of days. We cleaned the boat during the rain storm today so we are ready!!

Here is the looper locator so you can follow us. Remember we are not on the hard. We are in the first marina as you enter the harbor in Ludington MI.
http://greatloop.org/mod/aglcalocator/membermap.php?id=1001

We left Charlevoix on Tuesday 8/21 for Traverse City. The whole group we had dinner with the night before was scattering to different parts of the region. Bob and Sally, and Ron and Diana were gone when we got up at 7am. The Zone with Ross and Laura left about 7:45 just before we were ready to throw off the lines. Darryl and Julie were staying for a few days to make some repairs. I guess people will move in and out of our paths throughout this trip. After a gas up and pump out, we were off at about 8:30am.

We took the trip at about 9mph. For you  non-boaters, that is the equivilent of Chinese water torture. It seems like you could walk faster. There are a few advantages though. 1) It is very civilized and not rushed at all. 2) You can do all sorts of work. I write, even use my computer, and read... a lot. 3) Rusty doesn't feel the need to grab the carpet with desparation. 4)You can sleep. This is a shot of sleeping beauty and his trusty companion snoozing away while Auto and I drive. I like to listen to my iPod while driving because it is like a private concert while looking at the water pass slowly away.

It was a perfect day for a ride, too. Calm and sunny. Just a touch nippy, which is why Kermit is wearing a jacket. We don't often bring out the Ohio State gear while in Michigan since we are out numbered but we thought it would be ok in the privacy of our boat!

A lot of people don't go to Traverse City (we think) because you leave Lake Michigan and turn east for about 30 miles into a long bay that divides into two bays - East and West. It is out of the way. Traverse City straddles both bays but the main municipal marina is in the West Bay.  We HAD to go because Dan and Marilyn are from west central Michigan. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

As usual, the municipal marina is nice. I suspect we won't find marinas like this down the river. I know Ohio has nothing like this for municipal marinas. I bet these pictures look all the same to you readers. I know they are starting to look all the same to me. Anyway this is Traverse City Municipal Marina.

 

 

This marina is built right along a green stretch that extends the length of the West Bay. In the later part of the 20th Century, the city fathers had the foresight to demolish lots of old buildings to reclaim the green space. There are historical markers all along the way showing pictures and history of industry that built Traverse City. Lots of lumber, apples, and cherries. Lots of cherries everywhere.

Dan Lipka recommended a favorite restaurant, Red Mesa, a little out of town. This meant taking down the bikes and figuring out the TART bike path about 4 miles East to the state park. I had creole whitefish with a spicy fruit salsa. Boy was it good! Kermit was happy with his fajitas. But the best part was the salsa, made fresh right on site, like everything else. It had this really thick texture but I couldn't figure out the secret. The margaritas hit the spot but made it a little uncomfortable going home! Maybe not uncomfortable but certainly interesting!

Every town has something different. Traverse City has a space exhibit which starts downtown with the sun (we didn't see that) and has planets hung around the community representing the relative distance away from the sun. Isn't that interesting? This is a picture of Saturn. We saw Saturn, Jupiture, and Uranus. Uranus had a fun explanation of the pronounciation - Ur-ANUS for high school students and UR-anus for everyone else!!

On Wednesday we took the bikes to the post office and picked up some package. We ordered Rusty's food from Petco and some supplies from Amazon. There is just no reason to settle for anything less than what we want when you can have everything sent to a Post Office!! Gotta love it. So we tested the new basket Kermit installed on his bike and toted home 20 pound bag of dog food, a business card holder for all the boat cards we are collecting, and a new 50 amp to 30 amp splitter we just had to have. It worked!! YEAH!!

Dinner at Mackinaw Brew Company was simpler, salads and meatloaf. Then early to bed for a big trip on Thursday.

We need to be in Chicago in 3 weeks and we have a lot of ground to cover. And the trip in and out of Traverse City is at least 30 miles. At 10 miles an hour, it is a 3 hour trip and there is nothing much on Lake Michigan near the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay so we hightailed it out early Thursday AM.

We have been asked about our early morning routine. Early is kind of a euphemism for us. Kermit sets the coffee pot for 7am. We drag ourselves out of bed, change clothes and feed the dog. Rusty has to have a walk. We load the bikes after bathroom stops for everyone. One of us lifts the bike and the other grabs it and moves it into place on the front deck. The assignment varies depending on how high we have to lift the bikes. Kermit uses bungie cords to fasten the bikes to the railing. He has an intricate ritual I don't pretend to understand. Then I make lunches and a snack bag with lots of fruits, nuts, and stuff to drink in a cooler. Dog, charts, reading materials, telephones, computers, shoes, and cooler move up to the top level. Kermit disappears who knows where, I get frustrated, and we get back to work. I close up everything below deck then Kermit follows around to make sure I didn't miss anything. I am not being snarky. Sometimes I miss things. I guess we are ready. Oh, yeah, did we secure the dinghy? Nope, forgot that. So let's secure the dinghy...

Now we are ready to start engines and debate which lines to take off in which order. Naturally we selected wrong and we have to reattach the boat so we don't slam into the boat next to us. Softly of course, wouldn't want to wake the neighbors. Lines off. A little arguing over the need for Kermit to be at the helm, and we are off! See that didn't take too long and very little arguing. Shocking.

The water was great when we started out from Traverse City. We were on our guard because the weather reports were conflicted and talked about increasing chances of storms. About half way through the 3 hour bay trip, Kermit decided to pick up the pace. Our target was Leland, around the corner, but if the water was good and we were not too tired. We would scoot down to Frankfort MI just to make more distance. Turns out Leland was easy so we kept going. This is a picture of Manitou Island, near Leland.

We passed Sleeping Bear Dunes along the way. We were close enough so we could see the dunes. Really high and white cliffs. I wish we could have stopped. Mariilyn Lipka says they are great fun.

 The fun part started after Leland. Turns out the islands mean the water between the Manitou Islands and the dunes between Leland and Frankfort is sort of like the water between Kellys and South Bass Island and Marblehead. There is a LOT of turbulence. In the pictures above you can see the waves are about 2 foot. That is doable. We perked it up to about 18 mph so we could take the waves coming off our front starboard quarter a little better. That was when the waves grew. In the photo below you can see the waves are a lot bigger, closer to 3 to 4 foot waves with 5 or 6 foot rogue waves every 3rd or 4th. It got a little wild. We were holding on.

About 2miles from the entrance to Frankfort MI, Kermit noticed a 46 foot Bertrum ( a very nice boat) that appeared to be anchored in this mess. That was odd so Kermit called to see what was up. Evidently the anchor dropped unexpectedly and they were anchored in 40 feet of water in 3-4 foot seas - NOT a good thing. We slowed down to about 10 mph and watched carefully as the guy crawled out on the nose and fiddled with the chain. He did not have a windlass to electronically pull up the anchor so he had to do it by hand on his belly in the rolling seas. I was very glad to not be on his boat. I can just hear his wife! He fixed the anchor and proceeded to limp into Frankfort behind us. They pulled into a different marina so we didn't see them again.

We used our Lake Erie experience and passed the entrance to Frankfort, made a quick turn, and surfed in with the waves off our tail. Much smoother for the last few minutes as we entered the channel.

This is what our back deck looked like when we got into calmer waters! Actually this is sort of cleaned up - the couch was all the way in front of the steps! The little garbage can broke free from its ties and was on the swim platform held on only by the trusty dinghy. We put everything back glad to have such a sturdy boat.

Frankfort is a small town. The library is right opposite our boat slip. It is big enough to fit into the lobby of the Canton main library! There is apparently one main street about 4 blocks long. I didn't see a stop light. The homes are really well taken care of. Lots of pretty painted Victorian homes. I don't get it. The home prices in the real estate office windows show similar looking houses that vary in price from 100k to 2 million. Seems odd for a small town.



The main street ends at Lake Michigan in the sweetest sand beaches we have seen yet. Something about of the Caribbean. Really beautiful. I guess that accounts for the property value ranges.

We had the single best meal of the entire trip at a little restaurant called Coho with the best, most reasonable prices so far. I had a fantastic duck breast with red chili sauce fruit sauce with citrus risotto so perfectly cooked it melted in my mouth. And fresh (not frozen) green beans and carrots. I savored every bite. A lovely screened porch overlooking the harbor with a light breeze. And the nicest people worked there - nice, friendly, and clearly foodies. So there is something very special about this small town.

There is a salmon fish tournament in town - lots of fishing boats of different shapes and sizes were thwarted in their attempt to win a big prize for the best salmon by the small craft warnings today. They will go out tomorrow as will Good Karma. We leave in the morning for Luddington, assuming we get good water.

Charming Charlevoix

Observations about Charlevoix:

They have a brat stand... in the middle of Round Lake! So you get into your dinghy and scoot over to the brat stand! A Girl, A Guy, and A Boat. Very clever!! Almost like you were in Wisconsin!! We didn't stop but we loved the idea.

Charlevoix is actually on Round Lake, a little round lake right inside Lake Michigan. The municipal marina is just under a cool drawbridge (opens on the hour and half hour - need to time your entrance and exit carefully or you will have to dance around with is hard in a boat.) A channel leads from Round Lake to Lake Charlevoix. This is a long lake with a great restaurant at the other end and Boyne Mountain, a ski resort popular with Chicagoans and others (but I remember ads for Boyne Mountain when I lived in Chicago).

You can see Good Karma with the green canvas at our dock.

 

The lake is ringed with summer homes. We didn't go because we chose not to take the big boat into Lake Charlevoix. But we dipped into it with the dinghy. Kermit did NOT enjoy the dinghy ride into Lake Charlevoix. Wake from other boats had him freaking out. See the boat in the background? Big wake! We got very wet and Kermit turned us around and we went back into Round Lake.

I ignored him, preferring to focus on the well kept homes and colorful landscaping. These folks really know how to use flowers.

Instead of boating around Lake Charlevoix, I biked around town to see the Earl Young stone houses. Earl Young was a local architect, mostly self trained, who took the whole Wright form and function thought to a whole new level. His buildings use local stone in crazy patterns with roof lines that are soft, round and warm. Not at all symetrical, the roofs look like elves live inside! A whole neighborhood of Keeblers. I can't imagine what a new roof costs. Has to be hand shaked around corners and curves.

Another great municipal marina, this one won awards for best designed community effort. The brickwork reflects the crazy random look popular in the Peter Young buildings. They included a water sculpture that kids can play in, a trout pond with a little waterfall, seating and picnic area at different levels to vary the view of the water and town, and a bandshell! So considerate for locals, families, and boaters. Great use of government as I continually remind Kermit.

We met Loopers who do the name honor (as contrast to the less friendly ones we met in Petosky). We met Darryl and Julie from St.Louis in Why Knot and Ross and Laura in Zone. We've been following Why Knot's blog for the while now hoping to meet up after they came through the North Channel. He is such a good writer, he inspires me to write better myself. I didnt tell him that though. Maybe next time. I was a little embarrassed.

So we organized a big dinner grill out last night with Bob and Sally and Ron and Diana we met in Petosky and the loopers Darryl and Julie and Ross and Laura. We laughed and laughed telling funny stories about boating and learning more about Michigan towns on the route from Ron and Diana. Good food too. An interesting corn salad in light vinegrette from Diana and spinach pie from Laura. Best was the alcohol. You can tell we are all good boaters becauseI of the nice assortment. Laura brought vodka with pineapple and cranberry juice. I could drink that all day. Kermit made Kermit juice, always a big hit, and others had different beers and wine.

Afterwards Kerm and I went to the movies where we had a private screening of the Bourne Legacy. A solid 4 stars. Definitely worth seeing.

One afternoon we were puttering around the boat and a huge shadow appeared through the window. The cruise ship, Yorktown, home port Detroit, pulled into Round Lake with about 130 passengers. It is 257 feet long. The pump out took all afternoon! http://www.greatlakescruising.com/yorktown/

Here is a picture we took from our bridge. You can see the shadow this thing laid off the boats on our dock. So you can judge the size, that boat in the lower left corner is a 52 foot Jefferson, The Zone owned by Ross and Laura, loopers we had dinner with later that day. The captain tried to tie up on the dock with regular boats, only succeeding in ripping out two posts before deciding that the gas dock with its steel post supports was a better choice. It was entertainment for us though!

Kermit went crazy on a bunch of projects in the afternoon while I workedand went for a bike ride. He installed backets over the rear tire, installed a lock on the dinghy glove compartment that broke immediately, and a bit of other puttering.

A note about the looper locator. When I entered the city name, Charlevoix, Google Earth put it so far away from the marina it wasn't funny. So I am skipping it for a while. Check out our location on Google Maps by entering Charlevoix Municipal Marina. Sorry. Here is a link to downtown Charlevoix with some words about the marina construction. I hope that suffices for today. http://www.downtowncharlevoix.com/