After incredible weather the whole month in Canada, reality has returned and I am back to the daily uncertainty of the sea state. After a few extra days in Hessel, we made it to St. Ignace and within viewing distance of the lower peninsula of Michigan where, again, we spent more time than planned due to weather. I restocked my groceries, ate a lot of whitefish, and prepared for my most anticipated visitors yet, my daughter Cadi and her boyfriend Gabe!
Docktails in St. Ignace… I walked away to take Kali for a walk when they took the picture, so they photoshopped me in. Ha!
Cadi and Gabe had not yet met The ‘Nati Nomad and I had not seen them since I was home for the fourth of July. I could barely handle the excitement. I was still stuck in St. Ignace on Thursday and they were due to arrive the next day, but the weather improved and I scooted over to Mackinaw City Friday morning where they met me at the dock to catch my lines. We shared big hugs! There is nothing better in the world for this mama than seeing her kids! And Gabe already feels like a second son to me. They got themselves situated and we set out to explore the cute touristy town of Mackinaw City.
The weather finally did what was requested and we had a decent crossing over to Mackinac Island the next morning. The wakes from the ferries and the tankers stir up the straits and they had a wild ride on the flybridge with 2-foot waves. For those who are not familiar with Mackinac Island, it is a tourist destination only accessible by boat, so the ferry traffic is constant and they are FAST. There are no cars on the island and getting around is all by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage.
We had a lovely game of putt-putt, walked to the Grand Hotel, ate our best meal at the Pink Pony, and explored the island. What a cute little place to stay for a few days!
The next evening, we had reservations for dinner at the Woods restaurant and took a 35-minute horse-drawn taxi ride. The restaurant is nestled in the woods (obviously) and is full of charm. The duck was delish and the company was even better.
We were once again delayed a day due to winds, waves, and fog but an extra day in Mac Island is no hardship!
The forecast was finally looking like a good travel day. The fog was supposed to lift by 9:00am and we only had about a 6-hour cruise to get to our next destination of Petoskey. Our friends on Story were heading to the same place so we decided to buddy boat with them. They also have a better AIS system to identify ships in case of poor visibility so it was nice to follow behind. I am glad we did! The “supposed to be” forecast was dead wrong about the fog lifting. We had this fog until 2:30pm before it cleared. Left is Story, middle is their view of The ‘Nati Nomad, and right is the Mackinaw Bridge. Spooky!
It was a beautiful day when we arrived in Petoskey. It was a nice change from the touristy town of Mac Island and we enjoyed the little downtown and some fabulous pizza.
The original plan was to get them to Traverse City for their flight home, but we were running out of time because of our delay in Mac Island. The good news is that 7 hours by boat is usually about an hour by car, so we decided on a short cruise to Charlevoix and then hired a driver (coincidentally named Colleen) for them to Traverse City the following day. It was a great decision. We all agreed that Charlevoix was our favorite stop during their stay.
We followed Meant To Be and Story from Petoskey to Charlevoix and had to time our approach so that we would arrive at the half-hour bascule bridge opening. All was going well and we arrived a few minutes early. However, I saw a ferry in the distance and then heard the captain’s call notifying boats in the area that he was approaching the bridge. I had not yet entered the canal nor committed to the bridge so I hailed him on the radio to ask if he would prefer that I proceed into the canal or wait to follow behind. Paraphrasing what he said…”do what you want but my slowest speed is 6 knots”. In other words, “stay the hell out of my way”. I chose wisely! He came barreling through. Meant To Be and Story were ahead of him and boogied through as fast as they could. I heard his horn and later found out that the no wake zone does not apply to him so when my looper friends slowed down, he was not happy. My normal cruising speed is only 6.5-7 knots and I like to go slower in tight spaces, but they went through fast and I heard the bridge bells indicating they were starting to close the bridge. Dammit! I gunned it and got up to 8 knots to make it under just as the bridge was starting to close. I remembered the advice from Dan in Albany, New York “if you get in a bad situation, jam it!”. That, I did.
Once we got settled in, we were glad to be there. Great food, good shopping, clean streets, a plentiful farmer’s market, and an outdoor wine patio with a view of the bridge. It was a great place to enjoy my last day with Cadi and Gabe. I was so sad to see them go but very thankful that they tackled the uncertain logistics of trying to visit me in my constantly moving home and then pivoted gracefully when we had to adjust the plan.
After they left, I unfortunately discovered what appeared to be a fuel leak. A couple loopers helped me troubleshoot but came to the same conclusion I did – no idea where it was coming from. I called a mechanic who arrived the same day and confirmed our confusion. The leak was nowhere near a fuel line or the engine. It was coming from under one of the gutters in the engine room and leaking out a screw hole. The mechanic took apart the suspected area and drilled a small hole right below the screw. Mostly water and a little bit of fuel poured out. The only explanation was that maybe water and fuel got in there somehow because of an overflow during fill-up or air conditioner condensation collected there or I pushed water in the vents during a washdown or PFM (a new phrase I learned from a looper friend – pure fucking magic). In any case, as with many other boat problems, the solution was to pay the mechanic for his time and keep an eye on it.
After having to watch my Cadi girl leave and tackling a dumb fuel issue, I was ready for a glass of wine. I met Story and Sea Grace at the Vue Wine Bar, ate at Bridge Street Tap Room for dinner, and finished the night listening to a brass band from my slip.
My final goal for the week was to get across Lake Michigan into Wisconsin to lovely Door County. It was Labor Day weekend and Leland, Michigan was booked. That would have been the shortest distance but I settled on Northport, Michigan instead which would only add about an hour to the trip. I left Charlevoix and traveled just 3 hours to prep for my crossing. I checked the weather and double-checked the weather again. I called my friend, Captain Clint and talked it through, looking at all the available predictions. Saturday looked good! The marina had a great band that night, so I listened to live music as I changed my oil in preparation for the next day’s crossing. The music probably drowned out my usual engine room cursing which was a bonus for the other boaters as well. I went to bed and set my alarm for an early start. I rocked all night and when I woke up, the wind said nope, not today. So here I am in Northport, catching up on my blog and hoping that tomorrow is the day I make it to Wisconsin!
“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” – Dolly Parton
To support the adventure or to track The ‘Nati Nomad’s progress, visit greatloop.thenatinomad.com.
Amazing! All of it!!! The fog pictures are spectacular!! Northport, Charlevoix, Petosky! Those are all my favorite places!!!