Overnight Anchorage in Suttons Bay, Michigan

On the morning of Thursday 6/26/2008 we left Leland Harbor (with a little "assistance" ) for Sutton's Bay, which is in the west arm of the Grand Traverse Bay about 20 miles north of Traverse City.

A couple of miles out of Leland, it became very foggy. Our typical cruising speed is slow enough that we didn't need to slow down, but we had to blow the horn every minute or so to let any other boats that may be in the area know we were around. Here's all we could see.


At one point we came upon a sailboat, passing it safely to our port side. We were able to see it clearly enough that we finally felt comfortable about visibility. Then, once we rounded the point into Grand Traverse Bay, it began clearing up. By the time we reached Northport for a quick fuel-up (at $3.90 per gallon, we couldn't resist topping off) it was warm and sunny.

We continued our trip down to Sutton's Bay, reaching it in the early afternoon, where we anchored without too much difficulty - at least by our standards. We then settled down for a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

It was almost dead calm while there, and a swam wandered over to check us out. After satisfying himself that we were safely anchored and wouldn't be blowing aground over his nest, he continued on his way.


We've sometimes wondered what it would be like to have a sailboat, especially with fuel prices the way they are now. But after seeing these guys out in the bay, we decided it's just simply too much work. Trimming sails, paddling, keeping watch, it just seems to take too large of a crew for even a small boat!


The night was uneventful - except for the bugs that came swarming in because of the lack of wind - but the next morning we awoke to an incredible sunset. Here are a few photos of the sun rising over the mirror-like water.



Phil spent over an hour clearing the aft deck of bugs prior to leaving for Traverse City the morning of 6/27. We got a slip in Duncan Clinch marina for the next several nights, and spent the rest of the day giving Meridian a thorough cleaning of the bugs that we once again brought to share with our fellow marina residents. This time, though, they quickly dispersed and we didn't get the same "looks' that we had been receiving in Leland.