Frankfort to Ludington, Michigan

Just a quick update on our location. We are currently in Ludington, Michigan.

We left Frankfort early on Thursday, September 20. Generally Lake Michigan was cooperative. We had some fairly high wave action around Big Sable Point but by the time we got to Ludington, the lake was almost glassy.


Here are three versions of the lake during our trip. The first picture is as we left Frankfort. Certainly wavy but not bad. The second is further south where the waves were picking up. The last is as we entered Ludington.









We'll write more about our "weathered in" spell in Ludington soon. It's an interesting "town in transition", we think. Meridian met a new friend.

Frankfort, Michigan - Another Windy Port

We're starting to think that we're causing all this wind. It seems like almost everywhere we go, there's an unusual stretch of windy weather. HMMM!?!

Anyway, we're in Frankfort with a few others who are heading south -- most further south than Chicago and with specific deadlines. A "looper" couple, who have been doing the Great Loop for six or eight months needs to get to Florida by November for a wedding; three sailboats are heading down the Mississippi to Florida but have a 9/26 date with Crowley's on the Calumet to have their masts removed and trucked down to Mobile, AL (as a side note -- we never had thought too much about what the sailboaters do with the masts on the river trip. Naively thought they just removed them and carried them down. But a 50 foot mast on a 35 foot boat makes dockage and gas dock visits rather difficult. Trucking those masts down is a great idea!)




It's still windy.





But that means "surfs up, dudes". It's funny how, even here in northern Michigan, the surfers have blond hair, are deeply tanned, and talk like they are from southern California.

So during these windy days we're exploring the bike trails in the area. Bernie bought a map while in Petoskey that outlined all the paths in the northern Michigan area. Phil's glad she didn't buy this earlier as there was a 60 mile route from Mackinaw City that Bernie thought looked fun. That'll be next year!

The Crystal Lake loop is a 21 mile route that takes you to Point Betsie Light House (this picture is much straighter than the ones from Sunday) and through the resort area of Crystal Lake and Beulah, Michigan. Crystal Lake and Beulah have an interesting history. Back in the 1800s, someone tried to build a channel that would connect Crystal Lake and Lake Michigan, allowing large boats to come in. Unfortunately (or fortunately for future home owners), the channel ended up draining Crystal Lake waters, lowering its level by about 20 feet. This did allow a little summer resort area to spring up around the lake as well as the town of Beulah.

The Betsie Valley Trail is a 23 mile route that connects Frankfort to Thompsonville. It starts right at the marina. It is an old railroad bed, so it is generally flat with some long but steep grades. Part of the route goes through the Marquette State Forest. When we crossed Betsie River, quite small and narrow at this point, we noticed several salmon swimming up it. Never really realized that it takes the salmon awhile to actually find the right direction. They do a bit of swimming in circles as they locate the right path upstream.

A little town called Elberta is right across the lake from Frankfort. The Ports of Call Guide mentioned that Elberta has been having water level problems. That is an understatement. The Elberta marina is closed. The picture of the gas docks tells a story about what's been happening with water levels of Lake Michigan in the last several years! It is sad to see a lost marina.

A couple of notable businesses in Frankport. The Crescent Bakery has fresh baked breads, cherry fritters, jams and jellies, and dried fruit. Dinghy's is a little restaurant bar with some cool stained glass windows. We were able to enjoy a couple nights of ice cream at the Cool Spot before it closed for the season (then we got to enjoy a 1/2 price fudge and ice cream sale). Bayview Party Store employees are nice enough to sell you a roll of quarters when you need it to finish the laundry (unlike the EZ Mart BP gas station people). Frankfort also has a couple very nice art galleries (like Les Sirena Galerie D'Art), a book store and several non T-shirt shops. Our internet works here, but the Library, right by the marina, has wi-fi as a back-up. There's also a grocery store (Glen's) which is in walking distance.

We took the dinghy out for a little cruise since the weather today was very nice (Weather was so summery on Tuesday, September 18 that Bernie slept up on the bridge last night - actually, she spent the whole night looking at the star constellations and did see a shooting star!) Typical for our dinghy rides, Bernie rowed Phil all over Betsie Lake. Several fishermen in boats came over to ask Phil where'd he get one that rowed and what horsepower does she get. The waterside view of this boat revealed that these cruisers are prepared for any kind of travel. Not really sure how they get it off the boat, though.


The weather forecast for Thursday, September 20 looks good. Most of us in Frankfort (the sailboat guys, the loopers, and us) are planning on heading out tomorrow. We're hoping to make it to Ludington.

We'll leave you with a few more pictures of Frankfort sights.



Check back to see our progress ;)

Waves to the Left! Waves to the Right! Frankfort, MI Here We Come

Well, we finally made it out of Petoskey. A weather window opened on Saturday afternoon (September 15) so we dashed on down to Leland. The cruise out of Little Traverse Bay, south past Charlevoix, past the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay, then down to Leland was pretty uneventful. The waves were in the two to four foot range, which was manageable, and we hit Leland about 6:00 pm.

The marinas are now on "off-season" hours, but we had called ahead of time to get a slip assignment ("Oh, take anything between 1 and 11 that is open") and the shower/bathroom code.

A couple of people at the dock helped us with lines and we settled in for the evening. Leland was a spot that we couldn't get internet, so we got up early and went over to the Stone House Bakery Cafe for their baked goods (yum!), coffee and to use their wi-fi for a weather forecast.

The weather looked like it would be good for a travel day down to Frankfort: 1 to 3 foot waves, with 2 to 4 footers in some places, but easily do-able. Another good sign was several other boats leaving when Bernie finished her run (she didn't get lost this time!) We left Leland at 10:30 for an "easy four hour cruise" to Frankfort.

Now, you'll notice from the last leg in the map that our path to Frankfort wasn't exactly straight. No, Phil and Bernie weren't fighting over who was going to drive. And, no, Bernie didn't find a cute magnet that she thought would look great on the compass. And, no, we certainly haven't traded Meridian in for a sail boat. But, upon reaching Sleeping Bear Point, the waves got so bad we had to tack back and forth in order to avoid hitting the waves head-on. Or, more accurately, being hit by the waves head-on.

You'll also notice that some of the photographs in this blog are pretty crooked. No, Bernie isn't getting sloppy with her photography. It's just that, with those monster waves (at least they felt that way), she didn't often have a chance to hold the camera level. But, she sure kept telling Phil to hold the boat steady when she wanted to take a picture. He just looked at her funny when she asked that. Basically, you're seeing the world the way we were seeing it that day. Except, of course, the camera lens doesn't really do justice to the waves. They were MUCH larger than they appear in these pictures.

The waves were so bad at Sleeping Bear Point that we had to slow down to between five and six knots in order to keep the bow from slamming. But that just made it worse, because it felt like we would NEVER make it around the point and into the relative calm behind Point Betsie. And we definitely didn't want our little four hour cruise to turn into eight hours in this mess. While Sleeping Bear Dunes is very scenic, we got pretty tired of staring at that big sand dune while the boat was going up, down, left and right - pretty much every way except in a straight forward line. (Phil thought it was pretty funny to say "Look! There's Sleeping Bear Dunes" every 10 minutes. That's when he started getting the funny looks.)

Here's a photo of the typical waves we were seeing. Now, the photo doesn't really do them justice. And it certainly doesn't capture the adrenaline and nervousness (somewhere between fright and terror) we were feeling. OK, seriously, we never felt in danger, but we were definitely concerned about what it would be like if the waves got any worse - even just a little.

Eventually, we made it around Sleeping Bear. We stuck close to the coast hoping to take advantage of the calm waters by staying behind Point Betsie in Platte Bay (the waves were coming from the south). Luckily, it did calm down enough (only four or five footers here) that, combined with our slight change in direction, we could start making seven or eight knots in some semblance of comfort.

This is where we saw a really interesting sight. About half way between Sleeping Bear Point and Point Betsie is something called Empire Bluffs. All you Chicagoans probably won't be surprised to see that it has a big phone number on the side. You may have to click on the photo in order to see it.

The Platte Bay calm couldn't last forever though. We eventually had to deal with Point Betsie, where we'd feel the full fury of the south winds, and the waves they were creating. About the only positive aspect of this was we knew that Frankfort was only about five miles south of the Point.

And as we reached Point Betsie, the waves definitely got worse. Phil told Bernie to wait for a calm period so she could take a better picture. She must have been paying attention to those funny looks he gave her earlier, because she seemed to be pretty good at giving them too.


And that's when we saw an amazing sight. There were four wind surfers and a kite boarder out in the lake at Point Betsie. Here we were on a 41 foot motor yacht getting knocked all over the place - and there was a sailboat behind us not faring any better - and this guy was out there having the time of his life.

After making it around Point Betsie, we saw - off in the distance - the most wonderful sight of the day. The entrance to Frankfort! Bernie was a little skeptical because, earlier, Phil had pointed to the Point Betsie Light and proclaimed it to be the entrance to Frankfort (I was just trying to keep Bernie's spirits up. Yeah, she didn't fall for that one either). But this really was the Frankfort entrance. And it couldn't come soon enough, as the waves were still getting larger. And, as you can see from the camera angles, Bernie had started hitting the rum in order to deal with the waves.

Frankfort has a large outer breakwater system, with a wide entrance that makes it easier to enter during large waves. We were soon in the safety of calm waters.


A few minutes later, we were in our slip. The "four hour" cruise took us six hours. From the tranquil look of things, you would never have known what we had been through. However, after speaking to the other boaters who came in that afternoon, we found out we weren't alone in our ordeal - everyone was talking about those "one to three foot waves" that apparently took a second helping of Wheaties that morning. In fact, the first words Phil heard from one of the boaters was "You guys came from Leland? Boy, you must have been getting knocked around out there something fierce!"


We were lucky enough to find this drinking well located in the park across from the marina. Take a close look at the sign over it. Phil took a REALLY BIG drink -- then said "Let's go on to Ludington tonight".

Bernie's gotten really good with those funny looks.

Portage Lake to Leland, Michigan

We left the dock at Portage Lake at 7:30 am on Wednesday after taking a walk to Lake Michigan to verify conditions. We had been thinking of going directly from Portage Lake to South Manitou Island, but the weather forecast sounded like we only had one good day – today – before another couple of days of wind and waves.

We decided to head directly to Leland. Two different couples had told us this was their favorite harbor on Lake Michigan. It sounded like the kind of place where, if we needed to be laid up for a couple of days, we wouldn’t get bored. Also, it’s the standard jumping-off point for the Manitou Islands.

So off we went. Portage Lake was just a little misty as we were leaving, and it made for a nice “goodbye picture”.

As we traversed the channel from Portage Lake to Lake Michigan, we were happy to see just how much conditions had improved from the prior day. The lake once again had that glassy look to it. The two foot waves were more like gentle swells, giving us a very comfortable and pleasant up and down motion as we headed north.

Before long we passed the Frankfort entrance, which was our destination from the prior day. Bernie noticed the Frankfort lighthouse is on her list of lighthouses to be checked off (it’s a book we have). So that was one more mission accomplished! The lake was still glassy calm, and the trip was progressing nicely.

After Frankfort, we passed the lighthouse at Point Betsie – another one on the list . . .

After rounding Point Betsie, we were headed to Sleeping Bear Point – and the Sleeping Bear National Seashore. The waves started building, and as we neared Sleeping Bear Point they were beginning to approach three to four foot heights. However, they were coming from a more reasonable direction than the day before, and were not unpleasant to deal with.

Heading north past Sleeping Bear Point places you in the Manitou Passage, which is the route many large freighters take when heading north. We (ok, maybe just Phil) were hoping to get a relatively close look at one, and we weren’t disappointed. This one was traveling along within sight virtually the entire way from Portage Lake to the Manitou Passage. That’s South Manitou Island in the background.

Pyramid Point is the last major landmark before the northbound approach to Leland. It’s another very large sand dune.

By this time the wind was starting to pick up, and the lake was getting choppier. We were happy to make it to the safety of Leland Harbor at about 2:00 pm.