We finally got out of Austin and hit the road for Whitehall and back to Letitia. We spent about week or so cleaning and painting and stocking up final 'stuff' before getting back in the water.
We finally got out of Austin and hit the road for Whitehall and
back to Letitia. We spent about week or so cleaning and painting and stocking
up final 'stuff' before getting back in the water.
 |
Then we went
on to a lovely little town where we had not explored two years ago as we
had come south on Lake Michigan…a town called Manistee. We ended up staying
there, tied to the wall at the municipal marina, for three days. Our boat,
Letitia, is in the top picture. Gorgeous days but a bit windy for our cruising
taste. The town is very hospitable to boating visitors….there is
a long, long boardwalk that allows folks to walk comfortably from downtown
all the way to the beach front/Lake Michigan shoreline. There are little
parks all along the way with beautifully cared for flowers (I think the
Senior Citizen groups take care of the needed gardening…or at least those
are the folks we saw at the garden near the marina). As you can see
the waterway/Manistee River is plenty wide and can accommodate all the
fishermen (and there are LOTS of fishermen who take fishing VERY seriously)
and pleasure boats handily.
Plus, once or twice a week a lake freighter comes up the river to deliver
coal to the power plant farther up the river. Its an awesome experience
to stand on your decent sized boat and begin to feel very tiny indeed as
the freighter passes! But there was plenty of room and she went so slowly
that her wake didn't bother anyone. The reason she was traveling
so slowly is that she had three drawbridges to maneuver through just to
get into Lake Manistee….sort of a “slowly she turns” drama..
After our very relaxed and pleasant stay in Manistee, which included
a great farmers’ market on Saturday morning….lots of fresh lettuce, strawberries
(season almost over), cherries (season just beginning) and sugar snap peas
(a one week season and they are phenomenal fresh vegetables!), several
walks to the beach front to see what the Lake was doing in 35 mph winds
(we were very glad to be tied up) and a Friday night “fried fish dinner”
at the local ELKS lodge …we headed off to another anchorage.
We were off up the coast to the Manitou
Islands, about another 50 miles north. These are about 3 miles off
the Sleeping Bear dunes. The story is that in Indian mythology, the islands
are a mother bear and her cub. The winds were just right to enjoy
a night at anchor there. Its pretty open to the “big water” so we
were careful about when and where we would anchor there. Lovely
quiet spot…water so clear you could see clearly to the bottom in 18’ of
water. We could see our own anchor. Pretty amazing. I got out a kayak and
paddled around for a hour or so just to see what the coastline of the island
was like.
The next night (6/26) we anchored again, but this time inside of Great Traverse Bay in a nicely sheltered place called Omena Bay. Again, in water so clear that the bottom was right in front of your face…we are getting used to that again. If you can get used to such clear, clean water. Apparently one of the main reasons Michigan has such gorgeous water, beyond some pretty strict laws for boaters, is the zebra mussel. There are good things and bad things about this “imported” critter…but one good thing is water clarity.
After Omena Bay we came into Traverse City for a 6 day stay at the downtown municipal marina. A lovely, fairly large, town…the beaches are beautiful and according to the TC Chamber of Commerce, Traverse City is considered the Malibu of Michigan. There is a good long boardwalk/bike trail. Lots of gorgeous water, interesting people watching and good shopping – we lucked into both the Wednesday and the Saturday Farmers’ Markets. My freezer is crammed with fresh fruit and homemade cherry pie! We have got to begin having guests aboard so I can get some of this food eaten!!!!
While we were here we rented a car and drove to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park that's about 30 miles north of TC, obviously on the shore coast. We had cruised past it several times in our recent travels but had not yet taken the time to see it from the land side. Its a spectacular park….the landscape in the park varies from maple and cottonwood “forests” (with a few pines thrown in though they are not native to the area), to rocky areas that are left from the glacier drops to these incredible dunes that are 450-500 feet high!!! Seeing them from the water isn't anything as impressive as standing on top of one, looking down! As you can see, the water changes color several times due to depth changes…pretty darned Caribbean looking, wouldn't you say? And just to underscore how high 450’ is, check out the size of the sailboat down in the water!
We are starting the month of July, much as we finished the month of
June, wearing bluejeans and sweaters for most of the day. Our high
today is supposed to be 69 with the low in the mid-40’s. Granted
we’ve had some pretty hot days but they have been few and far between.
The native Michiganers wear shorts and sleeveless shirts…we stick to long
pants and jackets!!! Pretty funny.
Till Later!!
| Previous Issue (Number 25) | Home | Next Issue (Number 27) |
