Day 76 - Location: Home @ Watson, MI

The 'old view' from the window

Our 'welcome home committee'

Our 'new' view from the window

We made it home today! The lake forecast was somewhat questionable with small craft advisories on. We decided to at least check it out and we found that while the waves were right up there the angle of the waves made it a fairly comfortable ride and they pushed us along nicely. By 2:00 we were in Grand Haven for the 2 hour ride up the Grand River to the marina. When we came home we were greeted by three Trumpet Cranes in our yard The pair has been coming every year for the last 7 - 8 years. This is the first year we we've seen young ones. A nice welcome.

What a vacation! Thanks to all who helped make it possible, thanks for following our blog. We can now be reached at home again, we'll catch up on visiting friends & family over the next few weeks.

Day 75 - Location 43.78505N, 86.43261W

Arcadia Harbor
Lake Michigan shoreline @ Arcadia

We're in Pentwater, MI, one of our last, maybe the last stop before we get to Grand Haven. Tomorrow could be the last leg of a fabulous vacation if the lake conditions allow it. The lake forecast is somewhat doubtfull, but if there is one thing we learned it is to take the forecast with a grain of salt without ignoring it. We can now smell home and it's making us anxious. We enjoyed every day of our time on the water, but being back home with our own shower, bathroom and bed does sound good. We still have a good 8 - 9 hours to go and if the waters are rough we'll quit before Grand Haven and come in the following day. We'll see what works

Day 74 - Location: 44.49017N, 86.23741W

Beached & abandoned sailboat on Sleeping Bear Point

Lighthouse @ Point Betsie

Lake Michigan, like all large open bodies can be rough going. Today was one of those days that was just perfect. Sunny and the temp's were in the upper 70's, wind was fairly light and behind us. We left Leland this morning and made it to one of our favorites spots along Michigan's West shore, Arcadia. As we go South along the West side of Michigan, there are four main points sticking out into the lake that we need to clear. Today we cleared Sleeping Bear Point and Point Betsie. As we were passing Sleeping Bear Point we noticed a nice 30' or larger sailboat with sails still up on the beach. At the marina in Arcadia we found out the boat had been found five days earlier, but the Coast Guard was still trying to figure out what happened to the crew.

Day 73 - Location: 45.02537N, 85.76202W

Old historic Leland Fishing town
Leland - looking out at Lake Michigan

Beaver Island Old Coast Guard Station & Lighthouse

Leaving Beaver IslandSt. James Harbor behind us this morning

Now that we're back in our home waters we're coming to the realise that as always, all good things must come to an end. We're starting to reflect back on the ups and downs of the trip, the few disappointments and the many pleasant surprises. For one thing, we've been very fortunate - no mechanical breakdowns, and consistently very good weather. We figured that one in five days would keep us in port because of the weather but to date we've only stayed put for three days because of the weather. This puts us somewhat ahead of our anticipated return date, but now that we're close, we're both ready to check things out at home. This will also allow a little time off before returning back to work. It will be hard though to put an end to our vacation of a lifetime.

Today brought us to Leland, an old fishing town, tourist town now. It's also the home of the ferry to South Manitou Island. We did manage to get a good lake fish dinner here - obviously the Indian fishermen here have more balls than those on Beaver Island.

Day 72 - Same location

Entry from Lake Michigan to Beaver Island Harbor

Beaver Island Post Office

'King' Strang's story - long live the king!

We're staying put for an extra day on Beaver Island, not because of the weather, but we like it here. Beaver Island has a unique flavor and history. In the 1850's the island was inhabited mainly by Mormans, and ruled by James Strang who was crowned king and ruled with an iron fist. He was assinated by two of his followers by July 1856. Shortly afterwards mobs from other islands ran off all 2600 Mormans. After that the island's population was made up of mostly Irish who made a living off fishing and logging. In the late 1800's Beaver Island was the largest supplier of fresh water fish in the US. Today it has a permanent population of some 500 people. Tourism is the main industry, though a sizable Indian population still tries to make a living fishing. We were unable to get the fish dinner on the Island we were looking forward to. The fishermen did not go out because of the rough weather the last few days - and they used to call them braves?

Day 71 - Location 45.74714N, 85.51781W

Mackinac Bridge - entrance to Lake Michigan

Lighthouse in morning

Beaver Island

We got up early, determined to make it to Beaver Island, always a favorite stop of ours. Before the sun was up we were out and by 4:00 this morning we were dodging the Indian fishermen who did not bother to show any lights until we were within a 1/2 mile from them. By 7:00 AM, the radar showed a line of thundershowers coming accross the lake from Wisconsin and we decided to wait those out in Mackinac City Marina. While we were there we found out that Nancy's sister Sandy and her husband Larry were just across the straits in St. Ignace, gaming at the casino at 8:00 AM already (real diehards). They came on over and we stopped for coffee, a nice break in our routine. Mackinac City is a real tourist attraction and the marina is not our cup of tea. As soon as the weather cleared up at 11:00 we got going and made it to Beaver Island by 5:00. Good move!

Day 70 - Loacation: 45.59275N, 84.15862W

Hammond Bay Harbor - Pure Michigan!

Indian fishing boats - we've been trying to avoid their nets for weeks now

Thunderstorms kept us in port until after 10:00 yesterday morning - left only to find out the water was still pretty wild. We stopped after a few hours at Hammond Bay Port - a truly quiet spot - nothing there - no people, restaurants, phone service or good internet. The only thing we shared the harbor with was a few indian fishermen's boats.