"500 Feet High and 5 Miles Long"

Cheboygan departure at mid-day.  The river awakened with all sorts and sizes of boat traffic.  A boat called 'Family Circus' complete with a chorus of singing children, two men out to dabble as first time sailors, ferries hauling dump trucks to Bois Blanc Island, leather-tanned couples in cigarette boats and the two 20 something-year-olds on their beloved Zephyrus.

Ian naturally took lead and we both raised our jibs sailing on a perfect heading west.  Winds picked up as we headed deeper into the Straits of Mackinaw....sails eventually came down and we proceeded to pound into the surf for the next few hours.  It's times like these when we're glad our boat weighs 5000 lbs versus the 18,000 lbs  of his black beauty.  We enjoyed the spray from the warm lake including plenty of buckets dumped on heads.

Mackinaw City marks the transition from a struggling northern Michigan economy to the thriving "ritzy-ness"of northwestern Michigan.  Sort of a Mackinaw Island on steroids tourism industry...with T-shirt shops that glow and live folk music that people bounce and pace themselves to as they window shop. We had no choice but to dock in this area as any anchoring would put you in the aggressive Mac Island ferry crossing zone and their wretched wake.  Mishap struck upon entering harbor--heavy west winds spun us as we approached dock.  Although fools we appeared with a 3 man crowd observation, in the nick of time before being blown sideways into the docks, we kicked it in reverse and backed our way into the slip.  Siiiiiigh....seems like things are always intensified when the motor is on.

 Our last night of Gin and Tonics with Ian and farewells in the morning.  Our longest voyage of the summer today and the symbolic under-the-bridge crossing into Lake Michigan.  Sailing was tough due to the boat traffic on the Huron side of the bridge.  As if we were an ant with rollerblades crossing a jiggling water bed.  Big swells rocked us from all sides killing our momentum.  But we got what we wanted and triumphantly cruised in full sail power under the bridge.  Corey took the helm as we entered Lake Michigan on a perfect heading due West.  This is the lake of his childhood.  We will end up at his cottage by the end of the month.
A 12 hour day over 60 miles from Mackinaw City to Harbor Springs.  A day of tropical heat and perfect winds for a delightful sail. Zephyrus finally encountered her match: a perfect Zephyr. We strung the hammock from the boom and took shifts soaking the rays.  We witnessed the discovery of a newly sunken Kiwi 35' just past the bridge--Coast Guard announced an assumption that it was Wingnut sunken on the 17th and the devastating loss of two crew members aboard in a storm.  Well understanding the panic and terror storms could bring-emotions of mine offered a silent empathy to the deceased.

Pulled into Harbor Springs sunset time.  Just in time before winds picked up with the oncoming storm.  Talk about a sailboat-yacht-sparkling-spanking new society. Whew we felt excluded with our well worn college-budget home...but held our heads high.  We were saved from the exclusive crowd ashore as we were intercepted by two couples of very friendly boaters on a beautiful Hunter who invited us aboard for cocktails even before the pleasantry exchange.  Experienced a Catholic Mass on Sunday in one of the wealthiest societies in America and left for Petoskey that afternoon.

Anchored and happy here.  Visited with Tony and Laura who met up with a generous gift of good champagne and cheese. We enjoyed the charming downtown of Petoskey. In the morning Laura was very considerate in inviting us to breakfast are the coffee and pastry shop that she manages. It was incredible to be free to cook in a well stocked and roomy kitchen. We had bagel sandwiches with bacon egg and cheese. One of our friends Amanda invited us out for lunch with he and her mother before we left for Charlevoix. We really enjoyed seeing a few more familiar faces and the great Mexican food. 

-Megan

We left after lunch en route for Charlevoix. The waves seemed to be even bigger than on our way to Petoskey! I suppose the difference is in the frequency. In Lake Superior, the waves are larger, but move slower and farther apart. In Lake Michigan, there isn't quite enough space between waves for our boat to surf down and then up the next wave. Because of this, Zepyrus tends to smash and spray as we head into the waves. We arrived in Charlevoix and realized that we had to stall a few minutes until the bridge into Round Lake lifted. It was interesting to be doing circles in the narrow passage while all sorts of people are looking down from restaurant patios and above the bridge. After we entered Round Lake, we had a heck of a time setting our anchor in a very populated area in nearly 50 feet of water. Also, the winds picked up quite a bit. After several attempts we managed to secure our boat and turned in for the night. We were both pretty exhausted from the waves.

In the morning, our long haul into Grand Traverse Bay to my cottage! We can't wait. Oh, and Megan turns 21 on Friday (the 29th)!

-Corey