A shore thing

We're still traveling along the shore of western Michigan. We were in Frankfort for 3 days looking to cross Lake Michigan but we had storms come through and the wind and waves were too much so we decided to continue south and proceeded to Ludington, MI.

Docked at the Frankfort marina, the boat and I got pounded by waves.

Departing Frankfort on our way to Ludington

When we arrived, the city was awaiting the arrival of the Vietnam Traveling Wall. There was a motorcycle escort accompanying it to Ludington’s City Park for a 4 day stay. The city had special events scheduled at the Memorial each day.

We were again waiting to cross the lake to Wisconsin but we remained in Ludington for 5 days because of the high waves and white caps.

I got to see the only coal-fired steamship in operation in the U.S. The S.S. Badger is the largest car ferry on Lake Michigan and runs between Ludington and Manitowoc, WI. The ferry carries up to 600 passengers, 50 crew and 180 vehicles. The 60 mile trip takes 4 hours, with an average speed of 15.6 knots. The Badger is over 400 feet long,7 stories high and her 2 anchors each weigh 7,000 pounds. She’s been in service over 60 years, first transporting railroad freight cars and later switched to passengers and cars. In 2009 the ship was placed on the Nation's Register of Historic Places.

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Meet Paul, he greets everyone on the dock.

We decided against crossing and headed south along the Michigan coast to Grand Haven. We had a lot of fog and 2 foot waves, and covered 68 miles. It was crazy entering Grand Haven, boats were everywhere and going in every direction. We’ll have to stay here due to weather and we were fortunate 3 transient slips were available for our boating group over the busy Labor Day weekend.

Back in the US of A

I know, this past month I failed to update the blog. I was traveling the Trent -Severn Waterway. It was unseasonably cold in Canada this summer, even the locals said it but especially to me after spending the past 8 summers in Florida. I also can say that I have been through enough locks to last a lifetime though I have just about as many left to go by the time I complete this trip. Places we stopped along the waterway: Brighton Rd Bridge, Trenton, Cambellford, Hastings, Peterborough and Orillia, in addition to tying off at 2 locks and anchoring out.

So to catch up, at the end of the Trent -Severn Waterway is a boat lift at lock 44.  It is the Big Chute Marine railway. Below are photos of my ride on the Big Chute.

Outside the final lock 44

On rail car starting the chute

Heading down!

After the Big Chute we stayed 2 days in Midland on the Georgian Bay. We anchored 2 nights in Dauncy Bay, also anchoring in Hopewell Bay, and another day at Green Island. 

Another great photo from Elaine when we anchored out

We stayed at a marina for 2 nights in Killarney on the northern shore of Georgian Bay. We left Killarney (population 500) and entered the North Channel of Lake Huron. We reached the Gore Bay City Marina for an overnight stay. The following day we traveled to Drummond Island, Michigan crossing the border back into the U.S. and going through Customs. From Drummond Island, we crossed Lake Huron to Mackinaw City, MI. I received a grilled hamburger lunch via a net from Russ.

Mackinaw City is located on the Straits of Mackinac, on the northern end of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. We were here for over a week waiting on the weather. Between wind, waves and fog, we were getting antsy to move on. Finally a window, Lake Michigan was flat and we had a good trip to Charlevoix. It is located between Little and Grand Traverse Bays. 

Docktails with Loopers at Charlevoix

Our next stop was Leland and today we arrived in Frankfort. At this point our plan is to cross Lake Michigan and continue down the lake on the Wisconsin side.