Beaver Island

 One of the frustrations that I think I have mentioned before is finding slips for the destinations and dates that match the route you want to take on the loop.  We are dealing with the popular summer season, limited marina space and dozens of looper boats all going the same direction. Our original plan was to leave Mackinaw City, go to Harbor Springs, MI, then  to Leland and then to Ludington, MI to cross Lake Michigan to Sturgeon Bay.  There were no slips available anywhere in Harbor Springs for the next several days and I found the same situation all down the western edge of Michigan.  So - we plotted out several alternate courses and finally found one that worked! Sadly, I will not get to visit some of the towns in Michigan that I was looking forward to, but we will get to the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan before the weather turns ugly. We left port this morning without Al - for the first time in a month…  It was more emotional saying good-bye than any of us thought it would be and it seems wrong traveling without seeing him bob in the water behind us.  Safe travels Al…

We traveled due west today and stopped in St. James on Beaver Island.  It is very pretty here and so laid back…. Kind of like being in a time warp where life stopped a long time ago.  Our friends Wade and Kathleen and friend Jim also traveled to Beaver Island and are here with us because they had the same difficulty finding dockage. Nice for us! After arriving around noon we walked around the quaint and small business area - found a beach, a lighthouse and a cool museum with local history.

The five of us went to one of the two pubs in town for something to eat and had lots of laughs and conversation. Wade and Kathleen are heading down the Michigan coast and will meet up with us somewhere in WI and Jim decided to travel with us for the next few days.

I will miss this clear, turquoise water of Lake Huron…





                                                            Al on Sea Magic


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