Day 388
Miles Traveled: 56
Total Miles Traveled: 5887Our weather for travel had finally arrived. We planned on traveling quite a distance - almost ninety miles to Frankfort, MI. This would be an eleven hour travel day. We awoke early and left the dock by 6:00 am. There was just a little bit of sunlight when we started. The seas and winds were calm and inviting. Wayne and Donadee of "Almost Home" followed our lead.
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| leaving Petoskey in the early morning |
As we proceeded further south down the lake, the winds began to increase as well as the waves. The weather forecast did not predict these kind of conditions. It was supposed to be "calm winds and fair seas" all day long. It was only 11:00 am. The weather forecasters got it very wrong. As we continued to move along, we heard several other Loopers on the VHF radio talking about the increase in winds and waves that they were seeing further down the lake. We heard comments about 3-4 foot seas and worsening conditions. We were not seeing those wave heights where we were currently located and would prefer not to. We, as well as "Always Home", altered course and headed to nearby Leland, MI. We were glad we made this decision because, as the afternoon progressed, the seas did worsen. Whitecaps were abudant just beyond shoreline of Leland.
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| white caps and rough seas off of Leland shoreline |
As luck would have it, we had hoped to be able to make a stop at Leland and see its Historic Fishtown. We had made the decision to bypass the town due to our prolonged layover in Petoskey and desire to be off of Lake Michigan by early September. Apparently fate had other plans for us. After getting lines secured, fenders placed, checking in with marina office, and eating lunch; we walked to the Historic Fishtown. Many towns on the Great Lakes had these small fishing village areas. Leland has tried to keep some of this history alive. This commercial fishing district has provided a livelihood for residents for over a century. Fisherman still use the docks and bring in their fresh catches. The old shanties that were previously used as ice houses, smoke houses, net repair facilities, etc. have been maintained and currently are used as gift shops for the tourists.
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| old ice house shanty used as gift shop |
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| waterway where fishing boats come in with fish shanties on either side |
After walking around town, Angie worked on the blog and Dan took a much needed nap (we had gotten up very early). For dinner we went to the Bluebird Restaurant with fellow Loopers, Bill & Laura aboard Bayou Gypsy. Despite our disappointment at not being able to reach our planned destination, we enjoyed our day exploring Leland.
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