On our way south now, after returning to the USA and having eaten our share of butter tarts, pea meal bacon, and Canadian wines and spirits. This is the second half of our trip and we are beginning to look forward to the Illinois Rivers and the other inland rivers that will take us home to St. Petersburg. The weather is changing and we are watching the jet stream begin to dip lower and lower into the continental US, bringing unsettled weather and… waves!

We left DeTour Village on August 12, after spending time with some sandhill cranes that we found on our walk around town. The wind was up as we made our way 30 miles across Lake Huron to Mackinac Island (“Mac-in-aw”). The waves were mostly on our stern and helped us until we got into the lee of some islands. We landed at Mackinac harbor and spent a couple of days tied to a freight dock. It was the height of the season and the sidewalks were crowded with tourists from all over the world.

There is no motorized traffic on the island: bicycles and pedicabs, carriages and draft horses pulling heavy wagons were everywhere. Duke was skittish around the draft horses that were constantly loading an unloading at our freight dock but soon settled down: the horses just gave him the side-eye. The ferry boats were coming and going at all hours and, each time they passed us, they threw a big wake that shoved us again the pilings. Our fenders and ropes screeched in protest each time, but everything held and sleep came after the ferries ceased operations.

We stayed for two nights and had haircuts, followed by a wonderful dinner out at the Hotel Iroquois and a walk on the greensward in front of the hotel. The press of the crowds after mid-morning until about 6 at night was strange to us: the mass of people intimidated us somewhat and we found our partying enthusiasm lacking. Mackinac Island was special and, after the wilderness of Georgian Bay and the North Channel, it was welcome. And beautiful in a civilized way.

A weather window seemed to appear and we left early in the morning on August 14 for Charlevoix. We were unsure of the weather as we crossed from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, and made plans for more than one port as we ventured out into the darkness of points south.

Charlevoix was beautiful! We entered through the harbor opening and came out into a broad lake in front of the town. Beyond that was a very large lake where our dock awaited. People this far north are still enthusiastic boaters, even though their season is very short. But after only one night, we decided to head for Traverse City, MI where we were planning an extended stay.

Coming out of Charlevoix into Lake Michigan was a shock! We had waves and weather for the first 20 miles of our 40 mile journey and the “crew” was uncomfortable. With only the occasional wave over the boat, it was not the most powerful we had seen, but we were glad to have it behind us. Wave action is defined by the height of the waves, measured in feet of meters, and by the “period”, measured in seconds. Waves in the Great Lakes can have both height and short periods and present as very choppy and tumultuous seas. Grand Traverse Bay is very deep (500 feet or more) and deceptively long (about 30 nautical miles). But Traverse City beckoned and things calmed down as we got closer. Docking went well and we immediately took the dingy motor to a dealer to be fixed.

Traverse City was the most concentrated outpost of civilization we had experienced since Kingston, Ontario, a month-and-a-half before, and it came as a bit of a shock to the senses. We hit the specialty grocery stores (Wagyu beef anyone?) and cooked out on the provided dockside gas grills. Duke loved the open spaces to run and we had a few good meals out. Hervey took a flight from Traverse City to Asheville, NC for a family reunion while Kitty and the animals hung out on the boat and relaxed for several days. Upon his return, we retrieved the dingy motor and headed back up the bay, with increasing waves and weather, to North Point, just behind the headland from Lake Michigan.

Northport was a nice town with great fish and chips, but our stay was short and early the next morning (before daybreak) we headed for Leland, MI. The run was smooth and short, so that we arrived just as the marina was opening at 9:00 am.

Leland had some of the best shopping we found on the Michigan coast. The last days of summer were in the air and we woke to 50 degrees on the weather day (a day off to wait for storms to pass.) Tourists were in town and the USGS was diving in Lake Michigan. We had a nice docktails in Leland with a great group of boaters and discussed the weather and our plans for going forward. We fell into a meal pattern again here, with a large breakfast, a late lunch, and drinks on the aft deck. The next day was supposed to be calm and we left the harbor expecting flat seas. But the effect of the storms from the day before had increased the sea state and it was bouncy.

On our way to Frankfort from Leland, it was clear that the effect of the storms from the day before had increased the sea state more than we expected. The captains chair, which had been re-established after falling over in Lake Ontario, began to loosen and inevitably, pulled out of the decking again. Lesson learned: Hervey was not in the seat. Soon after, we deployed the stabilizers to reduce the roll from the waves on our quarter. They slowed us down a knot but kept the crew happier. The waves settled down about halfway there and Hervey pulled in the “birds” as the planing weights are called.

Frankfort was beautiful and we had a great meal in town, but we wanted to get down the lake before Labor Day: we had felt the power of Lake Michigan and were not eager to experience that again. The amenable ports of western Michigan beckoned, and we saw a weather window open and headed out for Ludington. We broke through the fishing fleet that was clustered around the harbor opening and headed south. Halfway to Ludington, we realized that the day was perfect for a crossing and decided to go all the way across Lake Michigan to Sheboygan – a 100 mile run that turned out to be very calm and easy.

We got to Sheboygan and switched our clocks to Central Daylight Time. The extra hour came in handy since the marina staff were still around to help us dock when we arrived. After cleaning up a bit, we headed out to Il Ritorno, a local Italian restaurant that a former client had introduced to Hervey. The wood-fired pizza was great and Hervey gave out more “boat cards” to folks who asked about us, and some to those who did not!

We stayed in Reef Point Marina in Racine for two days, over Labor Day, and watched a vital marina at its best! The management was responsive and the dock hands were on their game. And the boaters were universally kind and helpful. It was great stay and we used the time to rest up from our previous exertions and plan and prepare for the trip to Chicago, including doing laundry…

Chicago was a great stop for us. We were disconcerted at first to learn of a murder three days before on our dock C at DuSable Marina, just south of the mouth of the Chicago River in the heart of the city. No mention was made of it until we had docked and our first night was a nervous one. But it soon became clear that security had been raised significantly after the event and that the other boaters, mostly weekenders, were on guard and supportive as well. So we settled down, locked our doors, and trusted Duke to alert us if needed.

And we toured Chicago! The architectural tour on the river had been recommended to us and was amazing. It was strange to be on someone else’s boat. We also went to the Art Institute and saw amazing sculpture and paintings. Three hours of falling into someone else’s vision of the world over and over was exhausting and we stopped for a wonderful lunch at the cafe inside.

We rented a car and drove to Peru/LaSalle, Illinois where Hervey had worked forty years ago at Cricket and Ladybug magazines for children. We had a lovely dinner with Jim and Ann Wilkes, and Ann’s sister, Mary, and Mary’s friend, Linda. There is a Florida connection here, so we expect to see more of these folks in the future.

We returned to Chicago, got the boat cleaned and prepared for our departure from Chicago and Lake Michigan on Tuesday, Sept 9. Kitty’s daughter, Kathy Smith, arrived on the morning before she left to attend a work conference where she was presenting. We had a lovely two hours with her on the boat, saw her to a Lyft car, and took off for the Calumet river to take us to the Illinois River and our next adventures!