Leland Township Harbor in Leland, MI to Jacobson Marina & Resort in Frankfort, MI

Day #21: From last evening the fog rolled out just in time for a beautiful sunset but before bed the fog rolled back in. We were up at 6:45 A.M. we had very thick fog. We are waiting to see if the fog is going to lift. We have talked to Leland Harbor and they have boats on their way in but told us that we can talk again in a bit. I have called Jacobson's in Frankfort they stated that they are also socked in with fog.  I told them that we are planning on coming once the fog lifts. We are also planning on getting diesel and pump out our holding tank when we arrive. We walked 1.48 miles in the town of Leland. The fog continued being thick throughout the morning. At 11:30 A.M. we had a lunch. The fog would lighten up a bit but would fill in just as quick as it lightened up. Finally at 1:00 P.M. the fog had lifted some so we decided to head to Frankfort. Once we were out 1 mile from shore the fog became clearer. At 1:57 P.M. we crossed the 45th parallel going south and we passed the North Manitou Shoal Light. At 2:05 P.M. we passed Pyramid Point Sand Dunes. At 2:10 P.M. we heard a Mayday call from "Dorothy Ellis" 10 miles southwest.  The Coast Guard responded with their helicopter to help. At 2:30 P.M. we passed the South Manitou Sandy Point Light which is abandoned. At 2:50 P.M. we were at Sleeping Bear Dune Point and the fog rolled back in again. We had approximately 1/4 miles visibility. At 3:20 P.M. the fog began to thin. In the distance at 4:45 P.M. we saw the tug "Undaunted" with Barge "Pere Marquette 41". At 5:00 P.M. we passed Point Betsie Light. At 5:30 P.M. we passed the Frankfort Break Wall Light. At 5:55 P.M. we were secure at Jacobson Marina & Resort in slip 35. Mike and I went to the pool and hot tub.  We met our neighbors in the slip next to ours.  The boat is "The Pack Man" Dave and Pat. Mike and I will both be dreaming of fog tonight.

Mike and I on our walk in the morning at Nedows Bay Beach in Leland.

Just before we left this amphibious automobile was in the water in Leland.

North Manitou Shoal Light

Pyramid Point Sand Dunes

South Manitou Sandy Point Light which is an abandoned lighthouse.

Sleeping Bear Dune in the fog. At one point we couldn't see them at all.

Sleeping Bear Dune a little clearer with just a bit of fog.

 Point Betsie Light

Frankfort Break Wall Light

Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, MI to Leland Township Harbor in Leland, MI

Day #20: From last evening we played one game of cribbage and Patty won that game. Up at 6:30 A.M. for coffee, fresh cherries and Tom's Mom's Cookies (our last cookie). The weather forecast was for winds 5-10 miles per hour from the north, cloudy, with peeks of sun, fog and sprinkles. We decided that we were going leave for Leland. We went in to see Nikki to pay our bill and thank her for all of her help getting us into Irish Boat Shop. We were underway at 8:00 A.M.  As we were leaving, the 198 foot superyacht "Rockit" was leaving at the same time but it headed north. We were near Charlevoix at 10:00 A.M. experiencing 1-2 foot waves from the north. At 12:00 P.M. we passed Grand Traverse Light. The tug "Bradshaw McKee" with the barge the "St. Mary's Conquest" was headed north. At 12:30 P.M. we headed into some light fog off of Cat Head Point. At 12:40 P.M. the fog became thicker so we turned on the running lights, sounded our horn with the fog signal and throttled back. At 12:50 P.M. the fog started to dissipate.  At 1:00 P.M. the fog continued to thin out the visibility was 3-4 miles, we ceased the fog signal. As we were getting closer to Leland about 6 boats converged on Leland Harbor ahead of us.  We waited our turn to be called in to dock. At 2:30 P.M. we were secure in Leland Township Harbor in slip number 16. We traveled 51.3 miles (total 311 miles for the trip so far) and we traveled 6 hours and 11 minutes. Kudos to Captain Mike when he did his calculations for todays trip last evening he had that we would be traveling 51.3 miles and be on the water for 6 hours and 11 minutes (he was spot on with this calculations). After a light lunch we headed out to check out the shops here in Leland including Fishtown. We decided to treat ourselves with whitefish dinner at Bluebird. We had an excellent meal. We headed back to the boat after dinner. Mike plotted our trip to Frankfort for tomorrow. I blogged our day. Time for drinks on the back deck and a quiet evening. The fog has moved in so we will see what the morning brings as far as leaving for Frankfort.

198 Ft megayacht "Rockit"

Grand Traverse Light

Tug "Bradshaw McKee" and Barge "St. Mary's Conquest"

There is a sand dune in that fog.

Cool looking fog bank.

Parrot Bay next to the electrical panel.

We toured Leland including the "FishTown" area.

Carlson's Fishery's Fish-vane

Carlson's Fishery

The waterfall in the middle of Leland.

What a great place to have whitefish. 

                                                     

The fog cleared what a beautiful sunset. 

What beautiful colors.

Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, MI

Day #19: Up at 7 A.M. we had light rain showers throughout the night. The sun is out it is warm and humid. Issue today is that Mondays winds have increased so we are looking at our options. Mike has written down our Plan A, B and C. We will need to wait until Monday morning to see what the wind speed and directions actual produce but feeling a bit stressed as we have commitments at marinas from Leland to Frankfurt for the next week. We went for a 3 miles walk along the water with beautiful homes and cottages. We found numerous beautiful springs. Working on a few boat jobs as it is clouding up. Another 2 miles walking under our belt today for a total of 5 miles. We had lunch we are continuing to watch the weather for tomorrow. The sun came out so we put the dinghy in the water it was partly sunny and warm. We were in the dinghy for a few hours before it clouded up with the threat of rain so we returned to the "Parrot Bay". It only sprinkled on and off for the rest of the afternoon. The winds tomorrow get better one time that we look and get worse the next time. We are planning on getting up at 6 A.M. to evaluate the weather to see if we are going to stay at Harbor Springs or leave for Leland. I did call Leland to make sure that they have a reservation for us and they do have our reservation. Mike talked to Mark and Amanda. FaceTime with my Mom and Dad. We are planning on a quiet evening.

On our morning walk was passed by the spring that Amanda had given us directions. Just beautiful.

These type of springs are all over Harbor Springs.

Each spring is decorated a bit differently.

A spring as a water fountain.

This spring decorated with cobblestone. 

I couldn't help myself this was one spring that we found on our walk. Yup the spring is the dog peeing. 

Along with the springs are beautiful walkways as well.

We took the dinghy out to the Little Traverse Light.   The bell is the old fog horn.

Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, MI

Day #18: Happy Birthday to Patty Boynton Sr. (Mike's mom).  From last night Mike and I played two games of cribbage Patty won both games. We had light rain showers throughout the night. Up at 7 A.M. very cloudy, warm, humid with sprinkles. We had Tom's Mom's Cookies, coffee and grapefruit for breakfast. Mike wanted to find a hardware store so I got on Google found the hardware store in town. Google took us on a boardwalk with stairs that got us close to the hardware. We saw a fawn with numerous spots so cute even had time to get pictures. We shopped at the ACE hardware store then headed to the Harbor Springs Farmer's Market. Lots of flowers, fruit, vegetables, smoked fish, crafts and home baked goodies. We walked up to the pharmacy here in town for a few items. Rain is suppose to continued on and off throughout the afternoon. Since the rain had stopped Mike wanted to walk to the hardware store (again) so we loaded up we went to the hardware and grocery store for a few items. When we returned we played two games of cribbage, I won both games. We hung out on the boat for the rest of the afternoon with rain coming and going. We didn't get the winds like they had predicted which made staying on the boat comfortable. Going to be a quiet evening on the boat as the rain is suppose to start and continue for the next few hours.

                                                                                   

                                                                 Happy Birthday Patty Sr. 

Google lead us to this stairway to get us to the hardware store.

The walkway kept going up and up.

Once we got to the top of the stairway this was the view. It looks over the marinas.

As we rounded a corner heading to the hardware this little guy was looking at us. 

The fawn ran a bit in the fenced area stopping for this photo.

Meyer ACE Hardware in Harbor Springs.

Our first Farmer's Market of the trip.

Very nice market unfortunately our refrigerators are full of food.  

Harbor IGA Super Market in Harbor Springs.

Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, MI

Day #17: Up at 7 A.M. for grapefruit, coffee and (1) Tom's Mom's Cookies. We are waiting for the mechanic from Irish Boat Shop to look at our alternator/tachometer on the starboard engine. I called The Harbor Lights Marina in Frankfort, MI we are now booked there from 7/26 through 7/31. Mike and I feeling a bit better knowing that we have places to stay as we progress down the Michigan coast. If the weather holds we will be leaving Harbor Springs on Monday, July 23 for Leland. Tuesday, July 24th we will be leaving Leland heading for Frankfurt. We have two reservations in Frankfurt one at Jacobson's Marina Resort for two days (July 24 until July 26) followed by a reservation at The Marina at Harbor Lights for 5 days (July 26 until July 31). Working on boat jobs filling the water tank and sounding the fuel tanks. Brian from Irish Boat Shop came aboard he soldered the tachometer signal wire back onto the alternator (we are very happy!!!). The winds picked up out of the east (the worst possible direction for exposure to our marina) the boat was rocking uncontrollable so we took our chairs up to the grass at the marina. We watched the boats rock and roll all afternoon. Mike helped boats into their slips when needed. Talked to my Mom. It sprinkled a bit so we went back onboard but the boat was bucking and it was not comfortable. After the rain we went back up to the grass about 4 P.M. At 5 P.M. Mike suggested that we go out to eat because of the winds. We went to a small bar called Bar Harbor for cheeseburgers. It was great because it got us off the boat. The winds decreased significantly but the rain was about to begin. Back onboard for blogging, cribbage, Looper Podcasts and reading. Tomorrow should be interesting winds are going to be gusting to 40 miles per hour we are hoping that it is out of the north so that it is has to come over land so that we do not rock to much and it is suppose to storm all day.

Amanda gave Mike and I directions to find this beautiful spring. 

Totem Pole in Harbor Springs.

Cute little book store here in Harbor Springs.

This is a store was also in Fish Creek and Egg Harbor when we were in Wisconsin last year.

This is "Rockit". It is owned by the owner of Jimmy Johns but Kid Rock has been know to travel on this 198 footer. 

It has been at the city marina since we arrived. 

"Rockit" anchored out in Little Traverse Bay. 

Cute little bar in Harbor Springs. They cooked dinner tonight so that Patty didn't have to cook while the boat was rocking.

Another beautiful spring just down from the marina.

Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, MI

Day #16: Up at 7 A.M. we had our Tom's Mom's Cookies with our coffee (and a grapefruit) they were heavy but they were awesome. Mike talked to Irish Boat Shop putting in a work order for our starboard engine tachometer issue. They will take a look at it late today or early Friday morning. Mike and I walked up to the IGA which is one mile from the marina. The IGA has a great selection but we are pretty well stocked from our trip to Meijer with Amanda. I worked on trying to get us marina reservations for the coming days and at this time we will be leaving for Leland on Monday.  We will be staying one night there and moving onto Frankfort where we have a reservation for two nights. We are having issues as the Chicago to Mackinaw boats will be coming in at this time I'm going to wait a few days as the weather is not looking good to travel next Thursday. After lunch Mike and I headed out in the dinghy on Little Traverse Bay. We ended up at the Petoskey State Park. We anchored the dinghy at the beach. We found Petoskey stones and frolicked in the water. As we headed back the wind picked up and there were a few white caps in the bay but we had a fun but wet ride home. We had happy hour up on the flying bridge.  We played a game of cribbage which Patty won. We joined in via speaker phone to our condo association board meeting. After the meeting a quiet night of reading before bed.

Harbor Springs is full of beautiful flowers and waterfalls.

Merganser

Petoskey Stones

 Check out this dinghy. The guy was driving it while on land.