Hello our friends and family, I would like to say I am sorry for not updating our blog. All my spare time has been occupied with hurricane Irma.

My latest position is at: trackmytour.com/35L17

Well our friends, I must say this was a nail biting crossing from Charlevoix to Manitou. We were back into the North West winds.  We saw on our wind meter 24.5 knots and of course rain. We were able to make the winds work for us but it was a bit bumpy.  Look how much smoother this area is protected by the island. In the morning, we woke up the winds completely from the North; however, we are protected from the winds..   We are staying here till tomorrow then will make a decision where to head next.  Here Bryce was able to get a few extra hours in for work. In 2015 we had to pull up anchor from here due to the heavy South winds.  South Manitou is a place well worth visiting. You can walk around the island on the trails, see old sunken schooner boats and the Francisco Morazan shipwreck. South Manitou is part of a chain of islands in Michigan that extends to the Straits of Mackinac. You can find out more about this islands by  going to the National Park Services website.

Two days later we headed to Frankfort. It was a chilly day. This was a great day for sailing with no engine.  Frankfort is a really nice place. We stayed at the State Docks. The price for a slip was a little expensive and we rocked & rolled all night long. There is a really nice anchorage area there too.  Next time we will probably anchor out in the quite well protected harbor.

This is the lighthouse that guides us into Frankfort MI

The following day we headed to Ludington Mi. Ludington has always been one of our favorite places to stay either by boat or by car. The Badger’s home port is in Ludington Mi. She passed us as she was heading home from Wisconsin. The Badger offers you a ride to Wisconsin with or without your car.  Bryce and I have taken our car over to Wisconsin as a short cut further west rather than going through Chicago or the UP.

As we approached the channel to Ludington we could see some dancing waves on the pier to the lighthouse, but it was a great cruise from Manitou Island. We didn’t spend anytime in Ludington this time only anchored for the night. We anchored over by what I think is a power plant. The depth was 23 feet and the bottom was mud. Great holding power for our Danforth.

Sometime after noon we headed back out. This time we decided to see what White Lake was like. We have never anchored here.  While motor-sailing over there, the sun decided to shine. We sat up on Beauty’s bow. We have waited a long time for this. I was a bit cold… Bryce is hot blooded..he is in shorts…

As we looked at the sand dunes we noticed we were passing Silver Lake Dunes. This is an area that you can take your off road vehicles and play in the sand dunes. We have done this quite a few times with ATVs and Jeeps. Much…much fun.. I zoomed in on this photo. If you look close you will be able to see a line of trucks and jeeps at the bottom.  A few are climbing power hill.  My Jeep and ATV had no problem climbing her.

 

This is a photo of Silver Lake Dunes before I edited it…LOL  We were about 1 mile offshore.

We have 4 one hundred watt solar panels on the bimini.  Bryce has never been happy with the single MPPT charger he had.  So he now has individual displays and chargers for each panel.  He can now monitor voltage, current and power from each panel.  This is what the display looks like.

 

Earlier I was bundled up.. I am so Happy…..Look it is so nice out I was able to wear shorts.. Now this is awesome..

A while later after enjoying the sun we were getting ready to enter the channel to White Lake. Again we only anchored for the night. This is a really nice deep lake.  We had to anchor close to shore to get into the shallow waters of 33 feet. We anchored in the South West corner of the Lake. This is a great place to anchor.

As always thank you all for following us.

To all our Family and Friends who were affected by Irma our prayers are still with you all.