Well, Â we began our day with another rainy, foggy, and stormy forecast. Regardless of the weather, we were hell-bent to get to Charlevoix, MI. My mom and her friend, Sue, we due to join us on Wednesday evening for a few days of fun on the water (really tied up to the dock in Round Lake in Charlevoix…blah). Nevertheless, we needed to get over there to meet them.
On the positive side, the winds were looking relatively favorable the further out on the lake that we got. With fog, obviously the winds were low (mostly absent). But, as we began to leave Suttons Bay, the fog began to part and we started to feel some wind. The day may not be totally lost to another motoring excursion!
As the fog parted and the winds picked up to about 10-15 knots, we were able to set the genoa for about a half hour. But, as we came out of Grand Traverse Bay, the wind shifted direction on us and our angle of sail would have taken us all day to get to Charlevoix (tacking back and forth). So, we made the decision to furl in the head sail and motor-up towards our destination. We had been fairly fortunate to avoid the rain along our path all day. However, up ahead loomed a deluge that we observed from a distance.
Charlevoix was under a haze of fog and rain as we entered the channel. Unfortunately, we arrived about 20 minutes too early for the bridge that opens every half hour. On the positive side, there was almost no wind and no other boats coming into or out of the channel. It’s notorious for being a channel frought with current that forces you into the bridge. Compound that with other boats entering the channel being forced ahead by the current and it becomes very messy very quickly. To top it off, the bridge tender does not answer hails on the VHF for anything (haven’t tested an emergency situation yet…). In lieu of a radio hail, you’re required to let out a long blast followed by a short blast with your air horn. Seeing that the channel is lined with multi-million dollars condos, I’m sure that all the horn blasts are greatly appreciated (NOT) by the residents. But hey, some old traditions die hard 🙂
So, in the channel we sat for 20 minutes. It wasn’t all bad. A family of four with two young boys followed our entire stalled progress down the channel. One of them even was brazen enough to start a conversation with us as we floated, reversed, floated, and reversed in endless succession. I was impressed, he knew the basic jargon. Asking us the overall length of the boat, the height of the mast, and the length of the boom. It was entertainment nonetheless for both parties 🙂
Docking Round Lake was pretty uneventful. We met some fantastic people on the dock and were able to relax with cocktails on the boat for about an hour before my mom and Sue arrived with the two dogs (Max and Finley) in tow. It was great to connect with some fellow boaters finally; as we had observed almost no boat traffic on the lake while we anchored out or in the marina at Traverse City. Mark and Sandy on a Nordic Tug and Melissa on a trawler/powerboat hybrid. We swapped boating storied for about an hour and got some great insight on the North Channel and Georgian Bay from Melissa. She’s been on her own kicking around the Great Lakes and Canada for the past 3 or so years after retiring from the Government in 2011. She made her way up here from Florida singlehanded with a dog. Very impressive! We hope to see all of them again in Canada in a few weeks 🙂
There will probably be not much in the way of blog entries for the next few days as we’re laid up in Charlevoix. Unless something miraculous or entertaining happens, that is. One never knows these days. Until then, I’ll just enjoy this time with my mom and her friend, Sue (and Dad when he returns from his excursion back to Wisconsin).