Our 2018 trip has finally begun!!  Our plan this year will take us to the northwest shoreline of Michigan, we’ll spend a couple weeks up that way for some R&R, and once rested up will join a number of our boating friends in Canada for an exhausting trip through Georgian Bay and North Channel Canada (just kidding – it will be a blast!).

So, the MnM left Algonac yesterday morning, July 19th to begin our latest adventure.  We departed around 7:15 to get a jump on the lake and the weather, as Huron is not planning to be overly cooperative in the next couple of days.  Our intent was to run for a few hours and perhaps stop in Harrisville or Presque Isle, but as we continued up the coast, we kept thinking that it would be really nice to get into the Mackinaw area to have a shorter journey to our first Northwest destination – Leland, Michigan.  So…. as we started thinking, what about Mackinac City?  I (Mike) started bribing Melodie saying, “if we do that you could go to Mackinac Island (one of her favorite islands) by ferry.  She didn’t like that idea: “I’m not a fudgie”, but it got her thinking.. “maybe I should check for slip availability on the Island”….  so, low and behold, right around Presque Isle, the lake was treating us well with 2 – 3′ on the bow, and she suddenly starts hitting me in arm stating “WE CAN GET IN!!!!”  So, we ended up doing our longest one day run ever, going from Algonac, Michigan all the way to Mackinac Island, with a 45 minute stop in Lexington for fuel, and breakfast carryout from Wimpy’s.  The overall trip took us 12 hours and 15 minutes – 7:15 AM to 7:30 PM.  21.5 knots all the way.  Total trip, 273.4 Nautical Miles.

So, the current plan is to be on the island till Sunday morning, then head over to Mackinac City for Sunday, then off to Leland once the lake lays down. The Chicago to Mackinac race starts Sunday with all the sailboats to start arriving in the early hours of Monday so the marina will be theirs!

• 2018: Upper Great Lakes, Georgian Bay, North Channel
• Uncategorized