Loop Dreams

Loop Dreams

Friday, August 30, 2013

8-30 Leland, MI


August 30, Leland MI

Ken crawled in the hot engine room and cleaned the water pump filter and dug out a pebble in the water line and low and behold the water pump is working again.  At one point he thought he was trapped in the narrow opening, but managed to squeeze out or should I say slide out since he drenched in sweat.  The tight space caused him to appear with a shredded tee shirt.  Ken is convinced that the people who design boats do not work on them!

Later that afternoon it was time to mill around the town.  We started at the Historic Fishtown with weathered shanties that are now turned into tourist shops.  At one time these working shanties contained nets, fish boxes, needles and spools of twine for mending nets, corks and leads for building nets, a scale for weighing fish and space for cleaning and packing fish.  Fishtown has been a working waterfront for nearly 150 years. 


Yesterday, at Northport we met Larry, Sherry and Ms. Peaches their toy poodle on Lady KK.  This is the first Looper we have been in contact with that is actually doing the loop this year.  We went to dinner with them at Riverside and enjoyed their company.  They plan to leave for the WI side tomorrow and we sill stay on the MI side.  Hopefully, we will met up with them again in Chicago.
 
  

The Janice Sue was build in 1958 and is the oldest active tug in Leland.  The Joy a trap net boat, was designed and built in 1981 by Ross Lang.  The tugs were restored by Fishtown Preservation in 2008, ensuring the continuation of commercial fishing in Leland. These tugs will leave at 4AM in the morning, weather permitting.


 

 

Nets, made of cotton until about 1950, had to be dried on net reels when pulled from the lake.  Repair work included repairing holes and adding lead weights and flotas.  This work was done when the nets were on the reels.  Cotton nets also had to be boiled in big pots with waterproofing treatment.  Reels are still used for repairing gill nets in Fishtown.
 
We bought some smoke fish at Carlson's in the heart of Fishtown. The smoking process uses a maple wood fire and lasts 3 to 4 hours. We wished we bought more once we sampled!!!

Point Betsie Lighthouse constructed in 1858, marks the all-important entrance to southern end of the Manitou Passage, a once-vital maritime shipping channel.
                                      
 Loop Dreams docked at Leland.

8-29 Northport


August 29, Northport, MI

Smooth cruising today in Grand Traverse Bay with calm winds and temps in the mid 80s. While traveling north in the bay the water was like glass.  One had a hard time telling where the horizon was!  It just melted into the sea.
We turned the corner to Lake Michigan and for the first time we had calm seas on this mighty lake.  We stopped at Northport to pick up the switch for the water pump, which went out on us the first night we were back. It turned out to be  the wrong part.  Ken is hoping that it is the pressure switch and he will try to make the repair once he receives the correct part.  We took advantage of the 2 hour shopping stop at Northport and toured the quaint little town.  Since the weather was great we decided to travel to Leland. 
Made it to Leland around 6pm, an historic Fishtown, and we went exploring. 

Grand Traverse Bay
 
Northport 




 
 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

August 27, Ahoy!

We landed at Traverse City in a thunder storm.  Rented a car and headed to the grocery store for provisions.  Ken was not feeling well and we spent a quiet evening watching a movie.
This morning we left for the doctor's office and they can not seem to diagnose his problem.

With the rental car we decided to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  We stopped at Glen Arbor for lunch and visited the sugar-sand beaches of Grand Lake .  We took the 7 mile long Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which winds through the dunes and offers spectacular views of Glen Lake and Lake Michigan.  We drove pass the Dune Climb, and watched many tourists climbing the sky high dunes and some were even rolling in the soft white sand.  If we had more time I would have hiked one of the many trails where they said you can find your soul.  Only visiting a small portion of the 50,000 acres of Sleeping Bear Dunes and 35 miles of stunning Lake Michigan coastline convinces me we need to come back here when we have more time to explore.  The clear blue waters, white beaches, rolling woodlands, and massive mounds of sand with quaint towns all along the shoreline is a true treasure!






 

 
Traverse City mansion 
 
 
 
 
 

August 15-26 Texas

We enjoyed going home for awhile and seeing our family. Time flew by and we were able to see all of our kids except for my oldest and his family.  We had a great visit!  We desperately need rain, the lake behind our house is slowly drying up!



Isabella with Huckelberry
Bryan at the pool with Isabella
                                    

Izzy at gym class


Early birthday celebration for Izzy since we will be on the loop.




Dinner with Brad and Christi from Austin

My mom and the kids came over for the weekend.

 Lake Lewisville sunset across from our house.
 
 
 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

August 14, Catching a plane to Dallas

We were up at 4:30AM with waves smashing against our boat.  Unfortunately, the winds have not settled down as predicted.  We took off at 6AM and we were rocking and rolling for about 3 hours.  Ken put Loop Dreams on plane for two hours and the beam seas just kept pushing us around.  Lake Michigan was in charge!  Even though I put a lot of stuff away for our rough 61 mile cruise, we broke two items, first breakage on the trip.  Once in Traverse Bay we had smooth waters. However, docking was a challenge, we have about two inches on each side of the slip...tight squeeze. We are just happy that we are docked and will be able to make our flight! 
Catching a plane to Dallas this afternoon.  Looking forward to seeing family and to be able to wear some summer clothes!!!  The temp this morning was 47 degrees in Petoskey.  Texas here we come!


Sunrise on Lake Michigan

 
Loop Dreams squeezed into a dock! 
 
 

August 13, Weathered in Petoskey

We set the alarm for 5:30 this morning, hoping to take off for Traverse City by 6:30 AM  At
5:00 AM, we were awakened to the sound of heavy waves slapping at our bow and straining lines pulling at our cleats.  Loop Dreams was rocking significantly, even inside a large breakwater.  We looked out the windows to see flags whipping in the dark and we knew we were in trouble.  The weather man had promised manageable wind and waves but he let us down. 
 
We got on the internet to check the marine forecast, only to discover that a small craft warning had been posted for the entire western shore of Michigan.  Waves at the buoy in Little Traverse Bay were registering nearly 5 feet.  After about 10 seconds of consideration, we headed back to bed.  No travelling today.  We decided to get up very early on Wednesday and put the boat on plane all the way to Traverse City in time to make our flight back to Dallas Wednesday afternoon.  It will be an expensive fuel day but no sense travelling during a small craft warning.
 
We spent the remainder of the day doing laundry, catching up on e-mails and watching a rented movie.  Waves were crashing over the large rock breakwater all afternoon and wind gusts reached 30 mph.  Petoskey is a great little town but after five days, we're ready to move on.  We'll keep our fingers crossed for better luck tomorrow.


Loop Dreams docked for the 5th day in Petoskey.

Monday, August 12, 2013

August 12, Elk Rapids

We had plans to cruise to Elk Rapids today but found out that the slips were all full.  Since we had the car booked until late afternoon, we decided to stay in Petoskey and drive to see this "must see stop." Another precious town with some nice shops and diners but what we enjoyed most was knocking around the spacious antique store.  It is a good thing we are on a boat, I think money would be flying out of our pocket books if we lived around here.
On the way back we stopped at a large fruit stand and bought some fresh apricots.  Cherry season is just about over, but the apricots are delicious.  This particular orchard will let you pick your own fruit if you wish. Since we are catching a plane home in a few days we could not take advantage of  all the fresh fruit and vegetables displayed.

Clever idea using spoons.

Cherry Tree orchard


August 11, Charlevoix, MI

Up early because there is a triathlon race and the swimmers race course is right in front of our boat!
There were various groups and I was amazed that a lot of them were not wearing a wet suit.  Water temp was recorded at 68 degrees and outside temperature was in the 50s!  I watched while I was in my cozy sweats. 
After church we drove to Charlevoix and enjoyed the beautiful town  with the streets lined for miles with a rainbow of petunias..  We stocked up on cherry candy at the Cherry Republic. They even had cherry salsa which I sampled and it was delicious.  Michigan produces 75 percent of the nation's cherries, which is Ken's favorite fruit!  We saw a Gold Looper flag and went to visit with Frank Zimmerman on Scare-D-Cat, who did the loop about 6 years ago. Afterwards we took a Sunday drive around Torch Lake


Starting line of the Triathlon in Petoskey.
BRRR that water has to be cold!

 
Charlevoix, MI
The Fairy Houses and Mushroom Houses built in the early 1900s by Earl Young resemble storybook fantasies of whimsical irregular stone houses with wave-like roof lines.  There was a block of these homes located in Charlevoix.

 
 

August 10, Harbor Springs

Took our rental car today to tour Harbor Springs which was originally settled by Ottawa Indians, followed by French fur traders. Lumbering was the dominant industry during the early 1900s, but Harbor Springs evolved into a waterfront resort community for famous family names such as Ford, Upjohn and Gamble.  Today, the charming downtown area has an array of quaint shops, eateries, beaches and marinas. 
Bob and Lynda from Erica Lynn informed us that there were some Loopers docked here and Ken and I were on a mission to find some fellow cruisers on the Great Loop.  We located the boats, but the crew traveled home while their props were being repaired.  We left a note.  We do miss traveling with friends. This evening we decided to relax at the movies and watch a comedy.

Harbor Springs








August 9, Harbor Springs to Petoskey

Harbor Springs proved to be a quiet anchorage.  We traveled 3 miles to  Petoskey where we plan to stay the weekend and rent a car.
We docked at Petoskey Municipal Marina and as far as I am concerned these Michigan marinas get a 5 star rating from me!
Petoskey, known to early navigators and traders as Bear river, began as a settlement of Native Americans who had long used the area as a summer settlement or fishing, hunting, collecting berries and growing crops.  In the early 1850's, a mission school for children was established, but the village remained small until the arrival of the railroad in 1873.  In that year the name of the village was changed to Petoskey, in honor of chief Ignatius Petosegay, who owned much of the land east of the Bear River.



When the old courthouse was demolished in the 1960s, it's clock and bell were preserved and now mounted atop the new clock tower at the end of the Petoskey Midway park.


Sunset in Petoskey


.