The kids were here for a few days camping, so I took the opportunity to be at the boat while they were in the area in case they wanted to fish some.  The forecast wasn't the best, but this morning saw "fishable" conditions so I called Brian at the campground and invited him out to give it a try.  He decided to come and Shanna stayed grounded.  She isn't the most seaworthy human on the planet, so a bumpy lake was probably not where she needed to be anyway.

Brian and I ventured out and found the lake to be as advertised, a little choppy but not terrible.

It didn't take too long and we had some action...fish on!

We saw this guy on the harbor lake "trolling".  I'll bet he hates it when the fish want a high speed presentation.

Anyway, we had several bites but only managed to get two fish to the boat in a couple hours of fishing.  If I remember correctly, we left 5 fish in the lake that hit a lure.  Not the best percentage but at least we got on the lake when the forecast was questionable.

Small craft warnings are posted for tomorrow so I expect a day to sleep in and catch up on some boat maintenance.

A week ago while on the vacation cruise, Kathy complained about the dirty, ratty looking USA flag on the boat.  We happened to be near a marine store at Petoskey so I replaced that ratty old flag.  Unfortunately, it appears the new flag didn't travel nearly as many miles as the boat did last week.  I just noticed the flag staff was void of my new flag.  Another donation to Davy Jones Locker.

Anyway, once again, Saturday morning found the flags snapping in the "breeze".

I took a walk along the harbor channel to take a look at the conditions.  It really didn't look all the nasty as Big Sable Point tends to protect the near shore waters near Ludington harbor during a north wind.  Boats were trolling near shore and in the channel as the north winds blew away the warm surface waters bringing salmon near shore.

As I walked along the channel, this angler landed a nice salmon.  He was casting a Little Cleo spoon.

My boat stayed tied to the dock.  Conditions need to be real nice for me to go out.  Fuel is just too costly to go out on the lake and be tossed around by the wind and waves trying to catch a fish. 

The kids came up and we spent the afternoon browsing the craft/art fair in the park downtown.  While there, we ran into Kathy's cousin Deb at the show.  That was a surprise.  They wandered down to the marina in the evening and we all had a nice visit.

Sunday morning saw calm winds so we headed out the channel at dawn accompanied by dozens of our fellow fishermen.

Just a short distance outside the pier, Kathy takes the helm so I can get lines in the water.

And in short order, we have one, then two, then three fish on.  Brian and Shanna handled the action as we landed all three fish.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the action as the sun rose and the fish scattered.

After a couple hours, we ran back to port and headed to the fish cleaning station for a few pictures...

...and the dirty work of cleaning the catch.

All in all, a successful weekend.  With the current weather and water conditions, it will only get better in the coming weeks.  We just need the weatherman to help us out on the weekends.

Day 14

We woke up to a bright sunny sky over the Harborage Marina at Boyne City.  Our plan was to leave the marina at 7:00am for the 135 mile cruise to Ludington.

Our plan wasn't going to work.  There was a little problem between Boyne City and Ludington.

So we delayed departure by a couple hours to let the storms pass and cast off lines at 9:00am.

The weather now looked promising as we headed out into Lake Charlevoix toward Lake Michigan.

Into the Round Lake basin at Charlevoix where the Charlevoix Marina was a busy place.

And my favorite house on the basin. 

Out through the channel and our first look at a calm Lake Michigan.  It's looking like a great day for a cruise.

We cruise south into the Manitou Passage where the lake remains calm.

We passed dozens of sailboats today.  There are definately many more sailboats moving on the lake than there are power boats...or so it seems.

We continued south past the Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Point Betsie Light.

The fuel gauges indicated that it was time to water this thirsty horse.

So into Frankfort harbor for a sip of gas at the municipal marina.

After taking on fuel, it was back out past the Frankfort pier light and south toward Point Sable.

The waters remained near dead calm as my navigator lost interest.

Passing Big Sable Point.  Almost home.

And finally nearing Ludington harbor at 3:00pm.  A mere six hours after we departed Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix.

Inside the harbor and the north pier light.

The boat is refueled, gear packed up, and all is secure.  It's hot out.  Time for a swim.

Tomorrow we pack up the car and head to the house.  It's been a great two weeks. 

Day 13

Today started with a line of thunderstorms passing through.  Fortunately, I was in the shower at the time and missed the whole event.  It did remain cloudy with light sprinkles from time to time for much of the morning.

It calmed down after the rains so I went out in the dinghy to see if there were any fish swimming around on this end of the lake.  I found three smallmouth and a perch.  Not real large, but scrappy fighters.

Then the wind started to kick up and the fishing event ceased.  The skies cleared later in the morning but the wind blew out of the west at a good clip.

Boyne City has added new dockage (foreground) but all the facilities are at the old marina (background).  It's a long walk to the shower.  The Harborage Marina is a much better option here in Boyne City. 

So, it looks like the window of opportunity to get back to Ludington is tomorrow with light northeast winds.  Saturday is forecast with a south wind that will likely kick up an irritating chop.  Therefore, the plan is to make the marathon run back to the home port.  It's plotted at about 135 miles.  That's a trip, but we've done the 200 mile trip to Mackinaw City in a day so this should be easy.
All packed up and ready for morning.

Our final sunset out on the trip.  If all goes as planned, we'll be in our home slip this time tomorrow.

It's like watching a fireplace or the surf.  Never get tired of the Lake Michigan sunsets (or in this case, Lake Charlevoix).

Back tomorrow with the exciting conclusion. 

Day 12

We retired last night to another great sunset over Petoskey.

The wind was still blowing out of the NW, but there was a promise for better conditions in the morning.

Morning did indeed bring calm seas as I was able to get out for a bit in the dinghy to try again to hook a salmon.  I had the same result as a day ago...nothing.

We were planning on going across the bay to Harbor Springs for a stay.  Dockage seemed to be at a premium there so we decided to pull lines in Petoskey and venture south.  Just before we left our slip, this craft went to the launch ramp.

Yup, that's 1,050 horses to feed.  Wow!

Anyway, we pulled lines and headed out of Petoskey Marina.

To a glassy Little Traverse Bay.  Destination, Boyne City, MI on Lake Charlevoix.

Enroute, we took a detour into Bay Harbor just to have a look.  It is certainly an impressive piece of real estate.  Here are a few shots of the Bay Harbor community.
Here, we are entering the Bay Harbor marina basin.

Around the basin.

We're told this is owned by Richard DeVos (Amway Corp).

The "public" marina at Bay Harbor.

The Bay Harbor Yacht Club.

I'm guessing (because of the name) this is a Gar Wood design.

So enough of the monied folks and onward to our next port of call with our cruising companions close behind.

Out Little Traverse Bay and a few miles south is the entrance to the Lake Charlevoix channel.

Through the channel and into Lake Charlevoix for a 15 mile cruise inland to Boyne City at the far eastern end of the lake.

We entered Harborage Marina and found the accomodations to be excellent.

A walk around the marina and I spotted this nice Ocean Alexander.

With a nifty "little" skiff on top.  The photo doesn't capture the beauty of the wood.

So much for the marina.  Time to go to town and shop!  Yippee.  One concellation was a stop for some Moomers ice cream.

And after shopping and dinner (Cafe Sante was great) a little music in the park.

Back to the marina to take in the sunset.  Um, Jim.  Excuse me???

That's better.

Another day in the books.  It was smooth sailing.

 Good night.