During the last few weeks of the boating season, we took a drive up to Sleeping Bear Dunes with some friends. That's a lot of beach.
I guess I don't remember how far it is down to the water, but somewhere around 300 feet rings a bell.
I'd think I'd take the beach the couple miles back to Empire before I'd climb that 300 feet.
Back in Manistee, we enjoyed the passing of the freighters behind our boat. We were there for three or four of these events.
There's nothing glamorous about those ships, unlike a cruise ship. These ships are all banged up, dented and rusty. Looks like they see a lot of abuse.
The fishing from late August to the end of the season was poor due to unusually high water temperatures off the Michigan coastline. We never ventured out again. It was hot and sticky so after spending MANY days on the boat this season, I completed the fall service and put it in storage a couple weeks after Labor Day.
I think we've discovered the resort and vacation atmosphere is more important to us than the fishery anymore. We missed being in Mackinaw City even with all it's annoyances.
So...with the boat in storage, I made some sawdust and created a quilt rack for Kathy.
I took a day and wandered through the fall in-water boat show on Lake St. Clair. It was entertaining. I picked this one out as what I would have left with.
It's a 40 foot Sea Ray Sundancer. Completely different from the open deck Sundancers of the past. I don't have to worry about ever owning one. Way too many $$$$.
Before the cold weather set in, I drove over to Manistee to inspect the boat and polish the hull sides. That's a long hard day to make the drive and get the polish process completed. It's why I only get the sides done.
The deck gets all dusty over the winter anyway so there's no point in doing much work on that. They left plenty of room between the boats for me to work on the hull. That was nice.
The drive home was about perfect for fall color. It made the drive much more pleasant.
That closed the book on anything boating this year.
Plans for next year are completely undecided. We've talked about some alternatives to boating for a year but those plans are yet to develop. The next scheduled boat ride is a 9 day run to Aruba. That should be a real nice trip.
I'll let you know.
