HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!
Another busy EXTENDED weekend :-). 

I arrived at the boat yesterday afternoon and was busy doing...nothing.

Up early this morning by the light of the silvery moon and westward to the fishing grounds.

The lake was a bit sloppy, making it difficult to get many photos and the ones I did get weren't the best, but it was an awesome 4th of July sunrise over the Lake Michigan dunes.

I caught and released 5 salmon this morning and then headed dockside.  The first order of business was new batteries.  I discovered a dead one this morning.  Not the best way to start the day.

After the battery issue was taken care of, I strolled into town for the annual Independence Day parade.
The parade was kicked off with a fly over of a B17 bomber.  Rides were available on the plane this morning.

Parade color guard.

The high school marching band.

And the most important man in the parade.

...at least to those behind him.  Yes that's the pooper scooper.

Back to the boat to decorate for the evening fireworks festivities in the harbor.

With the extensive decorating completed, time to head to the beach for a swim and cool off.

OK.  Checked all the boxes for today.  Time to relax and wait for the show at dark.

Today was long and active.  Up at dawn and out to the lake to wet a few lines.

Four lines in the water and...FISH ON!  Great, so soon.  This is going to be good.  Then, double header!  OK, this is going to be interesting.  Of course, Kathy is still in the berth getting her beauty sleep.  Then, oh-oh...TRIPLE HEADER!  Um, dear I think it's time to get out of bed.  Then, oh shit!!!!  number 4 on the line...a quad!  Well, we did what we could and managed to catch two of the four.  All in all, we boated 5 fish today out of 9 bites.

A nice steelhead

King Salmon

Today's take.  4 salmon. 1 steelhead.

 After cleanup, we had a lunch and headed downtown for the fine arts show.  There's always a trinket or two to interest Kathy.

Now to uncover the dinghy and go clean that up.  Warm, sunny and dead calm.  A great day for a cruise in the dink.  Beachcoming at the outer harbor.

I cleaned the dinghy from several weeks of sitting idle.

Then...ahhh!  First time in the water this year.  Surprisingly warm although outside the harbor,Lake Michigan is still chilly.

Ludington Pier Light.

 We take a quick trip into the municipal marina to see what is happening there...it's pretty quiet, actually.  Gas is $3.99 a gallon.  It's been awhile since it's been in that territory.  As you can see from the flag, not a breath of air.

Municipal marina.

Then back out into the harbor and a short ride to Harborview.

The admiral is bushed.  Not sure how active she'll be the rest of the evening.

A great summer day. 

I planned something a little different for this weekend.  Instead of the usual marina routine, I decided it might be fun to fish our way to a different port, overnight there and return the following day fishing our way back to Ludington.  Except for the rain shortened return trip, it all worked out.

We left port and were on the lake at sunrise.

Step 2, get lines in the water.  Lake conditions are ideal.

The northbound trip begins.  Trolling past Big Sable Point.

There was plenty of company as the fleet trolls the "shelf" at the point.

And yes, we found a few fish willing to bite.  Final count was three steelhead and one lake trout.  The salmon did not cooperate today.

After a 3 mph cruise for 5 hours, we picked up lines and entered Manistee Harbor.

It's about 20 minutes of no wake boating through the Manistee River channel.
USCG Station Manistee.

How welcoming!  A police escort.

A river walk runs the entire length of the channel.  It's a pleasant trip through the channel which opens into Manistee Lake.  Overhead clearance is 23'.

Into Manistee Lake and to starboard is Seng's Marina.  It's a small marina with outstanding facilities and an awesome staff.  A very enjoyable stay. 
Floating docks.

Marina park, bath house and boater lounge.

Boater's patio.  Where stories are told.

All this for $30/night.  It's a bargain.

We were shuttled to the Little River Casino (no cameras allowed) by friends where we dined at the weekend seafood buffet and enjoyed a little slot action.  A long day.

Sunday morning saw calm seas and threatening skies as we approached lake Michigan through the Manistee River channel.

We motored south and slowed to fish for a brief period until the rain began to nip at the transom.
It was time to find the harbor.

Back inside Ludington harbor, safe and sound.

Harborview Marina dead ahead.

We have Kathy's folks in town for the weekend.  We were treated to favorable lake conditions this morning so left the dock at dawn and found some fish to fill the cooler.

The weather has turned for the worse this afternoon, so we'll suffer with an outing to House of Flavors.

What comes after 4 days of calm seas?  The weekend, of course.  The flags tell the story.  20 knot winds from the south and 4' seas.

So...we spent the day tied to the dock and took care of all the spring cleaning chores in the cabin.  After 3 weeks away, Play Dough needed a good bath.  A few shots from around the marina this afternoon.  Other than the stiff breeze, a beautiful day in Northern Michigan...

...and yes, the admiral is aboard now for the season.

Tomorrow, we hope for calmer waters.