NE Lake Michigan

We're about one third of the way down the east coast of Lake Michigan and so far, it's been a great place to cruise. This arial shows the three connected bodies of water that make Charlevoix a unique place for boating. At the very bottom of the photo is a sliver of Lake Michigan, then the short canal that takes you into Round Lake, which is ringed with marinas and private docks. The next canal leads to Lake Charlevoix, about 14 miles long. We anchored for one night in the narrow cove in the lower left corner of Lake Charlevoix while we were waiting for our slip to become available.

Reservations can be made at the majority of the Michigan Harbors, but it costs $8 extra to reserve and if you cancel for any reason, another $10 ... or you can take your chances on one of the "drop in" slips. Charlevoix is the second most popular stop on the circuit, so we thought we'd better reserve. It was worth it. The building below is the new marina building, with the play fountain in front of it, beautifully landscaped and the main street of the town just steps away.

We biked up the walking path next to the canal to visit the beach on the Lake Michigan side...

... and then through the pretty town to this beach on Lake Charlevioux. This is definitely a vacation town.

Here's a view of Round Lake.

Adjacent to the marina is the amphitheater where we were treated to a Charlevoix City Band concert ... we thought the best seat in the house was right on our flybridge.

With waves about 1-2 feet we left early the next day for Leland Township Marina, where they do not take reservations. It's all first come, first serve ... they won't assign you a slip until your boat enters the harbor. We had called and been told that many boats were leaving and we should try to get there between 11 and noon. As we approached the harbor, three huge cruisers were roaring up behind us, but we all made it in and all got slips. By afternoon, they were rafting up boats all over the place, they never turn anyone away. The marina is all brand new and their marina building is also gorgeous, with a big covered porch lined with Adirondack rockers.

Leland has a long history of fishing and is still home to a large charter fleet and a few commercial fishing boats. Where the Leland River meets Lake Michigan (right next to the marina) we discovered Fishtown. This marvelous collection of old fishing shanties, previously used by the commercial fishermen in the early 1900's, has been revitalized by the Fishtown Preservation Society and houses shops and restaurants, along with the Carlson Fish Company.

Here's one of the shanties close up. On the other side of the river, some shanties have been fixed up as vacation rentals.

This device, I think, is called a net roller.

Leland has it all ... beaches, groceries, fabulous bakery all within walking distance. Last night this string quintet performed a lovely concert in town.

The Leland Harbor is on the main coast with only this breakwater between us and Lake Michigan. The ferry to Manitou Island takes campers daily over to this popular camping destination. The island can be seen in the distance in this sunset picture.

Like Minnesota, it's a short boating and vacation season in Northern Michigan and people are all squeezing in as much fun as possible. The docks are full of boats and boater (lots of big performance cruisers and sailboats) and vacationers walking the docks. Lucy sits on the front deck and soon a crowd gathers, they seem amazed to see a cat on a boat. Today, it is blowing hard (10-20 knots) and waves of 3-5 feet are being reported, so not too many boats are leaving today and it's rocking even in the slip. Since they don't accept reservations here, they won't kick us out as long as we pay our modest $39 slip fee each morning. We're very impressed with Lake Michigan boating !!