June 28 - Pentwater to Muskegon, MI

Today is the last day of our second Loop. We certainly had not expected that our Marco Polo II would be gone close to three years. If you have followed our blog, you will have seen that this was quite a trip with a number of unexpected events.

After a four hour trip, we arrived back at our homeport of Muskegon. As we entered Lakeshore Yacht Harbour, we were met by many boating friends all waving and yelling. What a home coming! Our prayers for a safe journey were answered over and over again. For this and so many other blessings, we give thanks to our Heavenly Father.

June 27 - Leland to Pentwater, MI

The weather forecast for the next few days were quite good. The forecast for the beginning of the coming week was not promising. According to various sources, we could expect strong winds, thunderstorms, rain and waves between 4 and 6 ft. With this in mind, we decided to try to make Pentwater. This meant skipping a number of our favorite ports. During our trip we had a fantastic view of the Great Bear Dunes. After a 10 hour trip, we arrived in Pentwater. Year around population is around 850 persons with many more inhabitants during the summer months. Sportfishing is very popular in Pentwater, as is shopping. The main street has many attractive shops and some art galleries. After dinner on-board, Thressa and I walked into town for an ice cream cone.  

June 26 - Charlevoix to Leland, MI

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the wind was light. Thus a great day for cruising! We had to wait about ten minutes for the bridge opening. 

Today's destination is Leleand.

The town was built on the site of the oldest and largest Ottawa village on the Leelanau Peninsula. The center of the town is the historic "Fishtown" with its wooden shanties. Across from where we were docked was a beautifully restored boat. The owner came over to question me about the AGLCA platinum flag flying on my boat's bow. After an interesting conversation, he introduced himself as John Winn, one of the founding brothers of Four Winns Boat Company and owner of the home and boathouse on Round Lake in Charlevoix. Around 6:00 p.m. we got together for dinner with Warren and Kristin Baumann. We met Warren and Kristin last summer while they were bringing their trawler from Annapolis to Sutton Bay. We sure had a great time discussing the highs and lows of the trip.

June 25 - Petoskey to Charlevoix, MI

As we left Little Traverse Bay, we could see Fred and Linda waving good-bye. Our destination is the nearby City of Charlevoix, a beautiful town bordered by Lake Michigan, Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix. Round Lake is in the center of the town and is bordered by various villas, boat houses, a marina and a large park. One of the luxurious homes is that of John and Zita Winn - 10,437 square-foot home connected to a 8,537 square-foot boathouse where John stores his boats. Based on weather reports for the coming week, we decided to skip our stay in Sutton Bay.

June 24 - Petoskey, MI

The boat is once again clean - no bugs or bug stains. This afternoon we had visitors - Dr. Ron and Jan VandenBrink. Ron and Jan joined us some years ago on our Netherlands Waterway Cruise. We share many interests such as boats, travel and good food. Around 5:00 p.m. we were visited by Joan and Ron Van Zee. Ron and Joan have been dear friends for at least 40 years. Later the four of us joined Fred and Linda Sytsma for dinner at the historic Stafford's Bay View Inn, located on the shore of the Little Traverse Bay. All six of us used to belong to the same church and our children were enrolled in the same school. After dinner, we went to Fred and Linda's home to enjoy a delicious desert.

June 23 - Mackinaw Island to Petoskey, MI

After breakfast with Stan and Maija and waving them good bye, we decided to also leave the island for our trip to Petoskey. The weather forecast was better for today compared to the following day. We also had seen all we had on our list. Around noon time we left the harbor and headed westward to the Mackinaw Bridge and then on to Lake Michigan. Just as we passed the bridge, we were attacked by thousands of fish flies. The back deck, the mast, back and side windows were covered by thousands of these black flies. When we arrived at the Petoskey Harbor, the fuel attendant hosed down many of the bugs. Henk spent over three hours cleaning up this horrible mess. 

June 22 - Mackinaw Island, MI

This morning Stan and Henk walked to the historical St. Anne Roman Catholic church to attend their worship service. Afterwards it was back to the boat for our morning coffee. For lunch we took a horse drawn taxi carriage to the Grand Hotel for the sumptuous lunch buffet. The Grand Hotel was constructed in the 19th Century and claims to have the world's largest porch. Afterwards we had made arrangement for a private carriage tour. Our driver/guide told us many interesting stories and showed us some fantastic homes. Also included was a historical cemetery where we saw the grave of one of the Michigan governors - "Soapy Williams". We passed the Governor's Mansion, still used by current governors. The island is also a popular place for weddings. We must have seen at least 10 wedding parties. After a busy afternoon, we returned to the boat for some rest, a glass or two of wine and pizza.