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.

June 21 - St. Ignace to Mackinaw Island, MI

 As we left St. Ignace, another great view of the Mackinaw Bridge and one of the ferries that connect Mackinaw Island with the mainland. When we entered the harbor, we spotted the first Marco Polo purchased more than 25 years ago. We owned this trawler, a 36' Albin, for 15 years. In the background, left side, is Marco Polo II. This 42' Ricker Bros trawler was purchased 11 years ago.

Our friends Stan and Maija Martin drove from their hometown of Lansing, MI to spend a few days with us. They had booked a hotel opposite of the marina, making it very easy for us to get together. After our onboard lunch, we took a walk down Main Street with its many fudge and souvenir shops.

For readers not familiar with Mackinaw Island, it is known as home to the second oldest fort in the USA. The fort was started by the French, taken over by the British and later by the USA. The island has many beautiful homes and hotels. Automobiles and motorcycles are not allowed. Instead bikes and horse drawn carriages are the main forms of transportation. Dinner was again on-board the Marco Polo II.

June 20 - St. Ignace, MI

The entire day was spent in port. Thressa did more cleaning and prepared meals for tomorrow's visitors - Stan and Maija Martin.

I spent time behind the computer and killing millions of the pesty flies. Hopefully we will not have them on the island. Our watchman took good care of us.

June 19 - De Tour to St. Ignace, MI

We fueled up, this time paying a lower per gallon cost versus what we paid in Canada. Next it was down the St. Mary's River to Lake Huron. At the intersection is the large light house which we kept to our right. After passing, we headed westward to Mackinaw Island. A few hours later we   

could see the Mackinaw Bridge. Since we completed 2.5 loops, we are flying the platinum AGLCA flag from our bow - not many have this honor or are smart enough to not pay the cost. Since we have reservations at Mackinaw Island on Saturday through Monday, we decided to spend   

the next two nights in St. Ignace. Just before entering the harbor, we ran into a swarm of bugs that covered our boat - see the mast. Right after docking, we attempted to hose them off. This worked for a few minutes and then we were again covered. No matter what we did, they kept on covering our boat. When we walked to a nearby restaurant, we had to keep our mouth closed.   

June 18 - Gore Bay, Ontario to De Tour, Michigan

This morning we went to the fuel

dock to pay for the overnight charges and use the balance of our Canadian funds for diesel. The attendant had fun in counting out about CAD$ 18 in change. As we pulled out of Gore Bay, we saw a resort without any sign of activity. Either it was not

open, or it was For Sale. Soon we were able to set course for Drummond Island, a trip of about 7 hours. As we cruised along, we had radio contact with a couple of boats doing the Great Loop.

Arrival in Drummond Island was at 5:30 p.m., just in time to clear US Customs.

Had we arrived 15 minutes later, we would have had to wait until the next morning. Two officers came onboard to check our passport and boat documents. After answering some questions, we were given the OK to proceed and the officers went home. All of this took about 10 minutes. We decided to continue to nearby De Tour for the overnight. From our marina, on the shores of the St. Mary, we could see a number of freighters and lakers going to and from the Sioux.

June 17 - Little Current to Gore Bay, Ontario

It rained, rained and rained most of the day. We decided to stay in port. Thressa and I carried the laundry to the laundromat, just steps from our boat. We tried to send out emails and work on the blog, but no contacts could be made.  

It finally quit raining and we decided to cruise to Gore Bay, a three hour trip from Little Current. Even though the clouds became darker and it started to get foggy, we had a smooth cruise. At 7:00 p.m. we arrived at Gore Bay and tied up for the night.