I was up at 0 dark 30 this morning in Harrisville, checking multiple sources of wind/waves/weather, talking with the guys in the marina restroom, and using all other available resources including my eyes and ears. The results were inconclusive: swirling clouds, buffeting winds, forecasts of low wind and waves in the morning but small craft warnings in the afternoon. What to do?
The First Mate’s sage advice was: let’s stick our nose out into the lake and come back to the marina if we don’t like what we see. So we did!
We traveled 109 miles to Cheboygan, Michigan, just short of the Straits of Mackinac. Cheboygan is the home of Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw, and a very pleasant city at the North end of Lake Huron.
We enjoyed beautiful weather, sunshine with scattered clouds, and smooth water except for the last few miles when winds picked up and whitecaps appeared as predicted.
We debated going another 15 miles to Mackinac City, but decided to duck into Cheboygan rather than bucking the waves for another hour.
We are at Walstrom Marina in Cheboygan for the night. After walking into town for dinner, we indulged in ice cream at The Dipper, happy to support their missions.
The weather for tomorrow looks good for our trip across the Straits of Mackinac, under the bridge, and on to Petoskey.
Cheboygan will always hold a special place in our hearts, The marina electrician there, and his helper, were the ones who FINALLY fixed our electrical problem on board Radian Journey. Wish we were there with you!!!