Day 84 across Lake Michigan to Northport, MI

      We got off at 4:10 am and each of us took a turn at napping on the way.  I was lucky enough to be the first one, and on my way down I snapped the photo at the right of the sunrise. When we left Jackson Harbor, we went north and around Rock Island before heading east to cross Lake Michigan.  Rock Island is barely separated from Washington by a string of rocks and some sand dunes that may be navigable in a small boat, but the water was too "skinny" for us. The waters across Lake Michigan were as flat as could be - perfect as can be seen in the photo there was virtually no wind at sunrise. During our trip the winds out of the northwest slowly built up to only about 8 mph with waves of 6 to 12 inches at most. It would have been one of those rare days when you could have comfortably water skied across the lake.

     We really did not see anything picture worthy on the whole trip plus we each took about an hour and a half nap so the time passed pretty quickly. The deepest point that we noted on the trip is shown in the photo at the left. The depth of 544.0 feet is shown in the lower left hand corner of this screen shot of the chart plotter. As we approached the east side of Lake Michigan, we did see several cruisers speeding along closer to shore, but otherwise we saw no other boats. You can also see two red and one green navigation markers that direct traffic around some shallow areas. It might seem like a dramatic shallowing from 544 to 21 feet as is shown on the screen. Lucky Us is located at the small boat icon near the bottom center. The distance from the boat to the shallows is about 5 miles This means that on average the depth is getting shallower at a rate of about 100 feet per mile, which is about 1 degree. That slope is so shallow that you probably could not see it visually nor would you notice walking up that kind of slope.

      We arrived in Northport, MI at 2:00 pm.  The photo at the right shows the view looking back over the stern just after we entered the marina. Northport is just inside the peninsula that separates Lake Michigan from Grand Travers Bay so the view here is to the north and the westerly breeze is largely blocked by the land. However, if the wind was strong enough it would come over the land and back down to reach the water, but as you can see in the picture the water is like a mirror.

       After Lick Us was safely tied at her dock (photo at left), we have already strolled through the small town. The Admiral found a boutique where she had shopped the last time we were here on our first Great Loop.  Yes, she found more to buy this time too... 

     We had dinner out at a lovely, big new restaurant, and I had the fish fry, which still seems to be a common occurrence on Fridays here in the Midwest. Then we went back to Lucky Us to collect the dog and some chairs and go to the adjacent city park for a free Friday concert.  We stayed for the first of two sets by a jazz trio. It was fun, easy listening music. I must admit that this is the first time that I have heard a jazz version of "The Ode to Billy Jo McCallister". I took the photo at the right from behind the bandstand looking through the performers and out at  the audience with part of Grand Traverse Bay in the background.

     The "selfie" at the left shows the Admiral, me and Lucky enjoying the music. Lucky did very well with all of the children and dogs around. We left at about 8:00pm when the band took their intermission break. It had after all been a very long day, and we are heading out in the moring across the mouth of Grand Travers to Petoskey in adjacent Little Travers Bay.


      Tomorrow is a relatively short trip so it is great timing for the Admiral.  In the morning she will hit the grocery store before we leave and head to Petoskey.  The grocery store is a block away, and they allow you to take their dock carts to the marina where they will pick it up later. The people are very trusting, and the towns seem super safe.