Mackinaw City to Charlevoix, Michigan

Sadly, we saw the Grasshoppers off just before 8 am. The car service they found and called was great. Apparently Ubers and Lyfts are few and far between in Mackinaw City, so it all worked out.

Ben had another meeting this morning, so we waited for that to end before pushing off the dock. The girls and I walked to the cool-looking Starbucks (that we saw coming into the marina and wondered what it was) to pickup coffee and some breakfast items and bring them back to the boys. Bear and I took a morning lap around the city and through the cute mall area.

Rough day at lake. (Is that what we say, since we aren't technically at sea?). We had 2-3 foot waves with short spaces in between. The waves were head on for a while. Roo wanted dramamine and a motion sickness bracelet. Moose was laying on the dashboard of the cockpit. Bear and Dixie were together on the couch inside the cabin. I had to carry Dixie down because she wouldnt go on her own and was standing in the middle of the cockpit on floor. She was shaking and wouldn't go downstairs. 

Later in the journey, waves were more on the beam. At one point I saw over 420 feet of water on the depthfinder. That is so hard to imagine when youre on a lake, but considering it was formed by glaciers, it makes sense. Ben kicked up the RPMs and we were going over 8 knots. Everyone just wanted to be tied up at a dock and off the water. Moose and I took Dramamine to force a nap. Ben said he doesn't think the water will be this bad again tomorrow, but I bet he is just saying that to appease me. He also didn't think it was as bad as we thought it was and said we got soft from not being on open water this summer. Only Roo wound up napping. I never slept, just laid there with my eyes closed hoping to sleep and for it to be done soon.

Charlevoix has a bridge in the channel coming off the lake. The posted clearance is 10 ft. Ben called and asked for the next opening and it was 20 minutes. Would we fit with the antennas down? He called on the VHF again and found out the 10 ft clearance is measured on the sides and it was more like 15 ft in the middle. Ben thought we would fit, and he said we should try so we do not have to wait for the opening in 20 minutes. Like I said, everyone just wanted to be done.

Moose climbed to the top of the cockpit, put all the antennas down, and he laid down on top with the solar panels while I stood at the front of the windows, ready to push the boat back and yell to Ben that we needed to go back. Luckily, we had about 3-6 inches of clearance and made it through. With each rocking of the waves under us, I thought we'd definitely crunch something against the top of the bridge, but we got through without incident!

We had a slip reserved at Northwest Marine Yacht Club in Charlevoix, Michigan. They were closed by the time we got there, but earlier we got our slip assignment and instructions for our stay. The slip they told us to go into was definitely narrower than us and we wouldn't fit. Two guys came out from their boats to say so, after Ben already knew it and I was questioning it. They told us none of the slips would be wide enough, except for one of theirs and he has 2 boats in it. They told us to tie up to the pumpout dock (no power there) since the office is closed, and we already paid.

There was a pool on a deck at this yacht club, and at first I was too tired to take them. I also knew that we would be up and leaving by 8 cuz we had to get off the fuel dock, so we couldn't go tomorrow. We took them to the pool for a quick 45 minute dip, which was perfect because the sun was hiding behind trees and it was becoming chillier. Pool time=easy bedtime, so that was a win!