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August 23, 2012  Day 104     Charlevoix, MI    Total miles to date:  1975.7

Passing under the Mackinac Bridge

What a difference a day makes! We woke up assuming we were staying in Mackinaw City, but then realized two other boats had left and we began to reassess the situation.  The marine forecast was for 2 to 4 foot seas so we decided to go. By 8:30 we were underway and by 9:00 we were under the Mackinac Bridge entering Lake Michigan. So far so good – calm water!  Less than two hours later we were in 4 to 5 foot seas for a couple of hours. Once we were past Gray’s Reef, it got better and we were only in 2 to 3 foot seas!  At least the waves were on the quarter beam and not the full beam. As we approached Charlevoix it calmed down again.

We even timed the bridge opening perfectly as we entered the inlet to Charlevoix. It opens on the hour and half hour.  We got into our assigned slip and in less than 15 minutes, another Looper on Why Knot stopped by to greet us.  Shortly after that a sailboat docked next to us. They are also Loopers from Sweden – and I thought we had come far! Then another gentleman stopped by to welcome us.  He was a William & Mary grad and had seen that we hailed from Williamsburg, VA. 

View from our flybridge -
we were listening to the band play.

We were tired from our almost 8 hour trip so we did not do any sightseeing, etc.  We had a quick dinner on board then sat on the flybridge and listened to a local band perform in the park next to the marina.

We will stay here again tomorrow night and see Charlevoix and get ready for our guests who are joining us Saturday!