Day 11 - Leland to Frankfort - July 17, 2011

We moved further south today, traveling 37 miles to Frankfort.  The weather was overcast and hazy with winds from the south at 10-15 knots.  That put our travel directly into the waves which was not too bad a direction most of the time.  Occasionally we got to rocking when we encountered the wake of other boats.

The most exciting part of the trip was our encounter with some of the boats competing in the 103^rd Chicago to Mackinac Race.  As we left the harbor we began seeing sailboats from the Cruising Classes who had started their race on Friday, ahead of the main group of competitors.  As we searched the horizon for more boats, we spotted a boat that appeared much larger than the others around it.  As it got closer it was obvious it was not one of the Cruising Class boats, and we thought perhaps it was one of the Turbo class boats, so I began taking pictures.  What a thrill it was when we discovered that the boat was Windquest the largest boat participating in this year’s race at 86 feet long.  As you can see from the pictures, this is a truly beautiful boat.

North Manitou Shoal Lighthouse

Windquest

Windquest

Windquest passing by North Manitou Island

Windquest

Point Betsie Lighthouse

Point Betsie Lighthouse