Day Six - St. Ignace to Charlevoix - July 12, 2011

We spent a little time with our calendar last night to see when various harbors along the route would be hosting their special summer events and therefore be very busy.  One of our favorite places to stop is Charlevoix City Marina.  The City of Charlevoix hosts a week long Venetian Festival in July and if you want a slip at the marina, you have to book a year in advance.  The Venetian Festival is July 16-23 this year.  That meant we needed to spend time in Charlevoix either before or after their festival.  Last night as we checked the various weather sites, it seemed like we would be spending the next few days in St. Ignace and perhaps need to make stops in Harbor Springs and/or Petoskey on the way to Charlevoix so that we arrived after the festival ended.

However, when we got up, the wind was way down from what was predicted.  We decided to head out and make our way to Charlevoix, spending time there before the festival started.  The first 30 minutes of the ride were beautiful.  The water was calm and there wasn’t much wind.  As we got closer to the Mackinac Bridge, things changed quickly (as they often do in the straits).  The wind picked up and was coming much more west (right on our nose) than the predicted northwest.  We picked up our speed and dealt with the waves and wind that way.  We slowed down to our normal cruising speed as we got to Gray’s Reef and maintained that for almost the rest of the trip.  It was a bumpy ride with the waves coming almost directly at the starboard side of the boat.  That means lots of rocking and rolling for us.

We kicked up the speed once more just before we arrived at the Pine River which is the entrance to Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix.  There is a bascule bridge at the entrance to Round Lake that must open for us to go through.  The bridge opens on the hour and the half hour.  We wanted to make the 3:00pm opening so we didn’t have to wait in the wind and waves for 30 extra minutes.

We are here for at least two nights and will perhaps anchor out in Lake Charlevoix after that.

Mackinac Bridge as we approach from St. Ignace

Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac Bridge as we begin going under

under Mackinac Bridge looking south toward Mackinaw City

White Shoal Lighthouse - north of Gray's Reef - because of its unique
candy stripe paint, this lighthouse is often featured on holiday
greeting cards covered in snow and ice

our view of Round Lake from the upper deck of Boreas looking foward

our view of Charlevoix City Marina out the back of Boreas