Since the family had visited so many wonderful breakfast places yesterday, they were eager to actually get breakfast so the three of them headed out again. And boy did they find what they were looking for!
We did our own thing for most of the morning. Sammy and I headed to the bath house for showers. The guys played chess. We grabbed Subway for lunch.
The original plan was to wait out the winds and leave Thursday morning but it’s been a long stay. We LOVE Charlevoix it’s a great place to visit. But four days with no bike or car is a long time without a lot of things to do. So we spent most of the day checking the weather and seeing if the winds would in fact die down as predicted by supper time.
Scott and I took a walk out to the lake around 3:00 pm, following the Beaver Island ferry and decided it looked like the winds were shifting and it was knocking down the waves. So we decided to make a go of it.
When we got back to the boat, it was all hands on deck to pack up and prep for a 3:45 pm departure. We needed to stop for fuel and a pump out so we were hoping to catch the 4:30 pm draw bridge.
We have 120 miles to go to make Ludington. That would take 5 hours if we could remain at cruising speed the entire time. It’s a long run on a good day but we are leaving at supper time with questionable seas. So we just have no idea how far we’ll make it. The good news is that the further go, the more the waves should improve. And it did! We had a few showers of rain and some haze / fog setting in but we pressed on.
We slowed for supper around 6:00pm. Brisket sandwiches, Velveeta Dip, Charcuterie. Not so bad given our current situation.
We pulled into the Ludington channel around 9:30 pm just ahead of a small rain shower. The marina is already closed so we found our slip and quietly pulled in. Tied off and settled in by 10:00 pm.
On the way, we realized in our rush to pack up and leave we never let the dog go to the bathroom. Oops. Poor Coco was scrambling to get off that boat and Sammy was so gracious to accommodate her while we all tied lines.
We were all a little hungry and couldn’t find any pizza places or bars open past 10 pm on a Wednesday, so Jen got creative and made BBQ pork nachos and Pepperoni Cheese Breadsticks. We laughed together as we watched fails until bedtime.
We made it! So glad to be tucked in for the night… and grateful to have gotten this far south. We should be home tomorrow!
Weather: Cloudy, with intermittent rain showers throughout the day
Temps: High 77* Low 63*
Winds: 18 mph, gusts up to 33 mph; S > SW > W > NW > 6 mph N
Waves: high earlier in the day; Super sporadic 2-3’ when we left Charlevoix; 1-2’ as we arrived in Ludington
Travel Distance: 120 mi
