Slept in this morning - 0615 hrs! I’m sitting on the back of the boat in mid 50’s temperature watching the morning unfold with nary a sound or movement about. Ah, the tranquility. The Admiral and I were reflecting yesterday about the travel adventure that got us here. In 30 days we traveled from Cape Hatteras, NC to Harbor Springs, MI. No wonder we’re tired. Our cruise yesterday from Drummond Island, MI was 90 miles and took about 5 hours. We passed by Mackinac Island and under the Mighty Mac (Mackinac Bridge) into Lake Michigan from Lake Huron. Only a few boats were out but the passenger ferries from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace to Mackinac Island we’re actively carrying people to and from the Island. Lake conditions were completely placid - virtually no waves for the entire run.

I love boating into Harbor Springs. You can see all of the beautiful homes along the Lake Michigan shore and see kids swimming at Harbor Point where the water is so shallow people beach their boats there but only 100 feet from shore the water is more than 100 feet deep. And the water is so clear and cool (68’). We’re in Walstrom Marina just a short walk to downtown and in front of our friend’s condo. Too bad they’re not here to enjoy this with us.

The near term order is to get some service work done on the boat including attending to a malfunctioning salon a/c unit and wax and polish job. Our boat is so splattered with mud and grime from the locks, and bugs and fish flies from Drummond that I’m nearly embarrassed to call it mine. Need to attend to other small items, too but for the next several days we’ll be getting our land legs back and slowing down. Looking forward to having our good friends from GA / TN - Marsha and Rodney join us next week. So we’re here for the 30 days or so having accomplished about 2/3rds of the Loop by my guesstimate. We plan to explore as much of the lake area as we can before we make the decision to move southward toward Chicago in September or October. In the meantime we intend to enjoy our Shangri-La to the fullest.

I forgot to mention that when we were on Drummond Island Tiara Yachts was having their Northern MI rendezvous! We crashed the party (so to say) and met the chairman and founder of the company, S2 Yachts, Leon Slikker, his son and president, Tom, and their respective wife’s, and some of the top people from Tiara and their primary providers such as Volvo Penta, Cummins, etc. The Slikkers and Tiara product are top notch. I’m proud to be a Tiara owner and to have had the opportunity to meet the upper level of the company.