All maintenance items have been addressed: transmission oil and filter changed, props pulled and tuned, boat polished and waxed, and a couple other incidental items finished. We’re ready for the last leg of journey for the season: going to Wisconsin to visit family and then returning to Harbor Springs

We have decided to leave the boat in Harbor Springs and head home to ATL for the winter. We’ll return next spring to resume our trip with focus on the North Channel (of Lake Huron), and Lake Superior. The Admiral and I have been discussing our options for months including returning to our home port of Chattanooga, going back to FL after a brief stay at home for the holidays, or leaving the boat in MI and resuming our journey in the spring. Since we covered so much territory to get here as quickly as we did, we have enjoyed the slower pace and the fresh water more than we expected.

We’ll decommission the boat in October and have it stored in a heated storage building near the marina. Meant To Be will be re-commissioned in late April or early May (once ice is off the harbor and bay). Local boaters have told us some of the most picturesque water scenery can be found in the North Channel and Lake Superior is unlike any waterway. The appeal is too strong to bypass.

So we’re in the last weeks of our 2018 Loop trip which will resumed in 2019. Our near term cruising itinerary is to be Northport, MI, Frankfort, MI, then Door County, WI. From there? Maybe Chicago for a couple of days before returning to Harbor Springs for the winter. We need to be in HS by no later than the second week of October; after that all bets are off regarding the weather (snow!).