The best laid plans in boating are always subject to weather and sea conditions. Today we were supposed to depart Harbor Springs and begin moving toward Wisconsin. The first port, about 35 miles west and south is Northport. Northport is located near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula in Grand Traverse Bay. However, heavy rains this morning and the forecast of more rain for the next couple of days has caused us to postpone our departure for at least a day, perhaps two. Forecasted lake conditions today appear fairly benign - 1-2 ft. However, the rains produce low visibility and the radar is often rendered ineffective due to the reflection caused by the rain.

Wednesday’s forecast doesn’t appear much better and lake conditions are supposed to kick up to 4ft waves locally. So, it looks like we’re here until Thursday. If that holds we should be In Frankfort, MI on Friday. Frankfort is on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan (and the western shore of the State of MI; easy to get confused). Frankfort is our departure point to get to Wisconsin - about a 55 mile open water crossing. Apparently the weather system affecting our weather will come across Lake MI Wednesday and produce 7-9 ft. waves in the open water. No need to rush things; we’ll wait it out for a couple of days and hopefully get better conditions all around.

In the meantime, I’ll have another cup of coffee, look out my “back window” at the harbor and take a closer look at my navigation charts. It’s been a wonderful time in HS, made all that much nicer with visits from friends. But I’m anxious to move on.