Chris and Bud's Excellent Adventure

Day 5. Saturday. We’re up ahead of the sun again, and go through the morning ritual of checking the engines. A lot more comfortable in the morning after they have had all night to cool, than the checks we do through out the day. Either Mike or I go into the engine room every three or so hours to check things out. But not with out the ear muffs, not only is it hot, it’s really loud.

We leave the marina at 7:45. It’s warm, windy, and about to be sunny. There is a small craft advisory posted for the Mackinaw Straits and Lake Michigan. We pass under the very impressive, 4 mile long suspension bridge that connects lower Michigan with the Upper Peninsula. Last night, all through the night it was lit up like a Christmas tree. Seeing the sun rise with the bridge in the foreground is awesome.

There are 4-6 foot seas, and Bud has to keep a slow pace (8-12 Knots) to keep the boat from taking too bad a beating. For the first time, it’s not just incredibly enjoyable. But still it’s a sunny day, and things could be worse. I learn one thing through the course of the morning, the bigger the boat, the more the creaking. If nothing else, I feel better about Sideband. By noon the wind has gone east enough that the seas are down and we’re now doing 18-20.

The shoreline is all sand, whether sandy beaches or huge sand hills that make the Bluffs near Sodus look like sand dunes. About a half hour out of Frankfort we come across a dozen guys really enjoy the breeze and seas. Mostly kite suffering, with a couple of windsurfers. It looks like a blast, and I assume a bonus for guys in October this far north on Lake Michigan.

We pull in to Frankfort on Betsie Bay about 2:30 and fuel up, 455 more gallons. We enjoy what’s left of the afternoon doing some minor repairs, shower ashore, and it’s off to dinner at Dinghy’s.