Today was the anniversary of our first day on the Loop! The forecast was looking good for a 78 mile crossing to Manistique, Michigan. Manistique is on the northern shore of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. We have driven through Manistique before and thought that it would be a fun way to go. It isn’t a normal Looper stop.

We pulled out of out slip, waved goodbye (figuratively… we’re not weirdos) to Petoskey, and pulled out into a tranquil Little Traverse Bay.

The first hour or so was fairly pleasant. We set our course and cruised away. After leaving the bay and entering bigger water, the wind picked up and the seas became a bit confused. By the time we were taking 4-foot waves with a very tight interval from what seemed like different directions, we decided to go to Plan B and duck into Beaver Island.

We tacked a bit through the waves and wind and through some haze and light fog toward St. James Harbour. Our track was a bit wonky, but we finally made it to a safe harbor. We radioed the municipal marina and they asked us to call. They were full, but allowed us to pull up on the dock by the boat ramp in the north marina. After tying up and checking in, they were able to free up a slip for us. We moved down to slip 7 and, with some help, nestled into our slip for the night.

Beaver Island was one of the stops that we really wanted to make, but we had decided to skip it for the sake of time. Thankfully, the Good Lord decided that we really needed to see it. Since we arrived a little after noon, we had some time left in the day. After settling in a bit, we took the two loaner bikes to the little town and had dinner at Shamrock Bar & Grill. The service was very, very slow, but we enjoyed our early dinner.

We can’t wait to explore the island!