8/3/14 St. Ignace to Petoskey, MI

Our planned departure was 0830, but we realized that the water was perfectly calm at 0700.  We didn't want to lose the advantage of flat water, so at 0730 we pulled away from the dock.  After going under Mackinac Straights Bridge, we headed around the large shoal, Grays Reef.  Just after the shoal, we saw some fishing buoys and gave them a wide berth.  The waves picked up after a few hours, but were still ones and twos. 

The state marina reservation system is somewhat frustrating.  Online reservations must be done by 8pm the night before you want a reservation.  If you call after 8pm, you are told that you are violating the reservation policy.  So today, while underway, we called Charlevoix, our destination of choice, and were told that they would not know until after 12 noon if they had any openings.  We called back at noon and were told they still didn't know.  A half hour later, all we got was a busy signal, so we opted for a different destination:  Petoskey. 

There was lots of room in Petoskey.  We pulled in to our slip in the marina and Ron checked the boat, which is routine.  He discovered fishing line around and under our dinghy and trailing all the way back to the entrance of our row of slips.  After closer examination, we got in the dinghy and collected all of the fishing line that was trailing our boat.  Ron then went under the boat (in 60 degree water), using a borrowed mask and breathing apparatus.  He was able to release the line which was wrapped around our propeller shaft.  What a mess!!  There was no apparent damage, but Ron had a real mess to clean up. 

 

 

 

After some discussion, we ended up at Lou's Pizza for dinner.  They had an unusual bar upstairs.  Instead of bar stools, they had swings.  Very unique.

Breakfast restaurant with cups and saucers in concrete around the door
 

Tomorrow we have reservations for Charlevoix, which is only a couple of hours away.