Manistee, MI

Not the best forecast but a bunch of us Loopers left Frankfort and headed to Manistee.  I was controlled, 3 1/2 hours to go a measley 29 miles, buckin 2-4 seas.  It was sunny though but not enjoyable until we fought our way through the breakwater.  I am learning that whatever the waves are on Lake Michigan you can add 2 feet at the mouth of the breakwater.  It also seems (there must be something like a Murphy's Law for these kind of things) that the narrower the opening the waves will be at the worst angle possible so that the boat rolls excessively or the boat is pushed to the nearest rock wall.  Once in it was nice that is until we got to the marina; the building is under construction so the washrooms and showers were "go huts", portable, plastic, single person facilities.  They were kept spotless tho and it turned out not to be a big deal but rather a saving... 40% off dockage rates.  Almost as satisfying as going slow.

Manistee is not a bad town; it has a great boardwalk along the river to the beach.  We availed ourselves of the beautiful beach a couple of times. ...and they had batteries for the camera.  No photos though because I forgot the camera each time we went to the beach.

I must inform the Westport crowd that I am a hero....again.  I went to pick up Linda and another Looper from the beach in the dinghy.  This was our second day there because the winds and waves were too high, in fact they were crashing over the breakwall.  (A great photo op.... the spray flying high over the wall, seagulls in the air, bathers on the beach, blah, blah, blah....a picture is worth a thousand words.  Too bad I forgot the camera.)  Anyway after managing the larger waves inside the breakwall, the three of us were moving up the river when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a flying shark( no I did not say "asian carp") flew over our heads.  The tails almost hit us.  We all ducked and I veered the boat and came to a stop.  Lo and behold it was a flying fish about three foot in length, black and purple in colour and with a series of thin yellow tails about 10 feet long.  It was a kite.  The wind was so strong that the control unit was pulled out of  the young kid's hands.  The kite flew over our heads but the control box, about the size of a football landed in the water right in front of us.  It took the three of us to reel this thing in and bring it back to the kid and his very appreciative mother.  It had already crossed the river and if it had not been for the quick thinking of my dinghy crew well who knows how many tears would have been shed.

I assisted in another rescue so to speak.  It was the first time that I assisted a sailor....to be hoisted up the mast to repair a broken piece of equipment.  It was interesting hooking up the seat to some kind of line or sheet (I am still not sure of any of the terminology on a sailboat) and having him hoisted to the top.  This was a huge mast as the boat is a 37 ft catamaran.  I handled the mainsail which means I struggled like crazy to pull and lock the safety line for his safety harness.  It was neat to participate and see how everything was done.  The captain hated going up there but his lights had broken free in the rough water and was hanging by the wires.  As it turned out 4 bolts got stripped by the force of the rolling mast.  A $200 light was saved.

Hopefully we can carry on tomorrow as we still have about 200 miles to go to get to Chicago.