Champ III: Going Places

The adventure starts here.

Manistee Municipal Marina, Manistee, MI to Ludington Municipal Marina, Ludington, MI — August 8, 2013

Cold Morning this morning with the temp at 49 degrees at 6:30.  Sky was clear and the winds were light.  We got a late start today with our cruise to Ludington about 27 miles.  One of our shorter cruises and the best (flat) water we have had in our travels on Lake Michigan.

A lot of Charter Fishing Boats went out early today and they still put up a little wake that slaps the side of the hull.  Some of them were coming back in by 9:30 but they were all over out on the lake.

The entrance to the Manistee River had an active dredge working this morning.  They were broadcasting that 1000 feet from the dredge is a no wake zone.  Some boaters just do not think that applies to them or they do not have their radio turned on.

The water was really flat.  You can see in the photos how nice it was.  The only waves were the boat wakes that seemed to go on forever.  I could see the boats pass us at least a mile away and then about 10 to 15 minutes later the wake came to us.

Many, many boats traveling up and down the lake today taking advantage of the good conditions.  We were stopping in Ludington to visit with our friend Joe Buhagiar.  We first met Joe when we were at Sassy Marina in Algonac, circa 1993 to 1995.  Joe and Jane had their boat there also.  They ended up buying a new carver aft cabin and put it in a marina in Bay City and for the last maybe 10 years they have been in Ludington. We have even visited Joe and Jane at their place near Naples Florida.

The Ludington Marina is interesting in that it has almost everything except floating docks.  The fixed docks are way up in the air but for us that is not a problem but for smaller boats it presents a challenge.  It should be about time that the DNR do their magic and renovate the marina to update the docks and electrical.

We will visit with Joe for a couple of days.  Jane is home preparing to go to visit family in Arizona on Saturday.  We missed both of them last September on our way to Chicago but we ended up in Ludington that time due to the weather.