Day #204 - Leland

Left at 7:00am to catch the opening of the Charlevoix Bridge at 7:30. We were about 3 minutes late, but tooted our horn, and he opened up the US 31 Bridge. Surprisingly, there were some rollers in the channel going out to Lake Michigan, which gives you a "good" idea what to expect on the big lake.
Once we got out there were BIG rollers....up to 4 ft! Boy, this was not what the weather report said. They said 2 ft or less.....Anyway, we're cruising along, actually rolling along, side to side, and we didn't want to check on things downstairs. For one, it was really rocking, which is hard to manage your way down below and two, who wants to clean up the mess!  Scot went down to check on things down below......thank goodness, because I was in my "safety spot" riding out the big rollers. I'm not much help when it's rough, but if a situation arise, I'll be there!  Scot is the best captain that I know and I feel "safe" with him and his decision making. I just follow "Captain's Orders".
We needed to make a decision whether to turn into Traverse Bay and go to North Port or continue on to Leland. Scot wanted to get "cheap" diesel in North Port and it would of been a better ride, but we decided to continue on to Leland. Of course, the waves were still rolling us around, but you get used to it after a while. We arrived at Leland about 12:15pm. Lots of deck hands helping us dock the boat. Other boaters came over to ask us about the conditions on the lake. They wanted to head to Charlevoix which meant bucking the waves from the north. Guess, no one else ventured out today. We did  see a couple brave sailboats traveling north.
This marina is in the process of remodeling with heavy machinery noise and dust, but the slips and the restroom facilities are very nice. We ventured to town to check out the "tourists" stores and grocery store. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and the water on Lake Michigan look like paradise with so many different shades of turquoise and blue.

 

                           Only about 160 miles to get home........Went about 42 miles today.