Sunday 22 July 2007

Mackinac Island (click here)

Leaving Beaver Island, for Mackinac Island we had our first really good sail 10 – 15 K on the beam for starters building to 14 – 18 later in the day. High Five V showed speeds of 8 – 9 Knots and proved predictable and responsive. After some close reaching to clear Grey’s reef we were able to bear off for a 20 mile reach to Mackinac bridge. My parents drove over this bridge in 1958 when it first opened. Arriving at Mackinac was a bit of a shock. There was no room at the municipal marina so we tied to the pier at the Arnold Transit Company. The island has no cars so we were greeted by teams of horses hauling supplies from the pier to the towns business, quite an interesting view from the deck of the boat 6 ft below. All of the taxi’s, hotel shuttles, supply trucks, and tour busses are all horse drawn, the streets are lined with shops full of T-shirts and knick knacks, restaurants and bike rentals. Saturday July 21 !!HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA !!! Today we got a spot at the municipal marina, they are very busy with the comings and goings of many boats, but were able to find us a spot. The Port Huron to Mackinac race will finish here late Sun and Mon so we may get kicked out Sun aft. We rented bikes, Richard and dad got a bicycle built for 2, great fun. It is 7 miles around the island, the road is right at beach level, the clear water and white beach rock give the place an almost tropical look. After our 2 hour circumnavigation it was time for lunch and an afternoon of Frisbee in the park, cleaning up, and catching up on boat chores. Bye for now

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