Presque Harbor, MI

We had a long and uneventful day of travel along the eastern coast of Michigan on Thursday, August 30.  The weather was quite cool and we cruised with the Stratoglass closed for much of the day and wore layers of sweatshirts and jackets.  The lake was fairly calm early in the day but picked up as the afternoon wore on with 1 - 2 foot swells.

We stopped at Presque Island Marina for fuel and were surprised by how few boats were docked at the large and well-maintained marina.   

The friendly dock hand explained that the marinas along the coast are state run and are only allowed to lease 30% of the slips for seasonal rentals so they can act as ports of refuge for any vessels requiring safe harbor in a storm. These marinas are 30 miles apart all along the Michigan coast so a boater would be no further than 15 miles from one of these ports if they ever needed one.  The marinas are all fortified with impressive breakwaters.  This is all very comforting because the waters of the Great Lakes are big and can change quickly.

We fueled up at Presque Island Marina and stretched our legs by walking to the small general store that was going out of business.  We scooped up a few staples including a restocking of our beer reserves!

From there, we cruised to the nearby bay and found a comfortable anchorage for the night.  Surprisingly, it took us three tries to set the anchor but there was no wind and we had a relaxing evening on board.  Just after sunset we had the unique experience of seeing four planets - Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.  It was pretty spectacular!