ssloop: Frankfort-Ludington

The winds kept a blowing! Lake Michigan was living up to its reputation and Loopers were stacked up like cord wood along the Michigan shore line. We waited patiently in Frankfort for the winds and the waves to die down. Our friends Dick & Pat on Dream Catcher abandoned their plans to cross northern Lake Michigan and came down and holed up in Frankfort also. We shared several evenings together dining and playing cards.

On Wednesday the first mate insisted that we get on our bikes and ride six miles to a local Alpaca Farm & Boutique. What a hoot! The first mate thought they were adorable. The captain thought they looked like Donald Trump! Sheli bought a pair of alpaca socks to keep here feet warm this winter as she will not be running around Key West in flip flops this year. Boo Hoo!

Thursday morning as Dream Catcher left the marina and headed across the lake to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin we also cast off our lines and headed south to Ludington. Our 45 mile cruise was rough. In fact we heard another Looper on the radio who was headed for Ludington but decided to stop at Manistee because the first mate was sea sick. We were happy to pull into the Ludington pier head and out of the waves. This was our worst (combination long/rough) cruising day of the trip. We docked the Pura Vida at a private marina at a condo project where Steve's company has provided doors & drawers. This is also home to Patriot (fellow Looper friends) who will be finishing their loop here next week. This is a very nice marina that ranks in our top 10 of the trip!

Our friends Reg & Vicki Stroven came up from Spring Lake on Friday afternoon, went to dinner with us and spent the night on the boat. It was fun catching up. Late Saturday morning Reg & Vicki left. By afternoon the weather finally began to clear and get warmer. It's been a cold couple weeks in Michigan. To celebrate the change in weather we went for bike ride, a dinghy ride and cooked out that evening.

Sunday morning our friend Jim who manages the marina took us by car to his church, Cornerstone Baptist Church for the morning service. (Take a car to church, what a concept!) After church, we readied the boat, untied our lines and headed out.

Love these guys!