(Its) Beautiful but (we're) waiting

Hello Ship Mates,
(Did you think I'd never add text?) We are still enjoying Michigan thoroughly... its marinas, scenery, towns, lake, beaches, and weather. We have traveled from Leland to Frankfort to Manistee and are now in Ludington... now in our 5th day! The state has a series of marinas, all well-run and well-built. And, they are a very reasonable cost! These marinas are spaced about every 30-40 miles down the east side of Lake Michigan, plus there are designated 'harbors of refuge' anchorages. But, Lake Michigan can whip up to 8' waves quickly and surprise boaters, so those marinas aren't close enough sometimes! If you check the map, you'll see that we are half-way down the coast to Chicago. One of the surprises of Michigan was the huge sanddunes
apparently formed by glaciers. These dunes are all along the coast and there are few towns, and with depths of 100-200', very few places to anchor. The towns that do exist along the shores are either by rivers that have been dredged or by created canals. All have extensive jetties with lighthouses on each point.
We stopped at Manistee, a town on a river, with a beautiful (but not dog-friendly) riverwalk, and more small fishing boats for hire than we have ever seen. Also, there is a 16-ramp boat launch area... Manistee's lighthouse and jetty is unique and famous: the secondary structure was built for light house tenders to walk out there when waves were crashing over the jetty. I can't imagine being on that with powerful waves swirling around below you!
Here's one of the fishing boats going by. We left Manistee on the calmest water we'd seen on Lake Michigan, only to have engine problems 8 miles out. Nan noticed a difference in the sound
of the engines, and then that the port temperature gauge was rising rapidly, so she shut if off quickly. Jack opened the engine compartment and shouted "a piece of the engine just fell off." What? Where? Into the lake? The water pump was detached from the engine and had 'fallen off' into the bottom of the engine compartment, chewing up its internal parts in the process. We limped back to Manistee on one engine and went to a marina with mechanics, who were waiting at the dock to help us in. They were great, immediately diagnosing the problem, ordering the part, and completing the repair all within 26 hours! Plus, the cost was very reasonable. Whew!
This is one of 4 blue buildings at the marina, which during the winter store boats, and during the other seasons are the site of movie shoots... and a crew was there shooting a film at the time. (We never heard what the title was.) The streets around the marina were being repaved and
this one-of-a-kind concrete truck. :) The swans ushered us out of Manistee the next morning
for our 30 mile trip to Ludington, which was bumpy at first and even more so for the last 5 miles.
We were glad to see this lighthouse, again signaling the channel. From the municipal marina,
we can get to the nearby downtown, the park with wonderful statues remembering local history and individuals, 2 ice cream shops, and easy public transportation to the Walmart, 3 miles away. Who could ask for anything more? Ludington is also the eastern port for the "Badger", the car
ferry which runs to Manitowoc WI daily in season. The picture doesn't show it, but it is HUGE.
Here's one of the statues with the sunset background. We had hoped to leave on Monday, but those 6-8' waves kicked up with winds running 25-30 mph, bringing swells into the sheltered
bay near the marina, and breakers out at the beach area that makes you think you're at the beach. The waves were so strong that the jetties were closed to pedestrians, and there was a
a drowning. So we are here at Ludington waiting for the water to calm down for the Eschaton. In the meantime, we had potluck dinner with other Loopers last night (from OH, TN, VA), and 2 more Looper boats came in this morning, confirming that its very rough out there, despite what the 'experts' forecast. Our friends on Shingebiss are now through Chicago pushing on to St Paul and home, and we miss them.

We're glad you're still traveling with us as we enter our '4th quarter' of the Big Adventure.
Be safe, know God is with you, and keep in touch.
nan and jack