Northport, Michigan

September 1 - Our plan for the day was to cruise to Northport, Michigan to spend Labor Day Weekend.  It was a much shorter cruise - only 25 statute miles.  We did not leave until 9:00 a.m. - what a luxury!  It was a sunny day and we only had 1 foot waves on the bow.  A very comfortable ride.

Prior to leaving we moved over to the fuel dock and took on fuel (140.5 gallons).  The last time we took added fuel was Orillia, ON, mid-way through the Trent-Severn Waterway.  Tug LeeLoo is very economical to operate, she usually get 2.5 statute miles per gallon, sometimes more!  We also pumped out the holding tank, something we had to do about once a month.  The pump-out fee was $20.  How's this for logic?  The local towns and cities along the lake don't want you to discharge your waste overboard (would never do that anyway), but then they charge you for the pump out.  Pump-outs were also expensive in Canada.  

We had been to Northport 7 years ago while on our way to the Nordic Tug Rendezvous in Charlevoix.  We remember the visit well because it was beastly hot!  The marina was ok, but a little run down.  The downtown area was very small with only a couple of stores and a couple of restaurants.  Imagine our surprise when we found a new and improved Northport!  The marina has made a lot of improvements in their docks and facilities.  Nice clean and updated bathrooms and showers, a spacious boaters lounge, and clean laundry facilities.  There is also a nice boardwalk along the shore.  You can tell the Northport really takes pride in their marina.

 Northport Municipal Marina

The town itself was bigger with many new shops, including a nice grocery store and bakery, several restaurants, and a post office.  The last time we were there we had to go to the gas station to buy ice cream.  Now they have an ice cream shop that was constantly busy!  Yes, the gas station is still there but no one goes there for ice cream any longer.

 Beautiful Flowers In Northport!

Our good friends Hal and Wendy drove all the way from Galena, Illinois to spend time with us in Northport for the Labor Day Weekend.  We had a great time with them, but what a long drive for them!  We had lots of laughs, card playing, and exploring in their car.  We toured  Harbor Springs, Charlevoix, and Traverse City.  We love their visits!!

 Visit To Grand Traverse Lighthouse (North Of Northport)

 Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Along The Shore At Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Wendy and I were sitting on Tug LeeLoo's bow on Sunday.  A 48-foot Sea Ray Sedan Bridge was coming into the fuel dock which was just a few docks over from us.  The boat was trying to do a U-turn so that their port side was against the fuel dock.  Midway in the turn, the boat suddenly went forward with the bow coming partially out of the water and up onto the dock.  The boat broke off a post on the dock and bent the I-beam that supports the dock.  Thankfully, they did not hit a fuel tank!  They slid back down off the dock and proceeded to try and back up, only to hit the rocks on the other side of the channel and ruining a propeller.  Then they turned off the engine and started to drift back into open water.  This all happened so fast and Wendy and I were just stunned.  No one was hurt, there was no explosion, but obviously the boat was badly damaged.  They just kept drifting away.  A couple of hours later they were able to come back to the marina on one engine and tied up to an outer wall.

We walked by the boat the next morning and talked to the captain and his wife.  Apparently, the electronic shift controls on at least one engine were stuck in forward gear.  So he couldn't stop the boat.  And once you turn off an engine that is in gear you can't start it up again.  So this explains the erratic maneuvering that took place.  We later learned that they had only had the boat one week!  Operating a new boat is hard enough when things go right, it would be nearly impossible to know what to do to recover from this event with such little experience.  They had to wait for Labor Day Weekend to end to have their boat towed and pulled at a nearby boat yard for repairs.

Hal and Wendy left on Tuesday, but we had to wait until the following weekend to leave because the water conditions were not favorable.  We were not ready to revisit the waves we had between St. Ignace and Charlevoix.

While we were in Northport waiting for good water to cruise south, our Looper friends Paul and Taffy on Catalina and Eric and Robin on Robin's Nest arrived.  It was so great to see them and share experiences.  We got together for a couple of meals and played cards at night.  One night we even stayed up until 11:30 playing cards - very late for Loopers!