We had just a fabulous day of sailing from Beaver Island, through Grey's Reef, under the 5 mile long Mackinaw bridge and to the St. Ignace Municipal Marina.
The photo above shows us sailing on main alone, downwind at some 6-7 kts courtesy of a 18-24 kt wind at our stern. The bridge has a 100' clearance, but this first time you sail under it, it looks a lot lower than that. Needless to say we made it.
It was a classic northern Michigan sailing day. Note we are wearing long sleeves and a insulated vest! Winds started out with just over 10 kts of wind when we left St. James Harbor, Beaver Island which built to around 20 kts out of the WSW. We had hope for a wind shift to the WNW, but it didn't happen until late in the day.
We had the usual traffic; multiple freighters, a tow barge, and Sheppler's high speed ferry.
We docked at the St. Ignace Municipal marina which is very nice with outstanding facilities. Also very close to an Ace Hardware and a nice grocery store (Dowd's) so it makes for a boater's ideal staging port for travels into the North Channel and beyond.
Jeff, are you getting rained on? I'm sitting down here in Detour Village, MI. Are you sailing up to Drummond Island and going to the North Channel? DeTour has a very nice marina, and one that is not busy. Your photos are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your journey with us. The photos are great and remind me of my sailing days on Lake Michigan.
ReplyDeleteOur family had a cabin very near the 5-mi bridge - loved to go there. Wish it was still in the family - would like to take my kids. Never had seen the underside of the bridge. ;^)
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