Frankfort

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 130 - August 8, 2017

We left Sleeping Bear Bay at about 8:00 a.m. SailFlow said we would be seeing winds of ten to fifteen miles per hour from the south and Marine Weather said wave height would be two feet or less. With wind from the south, and us traveling south, the waves would be on our nose. What we found, though, was that the "waves" were more swells than waves, and we actually made excellent time (for us), covering the 30 miles in just four hours, arriving at noon. Here is our track from Sleeping Bear Bay to Frankfort.

Screenshot of track from Sleeping Bear Bay to Frankfort

The shoreline between Sleeping Bear Bay and Frankfort is all part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. There were lots of dunes, and it was really very scenic!

Sand dunes between Sleeping Bear Bay and Frankfort

More sand dunes!

One house caught my eye. One of the things I worked on in Snoqualmie was the Critical Areas Ordinance and development applications for steep slopes under the ordinance. Would you build your house on top of a sand dune cliff? I wouldn't, it WILL slough off, whether it is quickly or slowly. - Geologists can give opinions, but we saw a massive part of a graded preliminary plat with better soil than sand end up at the bottom of the hill, and part of a fairway on Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Course end up in the ravine below. All this was allowed by "opinions" from the developer's geologist!

House built on edge of sand cliff!

Nearing Frankfort, we passed the Point Betsie LIghthouse, which according to Waterway Guides, is the most photographed lighthouse on Lake Michigan. It is a dandy lighthouse, but so unique that it the most photographed? And how do they know?

Point Betsie Lighthouse
(sorry for the blurry shot, telephoto lens from bouncing boat!)

Frankfort is different from the other places we have been so far. It is actually on Lake Betsie, which has a cut joining it to Lake Michigan. There are breakwaters protecting the cut, and once in Lake Betsie, it is very protected and calm with great protection from winds from any direction. We anchored, as we usually like to do, past the marina, past  the mooring field, right off the public boat ramp.

Daydream anchored on Betsie Lake (picture  taken in evening)

After lunch, we started walking the short distance to downtown Frankfort looking for, you guessed it, ice cream. But we got sidetracked first when we passed two other Looper boats, Bob and Katy's Pili Lani and Tom and Mary's Jolly Mon. We had a nice conversation with Tom and Mary in the ample cockpit of Jolly Mon, a 39 foot Sea Ray. Mary also gave us a tour of the inside of the boat. This is a totally different kind of Loop boat from the trawlers for sure. Continuing on our quest ,we found an ice cream shop that had THE best cherry ice cream we have ever tasted, lots of cherry flavor and big chunks of cherry. At $5 it was probably the most expensive single scoop we have had yet, but boy, was it worth it!

We had the "market made beer brats" from the IGA in Glen Arbor for dinner. Usually these would be poached in beer and then grilled, but we just grilled them. They were very good, but I felt perhaps lacking a bit is some essential spice, mace perhaps or nutmeg, or simply just not enough of it. I will keep trying fresh made brats as we come upon them, but for the time being, we do just fine with Johnsonville brats, which are pretty much available everywhere!

As mentioned yesterday, we had arranged via text to meet Chris Oberski, and he came down to the boat ramp, twice actually. The first was right after we had arrived, and he came bearing dried fruit from the company where he works in quality control, Graceland Fruit. This was a short visit, but Chris came back after he got off work, and we were able to talk a little more. He is planning to get a trawler in about five years (he has a Bayliner at present), and do the Loop in about ten years. I personally think it is a VERY good idea for Chris to get as much experience as he can with his Loop boat before he takes off, so he knows its systems inside and out and he and his wife Amy can both safely handle the boat. It sounds like that is the plan!

Chris, Pat and Patty

And Baxter got to meet Chris' dog Abby! They did not really cooperate in posing nicely. Dogs can be funny that way!

Baxter and Abby!

It is amazing that, although the sun apparently sets every single night, and if it is clear enough, there will be a sunset, that every one seems different enough to be worth photographing and sharing! Here is the sunset over Betsie Lake and Frankfort!

Sunset over Betsie Lake and Frankfort!

Tomorrow, we will probably stop in Manistee, which is really too close, but Ludington is probably just a little bit too far at our slow speed! We'll see how goes!