Day 321 Frankfort MI

Old dwelling along the highway, pretty cool old building







Frankfort beach area








Tom on the bow, adjusting something!!











What we see from our boat -sailboats, water & bluffs





Sand dunes on the way to Frankfort




Another great bike path.









Some Michigan marinas distribute transient slips by “reservations” only and some Marinas are first come first serve basis. There is no consistency. So our Charlevoix two day reservation was just that, 2-days only. When departure day arrived the Lake was delivering 7’ waves. We requested a 3rd day in our slip or an extension. No way, your slip is reserved for the next person on the list and you have to be out by noon. So we scrambled with a quick departure to seek either another marina in the area or an anchorage.

We found an anchorage in Oyster Bay about 2-miles into Lake Charlevoix in a protected cove that worked out well. Although the wind blew pretty hard through the night, the anchor held well and we did not move an inch, other than swing 360 degrees through the night in about 25 knot winds. We woke this morning at anchor, jumped on the computer at daybreak, checked the weather forecast that indicated 3’ seas out of the NW with gusts to 20 MPH. We talked it over, decided if we left at daybreak we would be at our destination of Leland MI before mid-morning and before winds picked up. Wrong! As soon as we pulled out on Lake Michigan we were greeted with 3’ waves on the beam all the way south today. Not terrible, just makes for a long rolling day.

Leland has only one Marina and it is the City Municipal Marina (State Funded) and their policy is a “first come first serve” basis. They do not accept reservations, and you have to be in the harbor before they will assign you a slip. You can’t be a quarter of a mile out and call on the radio, they have to see you in the harbor. Long story short, they were full by the time we arrived and we only found that out by listening to the marina talk to another boater. So many boats were calling for slips, they would not answer the phone or the marine radio. Also they no longer allow anchoring in their harbor.

Now our next opportunity for a marina is 34 miles down the coast in Frankfort, MI. with no anchorage opportunities in between. Frankfort municipal is also a first come, first serve basis, no reservations. Now it is getting later and they have been assigning slips to transient boaters all day long. There is one other Marina in Frankfort, a privately operated resort and marina. We called the private operator for a slip reservation but they were full. We arrived mid afternoon and were given the last available slip at the City Municipal marina. Kind of a white knuckle day here in Northern Michigan.

We were disappointed we were not able to visit Leland MI. However Frankfort is a very likable small resort community that is kind of like an undiscovered secret. A very clean City Marina adjacent to a nice city park, bicycle path, many restaurants, Post Office, banks retail, hardware, groceries and several ice cream stores all within walking or bicycle distances. There is a large beautiful sand beach with quite a few condominiums around the area reflecting a family atmosphere used by many families from around Michigan. There are no franchised stores, restaurants or hotels of any type here. Frankfort is a very nice quiet enjoyable community. Glad we stopped here, we will stay a couple of days or longer if the lake whips up, which is likely. At least in this Frankfort area, if slips are not available, there is plenty of protected harbor area to anchor. This Lake Michigan water is very very clean. Tonight was live acoustic guitar music in the park next to our boat.
Yesterday we received some very alarming news. Tom's mother fell, fracturing bones that are going to require surgery. We will have to keep close contact with family at home for the next medical procedure for her. If it is required for us to halt our travels, we will seek a marina here in Michigan to leave the boat and drive home to Illinois.