Yesterday was a great day. Yes, it may appear as a day of sailing and slacking, but the reality is we had to deliver the boat to Northport for winter storage. So it was work.
We boarded the 32′ Catalina, “Marianne”, at the Bay Breeze docks at about 12:30. After prepping the boat, we threw off the dock lines and began our slow motor out of the marina around 1:00.
Our destination was the harbor town of Northport, located 26 miles north of Traverse City on the Leelanau Peninsula. We had the entire Bay to ourselves. Not another boat in sight.
The Sirius radio was tuned into Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. The wind was out of the south, and it was an unusually warm and sunny day in November in northern Michigan.
We headed east toward the Old Peninsula, tacked to the north and wing-and-winged our way past the western side of Power Island. Once past the island, the wind began to come out of the west. We rounded the light house just north of the Old Mission Peninsula and set our sight on Gull Island. After taking Gull Island to the south, we were on the home stretch to the Northport Marina. We dropped the sails and motored into our dock just after sunset.
Once the boat was secured, we made our way through the quiet tourist town and found our way to Stubb’s, where we found a couple bar stools, got caught up on the election, talked college football with the bartender, ordered a couple beers and some dinner until our ride showed up.
Now that’s not a bad day at the office.
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