Lake Michigan Crossing 2025

We lost much of the July sailing opportunities due to being home for three weeks taking care of things there. Once we returned to the boat we were ready for an adventure. Our plan included visits to  Ludington and Frankfort which we'd stopped in during our Great Loop trip. Also, we hoped to make it to South Manitou Island and Charlevoix for our first time. Our return route included Beaver Island, Fayette and Door County. As often happens, that's not how our trip unfolded.

We left our dock expecting 5 to 10 mph winds from the northeast; perfect for sailing. Once on the bay we found the wind was coming from the east. We raised the main anyway but couldn't keep the sail full. It would be a motoring day. South of Green Island, a huge tug passed by, pushing ship parts to Fincantieri in Marinette. 

Leaving Menominee for Ludington

Video by Dan Mooney

Fincantieri delivery

After 4.5 hours of motoring we entered Sturgeon Bay and began navigating through the three lift bridges. The first two, Michigan Street and Oregon Street open on the half and quarter hour respectively. They are only about one block apart. We circled for a good 10 minutes between the two as we waited for the Oregon Street opening. After passing under the third bridge, the Bayview, we anchored just east in a mooring field. This should have been a good place to anchor. Instead, we found the bridge noises were louder than expected. Even worse, the fishing boat traffic made it a rough anchorage. They ignored the no wake signs after clearing the bridge, opening up to full throttle as they aimed for the big lake. Each one swamped us. This went on until after 10:00 pm and began all over again around 4:00 am. We were getting slammed in 8 ft of water, over and over!  

Our anchorage on Maps

Our anchorage on Open CPN

We were up with the fishing boats, ready to pull anchor and set off toward the Sturgeon Bay canal by 6:15. As we entered Lake Michigan we realized it would be a LONG day crossing the 70 miles to Ludington. Once again, the wind was coming directly out of the east from the direction we were going. The lake was churning with two sets of four foot rollers coming from different directions. We battled those conditions one hour at a time. It was lonely out there; we didn't see anyone or anything until a cargo ship appeared in the distance at around 40 miles. The skies were very smoky from the Canadian fires. We were getting fried by the sun so we put our big rim sun hats on. By the end of the day, my lips were swollen, burned, and blistered from the sun and wind.

Sturgeon Bay Canal

Approaching Lake Michigan

Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Pierhead Light

Mystic in the middle of the Lake

At about eight miles out, the sand dunes north of Ludington appeared behind a cargo ship. The Badger Ferry captain came over the radio, announcing his arrival to the Ludington breakwater. We heard it before we could see it, but watched it steam through the smoky skies and grow in size. It looked like we could beat it to the breakwater but Dave throttled down to get out of it's way. The Badger is notorious for not changing course when confronted by pleasure craft. The word on the water is to steer clear of it unless you want to become 'a bug on the windshield' of it's hull. 

Sand dunes north of Ludington

Slowing to let the Badger pass

The Badger entering Ludington breakwater

Badger passing Ludington Light

Badger steaming into Ludington

Approaching Ludington breakwater

We followed the Badger into the breakwater then turned north into Ludington Marina, finding our slip at B17 easily. We had stayed at this very dock on our last visit in 2016. Our Looper friends, Bob and Sue keep their Monk 36, Mirror Image in slip B18 so we were right across from them. We'd booked two nights but decided to extend our stay. The marina moved us next to Bob and Sue in slip B16 on the 3rd night. 

Mystic beside Mirror Image 
Ludington, Michigan

The crossing was difficult. Lake Michigan is an inland sea that commands respect. We'd have to keep our eye on the weather so we could cross back again to get to Menominee. We settled in to enjoy our visit. We'd worry about our return trip when it was time to go west again.

Charted course in Blue
Our course in Red

Menominee Municipal Marina

We spent the summer in Menominee, Michigan aboard our sailboat this year. It was a huge change from our former accommodations across the border in Marinette, Wisconsin. We'd stayed at Nestegg Marina for three summers after completing our America's Great Loop adventure in 2021. Nestegg is up the Menominee River which required going under a lift bridge to get out to Green Bay. The river current could be strong off of the docks. We got a fair share of dings maneuvering through that current.

The Menominee Municipal Marina offers quick access to Green Bay just beyond the breakwater. Our Alberg 35, Mystic, is on a face dock that looks straight out to the bay and the Menominee Lighthouse. Coming and going is quite easy for us. There are about 240 slips at Menominee compared to under 100 at Nestegg. We were often the only ones on our boat in Marinette. There is always someone to chat with at Menominee.

Mystic facing the fuel dock

Mystic on dock C41 Menominee, MI

Our view of the Bay from our dock

The captain's lounge is in the former Water Works building on First Street. It was recently remodeled and looks like a nautical museum with wonderful photos, paintings, charts and stained glass art. Coffee, tea juice, and oatmeal are always available during open hours. On weekends boaters can make waffles. Many a salty sailing story is shared at the captain's lounge. We use the conference room for "Game Night" with dock mates and friends. The marina has community bathrooms near the docks but slip owners prefer the Captain's Lounge bathroom/showers which are in large private rooms that are classy and comfortable and decorated with a nautical theme. There is also a laundry room where one wash and dry is only $2.50.

Historic photos and paintings

The Coffee Nook

Business Center

Lounge

Historical photos and paintings

Stained Glass

Nautical Motif

Nav Station

Entrance to Captain's Lounge

We've met many of the boaters of Menominee Marina. Everyone is friendly and helpful. Mystic sits out at the end of Dock C in slip 41. Boats motor right by us on their way out to the bay or to Dock D which is just south of us, where they can get fuel and/or a pump out. We get a lot of attention and often hear hollers of, "Nice boat!" sent our way. It's great to be noticed. 

Wednesdays are the yacht club sailboat races with two classes; cruising class and spinnaker class. It is fun to watch as the boats sail the six mile course around each of three markers. We can watch from the breakwater, as each captain works out their own strategy of keeping their sails full and their boat moving toward the finish. The annual Hook race from Racine, Wisconsin to Menominee Marina was held in July. The boats came in under smokey skies from the Canadian wildfires making for a dramatic finish.

Wednesday Night Yacht Club Races

First finisher on the Hook Race Menominee, MI

The Menomonee July 4th fireworks are set off on the Marina Breakwater. Mystic is docked diagonal to the ignition location which is actually closer to the gas dock than to us. Our daughter joined us on the deck to watch a magnificent show that exploded directly above us. We were relieved to feel an off shore breeze that carried any debris away from us and out into the bay. Just in case, we had fire extinguishers and the water hose ready to douse any hot embers.

Photo by Nena Mooney

Photo by Nena Mooney

Photo by Nena Mooney

Photo by Nena Mooney

Photo by Nena Mooney

Waiting for the fireworks show to begin

Since Menominee Marina is in downtown, there are beaches and restaurants within walking distance of our docks. Red Arrow Park and the Menominee Lighthouse are two of our favorites for early morning walks or runs. We've enjoyed meals at several of the local restaurants but one of our favorites is 1.5 miles away in Marinette, across the street from Menekaunee Harbor. They offer a Tuesday special, buy 12 wings and get 12 free. We enjoy half of them with a cold Keweenaw Brewing Company Widow Maker then have the other half for left overs. It is a good deal!

It was a wet summer on Green Bay. Everyone is battling a substantial increase in spiders on our boats. There are all kinds of ways to get rid of them but most folks are using natural sources like essential oils or infusers. The stormy weather can be unpleasant but often gifts us beautiful sunsets and rainbows. After one particularly heavy storm, the sun popped out and we were delighted by the brightest full double rainbow that landed exactly on top of the Menominee Lighthouse. 

Menominee Rainbow

Our decision to move our boat turned out to be a great one. We've enjoyed everything Menominee has to offer and made many new friends. We're looking forward to a summer filled with new experiences!

The Main Hatch And Hand Rail Teak Project

We jumped into a doozy of a project this spring by removing the ornate main hatch cover and both interior and exterior hand rails from our Alberg 35, Mystic, after finding leaks. The project included sanding out the old varnish overflow to the deck and repainting the non-skid area beneath the teak.

Main hatch without teak cover and rails

We took the hatch off first and brought it home to sand and add coats of varnish to the underside. Dave added weep holes so water that gets underneath will have a means of escape. A few years back, we had to repair a small rotted section of the cover caused by sitting water. The changes we've made should avoid further issues.

We removed the interior and exterior rails on our next visit. As soon as we got started, the rain, wind and cold set in. Of course, that meant that the screw holes for the rails began to leak. We waited out the weather for two days, hoping it would clear enough for us to complete the project, but it just got worse. The temperature was too low for the paint and varnish to cure and the wind was brutal. Mystic was doing a little quiver dance on her jack stands. There was no getting around the uncooperative weather so we purchased a small tarp to cover our work area and packed up to head home.

Before leaving the area, we visited our new summer berth at Menominee Marina at the end of a fixed T dock. We were alarmed to see that the water on Green Bay is down over a foot which puts the waterline at four feet below the dock. Luckily, we noticed that our slip did not have a second fender board. Without it, our boat could go right under the dock. 

Dave checking the depths
at Memonimee

Dave on our pier

We talked to the Harbor Master, Bill, who agreed to let us use his work barge to install lower treated lumber fenders and two bumpers, as well as a ladder that Dave built to get us from the dock down to Mystic. The high to low water range on Green Bay is 8 feet. It is currently in the middle so it could get worse, but it could also rise. We'll be prepared for it either way. 

Dave installing a second row of fenders

Our slip with ladder in place

All we need is a BOAT

Back at the house, we began the arduous task of sanding the hand rails. Some areas of teak had turned black from moisture. I carefully sanded them out, right down to the teak. Our teak cleaner was on the boat so I tried using a 2:1 mixture of bleach and water with a touch of dawn detergent. It seemed to lighten the dark spots a bit. We applied 6 coats of varnish to the rails then wrapped them in towels to protect them for the ride to the boat.

The ornate teak hatch went back into place pretty easily but the rails were another story. They are held together with bolts that ran through the outer rail, the hull of our cabin, then into the inner rails with a nut locking them in place. We weren't able to thread the bolt into the nut so Dave decided to put threaded inserts into the inner rails and shorten the bolts. The other option would be to drill out the plugs on the inner rails which we really didn't want to do. It took a lot of time and messing around to get them to line up. In the end, we think we may have had better luck if we'd just drilled out the inner plugs. The job is done and looks great! That's what matters. Now we can get in the water.

Newly installed teak hatch

Hatch and rails in place

Spring In Oconto 2025

We drove to High Seas Marina in Oconto and uncovered Mystic the third week of April. As soon as we arrived, we could see that water was pooling in a section of the cover, causing it to sag and stretch. It turned out to be about 30 gallons that distorted the shape of the fabric but never made it through the water proofing. It was a good thing that we arrived when we did and were able to relieve the pressure under controlled conditions. This has happened before. Next winter we will build supports, like ribs, under the pooling sections to create a slide for snow to melt and slide off. The cover was exceptionally dirty and took hours to clean but the care we take has kept it in good condition. There were a few new tears that had to be repaired but overall the cover has done its job for the last five years! 

Dave found a bird's nest up under the bowsprit. It shouldn't have been a surprise since it's been that way every year that we've wintered on Green Bay. It was pretty big but, thankfully, empty. There was a lot of bird poop to clean up so we are certain it was once home to some kind of feathered friend. It is possible that it was used by a fall brood. 

Large nest found under our bowsprit

Mystic uncovered for spring

The bird sanctuary across the street was already buzzing with red wing blackbirds, robins, cranes, geese and mallards. Each day, the abundant population of doves visited us looking for a place to build their home. We stuffed rags in the end of the boom and in all small openings to discourage unwanted boarders. They are tenacious little buggers.

The Marina was pretty quiet. We ran into the owner, Brett who let us know that the water was not turned on in the yard. It was chilly and windy in Oconto. We couldn't clean the boat so we locked her up and headed home.

It was a bit warmer on our next visit to the marina. We scrubbed Mystic's topsides, teak and hull and prepared to wax her next. I was in the galley making lunch when I found that our main cabin was leaking from the screws of the ornate teak main hatch cover. We'd planned to refinish it last fall but decided to wait until spring. Luckily we noticed and were able to begin addressing the issue. We slowly released the hatch cover from the deck and were surprised to find it in good condition. Dave noticed that some of the teak had not been sealed with varnish. In addition, it really needed weep holes so water could run out from under it instead of being trapped. We took the hatch cover home with us to make the repairs. 

Mystic with cover removed

Boats require maintenance and upkeep and this may be the year of bigger boat projects for us. In addition to our main hatch issue, both our water pump and our hand pump mechanism for the head needed replacement. Whatever else we find, we are up for the challenge!

Taking a break