Next stop -- Mackinac Island

Well, we are now under way to Mackinac Island. We awoke this morning around 6:00 and left our anchorage at Beaver Island. We'll spend the next two days at Mackinac Island. Even though we enjoy the peaceful/non-commercialized spot of Beaver Island -- we also very much enjoy Mackinac Island. We have been to Mackinac Island twice before via our boat -- both times in 2004. Mackinac offers a lot of history, great biking trails, great restaruants, and of course TOY STORES!! There are no cars on Mackinac Island -- only horses. Everything is transported via boat to the Island and then loaded onto wagons pulled by horses.

The only concern with Mackinac Island is the surge that you get in the marina from the many many ferry boats carrying vistors from the mainland. Be sure to quickly tie off to the dock as you come in or be prepared to pound into the dock a bit.

The weather is great -- sunny and 1 footers. Even though we are fairly close to Mackinac Island, this is still considered Lake Michigan Open Waters which generally is rougher. Here is a link to the wave forecast for the Open Waters of Lake Michigan:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site=GRB&product=GLF&issuedby=LM

We use this as our guide to determine the wave heights and winds.

Internet Update: Last night in Beaver Island we did not have Verizon cell phone access or Verizon AirCard access (even though the booster/antenna did pull the signal in to 3 bars). We did have someones open wi-fi connection. About 5 miles East of Beaver Island we picked up the Verizon AirCard service with the booster/antenna.

Next stop -- Mackinac Island...