[Rhodes22-list] sailing in Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan

Mon Oct 19 13:58:10 EDT 2020

Roger, thanks for the detailed explanation.  Yes, it appears that we stayed
at some "harbors of refuge" after all since a number of the marinas that we
stayed at were municipal ("city dock") marinas.  We just stayed at those
marinas as a matter of convenience and since they had availability, rather
than utilizing them under duress.   The info you provided is very helpful
for future planning!

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Mon, Oct 19, 2020 at 7:13 AM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:

> Hi Jesse,
>
> I was just wondering if you were aware of the Michigan Harbors of Refuge
> program.  The 3 attached .jpg files are maps that give the locations of
> Michigan Harbors of Refuge on the east coast, west coast, and the upper
> peninsula.  You can get more info at www.michigan.gov/harbors<
> http://www.michigan.gov/harbors> .  The program was created in 1947 with
> the goal; that, there should be a public harbor of refuge with slips for
> transient boaters no more than every 15 miles of great lakes coastline
> apart.  There are still stretches of coastline, particularly in the upper
> peninsula, wherein they have not yet reached their separation distance
> goal.  However, the 3 attached maps show how extensive the Harbor of Refuge
> network has become.  The existence of these Harbors of Refuge makes it
> possible to do multiday cruising in much smaller boats than would otherwise
> be safe.  Since we own 22 ft LOA sailboats, this is obviously a useful
> program!  Even though it wasn’t an issue on your cruise, in the Grand
> Traverse Bay area, the following cities have Harbors of Refuge: Northport,
> Leland, Suttons Bay, Greilickville, Traverse City, Elk Rapids, and
> Charlevoix.  If you stayed at the “Municipal Marina” or “City Dock” in any
> of those places, you probably stayed in a Harbor of Refuge.  Of course, in
> Grand Traverse Bay, you can hardly throw a stick without hitting a
> privately owned marina.  But, many (most)  locations in Michigan are much
> more sparsely populated with marinas.
>
> By the way, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources publishes a
> 3-ring binder called the “Michigan Harbors Guide”.  In this guide, each
> Harbor of Refuge has the front and back of a single page.  There is an
> aerial photo showing the safe approach, GPS coordinates of the harbor
> entrance, and any aids &/or hazards to navigation.  There is data like the
> number of transient slips available, water depth at the dock, services like
> fuel, septic pump out, repairs, water, contact phone numbers, etc.  Anyone
> can order a copy for free!  The guide is printed on water resistant paper.
> The Michigan Harbors Guide is an essential resource at S/V dynamic
> Equilibrium’s nav station.  It also   makes great reading/dreaming material
> over the winter sitting in front of the fireplace!
>
> I’ve sailed the great lakes in all the States that have great lakes
> coastline.  I’ve not found any state with a comparable Harbors of Refuge
> program.  It’s yet another thing that makes Michigan such a special place.
>
> [cid:image003.jpg at 01D6A5EF.A5F286F0]
>
> [cid:image005.jpg at 01D6A5EF.A5F286F0]
>
> [cid:image009.jpg at 01D6A5EF.A5F286F0]
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> Windows 10
>
> From: Jesse Shumaker<mailto:jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com>
> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2020 8:35 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] sailing in Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan
>
> Roger, good to hear about the enjoyable fall camping trip.  As we're
> heading into this time of the year, enjoyment outside has a lot to do with
> gear and preparation.
>
> Regarding the marinas, we just called the marina on our cell phone when we
> were within sight to check on the availability of transient slips.  If no
> one answered, then we would hail them on VHF channel 16 and they would have
> us switch to another channel for communication.  That late in the season it
> was easy to get a transient slip.  In the summer, we may have to reserve
> early.  As you may know (but others on the list may not be aware), any of
> the marinas that accept Michigan state funding have to keep a certain
> percentage of slips available as transient slips and you can reserve those
> online.  I think most of the marinas that are designated as harbors of
> refuge are located in more exposed areas than Grand Traverse Bay, but I see
> that Elk Rapids has that designation.  For those on the list that may not
> be familiar, the harbor of refuge designation means that staff will not
> turn you away in emergency situations and when conditions on the water are
> rough.
>
> I just found the following link to the list of harbors in Michigan and
> added this to the travelogue.  There was a printed copy of this onboard the
> charter boat that we would refer to before heading into a marina so we
> would be familiar with the layout ahead of time.
>
> https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/Publications/PDFS/RecreationCamping/boating/harbor_guide_small.pdf
>
> Jesse Shumaker
> S/V Zephyr
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 4:50 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Jesse,
> >
> > I’ve never sailed on Grand Traverse Bay; but, have visited all the ports
> > of call in your story from land.  Did you make use of the Michigan Harbor
> > of Refuge system?
> >
> > I’m just getting back from a weekend camping trip with my Boy Scout
> > troop.  We camped at Trinity Lutheran Church Camp on what used to be
> Wixom
> > Lake.  As a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, I have access to the camp.
> > We had access to the lodge to use the bathrooms.  But, otherwise we
> stayed
> > outside.  Friday night, we got sleet.  Saturday morning, the zipper on my
> > tent was frozen!  Fortunately, a little pulling and working the zipper
> back
> > and forth freed it up.  Saturday night was much warmer, it only got down
> to
> > about 40 deg F.  We have several crossover Webelos and this was their
> first
> > camping trip.  Everyone seemed to be prepared for the conditions and
> stayed
> > warm.  I was very proud of them.  We did a lot of Tenderfoot and Second
> > Class Scout rank advancement stuff.  After the older Scouts finished
> their
> > basic classes in knife and axe use and campfire building, I took over and
> > instructed them all in building a fire with soaking wet firewood.  I
> showed
> > them how to find dry wood even though it had rained/sleeted the night
> > before.  I showed them how to use the hatchet to cut into the dry heart
> > wood on a piece of wet wood and chip off slivers of dry tinder and
> > kindling.  Then, we had the new Scouts build a campfire with this wet
> > wood.  Even my senior Scouts were impressed with how easy it was to get a
> > fire going in these conditions.  I think they all learned a useful life
> > skill.  Now, I’m back home and all my camping gear is drying in the
> > basement.
> >
> > Life is good!
> >
> > Roger Pihlaja
> > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > > On Oct 18, 2020, at 10:49 AM, Jesse Shumaker <
> > jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > I put together a recap and some highlight photos of our sailing trip
> in
> > > Grand Traverse Bay at the link below.
> > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-XPDLxAJcuzvKa_3MJ7rwJ9JBhtzb8L_/view
> > >
> > > I included links in that document to resources for anyone that might
> want
> > > to plan a trip in the area.  After reading the accounts of the
> adventures
> > > of others on this list, it inspired me to capture and share my trips.
> > Even
> > > if it's just me who looks at this in the future, I'll have something to
> > > look back on later and relive the trip on cold winter days :)
> > >
> > > This trip was on a charter boat, but this area can be sailed by a R22
> as
> > > well.  If you make it to the end of the document, a R22 does make an
> > > appearance.
> > >
> > > <
> >
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-XPDLxAJcuzvKa_3MJ7rwJ9JBhtzb8L_/view?usp=sharing
> > >
> > > Jesse Shumaker
> > > S/V Zephyr
> > >
> > >
> > >> On Sun, Sep 13, 2020 at 6:05 PM Jesse Shumaker <
> > >> jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> My wife and I had sailing plans out west, but that has been
> rescheduled
> > >> due to the wildfires and resulting air quality.  I really feel bad for
> > >> everyone affected by that on top of everything else delivered by this
> > crazy
> > >> year of 2020.
> > >>
> > >> We swiftly changed plans and will be chartering a sailboat out of
> > Traverse
> > >> City, Michigan
> > >> later this month.  We're actually going to be up there again in the
> > middle
> > >> of next summer.  We have some family nearby that will be joining us on
> > >> board for part of the trip.  For this round we plan on spending most
> of
> > the
> > >> time within Grand Traverse Bay and going as far North as Charlevoix or
> > >> possibly Harbor Point in Little Traverse Bay.  Next summer we would
> > like to
> > >> make it over to Beaver Island if weather permits.
> > >>
> > >> For the first day, we're going to hire a captain and practice docking
> > and
> > >> other boat handling since this will be a bigger boat for us.  We had
> to
> > go
> > >> with what was available on short notice but end of season discounts
> > help.
> > >> It has IMF so it will be interesting to try that on a bigger boat.
> > >>
> > >> Tentative plan:
> > >> Thursday  9/24 1 Captain - spend the night at Elmwood Marina in
> Traverse
> > >> City
> > >> Friday    9/25 2 Power Island & Sutton's Bay
> > >> Saturday  9/26 3 Northport / Old Mission Bay
> > >> Sunday    9/27 4 Charleviox / Harbor Point in Little Traverse Bay
> > >> Monday    9/28 5 Omena Bay / Ingalls Bay
> > >> Tuesday   9/29 6 Elk Rapids / Old Mission
> > >> Wednesday 9/30 7 Return to Traverse City
> > >>
> > >> Would anyone on the list happen to be familiar with the area and have
> > any
> > >> recommendations?
> > >>
> > >> Thanks,
> > >> Jesse Shumaker
> > >> S/V Zephyr
> > >>
> >
>
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