Leland aka Fishtown

We left Frankfort early because we had a long run planned. When we reached the canal to Lake Michigan we saw the same big splashes coming over the break wall. When we got into the lake, the waves were very rough as we had to plow through them to get away from shore. The wind was out of the south, however, so the wind and waves were in our favor for getting to our destination after getting out far enough to clear a point jutting into Lake Michigan to the north of Frankfort.

Sleeping Bear Dune from about 2 miles out

Sleeping Bear Dune from the north to get a perspective on the slope.

As we approached from the south, the west end of South Manitou Island.

As we approached from the south, the southeast end of South Manitou Island. The lighthouse is between two mast stays in the middle.

Closeup of the South Manitou lighthouse from the south.

The lighthouse looking south from inside the bay on the each side of the island. The ferry dock is to the far right of the picture. The ferry runs from Leland.

What started out looking bad turned into one of our best sailing days of both years. We did not have to motor until we were entering the marina at Leland. It was an entire day under sail and a long day at that. We were able to sail about as fast as the boat would go for a lot of the time. First we sailed to South Manitou island, which is one of the two islands out from Sleeping Bear Dunes (the other being North Manitou island). They are the cubs of the sleeping bear. We sailed to within a half mile of South Manitou island's light house and into the cove that is often used for anchoring as it is a safe place when strong winds come from the south, west or north. We had considered overnighting there but winds were predicted to be strong and out of the east over night blowing right into the cove, so after a short stop in the cove, we headed for Leland.

A lighthouse between the Manitou islands and Leland.

The view from The Cove restaurant.

A view from The Cover restaurant towards Lake Michigan. There are commercial fishing boats along the seawall.

An aerial photo of Leland in the clubhouse of the Leland Municipal Marina. I'm not sure how old it is but the marina and town look about the same.

Last summer we stayed at Leland two nights last year because of bad weather. You can go back in the blog to see what I wrote then and more pictures. Since I didn't cover our restaurants and marinas last year, I will add that. We stayed at the same (I think only) marina in Leland. It is a municipal marina that is very nice. Just like the better marinas that we stayed at earlier, this one has great showers, laundry and a family room with TV. We also ate at the same restaurant as last summer (the town is not big, so there aren't many). The Cove overlooks a waterfall on a river that flows from an inland lake into Lake Michigan. Unlike the other inland lakes at Manistee and Muskegon, there isn't a navigable river to get from one lake to the other. The food was very good and features fish (whitefish, walleye, salmon and perch). The whitefish and walleye are locally caught. I had a very good broiled walleye dinner.

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