The lower part of Michigan is shaped like a mitten, so when a person from Michigan wants to show you where a particular place is, he, or she, holds up a hand and points to it. Sort of like what I do when talking about Cape Cod, only I hold up my arm. My fingertip is Provincetown, the elbow is Chatham, bicep is Dennis…well, you get the idea.

The Mitten and all the ports.

Michigan has a great system of ports that create a sort of marine highway. The next destination is never more than about 30 miles away. It’s a really good system that we got used to and fell in love with.
Did you know the state of Michigan has more boaters than anyone, anywhere? It’s true! They love their boaters; they take care of their boaters; they even spoil their boaters, and it shows.
The XO and I travelled The Mitten from Brownstown to New Buffalo, pretty much the whole thing, and every moment was very, very nice.

Bascule bridge in Port Huron.

Michele and Dale, our good friends, proud residents of Port Huron, and owners of matching Black Oak Arkansas tee shirts

Dinner party at their home. I got pretty lit and fell off my bicycle on the way back to the boat.

After leaving  Port Huron, we stayed 3 nights in the port of Lexington, mostly because of poor conditions on Lake Huron. The Great Lakes can kick up 12 foot waves and we definitely don’t want to be in them.

Bad weather.

We found the pub and consoled ourselves with drinks and sandwiches. The XO is convinced that she had found the perfect Reuben.

Marina pub.

After the weather cleared, we headed out for the port of Harbor Beach, but our port engine–who we call Pollux–busted a fan belt on the way. Luckily, Port Sanilac was near, about 2 miles away. I called the Harbormaster and explained the situation. She gave us a slip that was easy to pull into on our one engine. I changed the belt, got a spare one from the marina parts store, and had a nice visit to boot.

Port Sanilac Morning.