"Knot Kaos" 2024 Travels - Elizabeth City NC to Port Huron MI

  What a difference a day makes. Wind has died and shifted. The lake looks peaceful. A beautiful spot. Once a bustling industrial community that manufactured charcoal pig iron between 1867 and 1891, Fayette offers visitors historic buildings set among the unmatched serenity of a Lake Michigan harbor, white cliffs and verdant forests. The town located on the Garden Peninsula in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) was a company town, built by the Jackson Iron Company to produce charcoal pig iron. The area was rich with abundant hardwood forests, necessary to supply the charcoal and numerous limestone bluffs, another necessary resource needed to smelt the iron ore. The deep water protected harbor facilitated transportation of goods and raw materials. The town had a population of over 500, many of whom were immigrant workers of European descent. This vibrant, industrial town housed a company store, post office, school, a doctor, a baseball team and even a coronet band.  The charco...

 We departed Northpoint, Michigan early on Sunday morning to capitalize on the calm waves and winds for the 70-mile crossing of Lake Michigan to Wisconsin and the Door Peninsula. The crossing was as comfortable as one could expect but at time we had a less than favorable side sea and our boat does not like that. Alan applied some power to smooth out the roll, which shortened our travel day from 10 hours to 8.5 hours. Naturally our fuel burn increased with the increase in speed. Washington Island We reached Washington Island and opted for a quiet anchorage, well away from the ferry traffic. We enjoyed a very quiet, restful night but in the morning discovered that just about every possible species of bug on the island decided to make their final landing all over our boat! Egg Harbor The City of Egg Harbor’s name dates to 1614 when the Dutch Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, sailed his ship from New York to explore the New Jersey coast.  When they entered the mouths of two rivers C...

 We spent 3 days in Traverse City Michigan. Much of the time was spent re-provisioning, catching up on laundry and mail. The weather was cool but sunny and our third day was finally warm at 73 degrees. The locals are so ready for summer and this warm day found the parks and beaches packed. The lake was much to cool for us woosies to dip a toe.  Duncan Clinch Park & Marina in beautiful downtown Traverse City.  The waterfront is lined with parks, beaches, walking and biking trails. Definitely an outdoor city. Day 3 was our day to relax and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. We enjoyed a delightful drive up through the cherry orchards & numerous vineyards on Old Mission Peninsula. We stopped at Mari Vineyard to take in the sunshine and outstanding views of Grand Traverse Bay. Naturally, we had to sample the wine. The following morning was sunny but the north wind was cool. Today was a day of exploration as we slowly made our way north towards Northport. We anchored for th...