It Pours, Man, It Pours…

On By Niki KozakIn Boating, Travel

Yes, I have a song for every occasion. It’s just the way my brain works. Drives Craig crazy since I hum each tune as it pops into my head. Today it is…

It never rains in Northern Michigan, but girl, don’t they warn ya? It pours, man, it pours.

If you don’t know this great old 70’s song, it’s actually about Southern California. But, holy schmoly, it’s raining cats and dogs in Michigan, too. Will it ever end? Doesn’t look like any time soon…

Because of all this record level rain and the large snow fall this past winter, the water levels in the Great Lakes are higher than usual which is causing beach erosion and some house/marina damage due to flooding. Lake Michigan is 13 inches higher than normal. Thankfully, we are warm and dry on Joy Girl and had a few days of sunshine in beautiful Pentwater…

We dug around in Davy Jones locker and found our backup anchor chain in a woeful condition. We hoped to fix it but then decided to just throw it out since we’ve never used it and Craig would never trust his boat to this rusty old thang…

During the seven hour stint from Pentwater to Frankfort our autopilot went out,

which meant we had to manually steer the boat. Doesn’t sounds too bad except staring at the murky horizon and trying to keep a steady course while the lake gently rocked the boat had a catatonic effect on me. I struggled to stay awake and finally napped for an hour after my watch.

Diagnosis: the auto pilot needs a new pump. The electrical issue was identified as stemming from the AC units but is not yet fixed. While it’s raining, Craig spends much of his time on the phone with various technicians, gathering information to understand the issues, and coordinating service visits. I assist him as best I can, write my book, read, and create shell jewelry.

When the weather clears on Monday we plan to anchor one night at South Manitou Island, part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore, then run over to Leland, which has been a fishing village for the past 150 years and claims pristine beaches, great views and an out-of-the-way feel. Come on, sunshine!

6 thoughts on “It Pours, Man, It Pours…”

  2. maimermd

    Good to hear that you’re “singing in the rain”…..enjoy your ports of call and fix your eyes on Jesus! On the Rock Marina

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  3. anne chilstrom

    Dear Niki and Craig I sure hope that the rain and storms have lessened up there and that the problems with Joy Girl are resolved.  It’s supposed to rain here Wednesday – Sunday and hope it stays south of where you are.   Always good to hear from you about your adventures.  Hope to see you next time you come in.  I sent Gary and Linda an email to welcome them home yesterday and Linda sent me an email as they were walking in their front door.  I’m anxious to hear about their trip and see their pictures.  I’m sure they are busy getting settled in today.  When I went to see Shirley she never mentioned them so really wondered if she missed seeing them.  So glad that she can still work the jigsaw puzzles as she is happy when she does that but I think her attention span is short and she likes to have somebody work with her.  So. I go over when I can.   We have a humdinger of a puzzle over here now.  I really don’t like it and the gal who picked it out is going away Friday for a week.  I don’t think we’ll have it done when she gets back.One of our residents was in Morocco with her granddaughter and they are going to show pictures and talk about their trip at 3:00 today which should be interesting.  Good luck with your travels and keep the emails coming. My best to youAnne

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    1. Ahoy there, Anne, so great to hear from you again! Sorry we missed you when passed through Chicago on our way here – it was a very short visit since Gary and Linda were on their trip. Can’t wait to see their photos 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting Shirley and helping her with the puzzles, I’m sure it means the world to her.

      No rain but dense fog this morning and again this afternoon. We just can’t seem to catch a break with the weather here on the Lakes, can we? But these little Michigan towns are so adorable, Craig and I can’t complain much. Hope to get the fixes to Joy Girl completed a little further north.

      Thanks again for writing and take good care of yourself!

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