Expedition: the Michigan 99My daughter wanted to know "where will we sail the Barnacle?" There are a variety of lakes in our area of Michigan and I could have named any one of them.
Her question wasn't so much about which lake would we try, but more along the lines of "we have a boat--so where are we going?" It guess its reasonable to a ten year old, a boat is for sailing to somewhere, not just 'round a pond. Right, perhaps we need something a little more adventure oriented. Days on the water, going somewhere. Living like a pirate. A once in a lifetime adventure to inspire all other childhood adventures. I reasoned a destination cruise would be a great goal. The outfitting of the boat, practice sails, and safety drills...a great way to keep the kids interested, since we'd always be working towards a goal. The goal: a big trip that could not readily be concieved by ten year olds.
I found the Inland Waterway in northern Michigan, and then I realized it might be possible to circumnavigate the Tip of the Mitt in a daysailer. The Inland Waterway is 36 miles from Cheboygan to Petoskey with a 1 mile portage from lake park to lake park. If we could get the Barnacle across the parking lot and down the street 5,280 ft, we might be able to circumnavigate the entire thing. Bridges, and lighthouses, canals, beaches and big water. We might even be able to go without a motor... Imagine that, 99 miles by small boat and we don't need no stinking motor.
By my estimation, its about 99 miles roundtrip, although it might well be less, maybe more, so who cares, it sounds good. We will call the expedition the Michigan 99. And we will prepare the Barnacle to take the trip sometime in 2016. Maybe spring break. Can we make 99 miles in 7 days? We'll wait and see.