Leaving Pentwater this morning in choppy water and cloudy skies. Waz had checked the weather forecast before we took the anchor up, and it said "Possible Thunderstorms before noon". We thought that would give us enough time to get to White Lake before the rain and storms eventuated. Ha!
There were a lot of people out walking, this morning, but not a soul on the beach.
Leaving reasonably early was supposed to be good!
Until we spied a couple of little boats going 100 miles an hour back towards Pentwater. THEN we looked at the sky and woah! Storm clouds look different in these parts. We could see the front moving towards us and around behind us.
As a precaution, Waz lowered all the aerials and turned all the electronics off...all except the battery operated Samsung tablet which we needed for depth, being so close in to the shore.
We high tailed it back to Pentwater to wait out the thunderstorm. It is already raining.
This was passing over the lake.
and when we fired up the computer, this is what we found....We are about the middle of the map, just above Muskegon. The red parts are the danger parts of the storm.
The wind blew up suddenly, after we had been anchored 1/2 an hour and we swung on our anchor. Not something we like to happen. Then the rain came and dumped a bucket on us. Then the sky cleared and all was calm again....for a bit....before the final deluge, which seemed to take it's time.
By 2pm we were ready to go back out into the Lake (Michigan) and continue where we had left off.
The next try at the journey was without issues and the water was just fine thanks. The sun even came out! Funny, this weather on the Great Lakes.
Waz is making his marks on the chart...Moi is driving! How hard can it be going in a straight line?? :)
LOTS of Sand Dunes!! Lots and LOTS of them....and houses built on them!
and those dots on the top of the sand dune are dune buggies. They were literally swarming all over the hills.
More light houses...in sand dunes
and just ten miles down the road...or in this case the Michigan Peninsula...was the entry to White Lake. This is the White River channel into the lake.
The beach on the right hand side going in
and the old light house...which is so recessed as to be unseen from Lake Michigan. Now a museum.
and we are about to turn right and make our way to the 40ft depth outside the house of Katie's Aunt and Uncle who live at Sylvan Beach, on the right side of the lake.
These condo units are rather out of place in this pretty place....just to the right of the channel.
We put the anchor down in front of the rellies house, but weren't happy with so much chain out...around 200 feet. The wind was up a bit, and we were quite close to the parked boats. We decided to move further down the coast there and anchor in front of the White Lake Yacht Club.
Just wanted to back up a minute and show you what a thunderstorm looks like, as it approaches.
The wind has come up, as you can see by the waves...the wind was literally whipping it up.
and it blew HARD for about 10 mins.
and it deluged and then went past. All within an hour.
This lovely home is under construction, opposite where we decide to put the anchor down in just under 30 ft of water. 10 feet makes a difference! We decided we could live here too:)
Almost there!
We parked the boat, took the dinghy off the back and with a quich change of clothes, we motored back up the coast the short way to the Wheelers. They came out to meet us:) Such a lovely home on the edge of White Lake. The lily pond has huge lilies, which I photographed the next day!
Late afternoon light.
The wheelers (Dave and Linda) had extended family staying with them, but they made room for us at their dinner table and we enjoyed a lovely meal (which we hadn't anticipated) with them all...including a 6 month old and a 3 yr old. How soon we forget how active little kids are!
We took our leave after enjoying all the company and the superb Michigan Hospitality, and before it got dark...we still don't have a light on our dinghy!!! The sunset, after the strange weather, for most of the day, was extraordinary.
The water was colored Pink...I took a HUGE number of photos because every time I looked out the window, the sunset was even more spectacular!
And so ended our day. We were pretty tired today. What with the false start, and because the lakes inland are removed from Lake Michigan, it is a bit of a crap shoot when you exit the channel, as to what you will find. Even though all our electronic devices tell us the weather and other conditions are fine, we still feel some anticipation as to what is out there.
We are staying put tomorrow! We have days up our sleeve, to fill in, and what better place to fill them in!
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