August 2 / Day 73 / Drummond Island to Mackinaw Island

Woke to showers and the threat of thunderstorms all day.  Had a nice 45 mile or so trip over to Mackinac Island.

Photo of our approach to Mackinac Island

Mackinac is the Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard of Michigan (the big difference is that cars / trucks are not permitted and horses are the primary mode of transportation along with bicycles).  

It is also famous for the Grand Hotel

http://www.grandhotel.com/about-grand-hotel/

as well as Fort Mackinac.  Fort Mackinac was built by the British during the American Revolutionary war.  It was eventually given up to the United States Army in 1786 and remained a military outpost until 1895.

We were lucky with our timing to secure space at the marina for the night.  

View from the stern of Observer

We have been here twice before and it really is beautiful.  We took a stroll around town on what turned out to be a very nice afternoon.

Tim ran into a Bill Breiling (a college roommate's uncle from the North Shore).  He started the loop seven years ago from Boca Raton and has been traveling New York, Canada and Michigan for several summers.  He is now bringing the boat home to Florida to finish the Loop.

We had a beverage with Bill, Kathy and Wezee (dog) aboard their vessel 

Fullcharge. We had fun exchanging stores about our travels.  

Then we ran into another American Tug couple, Kirsten & John aboard their boat 

Phat Girl.  We had so much information to share with each other about the our boats (they were much more knowledgeable), we decided we'd better have dinner together.  They are from Lake Erie on their summer cruise and it was such a treat to share a great meal together.