Observer

Northport had a lot in store for us today.  There was the fantastic Hairy Tales / Fairy Tales Dog Parade @ 11 Princess and the Pea Fluffy, Hagrid's three headed hog from Harry Potter This float played only dog themed music, of course! Prince Charming Little Red Riding Hoods Our friends on Vahevala only found out about the parade last night and were able to pull off these costumes! followed by a dog agility course. This is actually a replica of the Westminster Agility Course We were partial to the Black Lab! We were invited to drive out to the Sleeping Beer Dunes Lake Shore Park with Brian & Linda this afternoon.  We had a great hike in a very picturesque setting. Back at the boat the local beer and wine festival had live music to entertain all of us dockside. Wine and Craft Beer Festival with live music as seen from Observer We certainly hit Northport on the right weekend.

There was a great farmer's market within a very short walking distance.  We were able to get some needed provisions and tasty baked goods. Later in the day we walked down to the Mitten Brewery with Brian, Linda and their dog Rory from Vahevala, Loopers from Wilson, NY.  On our way back to the boat there was a wood fired trailer set up making pizzas on the spot - dinner check. A little later we took a walk back down town to watch the Friday night fire dancing act.  It was as cool as it was unique.

Forecast called for some rain and possible thunderstorms.  We push off about 9 to wait for the 9:30 opening of the Charlevoix bridge and we were back underway on Lake Michigan. Passing under the Charlevoix Bridge looking out our Lake Michigan We had about a 10 knot breeze on the bow and 1-2 waves so we exercised our wipers a bit and moved Observer 24 miles south to Northport.    Approaching Northport We got a spot right next to a park and the abutting sailboat has two very friendly golden retrievers, so Millie is excited. Our view looking forward Our view looking aft We walked around town.     This house with a caboose guest house was right on the park Back of the house Front of the house They have great waterfront parks, shops, brewery and several restaurants.  We tried Tucker's.  Had a nice meal.  They had several large paintings of dogs through the restaurant.  We thought this one looks lik...

Josh from Irish Boat shop spent the morning with us handling some maintenance items on Observer.  Tim watched over his shoulder and tried to pick up a few things.  Josh was very helpful going over some of the maintenance issues we could diagnose or handle on our own.   Tim's cell phone was giving him warnings that it was on its last legs.  We ordered one over the weekend and had it shipped to Irish Boat Shop.  Got that set up and all is working well.  Grilled on board and watched even ing sailboat race from our flybridge.

Lay day.  We hung out in downtown Charlevoix for the morning, took a walk up to the mushroom houses and then moved Observer around the corner to Irish Boat Shop to get some planned preventative maintenance done. our new view Reminds us of the Salem Willows We met a fellow American Tug owner from California aboard Zypher who was docked right next to us. We finished off the day by being invited aboard Islandia for docktails. They are Loopers  from Clayton, NY that started about a month after us.