I wanted to start a thread of great lakes destinations. Personally, I'm most interested in those offering seclusion and natural beauty. I've heard good things about North Manitou Island for its solace and scenic offerings. I've driven through some of the towns in Upper Michigan like Munising and others and they are gorgeous. Not sure how soon I'll be able to make a trip that far North, but I'd love to hear about the places some of you have sailed to. Even if they are just good anchorages in a sprawling urban jungle.

Door County is an old standby. Green Bay offers warm water for swimming. Horseshoe Island is a sweet anchorage. And it's an easy run up to Big Bay De Noc with Fayette State Park for a port.

I grew up in Green Bay, and my dad is from Menominee. I spent a lot of time along M-35 between Menominee and Escanaba. I love the area and the beaches are fantastic. What are some good stops about the lower peninsula? I've read some about North Manitou island and I'd really like to get there. It says there are no anchorages of any kind though so I'm not sure how well that would work out. Has anyone anchored out in open water on Lake Michigan and felt comfortable leaving the boat unattended?

http://www.northmanitou.com/

I'm always at a loss to answer a question like that. You can anchor anywhere, obviously, with two pieces of magic. The first being a really good bite with your hook, the second having a good enough scope. I've sailed past the Manitous, never to them. It is my belief that when one says something like 'There's no anchorages', that what they are actually referring to, is that there are no PROTECTED achorages. Which is in and of itself a bit of an oxymoron as, God knows, I've certainly 'hunkered down' and hid behind enough islands, using the island itself as some type of wind break from the severe T-storms lashing at me. But, again, when someone says "there's no place to anchor"... internally, I think "What?!?!" I've left my boat anchored out on the lake in order to hop on a friends boat for a couple of hours, but that's not something I'd do in inclement weather (i.e. leave the boat unattended). However, if it's done right, and your anchor doesn't drag from the storm/wind/swells, you can leave it out, and hunker ashore in your tent. Key word being if your anchor 'DOESN'T' drag, which is why I stay on the boat, unless I have her moored at two different points. Not sure if that's much of an answer to you, though, sorry. Skippers judgement call, I guess. ~Gary

I have kayaked North Manitou. The east side is easy to anchor or sail. When you get around the corner to the windy side, it is surf city. You could easily anchor out on the east side of the island as long as the wind is not out of the east.

I would not anchor out on the open Lake on the lee shore side unless there was no wind or someone was awake for an anchor watch.

Holland has a nice anchorage just inside the pierheads to the south. There are a few other anchorages as well as you move further into Lake Macatawa, just turn the corner and hide behind the peninsulas that are in the lake. Muskegon has a large lake with plenty of anchorage opportunities although most are not sheltered. St. Joe, South Haven and Grand Haven harbors are rivers, not lakes and have fewer or no anchoring possibilities.

Awesome - thanks for the info on North Manitou. It is my first destination when I get a boat. Did you spend any time on the island? An old friend of mine from Traverse City said that it's a great place to spend some time to escape as it is (was) supposedly uninhabited and rarely has visitors. Living in Milwaukee, fighting traffic daily, and dealing with the city in general creates a deep longing to get away from people altogether.

I'll second Fayette State Park - Remarkable to see the old buildings as one winds into the shell harbor for the first time. And on a more urban note -Racine. Gotta love doing the dive bar thing on a saturday night after a quick sail done the coast

We camped out on North Manitou, tried to kayak around it but the wind and waves were too much so we did not circle it. We spent most of the time on the north half. There are lots of woods and sand dunes. A very beautiful place, and quite isolated.

With a sailboat, you can spend some time there but you are only well protected to the west.

Beaver Island has the best island harbor in NW MI.

If refueling at Beaver Island, 'ware the shoal as you approach the fuel pump. It's sand, no problems/damage, but it'll kick up your rudder if you're appraoching port side to. Also, the shoals (rocky bottom) on the NW side of the Beaver extend further than my chart indicated. (Good thing my centerboard pivots...)

EDIT: Chris, failed to load. Delete to save bandwidth?

~Gary