September 3-4, 2026
Major downpour essentially the whole way to Manistee Municipal marina. Howie had to wipe off the Eisen glass (our plastic windshield) a number of times. We can go down below to the Salon to drive the boat, which we have done a number of times, but it is more fun to be upstairs even when raining as you can see more and it is just enjoyable to be outside.
My friendly neighborhood helper!
We had a stowaway during the rain storm who seemed to be in a trance as I got quite close and she never moved. I think she was just happy to be out of the rain.
Channel into Manistee Municipal harbor.
Once in Manistee, we called the dock master on the radio numerous times and received no answer. We have had to dock the boat by ourselves a number of times, so it wasn’t a big deal, but with the rain I knew it was going to be a mess. Howie had a sore throat, so I was doing lines and fenders (oh joy). We were on the marina wall which made it pretty easy as once we were close enough, I threw out the bow line, ran down to the stern and jumped off (actually I climbed off as the wall was pretty high). I tied off the two lines and then did the two spring lines (these are the lines in the middle of the boat that are essentially your “insurance lines” if anything were to happen with the bow or stern. After adjusting the fenders to the right height, I was absolutely soaked.
Didn’t get to see much of Manistee due to the weather, but it looks like a lovely town.
We had looper friends that had contacted us on the way down that they were running on one engine. This makes steering difficult. I knew they were about 30 minutes behind us and would need help, so just waited outside for them to arrive. I still hadn’t seen the dock master, so figured I might be the only one helping Island Dancer dock.
Thankfully, once they arrived the dock master came over, with Howard and another boat couple in tow. We got them safely in their slip and I headed back to get out of my wet clothes. I was drenched and once in warm clothes, got under a blanket and put on a hoodie even though it was over 70 degrees outside.
Howie walked up to see the movie, “Tony” about Anthony Bourdain. He said it was very good and that Manistee had a cool, old-style theater.
I made dinner on the boat and that was essentially our time in Manistee. I will have to come back as I saw essentially the marina and that was it. We were only there one night, so will have to come back during our RV trip as it looks like a cute town.
On to Ludington, Michigan!