August 22 – 26, 2023

We leave Charlevoix early morning, in the rain. Both Captain and Admiral get a little wet as we untie the boat and depart for Leland.

Leland is such a surprise. Petoskey and Charlevoix are lovely towns, but Leland is in a league all its own. This charming resort town has two beaches and offers commercial fishing charters, quaint gift shops, local art galleries, and waterfront dining options specializing in the fresh catches of the day. The town reminds us of the fishing villages seen in Camden, Maine or Rockport, Massachusetts.

Historic Fishtown

Historic Fishtown, adjacent to the marina, is a collection of weathered fishing shanties, smokehouses, overhanging docks, fish tugs and charter boats along the Leland River. The heart of a commercial fishing village, Fishtown is where you can still see and feel a connection to the long tradition of Great Lakes maritime culture.

Fishtown Fish Tugs

One thing we learned early on was the significance of the Fishtown fish tug. These intriguing boats can be seen in Fishtown, and are also a symbol seen in sidewalks and on houses as a home nameplate.

History of Fishtown Fish Tugs

By the late 1800s Leland was home to a small fleet of fishing vessels. These early fishermen set their nets offshore in open wood mackinaw boats rigged with sails. By 1905 the fishermen began to replace the sails in their mackinaw boats with gas-powered engines. The new engines and the addition of protective cabins enabled the fishermen to fish farther from port, in more inclement weather, and for more of the year.

Diesel eventually replaced gas and new machinery was added to newly built tugs that made the fishermen increasingly efficient at catching fish, but wood tugs still reigned in Fishtown until the late 1950s. In 1958 the Steffens and Stallman families dedicated two new fish tugs in Leland. With these boats, the Janice Sue and the Mary Ann, commercial fishing in Leland left the world of wood boats and entered the world of steel, with hulls specially designed for the rigors of this part of the Great Lakes. Janice Sue has served in Leland ever since. Trap net fishing began in Leland in 1982, with the launch of the hand-crafted steel tug, the Joy.

A Walk Through Fishtown

The town of Leland, just beyond Fishtown, is a fun place to explore, with attractive older homes, businesses, sculpture and art galleries, shops, and restaurants along tree lined streets.

Leland Beaches

There are two beaches, one on each side of the marina. This is the public beach:

I’m surprised at the number of families on the public beach. I heard one little girl tell her mother “Look! I found fossils!”

In Florida you look for seashells. Here you look for fossils – like Petoskey stones.

I return with rocks I find colorful and unique – but not Petoskey per se.

Break Wall Beach

One evening Captain Pat and I stumble upon a path to a beach. We read signs indicating that the first 60 feet of beachfront belong to the beach homes. The beach stretches for over a mile.

We discover the beach is adjacent to the break wall separating the marina from the lake.

We Meet Loopers from Kentucky!

Saturday evening we notice a sailboat in the slip we vacated. Because of inclement weather, we extended our stay and had to move our boat to another slip.

We introduce our selves and exchange boat cards. We discover thry live in Louisville, Kentucky! They started the Loop last year, as we did. Their home port for their boat is Holland, Michigan.

Graham and Laurie explain that Graham summered in Lake Michigan. They now keep their sailboat in Holland, Michigan. The drive from Louisville to Holland is only five hours. They will complete the Loop this week when they return to Holland!

Computer Malfunction

Again, I am grateful for fellow boaters who come to the rescue. My computer crashes – I can’t get it to turn on. It finally does after some maneuvering with the charger cord. It doesn’t last though. After a consulting call with the computer manufacturer, MSI, I decide to order a new charger from Amazon and have it shipped to Leland. It won’t arrive until Friday – so we must stay here longer than planned. This is fine with me! We end up staying five nights in Leland – our longest marina stay to date.

In the meantime, fellow boater Chris volunteers to take a look at my computer and possibly repair the charging cord. He comes aboard and does some diagnostic testing. The computer does charge with his charger. We let the computer charge overnight. Next day it is ready to use. The charging cord arrives Friday, and I am now all set to go. Thank you, Chris!

Grateful for Retirement!

I’m sitting in the lounge at the Leland Marina. This marina, different from others, looks like a well-furnished comfy conference room you’d find in a company office building, complete with couches, chairs, and a table with desk lamps. It’s a comfortable place for computer work. I completed three blog posts here.

There’s a girl sitting across from me at the table. She’s speaking on a web call with huge earphones on. I find this annoying.

She’s not on speaker (thank goodness) so I only hear her side of the conversation, which goes something like this:

“I appreciate your email; I do have some questions about this. I just feel there is a simpler way to do this.”

“I’ll talk to Andrew about this. I’m the internal gatekeeper, he is the external gatekeeper.”

“Ok, can I now go into the topics you listed for our one-on-one?”

One-on-one meetings. Weekly. I remember those.

“I submitted my proposal to IT. I am still waiting for their response. We should be ok unless there are exceptions to their criteria.”

“In an effort of thinking big and doing things right, I realize there’s the fast way to do this and the right way. If we are truly interested in customer satisfaction, we need to pursue all the options.”

“May I share my screen with you? It will make it easier for me to explain.”

“Oh, cool. I love this idea.”

I so remember these types of conversations. It’s amazing. The corporate buzz words and cliched expressions – they never change. Sure brings back memories.

I’m breathing a sigh of relief – and so grateful I am retired.

I later discover her name is Hayley, and I know her mother – Gale! Gale and I met earlier on the docks. Leland is their hometown and they are staying on Gale’s brother’s sailboat. Hayley lives in Brooklyn, New York, is a graduate of Purdue University (Patrick’s alma mater) and works at Amazon.

She says she’s a “long timer” at Amazon. She’s been there almost three years. Apparently, their employee retention rate is quite low. I’m impressed by her confidence and ease with expressing herself. She’s quite articulate. I’m sure she’ll do well at Amazon or wherever her career takes her.

Here are more photos from our visit to Leland: