MacGregorSailors.com

It would be fine with me.
I'd be interested in hearing your comparing/contrasting your Potter 19 with your 26X.

Bill, I can't really answer your question, I just bought the P-19 6 weeks ago and have only sailed a P-19 for a few hours. What I can tell you, it is a very stable boat in 20 mph winds. It has a semi dispacement hull and will exceed normal hull speed. There have been folks who have sailed the P-19 from CA to Hawaii. I sailed a Hunter 26 for two years and sold it and bought the Potter 19. The only reason I sold my Mac 26X was the lake I kept it on would only allow no more then a 10 HP motor. I was not able to take advantage of having a large motor.
The P19 will allow me to tow and rig the boat with ease, as I get older I am tired of messing with larger boats. Although if I ever change my mind, I would probably buy a 26M, but I am sure my P-19 will be fast, it has a blue hull.

Ken

As long as you promise not to leave my white hulled M in your wake, should I be able to make the trip, I have no problem with it...

Mark, what do you think of some of us Potter guys joining the Mac trip? I could probably get 4 or 5 Potters to go on the trip. They are all a great group just like all the Mac folks. I know I would like to go on the trip.

Thanks,
Ken /Indianapolis

ken wrote:Mark, what do you think of some of us Potter guys joining the Mac trip? I could probably get 4 or 5 Potters to go on the trip. They are all a great group just like all the Mac folks. I know I would like to go on the trip.

Thanks,
Ken /Indianapolis

Ken,

I'd really like to have you guys come along. I too feel the more the merrier. The group size doesn't bother me. The city manager at Manistique was very enthused about us coming and indicated that space was no problem. Also, there is the probability that we could break off in groups.

My major concern in the size of the Potter 19. Do you feel comfortable traveling 50 miles across open water in this boat? I'm sure you've taken this into consideration.

Please Come. Welcome to the group.

Select the "Please Come" link so we can communicate as a group via email

I think the Potter 19 will do OK on a trip like this, I won't be able to keep up if you Power Sailors rev up those big engines, but the P19 does sail well (blue hull) and there may be some other boats that could be in a slower group. Probably a lot of white hull boats going. It's great that you organized a group sail on Lake MI. We would all like to go to FL, but it can be a 5 day trip just to get there and back. Let me know if I can be of any help.

Thanks again,
Ken
Potter 19, Indpls.

We're trying to schedule a trip to Lake Champlain NY for a month about that time...maybe I can convince Jim to take a little detour on our way home to Florida. Might just as well make the most of a trailerable boat while in the north. It would keep us out of most of the hurricane season though...darn LOL

Florida's weather can be good sailing but you cant just jump overboard for a swim or bath if on the lakes or rivers. Gators. It takes most of the fun out of it. When in OK we anchored out at night even though we had a slip at the club. Love those midnight swims. Down here thats when the gators hunt for supper. MI sounds great.

If it ain't the gators, it's the water moccasins. Not to mention that dusk is a favorite feeding time for sharks in saltwater. Why was it I wanted to move back to Florida?

Oh yeah... it's that white stuff on the ground this time of year that isn't beach sand.

It is not on the itinerary but another point of interest about 15 miles north of Manistique is The Seul Choix Point Lighthouse

SEUL CHOIX POINT
Located between Manistique and Port Inland, Seul Choix (pronounced Sesh-Wah) Point is a very prominent point extending southeast down into Lake Michigan. It is a pretty place to visit while exploring the Top o The Lake. On the northeast side of the point is a small dock at the boat launch. Note: This is very shallow water and rocky. In calm weather, it is possible to anchor behind the point and dinghy in to shore. Southwest or west winds should be no problem. The beautiful old lighthouse (similar in some respects to the South Manitou Light) is perfect for picture taking. On the grounds, there are retired keepers quarters of red brick. The lawns are mowed and have paths leading to other parts of the point. Lighthouse ownership has been transferred to the local historical society. A museum is open to the public, with special events scheduled for visitors. Museum hours and tours: Memorial Day through mid September10 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week (depending upon availability of volunteer tour guides). Drinking water and clean restrooms are available. Seul Pointe Lighthouse Park is the site of an annual event of nature. One day very year, in late September or early October, the cedar trees on the point are covered with Monarch Butterflies. The butterflies, on their igration to their winter site, gather on the points that jut into Lake Michigan before venturing over the water. The trees become an ocean of color and movement. The next day they are gone on their journey. Sadly, each year fewer and fewer butterflies arrive. Some contribute the loss to the increased use of insecticides.

High Island

Map

The Island, settled in 1912 by King Ben and his brethren of the House of David, with headquarters at Benton Harbor, Mich., was used as a penal colony by this religious sect and was known as the Siberia of Michigan. In the course of its existence this colony grew to over a hundred families. About 1928, King Ben was arrested and put in jail because of some of his activities at Benton Harbor. At about this time, the inhabitants of High Island (approximately 500) deserted, leaving everything behind themschool rooms with the books in the desks, problems on the board, houses and cottages with their furniture, barns and storehouses with their cropsall intact.

Landing at High Island Harbor, the explorer will see a main road paralleling the beach. Most of the buildings are on the road. Houses, the general store, and warehouses for the colony, as well as the remains of an old saw mill are still to be seen.

Here also is King Bens octagonal-shaped Harem. The Kings own master bedroom occupies the center of the house, and suspended from the roof column is a large and massive chimney hanging down over his bed. Off of this bedroom are the eight bedrooms of his various wives, all of which had to pass through his room in order to get out of the small passageway leading to the outside world.

These people, poor as Jobs turkey and held in virtual peonage, had the energy and imagination to make things mainly out of what the Island itself provided for them. When they wanted a wagon they went out into the forest, cut down a tree, stripped the bark, cut it into convenient lengths and made wagon wheels. When they needed a thresher, they made one out of wood entirely by hand. Such wagons and threshers are to be seen today abandoned on the Island. They had a blacksmith shop with forge, and here hammered out their crude latches, hinges and all the iron fittings needed. They even had a distillery, a two-story affair, for what appears to have been the distillation of some forest product such as turpentine. In the field one is apt to come across oldfashioned plows, some even being of wood. One can hardly imagine the energy these people consumed in cutting over the timber and hacking their way through the virgin forest, clearing the fields of stone and planting them, as well as laying fruit groves and building barns everywhere, especially under the conditions that must have existed at that time.

The cruising man will be well repaid for his efforts in exploring the roads and trails that cover the island. Possibly the most interesting of these is the main road to the west going to high hills and on down through a narrow trail to the beach. Here lies King Bens supply schooner, The Rising Sun. This schooner went down with all hands, in a gale around 1925.


Old Car

Watch out for the Seiche

We are not ready for the 50+/- mile runs (Fayette-Manistique and Beaver- Washington Island), but are considering circumnavigating Green Bay.
Any refuges on the east shore between Egg Harbor and the city of Green Bay?
On the west shore I note harbors/marinas at Suamico, Oconto, Marionette. Escanaba. Are there refuges elsewhere...e.g. Peshwaukee, Peshtigo, Ingallston, Cedar River, Fox, Ford River?
WOT gives us 7 mph + and motoring cruise is 5-6 mph, so over 35 miles can be a long day for seniors.
Any local knowledge gratefully received.
Ron

I sent you a private message. The information will cost you a narrative of your adventures.

Got message and private replied. Most helpful. Thanks yet again...Ron

Yo' Mark, is this roughly the route you are proposing??

I coudlnt help but notice the 30+ mile beat west after the Beaver island day.



I realize that I've seen a lot of posts on the board about "been there done that" regarding Mackinac Island but my wife is angling for an overnight there.