Who’s your daddy?

This morning we postponed our planned departure because of fog.  

It wasn’t horrible fog, but there was enough of it to cause worry.  And we certainly didn’t want Shannon to worry on her first day of cruising in several months.

At 9 we pulled off the wall with the radar spinning madly, past the smelly dead salmon and the bushel of greens we dumped out of the AC strainer.  Gross.  Fortunately Shannon still was asleep, so she missed it.

Lake Michigan was so smooth we didn’t activate the stabilizers.  And we activate the stabilizers to cross canoe wakes.  Just about the time we reached the iconic Big Sable Point Light—which has been saving mariners since 1867—the fog dissipated and blue sky emerged.  

Shannon still was asleep, so she missed it.  But the lighthouse is available for sightseers so maybe we’ll pop over later in the week.  Given the weather forecast we may be here a while.

Years ago when Doug formed his law firm, he attempted to grab the domain name belknaplaw.com.  Alas it was taken.  A few years back, the ne’er-do-well Oregon attorney who snaked the address contacted Doug about a client.  Turns out Wendell Belknap is a great guy after all, and over time we’ve bonded, albeit mostly by email.  Wendall is a genealogy savant who has compiled a database with detailed documentation and information about more than 25,000 Belknaps.  That’s more than a boatload of Belknaps.  We now know that Mallory and Shannon are Wendall’s 5th cousins, twice removed, or some such thing.  Certainly close enough to hit up the same family reunion we say.

How’s that relevant to Misty Pearl’s adventures?  Easy.  While traveling through this part of Michigan we discovered Belknap Park and Belknap Lookout.  Through the wonders of Google we learned about Charles Belknap—from Grand Rapids—who made a name for himself in part by helping Sherman burn Atlanta and by attacking the brave Sons of The South who were defending Chattanooga and Chickamauga.  For all that he won some medals or something.  Anyway, today we had some time to research how we’re related to ole’ Chuck.  And by “research” we mean ask Cousin Wendall, who graciously did the legwork to determine that the Hero of Grand Rapids/Villain of Chattanooga also was Mallory and Shannon’s 5th cousin, but three times removed.   Since he’s been dead a long time we figure there won’t be any awkwardness at the reunion.

Ok enough of that.  The Ludington Municipal Marina sign welcomed us at about 12:30.  Docking was a bit tricky but we managed to get in safely.  Shannon still was asleep, so she missed it.

We tied up the lines, hooked up the power, checked in, and were heading to lunch just as Shannon showed up.  Good thing.  We were about to call a doctor.

Lazy afternoon and cards along the lake waiting for the SS Badger.  Hopefully we can get the drone up later this week to video the docking performance.  It’s pretty cool.