During a windy but beautiful sunny day here in Petoskey, I walked around the marina to and took pictures.  I had to hold on to my hat so it wouldn’t blow off into the bay.

Metal picnic benches are located around the marina.  I think it is great they leave a hole in the bench for wheelchairs and such.  How convenient.  The color is also the best.

Flower beds around the marina

One this sunny day, I realized the ducks weren’t in the water.  I found them all hunkered down on the small dock near the boat ramp.  All in a row.  Is this not the cutest.  If the ducks aren’t in the water, why should we?!  Nature always knows.

Ducks waiting for the storm to pass

Humor of the day:  On the west side of the marina are condominiums.  There is also a small grass area and a sandy beach.  How lovely.  Then I noticed the cardboard silhouettes of dogs along the grass.  I think that is supposed to keep the geese from landing on the grass.  We saw a group of geese on the grass behind the silhouettes.  They probably climbed up on the sandy beach side and walked behind the fake dogs.  After all, the dogs didn’t run after them.  Nature knows.

WEATHER LESSON:

My favorite wave height website is “Passageweather.com”  They allow you to zoom into the particular region of the world and show you wind speed and wave height.  They get their numbers from NOAA as most all applications and software in the USA.  We like the visual of the maps.  We have had 1 in 4 days that is passable but not long enough to get farther than 40 miles.  That would put us on the edge of Lake Michigan with the very high winds/waves.

NOTE:  09 UTC is actually 5am in the morning.  Wave height is in Meters!!

If I read this map correctly, it indicates <0.25 Meter ( <1 ft ) of waves at 5am in the morning on Tuesday Aug 18, 2015.  Sounds pretty good.  We generally see these kinds of wave height maps from 11 pm – 5am.  We have considered cruising at night but decided if the locals didn’t do it, we shouldn’t either.

Tuesday 8-17-15

However, this is what happens soon after:

1.5 – 2.0 Meter high waves are expected in our little area of Lake Michigan.  That is 2-6 feet!!  In real terms, that means every so often there are 8 – 12 foot waves.

Thursday August 20, 2015 – 15UTC is 11am

For you folks that like visuals, here is another fantastic website I just found.  If you zoom into the Great Lakes – Lake Michigan area, you can see the winds coming our way.  You can zoom in on your particular area and see what is happening in your neighborhood.  Mesmerizing, I tell you!!  You could spend minutes or even hours just watching the wind change directions.  www.windyty.com

Here is a screen shot for your amusement:

http://www.windyty.com

We have been in contact with other Loopers who have ventured during some of these high wind/wave days.  They described their travels south along the eastern coast line was “lumpy”, “rough”, or “bumpy”.  Lumpy??  Rough??  4-6 ft waves?  Yes, indeed.  We don’t want to repeat the bronco bull ride we had in Georgian Bay.  We will wait a little longer.  Surely, the lake will calm down enough for us to transit.  Surely…

Another Storm coming in