“Wheels up” at 6:00 am leaving Presque Isle, Michigan heading to Harrisville with a gorgeous sunrise, calm with seagulls calling…no sign of the gale force wind/rain storm of the day before.

We arrived at Harrisville Harbor of Refuge around noon.  We had considered making the run to Harbor Springs, another 60 miles down Lake Huron across Saginaw Bay, but the U.S. Coast Guard was again issuing severe weather warnings for our area.  After witnessing two sailboats race into the Presque Isle marina for refuge during yesterdays squall, we decided to play it safe and stopped in Harrisville.

A walk into town revealed a slightly depressed small town, which seems more depressing with the leftover Mayfly migration from last night (yuck!), but we managed to find a thriving sports bar and ordered a pizza. For entertainment while we waited, we played keno.  Five spot, five draws, five bucks…and we won $22 and paid for our veggie pizza!!  As you can tell, we’re BIG gamblers 😉

Wow! 5:40 am in Presque Isle, Michigan

An amazing sunrise in Presque Isle, Michigan

Leaving the marina in Presque Isle, Michigan at 6:00 am

Steve takes advantage of the warm weather and calm seas to wipe down the rails while I man the helm

More U.S. Coast Guard severe weather warnings today.  We heed the warnings and decide to stay in Harrisville instead of crossing Saginaw Bay to Harbor Springs.  We had no weather of consequence but who knows if we would have been caught in bad weather further south.  Better safe than sorry…and $22 bucks ahead!!

Harrisville Harbor of Refuge

Phone Rice!!! in the marina office…ouch!

Harrisville Marina of Refuge

Today’s storm passed us to the south…we made a good decision to stop in Harrisville