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"I like to take trips like this, to get out of the rut of ordinary life and test myself. I don't have a lot of kayaking experience, but I like getting out and seeing how far I can go."
~Steve Snyder

Hello boys and girls, today we have the story of The Very Lucky Kayaker.

Once upon a time there was a man named Steve Snyder, who paddled from Glen Haven nine miles to South Manitou Island in a brand new kayak to camp. He ran into trouble two miles into his return trip when the spray skirt came off. With no wetsuit and taking on water, he was, as Jim Stamm pointed out when he emailed it over, incredibly lucky to survive.

He was lifted off the island by a Coast Guard Helicopter, hopefully wiser. mLive closes their article:

Michigan paddlers are fortunate. There are two excellent multiday sea kayaking symposiums every year. A symposium is slated May 25-28 in Muskegon County by the West Michigan Coastal Kayakers Association. See wmcka.org for details. The other is the Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Symposium, July 18-22, in Grand Marais. See downwindsports.com/glsks for more details.

If you are new to kayaking, consider attending. You won’t be sorry — and it could save your life.

We'll close ours by sharing the words of northern Michigan's own Song of the Lakes:

These are not lakes, these are the world's eighth seas, and her bottoms are littered with the wreckage of over 8,000 ships.

Try not to join them, OK? Don't treat Lake Michigan like a lake, she's a whole lot bigger than almost any lake in the world and demands your respect.

Photo credit: Winter Swirls on Sleeping Bear Point by Mark Lindsay

Ken shot this on Saturday night in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. He says that the brightness of the night sky is a reflection of iso and shutter speed (5 photos @ iso 1600 and 30 second exposures). Click to view larger on black!

This weekend (Feb 18 & 9) is a Michigan free fishing weekend - the perfect time to take to the ice (or open water) and try to land a local lunch! Michigan holds two of these weekends every year, one in February and the other in June.

Ken Scott shot this photo and also this cool video of ice fishing on North Lake Leelanau - check it out.

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that in addition to making it a rough winter for those who depend on snow for winter sports, the lack of snow this winter is proving troubling for wine grape growers. They talked with Charlie Edson:

Edson, of Bel Lago Vineyards & Winery north of Cedar, has more than 100 grape varietals planted on 32 acres in Centerville Township that are susceptible to freezing without snow cover.

“I don’t know how hardy the vines are. I’m guessing not as hardy as we would like,” he said.
As of Wednesday, 43 inches of snow had been recorded at the Road Commission garage in Suttons Bay, about half the 85 inches from a year ago at the same point of winter. Adding insult to injury is that any snow that has come has melted away due to unseasonably warm temperatures. On Friday, the mercury broke 50 degrees at the Enterprise weather station in Lake Leelanau. A high of 60 was recorded in the past week at the Road Commission garage in Maple City.

Those readings are a concern for grape growers throughout the region.

“It’s a problem for us,” said Erwin “Duke” Elsner, Michigan State University small fruit production & viticulture specialist based in Traverse City. “Snow is a primary source of insulation providing up to 10 degrees of protection. If it gets down to minus 5, the temperature around the vine can be 5 above.”

While lack of snow is also a concern for local small fruit trees, it is less concerning than for grapevines. Elsner explained that tree trunks comprised of sturdy tissue can survive lower temperatures.

Read on for more!

Photo credit: Vineyard ... on the Eve of Spring by Ken Scott

Dwell Magazine is having a contest to award $10,000 to one historical preservation effort that best rethinks the concept of preservation. Click here to vote for Fishtown Preservation! About this photo and the other ones they posted in Winter in Fishtown, the Fishtown Preservation Society writes:

The historical Leland, Michigan photographs below are from Erhardt Peters' original collection from the 1930s. Erhardt Peters was a prolific and talented photographer in the Ludington and Leelanau areas throughout much of the 20th century. During his career he generated thousands of black and white photos of Northern Michigan, but Leland and Fishtown were his particular favorites. There is a book called “Loving Leland” by David Peterson that features hundreds of Erhardt Peters photos. You can also purchase a CD of his photos from the Leelanau Historical Society.

Trish took this shot on Pyramid Point - check it out bigger and view it on her map.

About a week ago now I came across this photo by Mark Lindsay. I asked former Park Ranger Bill Herd, and he told me what has since come out in the media. From 140-year-old shipwreck piece washes ashore on remote stretch of Sleeping Bear Dunes beach in mLive:

Sleeping Bear Dunes historians believe the schooner fragment, estimated to be about 40-feet long and peppered with twisted metals spikes, is part of the ship’s bilge keelsons, which the Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archeology says were long timbers running most of the ship’s length, strengthening the keel.
It’s one of several fragments of the wreck to wash ashore over the years, said Laura Quackenbush, museum technician with park service. In fact, wreck fragments from the Jennie and Annie, as well as other ships which foundered off the dunes coastline, wash ashore once or twice a year.
“It’s a very dynamic shoreline,” she said. “It’s a common occurrence around there.”

Over the weekend photographer Ken Scott made the hike and posted the video below of the Jennie and Annie and also of the other (as yet nameless) wreck that we reported on last year.

Photo credit: Sleeping Bear Point Wreck by Mark Lindsay

Hey everyone, we're super sorry that we've been away so much. To try and make it up to you, we're going to give someone on our email list* a pair of tickets to the Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival tomorrow morning!! This year is the 3rd annual, and it takes place this Saturday February 11th at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

The annual festival is produced by Porterhouse Productions and features over 40 breweries, wineries, cideries, and meaderies - most from Michigan - along with local food vendors and beer & food pairings. A highlight of the festival is a wide range of entertainment featuring Funktion, Heatbox, The Crane Wives, Whitney Morgan and the 78s, Dragon Wagon and Rootstand. There's also fire dancers, live polka music and a silent disco. Click the poster to the right for all the details, and as it's an outdoor festival (with tents) you know that fashion = warm! (ie: Carhart over Calvin Klein!)

*If you're not on our list sign up at the top right. If you don't want to get our weekly email, just post a comment on the Leelanau.com Facebook or send an email to andy@leelanau.com saying you want to win and we'll add you to the list we draw from!

Speaking of polka, here's one of the polka bands that will be at the Microbrew festival, Squeezebox. There's a little dancing, but nothing like what you'll probably see closer to the polka capital of the USA, Cedar Michigan.

Ken caught the sunrise - click to see it bigger and check out Ken's snow slideshow!

You're invited to share the love of Leelanau and Leelanau wine at the Taste the Passion wine tour, held February 4 & 5, 2012. This special weekend celebrates wine, chocolate and love at the wineries of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail.

Your ticket allows you to chart your own course, enjoying food and wine pairings at 17 wineries along with a optional winter and Valentine-themed activities at many of the wineries.

"Taste the Passion is definitely our most intimate event," says winemaker Larry Mawby. "Our tasting rooms are cozy places in wintertime, and with less people on the trail, it's a great opportunity to talk directly with winemakers and vineyard owners. To top it all off, Leelanau County is a winter paradise, offering everything from cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, to enjoying great meals at our restaurants, and evenings by the fireplace. This is a perfect chance to score a Valentine's Day touchdown!"

Tickets are just $30, and quantities are limited. Secure yours as soon as possible, as most of LPVA trail events do sell out. There are also lodging packages that include tickets! Get all the details right here.

If you want to add a little more fun to your weekend, on Friday night (Feb 3) at Mountain Flowers Lodge from 6-8pm, the The Homestead and Glen Arbor Artists will be hosting “Art from Michigan’s Wine Country.” Art will be on display and for sale from local artists. To purchase tickets in advance call The Homestead 231-334-5100.

Photo credit: 2010 Taste the Passion by KatSwinehart