Manitou Passage

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Manitou Island Transit family legacy in jeopardy: Grosvenor-Munozes sue National Park over dock closures

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Manitou Island Transit, a 108-year-old family-owned company that ferries customers from Leland’s historic Fishtown to South and North Manitou Islands, is struggling to survive due to forces beyond its control. The Grosvenor-Munoz family, owners of Manitou Island Transit, filed a federal lawsuit against the National Park Service in early February accusing the agency of breach of contract and mismanagement during dock reconstruction projects on North and South Manitou Islands. The National Park Service has closed North Manitou Island to visitors in order to replace and relocate the docks due to sediment shoaling which has created access issues. North Manitou hasn’t had regular ferry service since 2022. South Manitou will be inaccessible in 2026 while a new dock is being built. Captain Jimmy Munoz, who helms the ferry, warns that the closure could be the end of an era. “If they shut us down—which they’re doing right now—there will never be a ferry boat back there again out of Leland.”

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Historical Society hosts Leelanau Maritime History Festival

Join the Leelanau Historical Society on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 10 am to 3 pm for a celebration of Leelanau’s dynamic maritime past. Come learn about the peninsula’s vital and sometimes tragic connection to the Great Lakes. The second annual Leelanau Maritime History Festival will be hosted at the Leelanau Historical Society Museum in Leland.

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“Thar she rows!”

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On Saturday, Aug. 27, at 7:20 a.m., a whaleboat—the likes of which hunted the world’s largest mammals in the mid-1800s in the North Atlantic Ocean—left the public dock in Glen Arbor as its crew rowed, then sailed across the Manitou Passage. The crew’s goal was not to catch a whale but to reach North Manitou Island. Leelanau local Pam Houtteman spotted the crew at the dock and took photos. She took down captain Shane Brosier’s phone number in order to send him the images, but when she asked for his name, he offered the famous opening line from Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, “Call me Ishmael.”

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Traverse City native aims to swim Manitou Passage

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Late this month, Traverse City native Jake Bright will attempt a nearly 7-mile solo swim from Sleeping Bear Point to the South Manitou Island Lighthouse. If all goes well, his will be the first swim across the Manitou Passage that follows USA Swimming’s open-water rules. The date of his feat will depend on weather conditions, but he hopes to make the journey between Aug. 22 and Sept. 3.

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The North Manitou “Crib” Lighthouse gets a makeover

Dan Oginsky remembers the first night he spent on the North Manitou Shoal Light Station, commonly known in Leelanau County as “the Crib.” It was July 2019, and he and fellow Light Keeper Dave McWilliam were rustic camping while sleeping on cots inside the lighthouse. Their companions were cobwebs, spiders, and a layer of “guano” bird poop left on the outside deck by the passing cormorant birds.

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North Manitou Light Keepers receives important grant to restore Manitou Passage “Crib”

The North Manitou Light Keepers announced today that they have been awarded a Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grant from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to help restore the North Manitou Shoal Light Station between the Manitou Islands and mainland Leelanau County—otherwise known as the “Crib”.

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Leelanau Historical Society hosts Wrecks and Rescues of the Manitou Passage

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Join the Leelanau Historical Society for its next program, Wrecks and Rescues of the Manitou Passage, on Wednesday, July 18, at 4 p.m. The Leelanau Historical Society is located at 203 E. Cedar Street in Leland.

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The Cubbies, the Curse and the Coming Apocalypse

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What it was like for this diehard baseball fan to watch the seventh and deciding game of the 2016 World Series last Nov. 2, between my beloved Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians, and the literary armageddon that followed.

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Golfing in Leelanau yesterday and today — Part II

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Here’s your guide to Leelanau County golf courses, past and present, with a little inside info from a few avid local golfers. This installment expands to courses in Leland, Northport and Suttons Bay.

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Golfing in Leelanau, yesterday and today—Part I

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Here’s your guide to Leelanau County golf courses, past and present, with a little inside info from a few avid local golfers. Part one of our two-part series looks at the courses closest to Glen Arbor and Empire. In the next edition, we will expand to Leland, Northport and Suttons Bay.

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