Tall Ship Manitou

I was up in Traverse City, Michigan last week and a friend and I decided to go on an ice-cream tasting cruise on the tall ship Manitou. It was the perfect way to spend a few hours on a gorgeous sunny summer afternoon.

There weren't any sails up as we pushed off from the dock, but the crew soon had some of the passengers helping to hoist the sails.  

For the rest of the cruise the crew did all the work, leaving us to enjoy the scenery as we sailed in the bay.

I'm not a sailor, so I'm not sure what needed to be done at the top of the mast, but it looked like a long climb to me.

It was fun watching the crew adjust the sails to catch a breeze..

During the cruise, the crew came around with five different flavors of ice cream for us to try. Sorry, but I didn't get any pictures of the ice cream - I was too busy eating it. :-)

The cruise was over all too soon. My first clue that we were nearing the end of the cruise was when I noticed one of the sails come down as crew member folded it up neatly on the boom.

If you're ever in the area I'd highly recommend going for a cruise. They also have wine-tasting cruises and on some nights you can stay on the Manitou as a floating bed and breakfast. My brother did that last year and said it was a lot of fun.