planned to stop on our way North. Depending on wind we'll cross to Frankfort or Manistee and then make our way North.Add Leland MI to your list of places to visit, this little fishing community is rather quaint with easy access, they have kept many of the building maintained at least in appearance kinda like stepping back to the early 1900's. Grand Traverse is nice but I prefer Little Traverse/Petoskey easier to get to with a very nice marina.
We've been to Manistee a couple times. The Municipal Marina is on the Lake Michigan side of the bridge , has a really nice clubhouse and is in walking distance of some nice restaurant and deli stops.I would say that Frankfort would be better than Manistee as Manistee River has a pretty good current from what I understand and there is a bridge which needs to be opened in order to get to the marina. Frankfort is another one of those pretty little towns along the West coast of Lake Michigan with easy access.