Pros and Cons of having a cottage on an island

Our search for a vacation cottage has begun in earnest. Been traveling the glorious Up North of northwest Lower Michigan with Mrs. GreenWay, looking at available properties. Covered a few of the more familiar lake names, and am already sick of this shit, but this is just trip #1.

A couple of possibilities are available on islands, including Beaver Island. Would it really be worth it to add a two hour ferry ride, each way, to our weekends? A faster route is by plane, and that’s the only option for winter travel.

There’s something seriously attractive about the possibility of living on Beaver Island, but it seems like it would be too much of a bother to deal with it all summer, plus whatever holidays in winter. That commute doesn’t even take into account any medical emergencies, as there are a couple of NPs there, but that’s it.

What say you? Good, bad, other.

Here ya go baller. I was just talking to my wife about it. I'll run you out a ham sandwich whenever you're hungry.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Middle-Is-Alpena-MI-49707/115018947_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

I mean it always seems worth the hassle to be in or on a beaver

My in law family owns several cottages on a private island in the Georgian bay. It’s pretty neat, a mile Long Island and there are maybe like 7-8 cottages total.

Pros-
- they own it and have to deal with it
- I can visit basically whenever I want and we will have our own cottage
- they have several boats, so I can basically have my own boat
- no one bothering you

Cons
- uhhhhh….
- I heard there are bears

My suggestion greenway is to marry into a family that has been working on this for decades and made it perfect already. And also one that it’s not actually your spouse that owns it but has basically full visitation privileges whenever. Best of luck to you

kingstonlake wrote:Here ya go baller. I was just talking to my wife about it. I'll run you out a ham sandwich whenever you're hungry.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Middle-Is-Alpena-MI-49707/115018947_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

IIRC, that’s the place featured in the freep awhile back. Buildings being renovated and looking to get the Lodge going again, hoping for paying guests.
If I’m on an island, I think my message is loud and clear: I don’t want people visiting. Thanks, but pass.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:My suggestion greenway is to marry into a family that has been working on this for decades and made it perfect already. And also one that it’s not actually your spouse that owns it but has basically full visitation privileges whenever. Best of luck to you

Thanks, Travis. This is very helpful.

aualum06 wrote:I mean it always seems worth the hassle to be in or on a beaver

I’m getting too old for one two-hour ride, let alone two in three or four days time.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:My in law family owns several cottages on a private island in the Georgian bay. It’s pretty neat, a mile Long Island and there are maybe like 7-8 cottages total.

Pros-
- they own it and have to deal with it
- I can visit basically whenever I want and we will have our own cottage
- they have several boats, so I can basically have my own boat
- no one bothering you

Cons
- uhhhhh….
- I heard there are bears

If we could move the Georgian Bay closer to the Michigan side, I’d be interested in making the moves on one of your in-laws.

Bois Blanc has a few for sale. I thinks it's an hour ride from Cheboygan.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/351-E-Huron-Dr-Pointe-Aux-Pins-MI-49775/2068582793_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1098-Coast-Guard-Trl-Bois-Blanc-Island-MI-49775/247983837_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-E-Huron-Dr-Pointe-Aux-Pins-MI-49775/2067420989_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

I looked at a lot of cottages over the years, but never pulled the trigger because the Mrs. died. The biggest problem of having a cottage on an island to me is if there is an emergency, especially medical. How would you get to a hospital at 3 am?

tGreenWay wrote:

aualum06 wrote:I mean it always seems worth the hassle to be in or on a beaver

I’m getting too old for one two-hour ride, let alone two in three or four days time.

What does your wife do with l that free time

tGreenWay wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:My suggestion greenway is to marry into a family that has been working on this for decades and made it perfect already. And also one that it’s not actually your spouse that owns it but has basically full visitation privileges whenever. Best of luck to you

Thanks, Travis. This is very helpful.

Yw

Just ask the question you really want to ask, Greenway.

"Is an island a good place to bury a body."

A friend of mine just bought an island on Lake Michigamme. It's freaking awesome! He's also loaded and has a sea plane so getting there is a little different than a ferry ride.

Shit, two hours? I can barely handle the 7 minute free ferry ride to Harsen's Island with my bike.

Nobody wants to be on an island with you, GreenWay. Nice fake story.

kingstonlake wrote:Bois Blanc has a few for sale. I thinks it's an hour ride from Cheboygan.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/351-E-Huron-Dr-Pointe-Aux-Pins-MI-49775/2068582793_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1098-Coast-Guard-Trl-Bois-Blanc-Island-MI-49775/247983837_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-E-Huron-Dr-Pointe-Aux-Pins-MI-49775/2067420989_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

This is helpful, thanks. I’ll take a look.
I should also point out that it’s not that we’re specifically looking to buy a place on an island, so much as a couple places we lined are on islands.

As for Bois Blanc, that may be too complicated for me to pronounce all the time. I’d end up saying Boys Blank all the time, further embarrassing Mrs. GreenWay. P

PennSpartan wrote:I looked at a lot of cottages over the years, but never pulled the trigger because the Mrs. died. The biggest problem of having a cottage on an island to me is if there is an emergency, especially medical. How would you get to a hospital at 3 am?

That def has to be a consideration. Maybe not if we were 10-20 years younger, but being in my upper 50s, I need to be more realistic. Btw, I’m sorry about losing your wife.

kingstonlake wrote:Just ask the question you really want to ask, Greenway.

"Is an island a good place to bury a body."

I’ve learned to never put something like that where someone else can read it. So please stop talking about it.

aualum06 wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



I’m getting too old for one two-hour ride, let alone two in three or four days time.

What does your wife do with l that free time

She manages. Heh.

Just a heads up. My brother bought 10 acres on a lake in the UP. Middle of nowhere, maybe three cottages on it. One is now a year rounder moved there from key West. They learned quick, lol. Now my brother is 100% bad ass. Off grid type. Built a tiny cabin, solar, composting type out house, etc etc. He is all in on the diy stuff, loves the remoteness of it all. But it's wearing think on him now after about 5 years. It is work. And lots of it. Tons of it. Cutting wood, takes an hour to get the cabin hooked up, prime the pump etc. I assume you and the wife are gonna be more into creature comforts and electricity and stuff. But be prepared. And island will mean work and inconveniences. He's 53 and now hiring stuff out instead of doing it himself. He takes a lot of pride in what he's accomplished but he's realizing he's spending all of his time working vs enjoying. My advice is buy to enjoy not to work

Oh.........




AND BUY A TWO STAGE.

Motown Spartan wrote:A friend of mine just bought an island on Lake Michigamme. It's freaking awesome! He's also loaded and has a sea plane so getting there is a little different than a ferry ride.

That would be extra cool. I’ve only been in one round trip with a seaplane, but it was a lot of fun. It was a trip watching the pilot work the flaps on his de Havilland.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Shit, two hours? I can barely handle the 7 minute free ferry ride to Harsen's Island with my bike.

Thus, my hesitation. My guess is we’ll let the Beaver Island properties pass. Too bad, too, because it would’ve been so cool. The cottages check a lot of the boxes we’re looking for.

tGreenWay wrote:

PennSpartan wrote:I looked at a lot of cottages over the years, but never pulled the trigger because the Mrs. died. The biggest problem of having a cottage on an island to me is if there is an emergency, especially medical. How would you get to a hospital at 3 am?

Btw, I’m sorry about losing your wife.

Thank you.

kingstonlake wrote:Just a heads up. My brother bought 10 acres on a lake in the UP. Middle of nowhere, maybe three cottages on it. One is now a year rounder moved there from key West. They learned quick, lol. Now my brother is 100% bad ass. Off grid type. Built a tiny cabin, solar, composting type out house, etc etc. He is all in on the diy stuff, loves the remoteness of it all. But it's wearing think on him now after about 5 years. It is work. And lots of it. Tons of it. Cutting wood, takes an hour to get the cabin hooked up, prime the pump etc. I assume you and the wife are gonna be more into creature comforts and electricity and stuff. But be prepared. And island will mean work and inconveniences. He's 53 and now hiring stuff out instead of doing it himself. He takes a lot of pride in what he's accomplished but he's realizing he's spending all of his time working vs enjoying. My advice is buy to enjoy not to work

Oh.........




AND BUY A TWO STAGE.

No way I’d take on that challenge now. Did some of those things in my teens and twenties, but I’m fully soft and citified now. Plus, I’ve long known my limitations as a DIYer. My wife was never an outdoorsy type. Camping and living off grid would be of no interest. Her idea of camping out is staying at any hotel considered “lesser quality” than a Hampton Inn, and that’s the minimum.

Also: A one-stage should suffice in Macomb County!

Not on beaver island lol.

Turtleneck wrote:Nobody wants to be on an island with you, GreenWay. Nice fake story.*

*This post was AI generated.

Involved in a lake cottage my grandfather built about 100 years ago.

Best advice I can give you is buy something which was built with modern building codes.

Really when it comes down to it you are just buying another house, treat it that way, unless you like spending all your up-north time working on said cottage.

I too would have significant concerns about someone who hasn't lived mostly "off the grid", on an island, unless said island is "on the grid" for example Mackinaw Island.

Trapper Gus wrote:Involved in a lake cottage my grandfather built about 100 years ago.

Best advice I can give you is buy something which was built with modern building codes.

Really when it comes down to it you are just buying another house, treat it that way, unless you like spending all your up-north time working on said cottage.

I too would have significant concerns about someone who hasn't lived mostly "off the grid", on an island, unless said island is "on the grid" for example Mackinaw Island.

Agree on treating it like a standard house purchase. One we looked at is still pretty new. There’s no chance we’re living off the grid of our own free will. I would have made a lousy pioneer.

As a life time "up norther" ( the anti-bob) I'm ashamed to say I have never been to Beaver Island. That said, if I could ditch it all tomorrow and move north it would be charlevoix. Which is the home to the beaver island ferry.

duffy munn wrote:As a life time "up norther" ( the anti-bob) I'm ashamed to say I have never been to Beaver Island. That said, if I could ditch it all tomorrow and move north it would be charlevoix. Which is the home to the beaver island ferry.

Never been there, either, Duff, so no beaver shaming here. Charlevoix is beautiful, but I’m hoping to get away from the tourist-generated traffic. We’ll comb Lake Charlevoix avails, but nothing too close to the town. My summers were on Walloon, but I rarely went into town. Petoskey tourist traffic is ridiculous, too. As fate would have it, there are only a couple of places up for sale on Walloon right now, and it’s been that way for months. Effing Covid.

tGreenWay wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:Bois Blanc has a few for sale. I thinks it's an hour ride from Cheboygan.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/351-E-Huron-Dr-Pointe-Aux-Pins-MI-49775/2068582793_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1098-Coast-Guard-Trl-Bois-Blanc-Island-MI-49775/247983837_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-E-Huron-Dr-Pointe-Aux-Pins-MI-49775/2067420989_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

This is helpful, thanks. I’ll take a look.
I should also point out that it’s not that we’re specifically looking to buy a place on an island, so much as a couple places we lined are on islands.

As for Bois Blanc, that may be too complicated for me to pronounce all the time. I’d end up saying Boys Blank all the time, further embarrassing Mrs. GreenWay. P

Locals call it Boblo Island. It's about a 45-60 minute ferry ride. How do you feel about snakes, especially massasauga rattlesnakes?

Turtleneck wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



This is helpful, thanks. I’ll take a look.
I should also point out that it’s not that we’re specifically looking to buy a place on an island, so much as a couple places we lined are on islands.

As for Bois Blanc, that may be too complicated for me to pronounce all the time. I’d end up saying Boys Blank all the time, further embarrassing Mrs. GreenWay. P

Locals call it Boblo Island. It's about a 45-60 minute ferry ride. How do you feel about snakes, especially massasauga rattlesnakes?

They’re delicious.

tGreenWay wrote:

aualum06 wrote:I mean it always seems worth the hassle to be in or on a beaver

I’m getting too old for one two-hour ride, let alone two in three or four days time.

2 and 1/2 to the Tuck completely sucks ass. Tired when you get there. Cant drink like you used to. Too old for the town night life too young to sit in a chair all day and by a fire all night. I don’t know what to say. Vacations and getaways are hard. I guess it will be more fun again with grand kids. It was when my kids were young and I was in my late 30’s. Now I read what you wrote up in the first post and it makes me tired.

tGreenWay wrote:

Turtleneck wrote:

Locals call it Boblo Island. It's about a 45-60 minute ferry ride. How do you feel about snakes, especially massasauga rattlesnakes?

They’re delicious.

Well, you will probably have your fill. There are quite a few on Bois Blanc.

tGreenWay wrote:

duffy munn wrote:As a life time "up norther" ( the anti-bob) I'm ashamed to say I have never been to Beaver Island. That said, if I could ditch it all tomorrow and move north it would be charlevoix. Which is the home to the beaver island ferry.

Never been there, either, Duff, so no beaver shaming here. Charlevoix is beautiful, but I’m hoping to get away from the tourist-generated traffic. We’ll comb Lake Charlevoix avails, but nothing too close to the town. My summers were on Walloon, but I rarely went into town. Petoskey tourist traffic is ridiculous, too. As fate would have it, there are only a couple of places up for sale on Walloon right now, and it’s been that way for months. Effing Covid.

Walloon is beautiful but damn expensive. You a baller greenway?