September 6-15, 2015 -
On Sunday the 6th of September we left St. Joseph, MI, and had a smooth, smooth ride to Michigan City, IN. (I think the Lake felt bad about our experience with two storms on Saturday...).
We're here for over a week so I can make a trip home to check up on my sisters in Virginia and Indiana. I'll be back next Monday, the 14th. Meanwhile, Wayne has some big maintenance chores he will work on with JOURNEY. Lucy will be keeping him company. ;-) More to come as we head down the river system on the 16th...
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
A day for our record book...
St. Joseph, MI, West Basin Marina, Saturday, September 5, 2015
We’re moving on down to St. Joseph today. NOAA and Passageweather both predict waves about 1 ft. and winds 5-10. Waves should come on our stern and push us all the way. ;-) We have reservations at the Eagle Pointe Marina, which is way up the river in St. Joseph and we're a little leary of the depths we'll encounter on the way up the river. But...it's Labor Day Weekend! We hadn't planned to stop at St. Joseph, but our aborted trip to Grand Haven left us scrambling for reservations somewhere on the lower portion of Lake Michigan. St. Joseph is so busy, too, because of the Tri-State sailboat race going on this weekend. On Friday boats travel from Chicago to St. Joseph. Sunday, from St. Joseph to Michigan City...and on Monday from Michigan City back to Chicago. Illinois, Michigan, Indiana=Tri-States.
Leaving our slip at Eldean, we saw that we really might get one of the “scattered showers and thunderstorms” predicted for the day. Little did we know…this would be a day we’ll not soon forget.
“Big Red lighthouse” was looking good today!
It was neat seeing the sunrise peaking above the clouds...
When we left this morning at 7:15, fishing boats were pouring out of the harbor headed for their favorite spots on the lake. We were traveling about 2-3 miles off shore, and most of the fishing boats today were further out than we were. That was good because we didn’t have to alter our course to avoid them.
We'd been into the trip for about 2 hours when we saw in the sky...and on the radar...a rather large rain patch coming our way. (We're located in the very center of the little circle.) The waves had been on our stern giving us a push...but as we got closer to the coming storm (we were hearing thunder and seeing flashes of lightning) they started coming out of the southwest, on our bow. It was looking like we might get "some action" out of this storm...But...we really didn't have a place to get away from it.
This lasted 45 minutes, during which time we increased the speed of the boat to make the ride a bit smoother. We saw a good bit of lightning and had thunder claps...and the winds picked up.
Eventually...it looked like this on radar: we were engulfed. At this time, we didn't have rain on us..."just" wind and waves...
We passed a nuclear power plant and it was funny to see that IT was aglow!
So then...all that storm went beyond us. And we breathed a sigh of relief. The waves stayed on our bow, but we still had a push from wind coming in from the northwest so were traveling about 1/2 mile per hour faster than normal at 1600 rpms.
Then we saw the sky darkening again right in front of us. By this time we were passing by South Haven, and about half way to our destination.
This baby was out to make a point! For over an hour we had little rain...but were pummeled with high winds. I checked a weather app and found a "special weather alert" calling for storms in the area we were traveling. The storms were likely to have heavy rain, some hail...and winds 30-40 mph. At the time the picture above was taken...we had those winds!
Having had the experience at Thunder Bay on Lake Huron with the failed engine, we knew it helped to have a plan in mind...should something happen. We felt our canvas was at risk of being blown apart...so started talking about what we would do if that happened. We already had our life jackets on and our PLB's in our pockets. As we talked, we decided it would probably be good to just notify the Coast Guard of our location and situation. So we did.
Then...we just rode it out for over an hour. High winds...high waves...high anxiety!
Finally, about 20 minutes before we reached the St. Joseph breakwater, the storm passed. We were left with waves a bit higher than normal...but not like they were in the storm. Coming through the entrance to St. Joseph, though, was some of the roughest water we saw that day! A bit of wind, some current in the river...and it was like being in a toilet that's been flushed. ;-) Swirling around! More stuff in the boat hit the floor just coming into the harbor than had fallen or moved in the previous 6 hours.
While we were still out in the storm, we decided to try and get a slip at West Basin Marina there. It was right inside the entrance to the harbor and would be a much quicker tie-up. We'd talked to them yesterday and they were expecting to be filled to the max today because of the races. When we explained our situation to Andrew, the harbor master, he said we could come in and tie up to the fuel dock for the night.
So...here we are!
After hooking up, checking in, plugging up, we ordered a pizza and salad from Jet's Pizza in town and just sat for a while....
After lunch (a late one at 3 PM) we decided to walk into town for a frozen yogurt bar we'd spotted on the town map. It was a good couple of miles round trip...and HOT! Part of the trip was along a railroad track, though, and on the way back I picked up some great pieces of rusted metal for art projects: they will give a rust stain to papers. It makes the papers look antiqued. ;-)
Scenes of St. Joseph from our walk to town...
A drawbridge was part of our walk and as we started across a couple of sailboats needed to come through...
Neat little downtown area and it was hopping today!
Well, we're all tuckered out from our experience with storms today! In over 15,000 miles of boat travel we've never been in storms that were this strong...and for so long a time. But...the boat did well, and we did OK...so we'll tuck this one away as a day to remember.
Tomorrow we plan to travel to Michigan City (guess we'll be seeing these sailboats for a while longer).
Oh, I forgot. An interesting thing happened last evening at Eldean Shipyard in Lake Macatawa. Around 5:30 or 6 two Coast Guard members came up to the boat and knocked on the side. We stepped out onto the back deck and they asked if this was Wayne Prichard and the boat Journey. Yes. "Well, do you know anything about the "sheen" that was spotted at the fuel dock today at about 2?" Sheen? You mean like maCHINE? "No...an oil slick...a sheen." No....we weren't at the fuel dock. We came in and went straight to our slip. We did see the Coast Guard boat out in the lake and a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over... "Well, we were told by the staff here that you were at the fuel dock and bought two fuel filters and some fuel. Are you sure you don't know anything about the sheen?"
About this time, Wayne and I realize that they don't really believe us. They kept asking questions over and over...getting the same answers...and we insisted that a mistake had been made by the staff. Finally they left.
We started wondering whether the credit card would have been hit with charges for the fuel and filters. So today, when Eldeans opened at 8, Wayne called Jake, the fellow we'd been in contact with yesterday for a slip. Wayne explained the situation and that we might be made more vulnerable for Coast Guard boardings if they put the boat name on a "watch" list because of this mistaken information.
Long story short, Jake checked and found out it was a person on staff who's normally not in the office area that gave the Coast Guard misinformation. Jake called the Coast Guard and explained that a mistake had been made by Eldean and that our name should be removed from their records. He also verified that we had only been charged for the slip.
All"s well that ends well! Jake did a good job cleaning up that mess! ;-)
We’re moving on down to St. Joseph today. NOAA and Passageweather both predict waves about 1 ft. and winds 5-10. Waves should come on our stern and push us all the way. ;-) We have reservations at the Eagle Pointe Marina, which is way up the river in St. Joseph and we're a little leary of the depths we'll encounter on the way up the river. But...it's Labor Day Weekend! We hadn't planned to stop at St. Joseph, but our aborted trip to Grand Haven left us scrambling for reservations somewhere on the lower portion of Lake Michigan. St. Joseph is so busy, too, because of the Tri-State sailboat race going on this weekend. On Friday boats travel from Chicago to St. Joseph. Sunday, from St. Joseph to Michigan City...and on Monday from Michigan City back to Chicago. Illinois, Michigan, Indiana=Tri-States.
Leaving our slip at Eldean, we saw that we really might get one of the “scattered showers and thunderstorms” predicted for the day. Little did we know…this would be a day we’ll not soon forget.
“Big Red lighthouse” was looking good today!
It was neat seeing the sunrise peaking above the clouds...
When we left this morning at 7:15, fishing boats were pouring out of the harbor headed for their favorite spots on the lake. We were traveling about 2-3 miles off shore, and most of the fishing boats today were further out than we were. That was good because we didn’t have to alter our course to avoid them.
We'd been into the trip for about 2 hours when we saw in the sky...and on the radar...a rather large rain patch coming our way. (We're located in the very center of the little circle.) The waves had been on our stern giving us a push...but as we got closer to the coming storm (we were hearing thunder and seeing flashes of lightning) they started coming out of the southwest, on our bow. It was looking like we might get "some action" out of this storm...But...we really didn't have a place to get away from it.
This lasted 45 minutes, during which time we increased the speed of the boat to make the ride a bit smoother. We saw a good bit of lightning and had thunder claps...and the winds picked up.
Eventually...it looked like this on radar: we were engulfed. At this time, we didn't have rain on us..."just" wind and waves...
We passed a nuclear power plant and it was funny to see that IT was aglow!
So then...all that storm went beyond us. And we breathed a sigh of relief. The waves stayed on our bow, but we still had a push from wind coming in from the northwest so were traveling about 1/2 mile per hour faster than normal at 1600 rpms.
Then we saw the sky darkening again right in front of us. By this time we were passing by South Haven, and about half way to our destination.
This baby was out to make a point! For over an hour we had little rain...but were pummeled with high winds. I checked a weather app and found a "special weather alert" calling for storms in the area we were traveling. The storms were likely to have heavy rain, some hail...and winds 30-40 mph. At the time the picture above was taken...we had those winds!
Having had the experience at Thunder Bay on Lake Huron with the failed engine, we knew it helped to have a plan in mind...should something happen. We felt our canvas was at risk of being blown apart...so started talking about what we would do if that happened. We already had our life jackets on and our PLB's in our pockets. As we talked, we decided it would probably be good to just notify the Coast Guard of our location and situation. So we did.
Then...we just rode it out for over an hour. High winds...high waves...high anxiety!
Finally, about 20 minutes before we reached the St. Joseph breakwater, the storm passed. We were left with waves a bit higher than normal...but not like they were in the storm. Coming through the entrance to St. Joseph, though, was some of the roughest water we saw that day! A bit of wind, some current in the river...and it was like being in a toilet that's been flushed. ;-) Swirling around! More stuff in the boat hit the floor just coming into the harbor than had fallen or moved in the previous 6 hours.
While we were still out in the storm, we decided to try and get a slip at West Basin Marina there. It was right inside the entrance to the harbor and would be a much quicker tie-up. We'd talked to them yesterday and they were expecting to be filled to the max today because of the races. When we explained our situation to Andrew, the harbor master, he said we could come in and tie up to the fuel dock for the night.
So...here we are!
After hooking up, checking in, plugging up, we ordered a pizza and salad from Jet's Pizza in town and just sat for a while....
After lunch (a late one at 3 PM) we decided to walk into town for a frozen yogurt bar we'd spotted on the town map. It was a good couple of miles round trip...and HOT! Part of the trip was along a railroad track, though, and on the way back I picked up some great pieces of rusted metal for art projects: they will give a rust stain to papers. It makes the papers look antiqued. ;-)
Scenes of St. Joseph from our walk to town...
A drawbridge was part of our walk and as we started across a couple of sailboats needed to come through...
Neat little downtown area and it was hopping today!
Well, we're all tuckered out from our experience with storms today! In over 15,000 miles of boat travel we've never been in storms that were this strong...and for so long a time. But...the boat did well, and we did OK...so we'll tuck this one away as a day to remember.
Tomorrow we plan to travel to Michigan City (guess we'll be seeing these sailboats for a while longer).
Oh, I forgot. An interesting thing happened last evening at Eldean Shipyard in Lake Macatawa. Around 5:30 or 6 two Coast Guard members came up to the boat and knocked on the side. We stepped out onto the back deck and they asked if this was Wayne Prichard and the boat Journey. Yes. "Well, do you know anything about the "sheen" that was spotted at the fuel dock today at about 2?" Sheen? You mean like maCHINE? "No...an oil slick...a sheen." No....we weren't at the fuel dock. We came in and went straight to our slip. We did see the Coast Guard boat out in the lake and a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over... "Well, we were told by the staff here that you were at the fuel dock and bought two fuel filters and some fuel. Are you sure you don't know anything about the sheen?"
About this time, Wayne and I realize that they don't really believe us. They kept asking questions over and over...getting the same answers...and we insisted that a mistake had been made by the staff. Finally they left.
We started wondering whether the credit card would have been hit with charges for the fuel and filters. So today, when Eldeans opened at 8, Wayne called Jake, the fellow we'd been in contact with yesterday for a slip. Wayne explained the situation and that we might be made more vulnerable for Coast Guard boardings if they put the boat name on a "watch" list because of this mistaken information.
Long story short, Jake checked and found out it was a person on staff who's normally not in the office area that gave the Coast Guard misinformation. Jake called the Coast Guard and explained that a mistake had been made by Eldean and that our name should be removed from their records. He also verified that we had only been charged for the slip.
All"s well that ends well! Jake did a good job cleaning up that mess! ;-)
Friday, September 4, 2015
Leland to Lake Macatawa, MI
Leland Municipal Marina, Leland, MI, Sunday, August 30
The skies looked a little ominous as we left Harbor Springs on Sunday, August 30.
All was well on the trip, though, and we made our way down to Leland, MI, where we met our friends Tom and Sue. We first met Tom and Sue on the 2008 Loop trip when we were all stranded on the Illinois River due to flooding. Since then, we've kept contact with them and saw them this past winter in Florida. They have sold their boat and are spending the summers in their RV now. They were in Traverse City, MI, this week and that allowed us to get together.
We walked into town and had a delicious meal at the Riverside Inn. We talked and talked, trying to catch up on each other's adventures. ;-)
We woke up on Monday thinking we could make a move down to Arcadia...but the weather had worsened a bit. Waves were to reach 3 feet at times. After looking at several weather predictions, we decided to chance it and go on to Arcadia.
Yikes! We galloped, lurched, clutched our way down there all day! The waves were coming from the southwest and tended to hit us on the beam. We varied our course often...enough to make it more bearable, but still not good.
When we finally pulled into the protected Arcadia harbor, we breathed a sigh of relief.
We'd be staying two nights in Arcadia, we decided, because we were beat! Mark, the harbormaster, was very helpful and enthusiastic. Arcadia has a summer population of 2000. During the winter, 200! It's a beautiful area. It's so quiet and dark at night, you've no excuse for not sleeping! ;-)
Next morning we walked into town, small as it was. Wayne then walked to the convenience store for a few supplies and I walked to the beach park for more stones. ;-) That afternoon we busied ourselves with boat chores.
Nice little neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and flower garden accents...
Gorgeous old church, of course..
As I was headed to the beach, I passed a lady who had found a nearly perfect dead Monarch butterfly. She said there were many more this year than in years past...
Park at the beach..
My afternoon was spent doing laundry (had it all to myself again) and blogging.
The marina has a gazebo with chairs for lounging, many picnic tables set up on the greens, a park next door...what more could a weary traveler ask for?
Pentwater, MI, anchorage, Wednesday, September 2, 2015
We'd like to be in Michigan City, IN, by September 7, so we have set out a course to hit Pentwater, Grand Haven, South Haven...then Michigan City by Saturday. I know. Don't make such long-range plans when traveling on a boat. Well, the weather looks like it might cooperate...so we'll see.
The trip to Pentwater today was comfortable. We still had a few waves from the southwest...but the winds were not as strong as they were on Monday. We stopped at Ludington Municipal Marina on the way down to fill up on their cheap fuel: $2.49/gallon.
Coming into Pentwater we could already see the busy little town from the breakwater. We had a time finding a good anchorage with shallow enough water. We finally settled on a spot just across from the Pentwater Yacht Club, amid mooring balls. A man came from a house nearby and asked us nicely if we'd mind moving the boat over a few feet because the yacht club was having races that evening. We gladly complied...and it was fun to see the sailboats get ready for the races....
Wayne and Lucy heading for shore that evening...
We got up early the next morning ready to go to Grand Haven. But...the skies looked stormy. On checking the local radar it looked like a thunderstorm was to roll through the area soon...so we waited a while to take Lucy in and leave.
I took Lucy for a walk then and caught a few snaps of the little town area. Looked like a place worth spending some time! We've already decided that we will do a trip by car next summer and visit many of these small towns we're breezing through right now.
Whitehall, MI, Crosswinds Marina, September 3, 2015
The water today was on our beam constantly!! We zigzagged back and forth to keep from being battered sideways by the waves...and finally decided we'd had enough. We baled out and went into White Lake, MI, and a little town called Whitehall. Here we are coming through the breakwater...with a long way to go to our slip, across the lake.
Funny thing happened on the water today, though, in spite of the ill-directed waves. We saw something out in the water from a distance....
And it turned out to be a large flock of birds! Didn't see them close enough to identify what kind...but we'd never seen that many birds congregated on the water like that! They started flying off as we approached...
We got a slip at the Crosswinds Marina, within walking distance of town, for a sweet price of $1/ft, or $32. For that we got a slip, electric, secure wifi...and a courtesy vehicle! We borrowed the vehicle for a grocery run...and on the way we stopped for lunch at Pekadill's a recommended sandwich shop. Good lunch and, oh, they had ice cream. You guessed it! We then went on for groceries and came back in time to collapse for the day.
Eldean Shipyard, Holland, MI, on the Macatawa Lake, Friday, September 4, 2015
As we left Crosswinds and headed to Lake Macatawa...calm, calm waters on White Lake.
Still looking good as we left the harbor for Lake Michigan...
Lake Macatawa is a big cruising destination for those on Lake Michigan. The lake itself is large...so if the BIG lake is mucky you still might be able to enjoy boating on Macatawa. As we approached our destination we saw a large beach on the port side with many out enjoying this holiday weekend...
On the starboard side of the entrance was "Big Red," the lighthouse at Lake Macatawa.
We'd been given our slip number, Z 23, after making our reservation...so went there and got all tied up and plugged up before checking out the surroundings.
This is a HUGE marina! It took a while to get from Z dock to the office, but in doing so we saw how nice this facility is. There's a pool, restaurant (Pipers, which was, unfortunately, closed for the season), and several boater lounge/shower/bathroom buildings to accommodate the large number of boats.
And a cute little turtle to keep us company!
We signed in...then walked along a designated walkway to get to "Big Red." As we approached a guard gate, we saw a sign saying that the lighthouse isn't open today...only a couple of days a week. We were ready to turn around when a man stepped out of the guard house and asked if he could help. We told him our intentions, but that we knew, now, that the lighthouse wasn't up for viewing today. "Are you from out of town?' Yes, Tennessee. "Oh, well, then, you can go on over! We let out of towners go on over to the lighthouse."
Great! Then he gave us a map outlining the walking course and stressing there were private properties all along the way. But the path didn't go all the way up to the lighthouse. "Can we go in the lighthouse?" Oh, no. Only on a couple of days a year.
We started out along the path anyway...then realized that if all we were going to get is a view...we probably had a better view of the lighthouse as we came into the harbor. I had taken a picture, but the light angle was not good. I'll try to grab a better one as we leave tomorrow morning...
And a view of the harbor...
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