Lake Michigan - Part III

 TRAVEL DAY 113 - Pentwater to Grand Haven

September 11, 2023

7.06 Hours/ 56.5 Miles

    I awoke knowing that first light wasn't far off. The water in Pentwater harbor was still and I took that as a good sign. Our group plan was to head out at daybreak to take advantage of the 6 to 7 hour weather window and beat the high winds forecast for this portion of Lake Michigan. If the weather were to turn bad we had bail out points at Sylvan Beach and again at Muskegon. I knew some rain was on the way.

 

At least it's flat

 

All electronics going

    The boats cruised along like a convoy of truckers, chatting on the VHF about breakfast and other silliness as we settled into our desired speed in an easy swell of fresh water and light rain. At this point in the Loop we are about half way down the western coast of Michigan. 

 

Our Convoy

    4 hours in, we made our first bailout point and thankfully the seas and wind held, so we cruised on. A fog settled in and I lost sight of the other boaters but could see their "blips" on the radar. Another 30 minutes and we reached bailout #2. We were now an hour or so from Grand haven and although the seas picked up some, it was not bad enough to abort. With 1' to 2' waves and a 3 second interval, we cruised on.

 

Bailout Point #1

    Just as we neared Grand Haven breakwater, the fog lifted and the seas flattened. We made it. Today it was a good call. The harbor entrance was a welcome sight as we throttled down in the no wake zone and moved toward the marina just past the Coast Guard station. Our assigned slip was much farther in than we anticipated, and slightly off the main river. This turned out to be a blessing as the other boats had to deal with constant motion from the incoming wind and waves while we were tucked in a nice calm area around the corner.

 

Snug

    We were here 4 days early, driven by poor weather on its way. In a few days, our friends from Florida were coming for a planned rendezvous. In the meantime we scoped out the town. We discovered a very active Pickleball community with 6 excellent courts and a group of anywhere from 60 to 100 people playing each day. We planned to use our time wisely and tune up our skills.

 

We got plenty of Pickleball in

    This would prove to be a great stop with so much to do. As the season in Michigan starts to wind down, some things are closed but there are still plenty of restaurants, bars and shops to keep us occupied for 9 days. We continue on our Great Loop Brewery Tour with Grand Armory Brewing and Odd Side Taproom both of which had great beer & trivia! The Looper Team placed 3rd at Grand Armory and, well let's just not mention our stinging defeat at Odd Side Ales.

 

Grand Armory Brewing

    After 4 days, our Looper group moved on down Lake Michigan without us. Branden Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles locks south of Chicago were closed months ago for maintenance and are set to open September 30th. This closure means no one is going any further until the locks open. We knew we would be catching up with all or most of our friends in Hammond Indiana waiting for the opening of the locks. As of now, we have received our flotilla assignment to get through the 1st lock on October 6th. The AGLCA has been corresponding with the Army Corp of Engineers to facilitate getting Loopers through. One of the biggest hurdles with the closure is, that these locks are very commercial in nature and there is a lot of barges and tows waiting to go through. We have to be moved through in conjunction with this "priority" traffic.

Grand Haven Musical Fountain

 

    Part of the reason for stopping in Grand Haven was to meet 2 of our dear friends from Florida. They arrived on Friday afternoon & came to pick us up so we could stay with them for another 4 days at an Air B&B. The crew was really looking forward to sleeping in a bed that didn't move.

 

Wooden Shoes in Holland, MI

Holland with the Johnsons

    It was a great 4 days that ended way too soon, but we got a lot in. Several days of Pickleball and a fantastic fishing trip in Lake Michigan for King Salmon. With a car, we were able to travel to Holland for a day of exploration.

  

Great Lakes Fishing (Shorebilly Too, Johnson, Last Arrow)

 

Pickleball Y'all

    With a heavy load of salmon fillets, we invited a few of the Loopers to the house for a dinner party. It was a great opportunity for our Florida friends to meet some of the folks that we spend our days with over the past 7 months.

Shorebilly Too, Next Chapter, Johnson, Last Arrow

 

Best grilled Salmon ever!!

    The visit ended so quick but we were anxious to fire up the Camano and continue our trek south.

    

Pentwater to Grand Haven

TRAVEL DAY 114 - Grand Haven to Holland

September 19, 2023

3.03 Hours/ 22.7 Miles

    Pau Hana got a somewhat late start but the trip to Holland was a short one. We had originally planned to skip Holland and go directly to Saugatuck but the Harbor Host for the area offered our crew & the crew of Last Arrow a free dock for the night complete with electricity. Free is almost always good, and this was great. 

Out of Grand Haven

    As we entered the main harbor, we got a call from Last Arrow instructing us on where the dock was. We needed to nose in as the slip was shallower farther in, leaving our running gear in the deepest part of the water. We settled in and tied up. Chance & Jenine the AGLCA Harbor Hosts greeted us.

Holland Dock

    That evening we ordered pizza and played a spirited game of Farkle, then back to the boat for a quiet evening.

Farkle with friends

 

Grand Haven to Holland

TRAVEL DAY 115 - Holland to Saugatuck

September 20, 2023

1.62 Hours/ 10.7 Miles

    Today's journey was another short hop south. It was a good thing. As we approached the inlet it was clear that like Michael Scott said "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" It was, all the way to the Saugatuck. We were able to tough it out as the waves were meeting us on the starboard bow. Fairly quickly the seas built to 4' and I pushed up the throttle to get the nose up. Taking water over the bow at about every other wave, but the Lake Michigan freshwater bath beat anything the southern waters threw at us.

 

Rough day on the lake

    Shortly after an hour, we made our turn into Saugatuck and the Kalamazoo River. This would be the trickiest part of the journey. With large waves coming at the entrance from the southwest, we had to turn into the trough. I gunned the Volvo up to 3200 rpm's and made the turn between the red and green lights and the stone jetty entrance. I wrestled the wheel port and starboard as I favored the south side of the entrance, knowing the incoming sea would try to push us into the opposing north jetty. It was a tense few minutes as the bow swung up, down, left and right. My crew was a little nervous but thankfully trusted my skills to get the job done, and I trusted Pau Hana could do what she needed to get us in. As soon as we got past the first breakwater the water flattened out and we breathed a sigh of relief.

Saugatuck, MI

    We motored up the Kalamazoo River past some very beautiful homes above the high banks. The river channel opened up to Kalamazoo Lake and we could see our intended anchorage for the night had no other boats in it. Perfect. We eased up to the location just off the channel and the deck crew dropped the Mantus down as I called out the 6/1 ratio of rode to depth.

Dinghy Time

    With the boat secure, we dropped Lil' Scuz and headed to the town dock. Time for lunch. We strolled to Pumpernickel's and were surprised to find Shorebilly Too & Jolly Roger just finishing up their lunch.

Shorebilly Too & Red Pearl

Chilaxin' with the Crew

    A little shopping with the crew and of course no shore leave is complete without a Brewery stop & Saugatuck had Mitten Brewery (the state of Michigan looks like a hand/mitten).

Holland to Saugatuck