Rain, and Winds, and Waves - oh my!
This week we continue South on Lake Michigan. We are skirting the Eastern Shore of this very, very big lake . Think ocean big with borders of land that sometimes you can see, and sometimes you can’t. When storms come in, there is wind. The winds pick up the water and make really big waves. BIG waves. Waves that crash into the land with such force, they blanket the beaches and wash over the piers and breakwaters. It rains. It rains buckets! This makes for very bad boating. Hence, we have stayed hunkered down for the last 3 days, safe in a marina in Ludington, Michigan.
Ludington is a cute little town. There are small store lined streets in walking distance, pretty parks, and meetings every day of the week. There are a half dozen other Looper boats here also, waiting out the storm. Everyone is saying Thursday will be our best bet to continue South and get us 50 miles closer to Chicago. So they all tell me. I’m not so sure, for I am not a big fan at all of wind and waves.
Ludington hosts the Ferry Boat, “Badger” and it’s sister ship “Spartan”. The Badger Carferry is the last coal-fired vessel operating on the Great Lakes and is a National Historic Landmark. This vessel shuttles passengers, cars, RV’S and Big Rigs from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin and connects US Highway 10 between these two cities. Truckers, for about $80, can put their truck on this ship and enjoy a 4 hour trip across Lake Michigan instead of driving themselves! It’s pretty impressive when the ship comes into this port and you can actually see the trucks inside the boat.
The marina we are in is right in the turning basin for this 410 foot ship. We watched it come in the few nights we were here. It has an amazing way of turning and backing into its slip. The Captain deploys it’s anchor in the middle of the channel, and then spins the boat around using its anchor as a pivotal point. It’s impressive.
I’ve been wanting a haircut for awhile. No better time than this. I haven’t had a haircut since we left Florida, and the salt air, wind and humidity has done a number on it over the last few months. I made an appointment and feel like a new woman!
We took a shuttle to Walmart on Wednesday. Wooohooo! Highlight! Our big adventure out. It’s the little things!😂
So, remember how I told you about a Thursday morning crossing? 50 miles to get us closer to Chicago? Winds? Waves? Yeah, today is Thursday. Sun is out, skies are blue, and this - Looks like a beautiful morning as we leave the channel in Ludington.
But, this is how we will spend the next 5 hours!
Before we left on this adventure, I secured all of our Knick - Knacks that are on shelves with Museum Wax. Today I’m very glad I did. The ride is rough and the waves are big. Jim says we are fine, but me, I get worried. Sometimes, when we hit a wave a certain way, it feels like we are going to tip over. Freaks me the fuck out! If you are the kind who gets sea sick, today would be the day you barf. 🤢
This is a video taken from the comfort of the recliner couch inside. Notice the land popping up and down outside he window. Welcome to my world!
Here’s an ad for Museum Wax. Not a thing is falling off our shelves!
Our destination today is Great Lakes Marina in Muskegon, Michigan. We actually are doing just fine. Jim is at the helm, and last time I checked, he had his ear pods in watching an episode of Monk on his iPhone. He is such a great Captain, and I know we will be safe and secure in a few hours time.
After a very lumpy ride, we made it to Muskegon Lake, and our anchorage for the next few days. We aren’t out of the stormy weather yet. Our plan, if God is willing, and the creek don’t rise too high, is to leave here Sunday, go 30 miles south to Holland, then 50 miles to Benton Harbor, 30 miles to Michigan City, and cross the bottom of Lake Michigan to Hammond, Indiana. We will stay there until the 5th of September, then go 20 miles north to Chicago, where we are going to gather Jennifer from the airport! We will spend 2 days in Chicago sightseeing, then start down the Illinois River towards Peoria. Jen will be with us on that leg of our adventure. I’m looking forward to having her on board and watching her experience a little piece of our world on the Happy Destiny! Jen has always been my biggest cheerleader, and I’m excited for her arrival. This is all very speculative, as we certainly don’t know what the weather may bring. We can always rent a car and pick Jennifer up from Chicago, but we can’t boat in 11 foot waves! Lake Michigan is out of control right now!
Today, is Saturday, August 25. We are still in Muskegon and it has been raining for hours. The wind is howling! It’s chilly, but not so cold that we can’t sit in our comfy chairs on the aft deck. As Jim was washing the dishes this morning, the water pump began to make the noise! The noise of - The fresh water tank is out of water! I put on my foul weather gear, and out I went to fetch some water. 😂
MUSKEGON
This afternoon we found another meeting and attended it. There’s a few funny stories to tell about the two meetings we have attended in Muskegon. Without going into details and taking the inventory of a few of its members, let’s just say Muskegon is not prepared to handle Los Angeles recovery. They are a bit sensitive, and they all need sponsors! 😜. A short walk to Home Depot for a few things and a Uber ride back to the boat for a barbecued Swordfish dinner. Life is good!
Sunday afternoon. Holland, Michigan.
Looks like a picture perfect afternoon here in Holland, right? Well let me tell you, our trip here from Muskegon found us in pretty calm waters, but the visibility was what you could see in front of your face! For the first time on this journey, I felt a little bit scared. I know in my heart, that Captain Jim has our backs. We have a radar system, which allows us to see other boats in the water, albeit, they are yellow blips on a screen, but today I thank God the Happy Destiny has a radar. We also have a navigation system, which allows Jim to plot a chart, which we follow to our destination. Today, because it was so foggy, we were struggling to see the channel markers for the entrance to the safe harbor and our slip. As we got within a mile of the channel, lots of boats began to pop into view. Seriously, I was on the bow looking intently, and out of the blue a boat would appear. One boat, two, boats, three, four, five and then - I saw people in the water! And then I noticed we were about to be on the beach with them! Jim backed out and we made a u-turn pretty damn fast! We were just a bit short of the channel! We got back on track and within a few minutes were making our way into the channel. What surprised me was the number of small day boaters leaving the channel and going out into the dangerous foggy Lake Michigan. STUPID! I know for a fact these types of boats don’t have radar, and don’t have navigation systems. They have coolers full of beer and 8 adults, 4 kids and a dog on board. And no one but the kids are wearing life jackets, and the kids are only wearing them because it’s the law. Unsafe boating practices! I was grateful to get to our marina. We are safe and sound.
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You can see where we made the U-turn at the beach! 😂 It was so foggy!
The marina we are in is nice. It has a pool and two jacuzzi’s which we have enjoyed, even in the winds and rain. The problem, with this marina, is that it is right in the channel, and the storm we are having Sends the wind and waves through the channel and right under our boat. We will be here at least 4 days. There is no good weather for boat travel until Thursday. That means we are screwed! I can’t begin to tell you how uncomfortable it is to spend 24 hours bobbing like a cork, in a slip, tied up to a dock, with winds slamming into your boat, rain coming down in sheets, thunder and huge bright lightning strikes in view, and nothing you can do about it.
Tuesday, we Ubered to the downtown area and wandered for awhile. Along with wind and rain has come humidity! It is hotter than hell here, and the beads of sweat just roll off of you. We were looking for a grocery store that we could walk to, but the only thing we found was this.
It was 12 blocks from where we were, so, onward and upward! We needed bananas! I’m all for a good Mexican market! Feels like home. We picked up the bananas, some carne and pollo asada, and some tortillas. Caught an Uber back to the boat and had us a good ol Taco Tuesday!
Another night of rain and winds. Along with that comes beautiful pictures.
Wednesday brings more stormy weather but a bit less humidity. Thank God. We Took another Uber trip, this time to a real grocery store. Jim saw something that sparked his interest across from the market. Holland Bus Company. We wandered over and looked at RV’S I think Jim wanted to buy one just so we could get the hell out of Michigan! Seriously though, we have had the discussion about what we are going to do after our Loop. Maybe an RV Loop is in our future. Stay tuned.
We finished up our shopping, returned to the boat, had some dinner and scoured the weather reports. Tomorrow is the day! We are out of here!
80 miles and 8 hours later we arrived at Washington Park Marina in Michigan City, Indiana. The 11th State we have traveled through! We ventured out to the beach and had a wonderful walk to the lighthouse on the breakwater. It was a stunning evening.
On Friday, the 31st, we left early for Hammond Marina in Hammond Indiana. This is our layover stop for 5 days before we hit Chicago on Wednesday. There is a Motown concert on Saturday night here at the marina. There is the Horseshoe Casino on the premises, and a town not far away. I am going to deep clean the boat, probably throw some more shit away that we don’t need, and get ready for Jennifer to come for a few days. Jim has some projects to tackle also. One of our toilets quit working so he needs to address that. He loves fixing stuff, but plumbing is not his forte. In fact, he hates plumbing projects.
I can see Chicago from here. The skyline looks a lot like New York. I’m super exited to get there. I’ve never been. Chicago, the Windy City! Chi Town! This is another one of those cities that I have dreamed about getting to on the Great Loop. It literally is 20 miles from where I sit right now. Eeeeeeeeek.
This is a super long, weather filled blog. We have made it to the downside of Lake Michigan. We entered this lake back when we crossed under Mackinac Bridge, and it has taken us 20 days to get here to Indiana. We were not able to travel 9 of those days due to weather. Lake Michigan is gigantic, and I for one, don’t want to go back anytime soon!
Thanks for peeking in on this weeks adventures. To my children, grandchildren and our fiends, we are both looking forward to seeing you next month when we travel to California for a few days. YAY!
Until then,
peace and our love❤️
