South Haven, MI

The last few days have been pretty slow and somewhat relaxing. We stayed at Holland for two days and we have now been at South Haven for two days. One day at Holland would have been plenty because the town was so far away and I just sat around and ate too much but the weather was a little windy the second day so we stayed. I did get caught up on the beer rations so it was not all bad. Ginny and I took a walk out to the beach and it was a lot like our home port beach where people take their little boats and anchor in waist deep water and socialize. When we were getting ready to leave Holland Cherie had a mishap on the boat and fell. She fell into the side of the boat and bruised her hip. We left Holland pretty early on Monday and headed for South Haven. The water was calm and the ride was very pleasant. We met a few other Loopers and some of them have had pretty rough water so we are feeling very fortunate. There are three public marinas in South Haven and we chose the first one on the South side. The marina is nice and is close to town but the boat is moving around quite a bit even though there is no boat traffic. Ginny and I went into town while Cherie stayed on the boat but she was worried about her injury so she asked the marina staff to take her to the hospital. They were glad to help and it turned out she was fine just very sore. We had dinner on the boat and then Cherie went to the beach to see the sunset. She didn't come home right after the sunset so we told here she wasn't allowed to leave the boat without her cell phone :-). We all walked about 2 miles to a Super WalMart today so we could do some shopping. It was really nice to have selection and price so we stocked up on water and other things and then took a cab back to the boat which was only $5 plus tip. We got a third meal out of Ginny's spaghetti sauce. Cherie made lasagna and it was great. We are going to Benton Harbor tomorrow and then to Chicago on Thursday.

Lighthouse at Holland, MI

A nice social gathering of boats at the beach

I am going to sue for copyright infringment

My favorite time of the day

Leaving Holland

The harbor at South Haven

The Black river in South Haven

Looking down from the road to town

Looking out the Black River towards Lake Michigan

One of the public marinas in South Haven

A very nice little city with plenty of shops

Cherie's sunset pictures

More sunset

Cheeseburgers & Cherry Pie or Grand Haven & Holland

We left Pentwater early on Friday morning and had planned to run to Muskegon but the water was very calm so we decided to run to Grand Haven which was about 56 miles. We came into Grand Haven about 1:00 P.M. We called into the municipal marina when we were a few miles away and they said they had one slip available so we asked them to save it for us. The municipal marina does not have fuel or pump out so we stopped at North Shore Marina and got fuel and a pump out. Diesel was $4 per gallon. The municipal marina is right on the river and has about 30 slips. Grand Haven is the busiest river I have ever seen. There was a constant stream of boats that went well into the night. Right across the river from the marina is a huge water fountain where they have a musical light show each night in the summer. It is like fireworks only with water and no bangs (OK, it's nothing like fireworks). The city is very close to the marina so we walked in to find a place for lunch. We were told to go to Pavilion's Wharf Bar and Grill for good burgers. They have 1/2 pound and full pound burgers. Ginny and I both got 1/2 LB burgers and it was one of the best burgers I have ever had. Perfectly cooked, good seasoning and great bun that didn't get soggy. We walked around town which is about 5 blocks long and they had some very nice shops. Many of the business's have a decorated fish statue in front of the store and they were all decorated differently. There were at least 6 Looper boats in the harbor and one of the boats hosted every one for drinks on Friday night. We got to meet a bunch of Loopers that we had not seen or met until now. The couples were from California, Florida, Alabama and Canada. Of course all of the guys were on the fly bridge and the woman were on the lower level. It's always interesting to compare stories between what I heard from the guys and what Ginny heard from the women. We had planned to stay in Grand Haven another two nights because the weather was supposed to get bad through Sunday. The marina said they didn't have space for us on Saturday night so we decided to leave Grand Haven and run to Holland about 20 miles away on Saturday morning before the weather got bad. The run was nice and we followed another looper boat which is always nice to have company. Holland is another busy harbor. When we came into the harbor there were 3 people on surf boards crossing the busy harbor without any regard for the 30,000 pound boat heading straight for them. We were able to get space at Eldean Shipyard which is right inside the channel. A very nice marina with great facilities and a pool. We will be here for two nights. The city of Holland is not close to the marina so we called a taxi to take us into the city. We (I really mean me) were hungry so I picked the first restaurant I came to which was called the Windmill. Now how bad could it be? Let's just say that I have been forbidden from picking the restaurants from now on. Downtown Holland is very upscale and there are a ton of stores and places to eat. Holland is the home of Hope College which is a small 4 year college right in the city. I wasn't really hungry after my fabulous lunch but I saw a pie store. Pies, pies and more pies, Oh My. My head was spinning and my heart was a flutter but I finally settled on a Cherry Crisp with ice cream. I was willing to share with Ginny and Cherie but they didn't want any so I had to eat the WHOLE piece. Ginny was sitting with me so I couldn't lick the plate but it was great anyway. When I got back to the boat I needed some Gatoraid to settle my stomach but I recovered in time for dinner at a great place right at the marina. The wind is still up so we will be here until tomorrow at least.

Leaving Pentwater

Sand Dunes on the way to Grand Haven

I think they ride dune buggy's here

Approaching Grand Haven

Grand Haven Harbor Entrance

Inside the Channel

Nice Facility right on the river

Local power plant in Grand Haven

Ginny and Cherie at my cheeseburger place

Fish art on the streets of Grand Haven

Looking down main street towards the river

The grandstands for the water show

The water show across the river

A farmers market near the marina

Leaving Grand Haven

Approaching Holland

Look closely at the idiots crossing the harbor on surf boards

The docks at Eldean Marina in Holland

One of the nice houses in Holland

Nice statue in the city of Holland

4 dogs, are you kidding

Pentwater

As I mentioned in my last post we had a pretty bumpy ride to Pentwater from Ludington. Well I can tell you that Pentwater is probably my favorite city so far. You might remember that I like things close and especially the grocery store. The store was a 100 yards from the boat and the rest of the city was also very close. Pentwater has a very nice marine store and I was able to replace the dinghy gas tank. The tank was easy to find but the hose and the connectors that connect the tank to the engine are much more difficult. Each engine manufacturer has their own connectors and there are several different ones for the tank. Long story short, I did not get the hose at the store, so I researched it on the internet for hours and was finally able to figure out which on I needed and ordered it on the internet. The part will be shipped to our daughter's to be delivered on Labor Day weekend. There were a lot of shops and dining options. My favorite was an ice cream store where I found two perfect coney dogs. We ate dinner on the boat both nights. Marge on Escape made BLT's one night and Ginny made spaghetti the next. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Mike and Marge last night after dinner. They are headed home after being out for two months and we were headed farther south to Grand Haven.

Bad day on the water for a few ships

We didn't stay at the municipal marina but it was right next door

Hey how about that, a sunset.

If you look real close there is a fisherman on the wall

Taken from the boat looking right down main street

Sailboat races every Wednesday

Farmers market in town

I hope they have insurance

Daily visitors

Last dinner with the folks from Escape

Leaving Pentwater into a flat lake Michigan

Who's driving

Coming into Grand Haven

Ludington and the Badger

We went from Manistee to Ludington on Monday. The weather was perfect and the seas were calm. We stayed at the Harbor View Marina instead of Ludington Municipal. It is a great marina with a pool and hot tub. We docked on the wall at the end of the marina closest to the river and also right in the park. Ludington is the Michigan port for the car ferry called the Badger. The Badger is 441' long and travels between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It takes about 4 hours for the crossing and in the summer there are two trips per day. We got to see the ship come into and leave Ludington several times over the two days we were there. Ludington is a nice city with plenty of shops and restaurants. The beach was only a few blocks away and the walk to town was very pleasant. We had pizza one night and then cooked hamburgers on the grill the next night. They had a big ice cream store that I was able to avoid. We had planned to stay until Thursday because the weather was supposed to be windy on Wednesday but better on Thursday. When we got up on Wednesday the forecast was for 3-5's on Wednesday and worse on Thursday. We were only going 10 miles to Pentwater, MI so we decided to give it a try and then we could always turn around if it was bad. The waves were as predicted but they were on the bow which was much better then on the side. The water was coming over the top but we weren't pounding so we kept going. The boat was trashed but we made it OK. I was driving at first and we went over a couple of pretty big waves and Ginny turned around and looked out the back just in time to see the dinghy gas can fall off of the swim platform and go into the lake. I did not have the tank secured because it was kind of covered by the dinghy and had never fallen off before. I told Ginny to come about because I was going to get that tank and I didn't care how big the waves were. Of course I am just kidding, we kept going. Does anyone out there think that Ginny will ever let me not secure the tank again once we replace it, I don't. I told Marge from the Escape what happened and she said, well you learn something new every time out. I think we will be in Pentwater for two days and then travel to Muskegon on Friday. There are several Looper boats at the marina so we will probably have a few cocktails.

Leaving Manistee

Manistee Harbor Light

Fishing boats following us into Ludington

One of the sculptures in the park in Ludington

Another statue

We didn't stay in the municipal marina but I took a picture anyhow

Downtown Ludington

Harbor View Marina

Marge and Mike from the Escape

The Badger coming into Ludington

Leaving Ludington

Just past the breakwall

The Badger dropping anchor in the harbor

Nice sunset

Stuff all over to be picked up later

Coming into Pentwater

Snug Harbor - appropriately named after the trip