South Haven to Hammond Indiana

The South Haven Marina was on the Black River, had nice homes, businesses and parks on it's banks.  As we were docking, the bow thruster went out!  Luckily the wind and current pushed us right onto the dock.  Bill wasn't sure if we had sucked something into the propeller or what had happened.  Turns out the coupler broke and we would have to make our way to Hammond without a bow thruster.  

The river was bustling with boat traffic and sightseers walking the riverside down to the beach and up to the center of town.  There were lots of shops and restaurants in town.  We had dinner at Clementines; it had a really nice "antique" atmosphere and the food was great!  After dinner we called it an early night because we had to be up and headed out early in the morning to complete the ride to Hammond Indiana before the winds and waves pick up again.  The forecast for winds and waves don't quiet down again until Saturday.    

We loved South Haven!  I would love to come back here when we have time to get the dingy in the water and explore all there is to offer there.  

Headed into South Haven! The beach was busy with everyone enjoying the last hours of Labor Day weekend.  

Dinner at Clementines 

Headed back out onto Lake Michigan Tuesday morning.  Roxie is up and ready for duty!

Bye South Haven! 

The lake was rough....I almost got seasick working down in the office in the morning.  Thank goodness I had two meetings that kept my mind busy and off being bounced around!  

Chicago!  Were getting close!

Of course the winds kicked up on our approach to Hammond marina.  Luckily we were able to tie up to the end of a T head pier with the help of some loopers.  This is home sweet home until the lock opens in Chicago in October.  

Hammond marina is very large marina with over 600 slips.  The docks are in really good shape as are the piers.  The only drawback is the walk for Roxie to go potty.  It's like a half a mile away!  But it's no big deal since we could use the exercise anyway.   The other thing is that it is really rolly in here.  It's probably due to the direction of the winds that we outran....that are not supposed to let up until Saturday.  

Don't think it is just a coincidence that Bill picked a marina that has a casino nearby.   Not just nearby, the Horseshoe Casino is right at the end of our pier!  We spent the afternoon in the Casino and had lunch.  We like to play video poker.  Bill got seven 4 of a kind hands on one machine!  I wasn't so lucky....he won what I lost.  

Wednesday morning Bill got to work on ordering the parts for the thruster.  Turns out it is a "right off the shelf" part and they will ship it to us by tomorrow.  That's good news.  In addition all the work is done from inside so we don't have to get hauled out!  While I was working Bill decided to take a celebratory stroll around the casino and would you believe that lucky duck hit a Royal Flush!  Awesome! 

The part did not come until Friday morning.  Bill had the part switched out in less than an hour and the bow thruster is working great!    

     

Mackinac to Muskegon

Monday morning we were up early and left Mackinaw for a long 53 mile ride to Charlevoix.  It took us a little over 8 hours towing the dingy.  The sky was clear and the water was smooth as we headed out into Lake Michigan!  

Once out in the lake the ride did get a bit rough.....3 foot waves on the nose.  Roxie was on the edge of being seasick but held it in!  Bill and I did fine.  I even worked in the office.  We were happy to see the dunes at the entrance of Charlevoix.   

To get into Round Lake from Lake Michigan we must pass through a draw bridge.  It got a little tricky because we had the current and the wind at our back, pushing us toward the bridge that still had 10 minutes before opening. We managed to stay out of trouble, and we had a long line of boats waiting for the bridge as well, including a 100 yacht!

Heading through the bridge.  

Charlevoix Municipal Marina is located just inside Round Lake but unfortunately we were unable to secure a dock, so we headed out the other side of Round Lake into Lake Charlevoix and over to Oyster Bay to anchor.  

We have weather headed our way and we needed to buckle down for a couple of days to wait it out. The anchorage in Oyster Bay had great holding, good protection from all but south winds.   The big drawback....nowhere to take Roxie to land.  The anchorage, and most of the shore in this area is private and lined with big beautiful homes.  So, Roxie and Bill have a 2 mile ride back to Charlevoix Municipal Marina to take care of business. 

Tuesday morning Bill and Roxie had to make the trip to Charlevoix in the rain.....while I worked.  Haha! 😁 

Most of the day Tuesday was gloomy, cold and raining.  

As I write this blog, we are getting sustained 15 knot winds with gusts to 27 out of the north!  Which we've got protection from!   I hope our 125lb Mantis Anchor (Agnus) holds!  I guess dinner in Charlevoix is out and Roxie may be tested tonight!

We had another strong gust and Agnus slipped about 20ft before grabbing hold again!  We decided that we better reset the anchor and moved more toward the center of the anchorage.   We reset and settled down for a blustery night. 

Looking at the forecast the winds and waves were going to die down Wed night with a good weather window for getting down Lake Michigan before another round of wind and waves come back on Saturday and not letting up until Tuesday!  Bill made some calls for possible dockage and we lucked out and found a marina who had space for us.  We decided that we would leave tomorrow around 4 and do an overnight run, getting as far south as we could overnight and docking at Safe Harbor Marine in Muskegon.      

Wednesday morning.....actually pretty late in the morning because the lake was still roaring, Bill took Roxie into Charlevoix for a potty break.  I which I had taken a picture......he was all bundled up like he was going snowmobiling!  The temp was in the low 50's and he had a rough & wet 2 mile ride into Charlevoix.  

While he was there he asked the Municipal Marina dockmaster if we could come in and tie up Cheers for a couple of hours.  The graciously allowed us to stop in and while tied up there we did some provisioning and prepared for our overnight run.   

We made it through the 4:30 bridge and off into roaring Lake Michigan.  The first couple of hours were a little bouncy, but not terrible.  Long before dark the winds and lake settled down and we were looking forward to a nice cruise.  

Pictures do not justify just how big the waves were!  

Oh, did I mention it was our 37th wedding anniversary?  Nature gave us a beautiful sunset and moon rise.  And not just a normal full moon; it was the Blue Moon.   The moon was so bright it made traveling so much easier.  Bill and I took 2 hour shifts throughout the night.  

Yep, that's right!  549 feet deep!!

Blue Moon rising!

    Beautiful!

Blue Moon over Sleeping Bear Dunes!

We couldn't have asked for a better travel night.  We made it into Safe Harbor Marine in Muskegon about 2 pm.  Looking forward to a nice, long holiday weekend!