Leaving Manistee, MI
Entering Ludington
Ludington Municipal Marina
The "Badger" - The last coal fired ship on Lake Michigan
We successfully pulled away from the dock at Seng’s Marina
at 7 a.m. after yesterday’s repair to the shift cable, and our only delay was a
slow-moving railway train which kept the railroad bridge over the waterway in
Manistee closed for a period of time before it could open for us. Wind and wave conditions on Lake Michigan
were quite good, and the trip was only 25 miles, so we made great time to our
destination which was the Ludington Municipal Marina in Ludington, MI. We headed directly to the fuel dock to get
filled up, since their prices were some of the best around, but this process
can take some time. However, by 11; 15
a.m. we were tied up in our slip. A
short time later there was a knock on our door, and “Loopers” Jeff and Anne
Timmons introduced themselves. Their boat, “Harvest Moon”, is a Mainship 39’
and their homeport is Alexandria Bay, NY.
We immediately invited them to come aboard, and learned that they own
our first book, and they recognized “Reflection” from her picture on the front
cover. They were a delightful couple, but they were only staying here at the
public wall for a short time, since they were on their way to an anchorage in
Pentwater, which is about 12 miles south of Ludington. George went on a “scouting” walk around the
town, where we had spent three days because of weather on our previous “Loop”
trip, to see if any things had changed.
Besides new condos going up, the waterfront area looked much-improved,
our dining spots were still there, and the “Badger”, the coal-fired ship that
is a car and passenger ferry that operates between here and Manitowac,
Wisconsin, continues to operate. In the
early evening we walked into town to have dinner at the “House of Flavors”, a
family –type restaurant known for its home-style cooking, “Soda Shoppe” décor,
and over-the-top ice cream sundaes, sodas, and cones. We waited outside for about twenty minutes to
be called to our table, and the place was crowded with people of all ages. After our hot turkey dinners with mashed
potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, followed by ice cream (of course!), it was a
good thing that we had a several block walk back to the boat!
8/10/2015
We pulled out of the marina at 6 a.m. for a 91 mile trip to
Lake Macatawa (Holland), MI. However, as
we traveled south in calm seas with very light winds, we also became aware that
a line of thunderstorms would be coming across Lake Michigan from out of the
west from Milwaukee to Muskegan, so after awhile we decided to pick up our
speed and high-tail it south to Lake Macatawa before the storms would hit and
the seas would pick up. Conditions
continued to be good, so outside of our dodging a large amount of small fishing
boats, as well as some fish-trap areas, we did the 91 mile trip in about 8
hours. We even passed “Harvest Moon”
along the way. Instead of going straight
to the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club where we were scheduled to bring “Reflection”
for a two-week stay while we returned
home to New Jersey, we decided to go farther up Lake Macatawa to a
protected anchorage for the night. It
was a lovely spot, and after we were anchored for about two hours, George
decided to run our generator for awhile before dinner. However, George quickly discovered that the
water pump impeller on the generator had gone bad. So, we immediately lifted up anchor and
headed back down the lake to the Eldean Shipyard, where we could have repairs
made the next day. We finally got tied
up to a dock there about 5:30 p.m. We
did manage to evade the thunderstorms all day, and though our anchoring plans
changed, we were quickly able to find another solution. Ya’ll just have to be flexible!
8/11/2015
By 8 a.m. this morning George had already talked with a
service mechanic at Eldean, and a short time later, he came aboard to work on
our generator. While he was there, we
additionally had him install the new water-heater that was delivered to us in
Petoskey, and also check the new shift-lever cable which George had installed
on Saturday in Manistee. After all this
work was completed, we then backed carefully out of our slip at Eldean with the
wind howling out of the west, and made our way next door to the lovely Macatawa
Bay Yacht Club, where Aubrey, the young Dock-Mistress, was there to take our lines and assist us
in. The club has very-well kept facilities
along with a separate Junior Sailing Building, and a swimming pool area, and
later we enjoyed a great dinner in their dining room over-looking the water.
8/12/2015
Today was spent making preparations for our drive home to
New Jersey tomorrow. So, Pat was up
doing laundry at the MBYC facilities while George prepared the boat for our
absence. After getting everything packed
that we wanted to take home, late in the
afternoon George picked up our rental car in Holland and drove back to the club
so that we could pack up the car with all manner of things: a galley seat
cushion and a screen for repair, clothes, an abundance of charts and books we
no longer needed, a cooler with food items from the boat refrigerator which
wouldn’t last, and paperwork, etc. that we always take with us. Afterwards, we drove into Holland for dinner
at “Fricano’s Too”, a pizza restaurant recommended to us by our nephew, Chris. The pizza here comes in only one size, and it
has the thinnest crust we have ever had (even in New Jersey) with a choice of
only six toppings. The restaurant had a
full bar, a selection of wines and beers, and had a waiting line going out the
door when we left. The simplicity of
their menu really worked! The pizza was
delicious, and we had a great time! We retired early when we got back to the
boat as tomorrow’s wake-up was 4 a.m. for our 830 mile trip home! So far on this “Loop” journey we have
completed 3,100 miles since we left Marathon, Florida on 4/7/2015 – and we
still have lots more miles to go!
8/13 – 8/24/2015
We were very busy during these eleven days keeping doctor
and dental appointments, catching up
with some of our friends, checking on things at our house, celebrating George’s
birthday, our neighbor Tony’s birthday,
and our nephew Ken’s wife Nancy’s birthday, as well as having Pat’s
brother, Father Tony, and his friend, Linda, pay us a visit. We also made lots of preparations for a
presentation we will be giving at the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’
Association in Rogersville, Alabama in October.
The time went by very quickly, and we returned back to the boat after a 13
½ hour trip at 6:20 p.m. The winds had
been howling in this area for days, but we found our boat to be fine, thanks to
our Macatawa Bay Yacht Club neighbors who kept their eyes on “Reflection”, and
replaced some of the fender lines that were keeping her off the dock. We really appreciated their care and
consideration!
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