Open Water [ Lake Michigan- the less nice part ]

Number one lesson in cruising: never have a time frame. Lake Michigan made sure we learned that lesson, very very well. We weren’t necessarily rushing, but we had a goal to be in Chicago for the weekend. Our original plan gave us at least a day or two of leeway for weather and moving slow, but we ended up several days beyond where we wanted to be. Once we left South Manitou, it turned into a battle of the headwind for the next few days, changing all of our plans. Frustrating, but we are learning to go with the flow, and it all ended up working out anyway.

The days between Frankfort, Ludington, and Pentwater were warm and sunny, and annoyingly bouncy headed into the chop. We had to add almost an hour to every predicted trip time. Frankfort and Ludington were quick overnight anchorages, leaving at dawn to use every bit of daylight available. From Ludington, we had hoped to go another 40-50 miles, but the odds were not in our favor. In a slightly protected bay north of Little Sable Point we were only making 3 knots of headway, and we knew rounding the corner into the full force of wind and waves would be pretty much useless. Expecting a north wind to breeze us along the next day, we decided to turn back and pull into Pentwater.

Good ole Pentwater. A narrow channel led into a town on a lake with about 2 blocks of shops that were almost all closed for the season. We were the only boat with people on it, and it felt like there were about maybe 30 people in the entire town. It was eerily quiet, and we spent the day finishing projects and lashing everything down in preparation for the sled ride the next day.

Surprise! The cold front the night before whipped the lake into a washing machine and dropped the temperature 20 degrees. Just after dawn we walked to the pier at the channel and were transfixed by the 3-4 foot breaking rollers overwhelming the harbor entrance. Even with our best seamanship we were not getting out of that harbor, no matter what we did. It was spectacular. And we were trapped. It was another slow quiet day in town, and we resigned ourselves to waiting.

Finally the next day we were able to break free of the harbor, and we moved on to Grandhaven! The lake gave us a false sense of security with gorgeous sunny skies, crystal blue water, and a following breeze. Remember Katie and Jessie, our heroes and inspiration for this trip (katieandjessieonaboat.com)? Turns out Katie’s dad, Randy, lives in Grandhaven and through Jessie’s connection, offered to take care of us for our stay!

Talking to Randy before we arrived, he gave us an address and said to find him at some party when we got there. Not having any idea what to expect, we walked into a room with a live band, open bar, free food, and a bunch of people dressed in hippie wear. After asking some people, Randy appeared wearing a black curly wig and a tie dye shirt. Turns out it was the kick-off party for art week in Grandhaven, with the theme “Summer of Love.” It was great to meet Randy and his family, and the lovely artsy folk of Grandhaven!

The next day we got to explore and check out all the works of art in the street shop windows. We had to sit tight because Lake Michigan was back into frenzy mode, with big breeze and huge waves. We also got a tour of Marüshka, the screen printing shop Randy runs in downtown. It’s not just any t-shirt shop; the designs are made by local artists and hand screened onto any article of cloth you could imagine. I could have spent hours just exploring the store, the creativity on display was amazing. With the help of Randy and his brother Tari, we got all the help getting around town and advice we needed, as well as some shirts to show off for our trip. 10/10 would recommend Grandhaven to visit! Thanks Randy!!

To top off our Grandhaven visit, we managed to catch a musical light fountain show, the penultimate show of the season. Just across the river set into the hillside is a gigantic fountain, with different jets of water changing direction and shape to the tune of different popular songs, all lit up with different colors. It was so neat! We didn’t know it was going to happen- we were hanging out at the marina office trying to use the wifi as crowds gathered. It was the most exciting surprise! It was a lovely sendoff, as well as a reminder that our summer weather was gone and it was time to get off the lakes.

Finally, we were ready for the big crossing. After plans constantly changing, we had our weather window between gales. Standby for our next post- Lake Michigan wasn’t quite done with us yet!

"The Badger" from our questionable corner anchorage in Ludington