We really liked the town of Grand
Haven, MI. It was probably one of the best along the eastern shore of
Lake Michigan. Can't say that the marina was one of the best. The
staff was great; the facilities were great, the dock’s in good shape and the
proximity to town was excellent. The problem was the water.
Viridian tugged
on the dock lines and chewed on the fender balls the entire time we were tied
up here. The water was non-stop washing machine confused. Every
boat there was in constant motion, all day and all night for three
nights. We looked like drunks walking to town after spending the night
onboard. In all the marinas we have visited so far, this one was the
first one we couldn't wait to leave. The only reason we stayed as long as
we did was because of the sea conditions on the lake. This was no doubt
contributing to the constant turbulence, along with the wind, but
this morning everything was dead calm.
A thick fog rolled in and with it
came calm winds and calm water. The fishing boats leaving before sunup
were the only thing disturbing the water as we made
Viridian ready
to get under way. Nav lights, radar and instrument panel lights were
switched on as well as the ship's horn.
The course was a straight line south for about 67 miles to
the town of St. Joseph, MI. Once we cleared the inlet we were on
instruments for the next 50 miles. The fishermen had not been able to get
out until now due to the high wind and wave conditions for the last few
days. Now they were making up for lost time. We saw them on our
radar as our path cut through their fishing holes. Most of these fishing
boats were trolling at slow speeds with a half dozen lines trailing
behind. If we got within 1/4 mile of them we would sound a prolonged
blast with our horn every two minutes. Usually this would require only
one blast since they would be behind us pretty soon. We both had to keep
a constant lookout both at our instruments and outside as we motored along our
electronic rum line in the soft glow of LCD light.
Long before the fog lifted, a tired
little bird called the American Goldfinch visited us. It had found us 10
miles offshore and needed a place to rest, probably because it had gotten
disoriented in the fog. Once it caught its breath it began hunting down
any bugs we had onboard and eating them with gusto. It found several spiders
and some flies that we had killed and had blown into a crack. It climbed
the halyards on the mast and cleaned bugs from places we can't reach.
This went on for a good while, and every now and then it would be seen flying
around the boat looking for an opening in the fog so it could continue on its
way to wherever it was going. We don't know when Mr. Finch left us, but
there were fewer bugs onboard and it was for sure he left on a full stomach.
The last few hours of our passage was under a sunny sky, and
it was getting on to be about 1500 as we turned into the St. Joseph
inlet. It was a madhouse of boats, Sea-Doos and weekend water lovers
trying to squeeze in the last few days of summer before it all comes to an
end.
Our slip in the West Basin Marina was
tucked in a protected harbor mostly filled with local sailboats. It was
quiet and away from the madding crowds. However, it didn't stay quiet for
long! After we left the marina store, which was quite a hike from our
slip, we stopped by the restroom and laundry house to check out the
facilities. All was peaceful until I heard someone banging on the
door. Outside, we could hear an extremely loud horn blasting away like a
runaway train was about to appear soon. It was Viridian, and
the horn was somehow stuck on again, like it did at Half Moon Bay in New
York. We hurried over to turn it off at the breaker panel as people
stopped what they were doing and began pointing and standing with their hands
on their hips looking in our direction. We did not know just how loud our
horn was until now. Standing directly in front of it, even 50 yards away, makes
you want to cover your ears. We killed the ear-splitting, resounding horn
but not soon enough to ease the upset little girl who was walking past Viridian with
her Dad when the horn decided to let go. They thought there was some sort
of alarm system that was set off by someone getting too close to the
boat. She was wrapped around her Father's leg the whole time we were
talking and would not give eye contact. We need to look into this horn
issue.
That's the news and here's some views:
We are
here
Today's route from Grand Haven, MI to St. Joseph, MI
Tanker backing out again
Lunch at the Toasted Pickle Restaurant in Grand Haven, MI
Parmesan cheese fries
Leaving Grand Haven, MI in fog
1/8 mile visibility
This is Finch the Bug Eater
He cleaned our lines
Checked out the bikes
Looking for bugs
Hunted along the boom
Found every spider onboard
St. Joseph Inlet
Viridian docked at West Basin Marina, St. Joseph, MI.
