Chicago

When we left St. Joe Friday morning, Lake Michigan was not the "gentle lady" referred to earlier, but not the witch any of the great lakes can manifest. Our boat handles waves very well and we had just this "window" before more wind came, so we moved across the lake.  We began to see the Chicago skyscrapers more than 30 miles out!  We spotted smoke/steam along the south-figured it was New Buffalo then Michigan City.  When we saw a solid cloud of vapor, we figured it was Gary (we don't want to insult anyone but when Benjamin was 4, his maternal grandparents took him to Minnesota for Easter and when they went through Gary, he told his grandparents he thinks it should be called "Stinky", Indiana).

After passing the Chicago Harbor Light, we made our way to Dusable Harbor, the marina closest to downtown and the Navy Pier.  We tied up then walked to Navy Pier, where John discussed the difficulties of being cooped up on the boat with Mary with "Dr." Bob Newhart.

Navy Pier at night, as seen from our boat.

We arose early Saturday to ride our bikes when the pedestrian/bicycle path would be less congested.  Surely Chicagoans sleep in at least a little on the weekend.  There were so many runners!  Just as we were silently congratulating the people for being so committed to physical fitness, we came across a water station.  We were in the middle of a race.  We weren't the only bikes, either.  We rode down to the concrete path along the water's edge.  It was a lot rougher, but a lot less crowded.

Buckingham Fountain

We rode past Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Buckingham Fountain, Soldier's Field, the Adler Planetarium and old Meigs airfield on Northerly Island.  Chicago had wanted to close the airfield for many years.  It closed after 9/11, but eventually the FAA developed a plan to keep it open for 25 more years.  Mayor Daly had bulldozers move in one night and destroy the runway.  The city was fined $35,000.00, but didn't have to deal with the airfield any more.There were very few people on the island and it was a pleasant ride through a bird and butterfly sanctuary and prairie grasses.  We rode 11.5 miles.

Kevin, Mike, Kathy and Mary on Navy Pier

Our friends Kathy and Mike, from Midland, were in town visiting their son, Kevin.  We used to boat together a lot in the 90's. They do their traveling now in a fifth wheel.  They came to the boat and we walked to Navy Pier for lunch.  We always enjoy Mike and Kathy and it was great to have a chance to visit with Kevin.

Sunday we walked to the Willis (Sears) Tower and went to the Skydeck.  Received the best military discount ever-100%!  John's visit was free.  On the way,we detoured to "The Bean", actually "Cloud Gate" by British artist Anish Kapoor

and by the fountain that "spits"

Chicago citizens were the models

We ate Chicago pizza for lunch and took a taxi to the John Hancock building to see the view from the top.  Kevin had alerted us to the bar at the top of the building.  If you go up there and have a drink, you get the view without the wait and the cost.  We then walked to the Navy Pier to get a Chicago hot dog for dinner.

It was a looong day!

We took a pedi-cab back to the boat , even though it was only about a mile.

Goodnight, Chicago

We left Monday morning to begin our adventures on the river.

Still in St. Joe

We are still in St. Joe, as wave conditions have not been conducive to good boating.  Maybe tomorrow will be our chance.  If not, then we'll be here through the weekend!

Our rental car arrived that Thursday of our last blog entry-a red Ford Focus without cruise control!  We are spoiled.  It was okay, but not nearly as good a ride as Mary's Montego (her "old-lady car" as our kids say) or even as good as John's Mariner.  Mary was going to drive it to Tawas to visit her mom and dad because the gas mileage was so good, but we put the insurance back on the Mariner for 2 days and John drove the Focus around Alma and Mt.Pleasant.  We were home for 2 nights but basically no days-we arrived late Thursday,  Mary left the next morning for Tawas and John spent all day running errands (picking up a prescription, grocery shopping, etc.) when he wasn't doing laundry. Mary had a good visit with her parents and there was even a bonus-her sister Sue and Sue's daughter, Amber, were there.  Played one game of hand and foot (Mary and Amber won) and received a gift of fresh garden veggies-tomato, summer squash, green beans, and zucchini, yum.  John later grilled the veggies-more yum.

Our new dinghy is finally here.

We each woke in the night at home with a sensation that something wasn't right.  Mary stretched out her leg and didn't feel the side of the berth and John woke because it was so quiet (no water sloshing) so it appears we've adapted to having the boat as our home for the next year.  Came back to St. Joe early Saturday to avoid paying for 2 more days of rental since the Benton Harbor Enterprise office closes at noon on Saturday.  We did some more walking and biking and reading.  The woman who was to put the new letters and numbers on our dinghy was supposed to do it early Monday.  That would give Wolf's a chance to deliver our dinghy and complete last minute adjustments.  Traveling by water on Tuesday sounded ideal, so we called a marina in Chicago and made reservations for Tuesday.  The sign shop was struck by lightning Sunday night, so the letters weren't applied to the dinghy until Monday afternoon, the dinghy was delivered Tuesday and by the time all was finished, it was too late to travel across the lake within the good wave conditions window. We fueled (best price yet-only $4.20 a gallon!) and moved to the municipal marina to be closer to Lake Michigan (as opposed to further up the river) and beyond the railroad bridge.

Mary Frances IV at the municipal marina.

 The red brick building in the background is the St. Joseph yacht club, but it was the home of A Company, First of the 246 Armor when John commanded the Armor Battalion from 1991 to 1996.

As we approached the marina, we tried calling on the cell phone and hailing on the marine radio, but no one answered. Inside the breakwall, we could see an attendant at the gas dock, so Mary called to him, asking for a slip assignment.  With a shout and a sweep of his arm, he indicated that we could have our pick of "any of those over there".  We asked if someone could catch a line and he said he couldn't leave the fuel dock. Mary prepared to get herself and the lines to the dock as best she could. She had already accomplished this feat once, at Pier 33, the other marina we stayed at in St. Joe as the marina office is across the river from the slip they assigned and the attendant couldn't get there quickly enough to catch a line.  In that instance, the gentlemen 2 slips down, who had completed the loop in 2009, came down to help and complimented us on how well we could bring the boat in without assistance.  Mary accepted their praise graciously, but did admit it was the first time.

 Okay, back to the municipal marina and Mary standing at the stern with both bow and stern lines, knowing that what she has to do is step off and put the stern line around a cleat so John can pivot the boat using that secure line.  She stepped off just fine (hurray new hip!) but THERE ARE NO CLEATS!!!  We got in okay, using the posts to tie off.  The harbor attendant, a Michigan National Guard retiree, did come over to help and he and John enjoyed reminiscing.  He told us there are no cleats because it gets so rough in here that cleats would just be torn from the docks.  John, why did we move down here when there are small craft advisories and gale warnings the next few days?!

 Why we didn't go to Chicago until Friday.

                                     
We called Chicago to tell them we won't be coming 'til Thursday, then called them again today to tell them we plan to arrive Friday, as the wave forecast sounds okay.  The railroad track is close to this marina and Mary got up twice the night severe thunderstorms were predicted, as she heard the sound of a freight train and had always heard that's what a tornado sounds like.  Both times, however, a train whistle sounded before she got all the way to the deck.  Since tornadoes are probably not considerate enough give a warning whistle, she went back to sleep.  John slept through it, although he did awaken for some of the thunder and lightning shows.  

St. Joe

As stated earlier, we left Grand Haven Tuesday morning because the forecast called for the waves to kick up Wednesday.  As we approached the St. Joe lighthouses, we listened to the forecast once more. In the 3 hours it had taken us to travel from Grand Haven the forecast had changed completely. Traveling by water should be good for the next few days.  Oh, well, we're here now.

We contacted Wolf's Marine Wednesday and they brought our new dinghy to the boat and measured it for pads to match our Weaver davits (the system that allows us to stand the dinghy up on the swim platform).  We walked through downtown St. Joe and along the waterfront bluff.  They have "Farm-Fresh Art" on the streets of downtown-Sidewalk sculptures of farm animals.  Our favorite is:

DonQui Xote

Thursday morning we rode to town, along the bluff walk and down along the lakeshore and the breakwall.  There used to be an amusement park here and in 2010 a new carousel opened in commemoration.

A representative from Wolf's has been by today to check the pad placement and measure for the clips to match our standoffs. They will keep the boat until Monday, when the letters and numbers should be applied and we'll be able to move on.  We're waiting for word from Enterprise in Benton Harbor when they will be able to bring a car and we'll go home later today to pick up a some things we've missed and take home some things we don't need (Mary's cane!  Hurrah!).

Pentwater to Grand Haven

Saturday, in Pentwater, we attended their homecoming festival parade.   It appears to be easier to come up with a float in a harbor town.  Many of the trailers were boat trailers pressed into service for the occasion.  We stayed through Monday morning, as small craft advisories were in effect Saturday and Sunday.  Pentwater was a fun city to be trapped in.  We walked and rode our bikes along the waterfront and through the town. Things were pretty crazy on Saturday for the parade and fireworks. People started putting their chairs along the street at 10 am for the 4 pm parade.  John was happy to see this Superbee in the parade, as it reminded him of the first new car he bought-a 1969 Superbee.

We sat at a restaurant table along the main street for the parade and had a perfect view of the fireworks from the boat.

We saw an unusual boat in the harbor,  a German SEACAMPER: length 26 ft, 8.3 ft wide, 2 ft draw, 11 ft height with radar/bimini down, 7000 pounds. They are 2/3 finished with the loop.  The Jumbo  looks like a floating bus.

Monday morning we left for Grand Haven.  The lakes can be perfect, gentle ladies at times and today was one of those times, as shown in this picture by the Pentwater south breakwall.

We tied up at the municipal marina, which is directly across the river from Grand Haven's famed musical fountain, so we look forward to tonight's show. We walked along the boardwalk to the lighthouses.

John scouted bike trails for us Monday and Tuesday morning we rode 9 3/4 miles, much of it on Harbor Island, the site of Grand Haven's powerhouse.  We saw a freighter unloading coal for the powerhouse, but didn't have the camera.  The Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Ferrysburg area is great for biking.  We are heading to St. Joe today, as the weather doesn't sound promising for tomorrow and we have to be in St. Joe this week to get our new dinghy.  Oh, yeah, the fountain was fun.  Not quite ready for Broadway, but the bleachers were full, so it is popular.

A Tuggsy Tragedy

Tuggsy's last sail

Our niece, Lisa, her husband Dave and their 3 sons were camping at Ludington State Park, so came to the boat to visit.  The boys were playing with Tuggsy-Tug, tossing him in the water and retrieving him, as many other kids have done.

20 years of sitting in the summer sun had made the plastic brittle and poor Tuggsy broke apart.  We've had a Tuggsy on the boat since Matthew was old enough to play with one.  We had 2 for a while (2 boys, 2 boats) but the other one broke years ago.  We've looked online and locally, but cannot find another.

Lisa and family watching the Badger come in

The boys drove John's radio controlled boat without incident and we had a nice visit.

Thursday morning we left for Pentwater.  They are having their annual homecoming celebration here and we attended a strawberry shortcake social that evening and listened to the Pentwater Civic band and the Scottville Clown Band in concert.

Today, Friday, we are relaxing at our sloshy tieup along the wall at Snug Harbor Marina (the municipal marina has only one 30 amp service at each slip and we need 2) and cleaning.

Leland to Manistee

We motored out of Leland Harbor on flat water at about 8:30 Saturday, August 6, past the North Manitou Shoal lighthouse and South Manitou Island, with its lighthouse and the wreck of the Francisco Morazon, with the whole pilothouse above water.  Wove our way through lots of fishing boats in the Manitou Passage and by Point Betsie lighthouse, Frankfort, Arcadia, Portage Lake, and finally Manistee.  Joined the parade of fishing boats going in for lunch up the Manistee River.  The confusion was aided by those boats still trolling in the river and those who wanted to pass.  Up the river, just before the first bridge, we fueled and were assigned our slip at the Manistee Municipal marina.  Docking with a current was a new experience.  We learned a couple of things to keep in mind for the many river dockings yet to come.

Manistee River

We walked to the grocery store and took some pictures and John called a couple of old National Guard cronies.  Manistee riverfront is delightful, with walkways and pleasant gardens.  Many local residents

take advantage, including Karen and Phil Snyder, who stopped at the boat on their Sunday morning walk.  Phil and John were in the Guard together.  They picked us up and we went to the Bungalow for lunch and good company.

Petoskey to Leland

We stayed in Petoskey through Wednesday morning.  Had planned on 2 days, but the lake kicked up and we are fair weather boaters.  Slogging through 6 foot waves is not our idea of a good time.  Petoskey is a very boater friendly city, with a bike and walking path along the water and downtown in easy walking distance through a pedestrian underpass.  We rode our bikes to the grocery store, a little over 2 miles along the bike path toward Harbor Springs.  John rode south toward Charlevoix and was pleased to note that the bike path no longer runs along the highway.  We did some walking and a little shopping and relaxed-our theme for the next year.

We left Petoskey about 8:30 and ran on smooth water to our next planned stop at Leland, arriving there about 10:45.  We skipped Beaver Island, a favorite, as walking and biking there is over rough terrain and Mary's hip is still healing.  Bypassed Charlevoix, also.  We had planned to stay there and play in the dinghy, but it's not usable in its present state.  About an hour after we landed, the Leland Harbor became very busy.  Even though the renovations are extensive and included 20 new docks, many boats were still rafted by early afternoon.  Enjoyed charming and historic Fishtown, as always, and bought some smoked fish sausage to try for dinner.  Walked to the Verterra Winery tasting room to try a local Leelanau Peninsula wine for dinner.  The 2010 Unwooded Chardonnay was recommended to accompany the sausage.  Chardonnay is not usually a favorite of ours, but it was perfect to offset the salty fish.

And we're off..........

We crept slowly and silently (well, as silently as two 8.1 liter Mercruiser engines can be) from our slip at Mackinaw City at about 6:10 am Monday, August 1, 2011.  Not silently enough, apparently, as our next-door neighbor Noreen was up to wish us well and take pictures.

 (We didn't really wake her, she had stayed up after her husband, Jim, left early to go to work, so she could see us off.)  It's hard to imagine that we'll not be in the Mackinaw area again for about a year, as we've had a seasonal slip there since 1989 so have spent a good part of every summer enjoying the area.  Noreen and Jim gave us a beautiful set of embroidered pillowcases with our boat name and home port "so we remember where we belong".  The back of the St. Christopher medal from Linda and Ken says "Protect us wherever we may roam and guide us always safely home" so we ought to be able to find our way back to Mackinaw eventually.  In the meantime...

We cruised on flat water under the Mackinac Bridge, where we paused to drink a toast to the beginning of this adventure, past the St. Helena lighthouse to White Shoal Light and turned left. Cruising this area is a favorite, as the lighthouses at Waugoshance Point, Gray's Reef, and Skillagalee are on the route.  We picked up a little chop after the turn, but the run was fine.  Early morning runs tend to be best in the Great Lakes, but the lakes don't follow any rules, so attention to weather, wind and wave predictions and current marine observations are paramount.  As we were casting off the fuel dock in Petoskey (we used 100 gallons traveling to Petoskey from Mac City) to move to our assigned slip, the clock in the tower on the marina lawn was chiming 9 am.

We have been hoping to make this trip for about 25 years.  We spent some spring breaks and summer vacations traveling much of the route by car.  We joined the organization, America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association (AGLCA), that supports boaters planning, making, or dreaming about "the Loop" and attended a "Rendesvous" (AGLCA hosts 2 a year) in Charleston in 2008.  We intended to leave last year, but the Gulf BP oil spill changed our minds as we decided to let the area recover before we cruised down.  This delay proved fortuitous, however, as our navigation computer crashed on a run up the St. Mary's River in August of last year.  We sent it for repair and John reinstalled it during the winter.  When we turned it on after the boat was back in the water this spring, it wouldn't boot up.  Back to Maptech it went, where the new hard drive they had installed proved to be faulty.  It's working just fine now.  About the same time we were discovering that the nav system wasn't really fixed, the radar didn't seem to want to run, either.

John called Raymarine and explained the issues.  They told him the problem was the top circuit board and he would have to take it out and send it in.  He stood on a hassock on the front seat, with Paul steadying him and handing him tools, and removed it.  We didn't hear from them and our departure date was drawing closer.  When we finally reached them, they informed us they needed the lower circuit board as well.  This time it took a ladder from the marina office by the back seat and Paul again to steady the ladder and hand tools.  The unit was returned to us Wednesday, one day before our scheduled ride to Mackinaw with John's sister Jackie and Paul to begin the trip.  John and Paul installed it Thursday afternoon and it is working again.

If you are superstitious, you are probably anticipating "the third" as in "trouble always comes in threes".  As John returned down the dock after mounting our AGLCA burgee, since we are now officially "on the loop" he said, "What's wrong with the dinghy floor?!"  I put down my book and unfolded myself from the "Queen of  America" chair (the driver's seat turns and makes the whole front seat into a very comfortable reading lounge) and strolled back to the stern.  I didn't hurry, as I couldn't imagine the dinghy floor doing anything at all, much less something that required rushing.  Well, it looked as if someone had placed a small hot air balloon under the floor and inflated it.  Whatever holds the layers together has let go.  We have a new dinghy on order and it will be delivered to us on the boat when we arrive in St. Joe.