Racine and beyond.

 July 26, 2023

        When we left you last we were finishing our visit in Milwaukee preparing to move south to Racine.  The Racine marina at Reef Point proved to be more than we bargained for.  They had 921 slips and the marina was so huge they couldn’t get out to your slip in time to help tie up.  Luckily the restrooms and showers were halfway down the central dock, so closer than most had been so far.

        We needed to stop here to pick up parts that we had ordered and had delivered to the marina.  My head(toilet) had a vacuum leak that needed repairing for it to work properly.  The parts were waiting for us.  Thank goodness.  Bob obviously had his work cut out for himself.  After retrieving our parcels we went to the marina saloon and had a well deserved maneuver schlook.  

       We needed to stretch our legs so we got our bikes off the boat and took a little ride to familiarize ourselves with the area.  Racine is a large city of 77,000.  We wanted to see what their Lake Michigan Pathway was like.  We had plans to ride to the Wind Point Lighthouse the next day.

        On July 13 we outfitted our bikes with panniers, baskets, and buckets and left for Wind Point Lighthouse.  We planned to view the lighthouse then continue on to Aldi to provision then back to the boat.  The weather was perfect- about 77 degrees and only a mild breeze.

          It took about 25 min. to ride the 6.5 miles to the light.  Very pretty ride along the lake most of the way.

Quite a history

          Next stop is Aldi’s.  Another 3.4 miles over to the grocery.  It was a good Aldi’s, very busy and lots of choices.  We go through fruit and vegetables pretty quickly.  A weekly trip to a grocery is almost mandatory.  With our bike laden and very unstable, we started back to the boat.

         The next day, Friday, was our wedding anniversary.  After Bob worked on the head, we decided to go into town to a local pub for linner.  It was advertised as an Irish Pub but was called Ivanhoe.  We decided to give it a try and we were not disappointed.  The food could have been terrible (it wasn’t) but the Smithwicks beer made up for any shortcomings. We had a very enjoyable linner then headed back to Carolina for a late afternoon snooze.   We would be leaving early tomorrow crossing Lake Michigan to South Haven, MI.   This is a trip of about 60 miles in open water.  We have gained a healthy respect of the Great Lakes  and are very careful when choosing weather windows.  This one looked like a good one.  

The 60 nm would take us about 8 hrs.  We have lots of daylight to play with but the marina offices tend to close early so chances are we’ll get there after closing.  We have an assigned slip and charts to get us there.  We were on the water by 8:45 but we would lose an hour crossing the time zone.  We found out as we were leaving that the Hook Race was taking place that day.  There were sailboats everywhere waiting for their start time.  We threaded our way through them and set our course on the autopilot.

     Within a minute we were heading 180degrees opposite of our intended course.  Bob reset the autopilot and once again it corrected itself by 180degrees.  I guess Carolina didn’t want to leave Racine.  I took over the helm, hand steering, while Bob went to trouble shoot this new issue.  All he could find was that the magnetic compass used by “Otto” our autopilot was surrounded by boxes of wine.  Had “Otto” been drinking?  He uncluttered the compasses space and we tried again.  That seemed to help so we were on our way to South Haven.    We arrived in the marina after hours.  When we found our slip it was already occupied.  The people in our slip said we could take the slip 3 down from ours.  It was a different side tie so I had to move all the fenders and spring lines across to the port.   What a royal pain.  The woman on the offending boat said, “we’ve all had to move fenders!”  Turns out they’re a problem to the marina.  They come in and take what ever slip suits their fancy then makes someone else move.  We made sure the next day that our slip was not rented for the next 3 days so we wouldn’t be left with no place to stay.  That’s a real crappy thing to do, by the way.  Taken a slip you are not assigned to creates a multitude of issues for everyone except the offender. 

      We enjoyed our stay in South Haven.  We ate lunch one day at Captain Lou’s.  We found some good bike trails to ride and some cute shops to look in.  We stayed through some very unsettled weather( high winds and huge swells).  

Great spot on the river for lunch

The obligatory topsail cutter for sunset cruises

Pier light

Pier light from shore

Marinas foliage

     We hoped to stop in Grand Haven next but there were no slips available and anchorages were few and far between.   In the mean time, I developed a sore tooth.  I was concerned that it was an infection under my crown, so we opted for Holland, a bit bigger town.  We could also get a slip there.

     On July 17th we set our course for Holland, MI.  Holland is a city about the size of New Bern about 34,000.  We arrived in Lake Macatawa at the Eldean Shipyard.   This marina is barely off Lake Michigan and not very near the city of Holland at all but it was a great facility.  The dock master helped us find a taxi and could take us into town.   Bob started calling after we docked looking for a dentist who could see me.  I was in so much pain, I could barely talk.   Finally Dr. Rogers and Lakeside dentistry said he could fit me in at 4:30.   

     After numerous x-rays and much tapping and biting,it was determined that my upper left molar needed a root canal.  Dr. Rogers said they didn’t do the but could refer me. The pain was substantial and I was less then happy waiting another day for relief.  He gave me a referral and all kinds of phone numbers and a prescription for amoxicillin to keep infection down.   The next day we started calling at 8am.  They could all see me in AUGUST!  I called Dr. Rogers’ office back and his receptionist gave me another doctor to try.  He was local, which meant at least one more day in Holland, but we didn’t care.

       Dr. Hazelwood said he’d see me during his lunch hour.  Praise the Lord!  Of course, nothing is ever easy.  Our taxi was 20 minutes late, making me that late for an “I’ll squeeze you in” appointment.  The taxi driver refused to take money for the trip(he had driven us the day before too and knew about the painI was in).  The doctor was more than helpful.  At first they were just going to do a temporary fix but when he heard our summer/fall plans, he finished the job completely.   His next patient had to wait an extra 30minutes but they were taking care of her.  I know a root canal is not a wonderful experience usually, but this time it was.  The kindness and caring of these doctors was above and beyond.  

       Now we had weather moving in - I say that but it was basically big wind bumping up the lake.  If the waves get to two feet with a period less than 6 seconds we stay home.  That’s what was predicted so we decided to see Holland.   There was a great bike trail from our marina into town - about 6 miles.  We had already taxied into town and back twice for appointments at $40. a trip.  We knew the way by heart and had spied some of the things we wanted to go back and see. The day after my root canal we loaded up the bikes and headed toward Windmill Island Garden to see the authentic windmill.  It was a lovely ride, cool and along shaded paths right near Macatawa Lake.  

Authentic Dutch Village(gift shop)

Authentic bridge minus the counter weights

Bob on a grinding wheel

Archimedes’ Screw

Very scenic authentic windmill - carted over in pieces and reassembled by a Dutch artisan

Us at the windmill

     They actually grind wheat and oats here but their master grinder found other work during the pandemic closure and the new master has not yet arrived.  They were also doing some repair work on the sails.  It’s quite impressive to walk through.

     We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Holland even though it was an emergency stop but now it was time to move on.  We decided to anchor out for a few nights and enjoy the quiet. We chose a stop in White Lake for our anchorage.  On the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan most of the towns/inlets are formed by rivers or canals leaving an inland lake.  We cruised off Lake Michigan into a canal that connects White Lake to Lake Michigan.  At the far eastern end of White Lake is the town of Whitehall.   We had no desire to go to a town so we find a secluded anchorage near Birch Brook and put our hook down for the night.  It was lovely.  The next morning we encountered our first mussels.  We had about 150 ft. of anchor chain out and 100 ft. Of that was covered with little tiny mussels that had to be brushed off.  It took us about 20 minutes to get all the chain cleaned and back onboard.  Hope this never happens again!

        The following day we continued north up Lake Michigan to Ludington.   There we were hoping to catch-up with an old Texas sailing club friend.  Unfortunately she had a prior commitment and could not meet us for a dinner on the town.  Maybe next time we’re this way we’ll catch you Katie.  We did take some time to ride the bike trails and see the town.

      Next stop would be Manistee it was just a one night stop but it just so happened that it was the night a laker would pass through the narrow channel from Lake Michigan into Lake Manistee. It was a sight to behold.  He had to hold position a stern of our docked trawler waiting for the bascule bridge to open.  What a sight!

Manitowoc making her way into Manistee Lake

    Next stop on our agenda was Frankfurt.  The municipal marina is in Lake Betsie just through a short channel from Lake Michigan.  We were docked along the water front and the Betsie Valley Trail a walking/biking trail.  We had planned on staying just one or two nights but a blow came through and we extended our visit.   This gave us time to ride the bike trail and get our propane tanks refilled.  We also discovered the most awesome cafe for breakfast.  The Lighthouse Cafe was about 2 miles along the bike trail.  We had to wait 25 minutes for a table and 30 minutes before our food came but it was so good, all is forgiven.  It’s no wonder people lineup outside before they open at 7.

Bicycles laden with propane tanks for the stove

Frankfurt Ironworks

Bell Tower in Elberta 

Marina from the Elberta side of Betsie Lake

        We also rode to the old iron works and train round house in Elbert.  Some very nice bike riding in this part of Michigan.  We enjoyed our stay in Frankfurt and made some new friends too.

      Now we really have to put it in gear.  We left Frankfurt on July 30th and cruised to South Manitou Island to anchor for the night.  A very nice, protected anchorage with a sandy bottom.  No mussels this time though there were water skiers and a number of fast boats cruising through.  Luckily for us, no bugs!

       Next day we cruised to Omena Bay, just south of Sutton Bay in Grand Traverse Bay.  We anchored for the night here also.  Very quiet bay, very little traffic, and water so cleat we could see our anchor.  Great holding in sand.

       NEXT STOP TRAVERSE CITY!