Great Loop Overall Statistics to date:
Statute Miles: 3488.4
Average Miles/Day: 47.1
Total Hours Underway: 473.1
Average speed (mph): 7.5
States Transited: 14
Total Days: 161
Travel Days: 74
Locks: 43
Fuel Purchased: 902.5
Miles / Gallon: 3.5
Nights at Extra Days
Marinas: 45 79
Anchor: 19 6
City dock: 3 0
Free Wall: 8 4
Mooring: 0 0
Weather and Route Planning
We stayed in Ludington and were trying to decide whether to proceed down the Michigan coast or to cross over to Wisconsin and make our way south on the western side of the lake. We watched the weather forecasts from several sources and saw a slow-moving front approaching that would create a nice, slow, wind shift from generally easterly to south – affording us good protection along the dunes of western Michigan over a perfect number of days. Our decision was made for us as to which coastline we would follow – shown below:
Travel Day 68 Leaving Ludington
We delayed leaving due to winds and seas from a front that had come through the day before. Leaving the following day worked well as the winds had shifted to the east, allowing us to stay just off the shore for protection and smoother water. We arrived at around noon and made our way up to the Eastern end of White Lake to a very nice marina and the towns of Montague and Whitehall.
Travel Day 69 Leaving Montague
We left early again to take advantage of light winds. After exiting White Lake we turned south onto a very calm Lake Michigan. It would be a straight shot 40 miles to Holland if we are able to stay off shore a bit today. By mid-morning the winds had shifted a bit to the north and came up as forecast to 15 knots directly on our stern. Along with this were two to three foot swells also on our stern, so we gained a little extra speed from being pushed along towards the South. We enjoyed a great face-dock location at the marina that had our bow pointing straight into the strong wind as we approached. Easy.
Travel Day 70 Leaving Holland
We left before light again so that we would have calm winds and seas for as much of the morning as possible. Also, leaving early allows us to arrive at our destination prior to the afternoon high wind peaks that have been occurring for the last several weeks . The wind and waves were forecast to stay out of the north northwest most of the day. A gentle swell on our stern quarter added about quarter of a knot to our boat speed as we headed south. By late morning we still did not have any wind driven waves, but had a 2-3 foot slow swell causing us to surf down some of the waves - hitting over 8 knots at times. We arrived to a crowded, narrow fairway marina just after noon. Luckily there was no wind to contend with maneuvering into the slip.
Travel Day 71 Leaving St. Joseph
A short day planned today to Michigan City to allow the winds to come around more out of the south for our leg to Chicago on Saturday. Day by day we've been slowly keeping up with a veering wind which started East, then southeast, and then coming around from the South on Saturday. This allows the land mass to give us protection from wind and waves each day, while still following the curvature of the land of the western to southern Michigan shoreline. The timing just worked out by us making some "strategic delays" along the way. This morning had us traveling through a light chop from the east-southeast. We have two legs left on Lake Michigan before heading down the congested river system starting in Chicago. I will miss the "set-it-and-forget-it" nature of the wide open Great Lakes routing/navigation. We started out in a straight line towards Michigan City, but at about 2 miles offshore it got a little too lumpy for us, so we turned back in close and followed the curved shoreline the rest of the way into the marina harbor.
Travel Day 72 Leaving Michigan City
After a confusing time zone change the previous day, we left at 7:00AM Central time. Instead of a straight line to Chicago, the 10-20 mph south winds forced us to hug the curve of the shoreline again. We traveled a longer distance following the curvature of the Indiana shore at the southern end of Lake Michigan, but we were far more comfortable than we would have been out in the middle of the lake.
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Great Loop Travel Days (GLTD):
068: Montague MI from Ludington MI
069: Holland MI from Montague MI
070: St Joseph MI from Holland MI
071: Michigan City IN from St Joseph MI
072: Chicago IL from Michigan City IN
Map of our Overall Great Loop travel:
GLTD068 Montague MI (from Ludington MI): We left Ludington MI before sunrise, under rainy skies. Seas made for a lumpy, but tolerable, ride.
Though not as monumental as the Sleeping Bear Dunes (from our last blog), these dunes with nearby homes were impressive – and surprising. It looked like a desert scene!
We had a relaxing ride for several hours. By mid-day, we were entering White Lake, on our way to the marina.
This is White River Light Station (at the entrance to White Lake) built in 1875 and operated until 1960. It is now a museum. The first light keeper, Captain William Robinson, came from England and served 47 years with his wife Sarah and their large family of thirteen children. Frances Marshall, who also served here, was the last female lighthouse keeper in Michigan.
After entering White Lake, the marina was still about half-hour away at the far eastern end.
By early afternoon, we were docked at Ellenwood Landing Yacht Club. The harbor master was very welcoming, and the marina had nice amenities, including a boater lounge with kitchen, free washer/dryer set, and a pool/hot tub. This view of the marina from across the lake shows you a bit of the area’s beautiful natural landscape. (I love cattails!)
After securing SCOUT, we walked less than 1/2 mile to 2 of the 3 breweries nearby.
Sawyers Brewing (left), in a c.1930 building that was originally a dry goods store, still has some of the original brick and rafters.
North Grove Brewers (right) is in a huge gathering space with arcade games. We had fun playing pool (poorly).
On the way back from the breweries, we stopped for a few groceries. Montague Foods – right across the road from the marina – has a great selection of items.
I was impressed with this freezer section of gluten free treats!
Late in the afternoon, we walked the other direction, across the bridge, to the next cute town, Whitehall MI to visit the third local brewery before dinner.
Fetch Brewing is in the c.1912 State Bank building, and still has the original vault – now with a new floor tiled with pennies!
While looking at the circular waves logo, I finally realized what “Fetch” represented. The definition of fetch was highlighted on one of the walls: The distance wind travels across open water in order to create a wave. Our wave is craft beer.
For dinner, we enjoyed taco Tuesday at nearby Pub 111, where there was live music.
GLTD069 Holland MI (from Montague MI): Ray piloted out of the marina at 6:45 while I tried to sleep in a little. Though not sleeping, I rested through Ray stowing the electrical cord above our bed and starting the engine, but as soon as he used the bow thruster, my brain went into "emergency" mode. In addition to the loud noise, I guess my brain associates bow thruster with "last resort" maneuvering. 😊
🟠 Life Afloat Tip: I spent the morning, beginning to lay out a rough timeline to determine where best to store SCOUT for a trip "home" to see our son and attend the annual Great Harbour Trawler Associates (GHTA) meeting. Once I secure a slip for the month, I will need to find a rental car and "housing". Then I may schedule some doctor appointments.
📞 Future stay marina planning: I called to reserve a slip -- outside of Michigan for the first time in a month!
🔸 Excitng News: I received notice from America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association (AGLCA) that one of my photo entries was selected to be featured in the 2022 AGLCA Calendar! We featured this photo of Croton Dam Bridge (in Croton-on-Hudson NY) in one of our Hudson River blog posts: https://n37scout.wixsite.com/travels/post/2021-june-the-great-loop-hudson-valley-big-hills-no-car-small-challenge
I saw a few Monarch butterflies out on the lake. I thought this was strange, because we were not close in to shore. I later saw a Facebook post indicating there was a large annual butterfly migration south in progress.
Interesting Fact: The annual fall migration of monarch butterflies to their southern wintering grounds in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico has begun. But the butterflies that make this journey are not the same butterflies that flew to Michigan and other parts of the northern U.S. and southern Canada this spring. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, they’re actually the spring migratory monarchs’ great-great-grandchildren, called the “super generation,” a cadre of monarchs born in late August and early September that travel farther and live longer than the four to five generations of monarchs born earlier in the year.
As they make their way through Michigan, traveling up to 50 miles a day, the super-generation monarchs follow “flyways” that often hug the Great Lakes shorelines where wind and weather patterns help push them along. Their route includes favorite roosting spots where they’ll congregate at night and in inclement weather, sometimes gathering in such numbers as to create a monarch-colored kaleidoscope in the trees.
Find real-time migration maps at https://journeynorth.org/monarchs.
The stairs to the beach from these homes built on top of dunes were interesting. There are sandbags along the beach front that leads me to believe there has been some erosion.
We arrived and docked at Ottawa Beach Marina on Lake Macatawa shortly after noon.
Restaurants and breweries were too far to scooter from the marina, so we had planned to just relax on the boat. Then, we found out the 1 set of washer/dryer was free, so we washed a load of clothes, while otherwise relaxing.
Later in the evening, Ray captured great photos of a “Wednesday Beer Can Race” sailing regatta. We had a front-row seat to the southernmost buoy action on the outside of the dock!.
GLTD070 St Joseph MI (from Holland MI): We left before daylight. This will probably become a new trend as summer ends and the days get shorter. Weather is a little cooler these days too; Ray has put on socks and slippers. 😊 The house lights were on inside Holland Harbor Lighthouse – a rare sight for us.
Captain Needs A Rest: Ray had a harsh episode of allergies – common for him when a cold front moves through. He finally took some Tylenol-Sinus (to help with sneezing) and rested while I took the helm.
🟠 Life Afloat Tip: I spent some time with budgeting chores, continued planning for a trip "home", and did a little blogging. After a few hours of "swell" seas, I felt a little "icky" and had to take a break from the computer.
Even with large swells, the water was sometimes glassy as the wind died. I appreciated the gorgeous blue hue of Lake Michigan on this sunny day! We had not seen much blue during our many cloudy travel days.
Shortly after noon, we arrived and docked at West Basin Marina in St. Joseph MI.
Not to Miss: Food: We enjoyed relaxing for a few hours on the boat before walking 1.6 miles into town to Silver Harbor Brewing Company.
Ray had a smoked stout. I had a smoked old fashioned. The smoking process was quite a “display” from a purely marketing standpoint. It did add a lot of “color” to the drinks, though!
Both the Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts and the Harbor Burger we shared were awesome!
GLTD071 Michigan City IN (from St Joseph MI): We left Michigan City early enough to see an impressive sunrise over Lake Michigan.
Milestone: We entered our 13th state on the loop -- Indiana.
We left Michigan, where we had spent the last month.
Interesting Facts:
Michigan has the most freshwater coastline of any U.S. state.
Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that is entirely within U.S. territory.
Lake Michigan has a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ of its own. There’s an area of Lake Michigan where many unexplained occurrences have left people bewildered. Occurrences have included unexplained ship disappearances and missing planes.
Before noon, we arrived at Washington Park Marina, a large, active, and very friendly marina.
With many choices for sightseeing – a nearby beach, zoo, and casino, we opted, instead, for … Outlet Mall shopping! We had 2 backpacks, and I was ready to find shoes, among other things. 😊
Along the way, we walked through this impressive rock garden (right beside the marina). I couldn’t find information about the garden or the artist(s).
And, we stopped at the riverside park beside the draw bridge to view the first responders memorial.
We had planned to stop at the brewery for dinner on the walk back from the outlet mall, but…it started raining (unforecast) and…we had left hatches and windows open on the boat. 😮
So, we made a hurried walk back to the marina to put away all of Ray’s shopping “finds” and my 1 pack of socks. 🤔 I guess we’ll consider those two 1-mile round trips exercise today. 👍
Not to Miss: Food: Shoreline Brewery & Restaurant is in a c.1947 building and has a large patio area. Ray enjoyed the large selection and quality of beers. We enjoyed our individual meals -- Grecian Lamb Burger (with gluten free bun) and Italian Fennel Sausage Pizza.
We got back to the boat and retired early to rest up for what had the potential to be a bouncy ride to Chicago the next morning.
GLTD072 Chicago IL (from Michigan City IN): Since we were in a new time zone, it was light earlier in the morning. We set our clock for 5:30 Central Time (6:30 "our" time, Eastern Time) to leave at first light.
Wind was already 10 mph, but Ray made a smooth departure from the tight slip and fairway. We saw a few more dunes, then nothing but industry along the Indiana shore.
By mid-morning, seas were rolly, but I was able to work at the computer. We began to see the Chicago skyline beyond the grey skies. As we got closer, the skyline seemed to be 50 shades of mostly blue/grey. 😉
Before noon, we were docked in Chicago at Burnham Harbor, about 2 blocks from Soldier Field (stadium).
Ray gave SCOUT a much needed wash. Then, early afternoon, we Uber’ed just over 1 mile for dinner at a German restaurant and brewery, The Berghoff Restaurant and Adams Street Brewery. The food was very good.
Berghoff History: When the World’s Fair came to Chicago in 1893, Herman Berghoff set up a stand […]and sold his beers to people entering and exiting the fair. His success at the fair prompted him to consider a more permanent place […]. The Berghoff opened doors in 1898, selling beers for a nickel -- with a free sandwich!
When Prohibition hit, Herman began brewing “near beer” and soda pops, and during the 14 years of Prohibition, The Berghoff became known for authentic German fare.
When Prohibition was lifted, Herman was able to procure Chicago’s first ever liquor license, opening up The Berghoff Bar while still running the restaurant. This honor is now a yearly tradition, with the city ensuring that The Berghoff establishment always receives the city’s first liquor license.
The bar, when opened, served men only. It wasn’t until Gloria Steinem and several other members of the National Organization for Women demanded to be served in 1969 that the segregation ended.
In 1913, The Berghoff moved from its original 1898 location to the first of two buildings constructed in 1872, immediately after the Great Fire.
Later that night, at the marina, the fireworks across the lake at Navy Pier were pretty against the city lights.
We stayed busy for 2 days of sightseeing.
Sightseeing – Northerly Island: The next morning we rode the scooters to Northerly Island to have lunch. Along the way, we stopped along the Lakefront Trail for a selfie with the bright blue water and Chicago skyline.
We had tacos from Del Campo's Tacos on 12th Street Beach, recommended by a boater in Michigan City that is familiar with Chicago. Nearing the end of beach season, the menu selections were starting to dwindle, but the tacos we had were delicious.
We then continued on the scooters along the Northerly Island Park trail winding through meadows along Lake Michigan and Burnham Harbor.
Sightseeing – “The Loop”: The Loop is the popular name for the Chicago business district located south of the main stem of the Chicago River. The name apparently derives from the place where the strands powering cable cars turned around on a pulley in the center of the city. The concept was extended to the ring of elevated rail tracks for rapid transit lines connecting downtown with the neighborhoods. Completed in 1897, this loop created an integrated intracity transportation system that helped insure the dominance of Chicago's historic core in the development of the metropolis. All of Chicago's nineteenth-century railroad depots were located at the edges of the central business district, creating a circle of stations around the hub of the city.
These days, I would consider the bike & pedestrian paths an essential part of “the loop”. We used the crowded paths running along Lake Michigan to get from the marina to the downtown area.
Buckingham Fountain opened in 1927.
Crown Fountain: Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park is a major addition to the city's world-renowned public art collection.
The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out.
It seems the “mouth spraying” occurs randomly. People wading in the pool stand around, waiting for the fountain to spray them. 😊
There are beautiful gardens and parks throughout the city.
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park: By British artist Anish Kapoor, the 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above. Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high. The art seems imposing against the backdrop of older historic buildings.
Navy Pier: One of the attractions at Navy Pier is the Bob Newhart bronze statue unveiled in 2004 by TV Land, when Newhart commented “This may come as a surprise to you, but bronze is not as soft as it looks.” He was correct! 😊
The statue was first located outside 430 N. Michigan Ave., which was featured in the show’s opening credits as Hartley’s office, but later moved to Navy Pier due to concerns about the statue hindering pedestrian traffic.
As of May 2021, Newhart was still enjoying working at age 91.
Soldier Field c.1924: Opened in the fall of 1924, as Municipal Grant Park Stadium, the name was changed to Soldier Field on November 11, 1925, as a memorial to U.S. soldiers who had died in combat.
In September 1971, the Chicago Bears moved in, originally with a three-year commitment. In 1978, the Bears and the Chicago Park District agreed to a 20-year lease.
In 2000, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced that Soldier Field would be completely renovated and expanded as part of Chicago’s Lakefront Improvement Plan. As part of a nearly $400 million reconstruction project, the majority of Soldier Field was demolished with the exception of the exterior.
Food/Entertainment: Both nights after sightseeing, we had a relaxing, simple dinner at Boat Drinks tiki bar, right beside the marina and overlooking the harbor. Both nights, there was also live music.
A Chicago dog was the highlight of their regular menu, but on weekends they usually also have barbecue ribs.
Though Burnham Harbor where we were docked seemed like Grand Central Station for boats while we were there over Labor Day weekend, Ray captured the serenity of harbor in the pre-dawn hours.
What’s next? Chicago was our last stop on the Great Lakes.
Next we will cruise through the downtown Chicago highrise buildings, then meander south, locking down the inland rivers through Illinois.
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