Day 364: Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Port to Port: Ludington to Grand Haven, Michigan
Underway: 7:15 am Motor Off: 5:30 pm Miles Traveled: 69 Stayed At: Marina
Mile 151 to Mile 236: After a blustery and windy day yesterday, we were a little worried what the morning would bring but it was calm, warm and the sun was peaking above the horizon as we motored out of Ludington early in the morning. We put up our sails and sailed for several hours before the wind died off. We were able to sail again for the last several hours on a beam reach.
We had originally planned to stop and anchor at a little over 40 miles at Whitehall but it was another one of those days where we couldn’t stop – we were consistently running at or above 6.5 mph. Except for the persistent swell from the north making steering a challenge, the day was uneventful. Bright sunshine reflected of the mostly calm lake all day and the temps were in the mid 70’s. Tomorrow may be windy again so Grand Haven is a nice place to hang out for a day waiting for better travel weather.
After a long beautiful day on the water, we were tired and ready to get into port. We motored up the channel and by the municipal marina and all our friends from Ludington welcomed us back again. Plus we had a surprise visitor – Jim (and Sharon) from Blue Angel whom we met and spent some time with way back in Carrabelle Florida greeted us and helped up get tied off. We couldn’t believe it. It turns out this is their homeport (although their boat is down in Demopolis, Alabama along river) and they are home taking caring of Sharon’s mother for a while. He already offered to take us shopping tomorrow if there is anything we need. It will be fun to catch up on our respective adventures.
We made a quick tour of downtown Grand Haven – the stores were pretty quiet now that Labor Day is past – and came back to the boat, made a quick dinner and walked less than 30 steps to the Dairy Crème restaurant right in front of our slip. (This may not be such a good place to stay after all). I think this wins the award for the closest ice cream store on the entire trip.
