Week 11

Sep 22-28

Monday

We walked to Ace hardware this morning to pick up a few things. Then we left South haven for a 24 nautical mile cruise to St. Joseph. The waters were rough! Four feet waves. It was predicted to be much calmer. The only prediction that is accurate on lake Michigan is its unpredictability. It took us a couple of hours to do this leg.

We got into west basin marina and tried to go to the fuel dock. The wind was too strong and no one came out to help us or would answer the phone. We just pulled into the closest easiest slip we could. There are no cleats on the docks either. We just had to use the pilings to tie onto. When Ed went to check in, he saw 3 workers just lounging around and they even asked Ed if he would help catch lines for the next boater that was due to come in shortly after us. Suffice it to say, I am not impressed with this marina! A boat did come in about 20 min after we did and Ed helped him get in a slip. He is also a looper! He's alone with his dog.

This marina has bikes on loan. We grabbed a couple and went for a ride to check out the town. The marina is not convenient to town. It's over a mile away and across a big drawbridge. But over in town on the waterfront there were some cute stores, and big water fountain splash pad, and long sidewalk following the coastline. It's also lined with big swings that would hold 4 people. We sat on the swing enjoying the views for quite awhile.

We met our new looper friend for dinner. He is French Canadian and such an interesting person. We had a very pleasant dinner and then rode our bikes back to the marina.

Some other loopers came over to introduce themselves. They're from Houston and very friendly. We chatted for a bit. We meet some really interesting people.

Tuesday

We had a very rainy morning. It went from drizzle to cloud burst intermittently. We would get out on the dock to start our prep to leave and then a burst would come. We'd wait it out in the boat and then get out to do it again. We finally cast off.

We cruised 30 miles in pretty rough water and rain to go to Michigan City Indiana. The water was a little calmer by the time we got there. We're now in Indiana so we're on central time now.

We arrived at Washington Park marina. It's the biggest marina we've ever stayed in. It can hold 500 boats. It was self service at the fuel dock. That was new to us.

Our looper friends Pat and Liz from Good Karma, caught up with us after a month. Ed helped them dock. Their boat is huge, 60ft.

We went for a walk to explore. The historical downtown was small and run down. We're not too impressed with this place.

We went to dinner on Good Karma (Pat and Liz), with 4 other loopers. Liz is a great cook. She fed us seared tuna steaks. We had never had them before. It was delicious. We all brought something to share and had a really nice time.

We met some loopers that today is their first day starting the loop. They want to meet up and just talk and ask questions. Well do that in the next day or two. We are staying here till Friday. The weather looks bad for the next couple of days.

Wednesday

We hung out on the boat this morning. We taught our institute class. It's going really well. By the 4th week they feel more comfortable and comment more. They ask really good questions.

Kathy from the boat aventuur came by and asked us if we needed a ride anywhere. This was a great opportunity to get two new batteries. She was so thoughtful to let us tag along with her on her errand and to the auto part store. Getting heavy batteries back to the boat requires a car. Ed installed the two new batteries for the bow thruster.

We tried to get an Uber to the Indiana dunes national park but we couldn't get a ride. It was pretty late in the day and we would've been rushed. We just worked on the boat. Ed changed out the batteries for the stern thruster and added a battery to our inverter bank and I started waxing the bow fiberglass. It's dull with oxidation.

We went to dinner with the other loopers at Galveston steak house. There were 5 couples and we had a very nice time.

Kathy and Bryan were heading to a store like home depot and asked if we needed anything. We needed a few things and we picked up a camp chair for the fly bridge. I needed a more comfortable place to sit facing forward. It was so great to have a ride!

Thursday

In 2019 Indiana dunes became a national park and one of the nation's newest. They're is a state park formed in 1926. They're are only 2 national parks that have a state park within them, this one and redwood state park in the redwood National Park. We were unfortunate that today at the visitors center there weren't any ranger tours and the theater was closed for a public event. We walked 3 miles to the state park pavilion which is right on the beach. We got lunch there and then did a little exploring on the dunes. Ed hates sand and it started to rain pretty hard. We cut our visit short and started walking back to the visitors center 3 miles. We tried for an Uber on the off chance that someone would pick us up sooner and we got a ride!! An interesting fact about this park is bald mountain. It is the only living dune in this park and moves about 4 feet per year!

We did laundry later in the afternoon so we don't have to do it while we have Josh and Emma here.

Friday

We left Michigan city for our cruise across lake Michigan towards Chicago. We won't be following the coast line. As always the water prediction was off. The waves were supposed to be 0-1 feet. Instead they were about 3 feet. They're on the bow though, the further west we went the smaller they became as the fetch was less as we got to the leeward side. At least it's a beautiful sunny day.

We crossed the state line from Indiana to Illinois about 17 miles from the marina. In Indiana we changed from Eastern time to central time. I think Illinois is our 8th state we've visited. We cruised 37 nautical miles to Jackson Park Outer Harbor marina. It's a small nice marina. We actually had a dock hand to help us.

We got an Uber to the museum of science and industry. It's huge! It's holds the intact U505 German u boat that the U.S. captured in 1944. It holds a Boeing 727 and some smaller aircraft. It has a space capsule the zephyr train and many rooms dedicated to a theme. We spent about 3 1/2 hours until it closed and only saw a third.

We walked south of the building to the Japanese garden in Jackson Park, near the Obama library under construction. The Japanese garden is on a little island and beautiful.

We had to have a Chicago deep dish pizza and walked another 2 miles to a good pizza parlor. We got the Chicago special deep dish pizza. We got an Uber back to the marina after dark. It was a full long day and we were pooped.

Saturday

We spent the morning deep cleaning the boat. It needs it every week or two.

Josh and Emma arrived 2pm flying into the Chicago Airport and then an hour Uber ride to the marina. We were so excited to have them! We immediately shoved off and headed 35 nautical miles to Waukegan harbor marina. It was a really nice marina. We walked to get dinner and then heard about a Brian McKnight concert 1 or 2 blocks away. We decided to check it out and it was very good. We had good seats in the balcony. It was way better than I thought it was going to be. It's so fun to do these spontaneous things we would never see or do at home.

Sunday

We left this morning and crossed 15 nautical miles to Kenosha WI. This makes the 10th state we have visited. South Port marina is very nice. It even has a pool. The weather was gorgeous in the 80s.

We grabbed some lunch and went to a small museum about ancient wildlife and climate. Next door we went to a Civil War museum. It was a really fun interactive museum that we learned about the involvement of the people of Wisconsin area.

We stopped at a park for a bit to listen to some live music. It was their Oktoberfest.

We had what we call lake Powell church. It was stake conference here, so we didn't go. We each gave a little spiritual thought. It was nice because they all blended together nicely. I made our Michigan cherry brownies. Ed and Josh said they were the best ever!

We met some brand new loopers. We toured their boat and they toured ours. Then we met up with Bjorn Graham. He's the Murray's son in law that lives here near Kenosha. We had a nice visit with him.

We were able to do a Walmart order for the first time. The marina office is very unusual here and is almost 1/2 mile away. We had to walk over there to pick up the groceries.