What's Up With This Wind!

.

A gift to me from my daughter, Dorian....Couldn't be more perfect,
a daily reminder to keep me focused!!

We have almost consistently had two kinds of wind directions to deal with.  Either SW or NW. Southwest is do-able as long as they stay under 12mph, Northwest we don't like much as it's following us on our aft quarter but as long as they're under 10mph we go.  

The problem being ... the wind Gods have a mind of their own and they don't necessarily  pay attention to what Dapper Dan the Weatherman has forecasted, so we have had to make lots of short hops.  It should take 5 days running to get down the coast of Michigan for us and we started 12 days ago with 8 running days. Bob Seger may like that Old Time Rock and Roll, but Tie A Knot is not loving it!

We left Muskegon on Sunday...beautiful, perfect, but our destination, Saugatuck, proved to have a lack of accommodations, duh Labor Day Weekend, should have known.  So we back tracked to Holland where we are still sitting, anchored, on Tuesday night, due to unfavorable winds.  We're starting to get cabin fever and we have been anchored in water sports central for two and a half days.  We, once again seem to be a magnet for every tuber, skier, kneeboarder, jet ski, etc.  Yesterday one boat even asked if we'd tie their tube up so they could go skiing!!

Gary said OK but trailed it way off the stern to keep them away from the boat.

I guess if you're gonna' get stuck you might as well have a good view!

Off track again, sorry, anyway Pentwater was a GREAT stop.  What a nice town.  Lots of stores and restaurants, a great waterfront with a State Park.  Just lots to see and do.  We shopped, had lunch off the boat (wonders will never cease) and trolled the marinas to find other loopers.  We met a few who we may see again in the next few weeks.

From Pentwater we went to Great Lakes Marina in Muskegon to visit with Gary's brother Leigh, and his wife Gail.  The Marina had a special rate for Loopers....$25.00 a night.....we were liking it ....stayed two nights.  Gail fed us, they both took us shopping....(and after our provisioning in Petoskey I thought I had enough for 3 weeks) ha!  Turned out it was only 10 days  :-).  We really didn't need a lot but it was nice to get a ride to a farmers market and Meijer.

We also toured the Milwaukee Clipper which is being restored through donations and volunteers.  I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures.  Leigh & Gail have 'adopted' a stateroom which they have volunteered their labor to strip the old paint and redo the room.  Volunteer have been working on the ship since the late 90's....it is a labor of love that is going to take a long long time to complete...

I had to revert to the previous slideshow format :-)  so you need to click the   i   at the bottom of the slideshow screen to see the captions....  just a minor technical difficulty to keep you on your toes!  

Pentwater to Muskegon  Slideshow

Part II

This blog has been a few days in the making so  "It is what it is" a little thought scattered. Seems I'm falling apart in the blogging department...no discipline! Leigh & Gail drove to Holland yesterday to show us the land sights.  We were only 45 minutes from Muskegon after being underway for about seven hours....what a sad state of affairs that is...

Downtown Holland

Leigh, Gail and Gary in front of the Boat Works Holland Restaurant

Gail and I having a little fun...she even gave me the wheel...brave soul

Gary's heritage...the old Chris Craft plant tower in Holland

Goodbye guys....it was a fun day!!!!

Today, since we had to wait out the wind, (the Gods again decided to play with us and by 1:00 it was half what was forecast) we got a few items off the "bucket list".  As you can see Gary is sticking to his philosophy....if there is no blood he isn't doing it right.  He was changing the valve cover gaskets and boinked his head on the engine....Since I didn't have a butterfly bandage he will now have another "Manly Scar"....

And so it goes .......