Date: August 29, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 136
From: Municipal Marina, Grand Haven, MI
To: West Basin Marina, St Joseph, MI
Statute Miles: 70.1 SM
Time: 7.5 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,268.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We are in St. Joseph, MI tonight.
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| We are almost at the bottom of Michigan's "Mitten", maybe even on the "Wrist" |
The best day yet on Lake Michigan! Very smooth and plenty of sunshine all day! We hugged the Michigan shore more closely to gain the advantage of the Lee shore because the winds, although very light, were from the Northeast. Because the seas were so smooth and it was a beautiful day, we slowed down and conserved some fuel today. The autopilot tracked well, and it was so much more relaxing than our previous days on this Lake.
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| Leaving Grand Haven on a Grand Morning! |
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| An RV Park along the Grand Haven Inlet in the Early Morning |
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| Seas in the Channel Leading to Lake Michigan are Dead Calm |
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| Lake Michigan this Flat? I Couldn't Believe it!!!!!!!!!! |
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| View out the front door this morning |
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| Even Maggie Enjoyed the Ride Today....and No Life Jacket Needed for Her on the CALM Seas of lake Michigan |
On the way down to St Joseph, we passed South Haven. About five miles below South Haven, we passed the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. This one has a Westinghouse Reactor and two steam turbines that have already been replaced once. We could see this power plant almost from the time we left Grand Haven. The cooling towers are the horizontal type with fans like they have at Browns Ferry on the Tennessee River in Alabama.
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| Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Near South Haven, MI |
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| No vertical cooling towers, but what they have are working hard today! |
St Joseph is a twin town of Benton Harbor, MI on the Southwest shore of Lake Michigan. The towns are right next to each other and both have marinas. There is a river that you enter after coming through the break wall at St Joseph. The marina that we chose to stay in is on the North side of the River. The town is on the South side.
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| The Inlet into St Joseph, MI |
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| Coming into St Joseph, MI |
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| Homes along the Inlet at St Joseph, MI |
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| Along the Inlet to St Joseph, MI |
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| The railroad swing bridge at St Joseph, MI |
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| An interesting building in St Joseph, MI |
After a long day on the Lake, we opted to just stay on the boat and not find a bridge to walk across to get into town. We also did not know the town or it's safety reputation, so we ate dinner aboard.
The marina is owned by the municipality. It has very high fixed docks and this made it a challenge to get Maggie off and on the boat. Docking was another challenge because there was no one to help with the lines and tie-up of the boat. Susan had to get off on the high dock and tie us up. There was a nice grassed area under big trees in front of us, so this made for a good dog walk.
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| Our Marina at St Joseph, MI |
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| St Joseph Yacht Club Next to Our Marina |
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| Our Marina t St Joseph, MI |
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| Nice Trees and Grass Area in Front of the Boat |
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| Beautiful Afternoon in St Joseph |
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| Marina at St Joseph |
The weather tomorrow continues to look conducive for the Lake Michigan crossing to Chicago. We are planning to leave at 6:30 AM to get out on the Lake and get going before sunrise so as to take advantage of smoother waters. This will get us into Chicago early enough to avoid thunderstorms that are forecast for later in the afternoon.
Thanks for Reading!
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