Archives 2023

Day 146; October 14: Up at 6:00 am to check the weather forecast and for our flotilla leader, Steve, to communicate with the locks and destination marina. Wind conditions significantly improved with the forecast now at 10-15 knots vs. 15-20 with gusts to 35. It’s pretty darn cold (low 50’s), spitty rain, but flat water. A little more than half of the flotilla decided to go vs. waiting another day for better conditions. Steve did a great job of laying out the facts so each boat could make their own decision based on their own skills and confidence as well as the ability/performance of their boat. The 10 boats that decided to go were “lines off” at 6:30 am to pass under the drawbridge that only stays open until 7:00 am.

We passed through all 3 locks (Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles) without incident. We had a very short wait to enter the Brandon Road lock, which took us down 38 feet. A couple hours later we came upon the Dresden Island lock, where he had to anchor for about 30 minutes as barges completed their locking and cleared the lock. Dresden Island took us down 18 feet. While on anchor, handed off a pie plate to Mayli on SAGA as she wanted to make us all a pie for dessert tonight! No one starves on the Great Loop!

It was another couple hours to the Marseilles lock, so we took advantage of the time and Carol jumped in the shower since there was no time for that this morning. We also did 3 loads of laundry, made water and vacuumed throughout the day. You do what you can when you can! The Marseilles lock was empty when we arrived, so we were able to go right in. It was the smoothest ride yet, descending 28 feet while Annette on SAGA blew bubbles from her bubble gun and Mayli danced to “It’s Raining Men.” Always some levity from the SAGA crew!

While Marseilles was the smoothest ride, it was also the loudest. Check out the noise from the bollard below:

Being so chilly, we ran from the warmth of the pilot house the entire day and felt badly for those that had to run from their fly bridges. Brrrrrrr! We usually run from the bridge and think this is only the 3rd time in 3 years we’ve run from inside. It was quite pleasant and toasty!!

We arrived at Heritage Harbor around 2:45 pm, so a little over an 8 hour day. We were greeted by Jeremy Fowler, harbor master and his most amazing staff. We had already been given our slip assignments and the amazing HH team assisted each of us as we came in.

Several of our flotilla members had a quick shower then we assembled at the Red Dog Grill for a few beers, some wings and nachos, dinner and briefing by Jeremy covering the next 550 miles of rivers. To say the least he left us impressed, overwhelmed, but with his cell phone number! Tomorrow we are off again around 6:30 am. Next stop: Peoria and the city wall near I74…. Sounds like the only place deep enough for us about 80 miles away – going to be another long day!

Still praying for the flotillas behind us in Hammond and other Lake Michigan ports. The lamb turned into a lion with +10 foot waves and high winds. Loopers are hunkered down for a few days until things calm down and they can continue on their journeys.

Day 143 – 145. October 11 – 13:

We arrived in Hammond, about 15 miles south of Chicago on Wednesday, 10/11 and enjoyed a day hanging with the crews of Coda and Lil Sudden, making dinner together and meeting other boats in our flotilla scheduled to meet up in Joliet, IL at the free wall on Friday. Saturday our flotilla will travel through the Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles locks. That was a mouthful and why a flotilla? Let me back up.

Why is passing through these locks such a big deal…and why set up flotillas? The three aforementioned locks were closed for repair and maintenance for over 3 months. WOW! So no way to travel south on the river system out of Chicago. That’s a big deal to commercial traffic PLUS the over 250 loopers looking to continue on their journey to Alabama/Florida. Since these locks serve commercial as well as government traffic, pleasure traffic (like us) is the lowest priority. In normal looping time, boats would transition through these locks as they saw fit and would naturally adjust their timing to the capacity of the locks, capacity of marinas north and south of the locks and tolerance for colder weather.

Imagine the log jam of boats with 3 locks closed and no way to transit south. Conventional wisdom is to be out of Chicago by 9/30. The locks were forecasted to reopen 10/1 (but ended up delayed by 5 days). Even without the delay, that leaves mayhem and hundreds of loopers looking to go through. This is where the Americas Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) stepped in and working with the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) organized the looping fleet into manageable sized flotillas (16 boats in each) who were given priority by the ACE to pass through the locks in an organized fashion, one flotilla per day, in coordination with the prioritized commercial traffic. We are in flotilla 9 scheduled to lock through as a group on 10/14 (delayed from 10/9). Part of the plan is we need to continue moving forward as a group for the next several days so we don’t clog up the works for the flotillas behind us. It really is a cooperative effort by all!

So back to Hammond….we tried and tried to get a slip at Marine Services (a marina) in Dolton, about a 3 hour run with one lock from Hammond to Dolton. We knew that bad weather was coming in on Friday and the hour run from Hammond (on Lake Michigan) to the mouth of the river system was going to be very dicey with a forecast of 5+ foot waves. We finally got word that slips were available around 3:00 pm so we left asap to get to Dolton before dark. We had a little bounce on Lake Michigan (2-3’ waves) but nothing like what it was going to be in the morning. We arrived just before dark, had a quick dinner, flotilla meeting and turned in for the night.

It was a quick turn around in Dolton; we were up and out at 7:00 am headed to the free wall in Joliet, IL which is about a 5 1/2 hour run including one lock that would drop us 38 feet and passing under the lowest fixed bridge on the loop – the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Road Bridge in Lemont, IL at 19’6”.

To make it under that bridge, we folded down the mast that holds our radar domes and approached with extreme caution….as they say, approach at the speed you are willing to hit it! If you can’t get under this bridge, the “The Great Loop” becomes the “The Great U-turn!” We made sure our fuel tanks and water tanks were full so we sat lower in the water and thankfully made it under with about a foot to spare (we had expected inches!)

We arrived at the Joliet wall around 12:30/1:00….. hungry but just fine! We had a quick lunch then were on the look out to help catch the second wave of boat in our flotilla that left from Hammond, endured the 5’ waves and was now arriving in the rain. All good – everyone got here safe and sound!

It ended up being a rainy afternoon with everyone watching the weather for the next few days as we decide whether to stay one more day or go. There aren’t really waves on the river, but the forecast for the winds is all over the place right now – 15-20 knots with gusts up to 35. The next leg is a 38 mile run with the 3 newly opened locks and many bridges, including the first that will only open if you are there before 7 am. This leg will be a long day: 10-12 hours depending on wait time at the locks.

The AGLCA had already called off the next 3 flotillas due to forecasted high seas on Lake Michigan (12-15 foot waves!) so we didn’t have the urgency to leave with the flotillas behind us delayed. We were glad we weren’t them! While we were at the Chicago Yacht Club, it was bouncy with 1-3 foot waves, never mind 12-15. Praying for their safety!

Dinner was a collective effort: Boris and Mayli made beef stew; Tonya and Matt made wild rice, Z’s made a chopped salad and Barb and Steve made homemade bread! All delicious and it was later off to bed to assess the weather in the morning and make a go/no-go decision. Stay tuned for what we decide!

Day 140 – 142; Oct 10 – 12: Tuesday we started off with a scare as we woke up, came up for breakfast and saw divers running a search pattern in the water between the Chicago Yacht Club bulkhead and our boat. We watched them for a while, with the ambulance and rescue trucks in the CYC parking lot. It didn’t look like there was a lot of stress or urgency, though, and it all made sense when we saw them pull a dummy from the water – just a practice drill! Phew!!

Tuesday was a busy day – our last in Chicago. We went to the Federal Reserve Money Museum and learned a lot about the role and history of the Fed, all the way back to 1791 when Alexander Hamilton proposed the first incarnation of a National Bank which as approved had a charter for 20 years. We also learned that the Secret Service wasn’t originally started to protect the president and other senior elected officials….. it was started because, by the end of the civil war, nearly one third of the currency in circulation was counterfeit. The Secret Service was started in 1865 as a bureau within the Treasury Department to suppress widespread counterfeiting and still holds that responsibility today. It was after President McKinley’s assassination in 1901 that the Secret Service was tasked with full time protection of the POTUS. Back to the money…. The Fed plays a big role in monetary policy and interest rates as well as printing, storing, circulating and destroying damaged currency. Ever seen one million dollars in various denominations of bills? Check out the below!

After an amazing lunch at Miller’s Pub, an icon in Chicago on S.Wabash Street, we were off to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) to have our turn on the Skydeck in “The Ledge.” Willis Tower is the tallest building in Chicago at 1454 feet and the third tallest in the Western Hemisphere. It was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1974 and held that title for 22 years when it was surpassed by the Petronius Towers in Malaysia. The Skydeck is on the 103rd floor with panoramic views of Chicago. The Ledge glass balconies extend out 4.3 feet from the Skydeck, 1353 feet in the air.

We finished our night with an amazing dinner at Rosebuds, an Italian restaurant highly recommended by a Chicago friend and colleague. Even though we were quite full, we topped off our night with the “mile high chocolate cake”, which was both huge and delicious! We had dessert for days!

We thoroughly enjoyed Chicago and as they say, if it weren’t for the winters, it would be the most beautiful city in the country. We were lucky to have very nice weather with warm days and cool nights. Alas, all good things much come to an end and it was time to move on. Wednesday we left Chicago and headed to a marina in Hammond about 15 miles which has little to offer except a casino and being close to the mouth of the Illinois River, where we will start our river journey south. We heard there was a Walmart about a mile away, but that’s about it. It’s a huge marina that had lots of loopers waiting for their scheduled time to go through the Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles locks – all newly refurbished and reopened.

We will be in flotilla #9, transiting on Saturday, 10/14. There are 16 boats in our flotilla and we will all gather at the Jolliet free wall on Friday, 10/13…..then on we go!

Day 135 – 139; Oct 5 – 9: The weather was very favorable on Thursday, 10/5, so we were off to Chicago from Racine around 9:45 am for an approximate 5 hour run, arriving around 3:00 pm. Seas were very flat with winds around 5 knots to the North/North West and beautiful sunny skies.

It was an uneventful and peaceful ride where we saw lots of lakefront bluffs and homes, the huge dome of the Baha i House of Worship in Wilmette, IL and water cribs on the way into Chicago. We later learned that the water cribs protect offshore water intakes used to supply Chicago and her suburbs with drinking water from Lake Michigan. Water is collected and transported through tunnels located 200 feet beneath the lake ranging in diameter from 10 to 20 feet. The tunnels lead to Pumping Stations located onshore, then to water purification plants. Who knew! Out on the water, they looked like circus tents to me!

It was great to reunite with the Coda, Saga and Lil Sudden – the Seattle crews we affectionately dubbed the 3 musketeers….we are the 4th! We arrived looking forward to seeing them as well as all that Chicago had to offer. We arrived at the Chicago Yacht Club (CYC) leveraging our reciprocity from Annapolis Yacht Club (AYC) and enjoyed an amazing dinner at the CYC clubhouse the first night we were here. Located a short distance from the Navy Pier, restaurants and museums, we knew it would be a great location and jam packed few days. What we didn’t know was how bouncy it would be at CYC. When the winds come in from the south or south east, it can be pretty rough despite the sea wall. With some careful fender placement and strategically tied lines, we were fine but remained on alert.

Friday, 10/6 we were off to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History where the largest and most impressive display is their dinosaurs in the main hall, but we also enjoyed learning about the first kings and origins of royalty, DNA, meteorites, biomechanics, ancient Egypt and much more.

Our evening was topped of by dinner at the neighboring Columbia Yacht Club where their clubhouse is most unique. Doesn’t this vessel pictured below and docked between 2 fabulous harbors in Chicago (Monroe and DuSable) look like a fine sailing vessel from years past? Well she is! Commissioned in 1947, she was the largest icebreaker in the world at the time and the heaviest vessel ever constructed in Canada. Albegweit was an ice breaking railway, vehicle and passenger ferry from 1947 – 1982. Retired from service and up for sale, she now serves as the clubhouse for the Columbia Yacht Club (CYC)! Chicago city ordinances barred CYC from constructing a clubhouse on the waterfront, so they purchased Abby and permanently moored her at their facility. It was a super unique solution so many years and a great meal for us!

Saturday, 10/7 we had a hang out/provisioning/laundry/catch up/email day that was very needed. Good to have a down day!!

Sunday, 10/8 was the Chicago Marathon and we sat in the cat bird seat just a few hundred yards from the start line. Streets were closed and there was a lot going on!

We sat tight for the morning and let all the activity happen around us then headed off to the Museum of Science and Industry in late morning. We spent the entire day there quickly realizing you need far more than a single day in this museum, especially if you spend as much time as we did in the U-505 exhibition.

We toured an actual German submarine (U-505) that was captured by an American Task Group off the coast of Africa in WWII. The German Uboats (subs) were wreaking havoc on the supply lines from the Americas to Europe; capturing a uBoat intact became a goal of Allied Naval commaders. It is quite the story how a US Task Group did just that and towed a captured enemy sub, in secret, to the Bahamas and then kept it a secret for 2 1/2 years since the sub contained German Code books, Enigma machines (used to communicate in code) and countless other military intelligence that would be used against the Germans in WWII. The Germans tried to scuttle the sub, but the American sailors who boarded the vessel managed to save it. The captured German sailors were interned in a POW camp in Louisiana and their survival (as well as the survival of the submarine) was kept secret for 2 1/2 years so the German commanders thought the U-505 was sunk, the crew lost and the secret codes at the bottom of the ocean. Believing this, they didn’t change the codes! Fascinating story.

At the end of the day, it was the commander of the US Task Force (a Chicago native that captured the U-505) who raised the funding to bring the U-505 (which was destined to be sunk as part of US Navy target practice) to Chicago and the Museum of Science, preserving this WWII history for all those who come to learn.

So much to see at this museum! In addition to the U-505 story and tour, we saw the largest train set ever (connecting Chicago to Seattle) as well as the Apollo 8 command module and a Lunar Landing Module trainer. We learned about farming and the technology behind a combine, glaciers and the effects global warming is having on them as proven in multi years of photos, a history of bicycles and so much more!

Topped off our day with Chicagos famous deep dish stuffed pizza at Giordano’s that was amazing…definitely 2 meals!

Monday, 10/9 we spent the day at the Chicago Institute of Art. Gary was skeptical but went along with a smile, hoping it was a little better than the art museum I dragged him to in Racine! We had no idea the museum was so huge! We enjoyed many aspects but especially the Monets, Van Goughs, Renoirs, Gauguins and Degas. They also had a huge collection of Georgia O’Keefe’s work. Of course there were floors and floors, acres and acres of sculptures, pottery, gems and other treasures. We were partial to the paintings over the hundreds of years (1500’s to modern time) and spent most of our time there.

Tomorrow – we go to the Federal Reserve Money Museum, then Willis (formerly Sears) Tower to stand in the sky boxes 1450 feet over Chicago at this highest point in the city……then dinner at Rosebud’s Italian restaurant!

Stock photos below…. Can’t wait!

Day 133 – 134: Oct 3 – 4. Spent one more day and night in Milwaukee enjoying the unseasonably warm weather in October. Karl (retired CIO Northwestern Mutual) and his wife Helen met us at the marina and after a short tour of the boat, we headed out to a very cool street of restaurants (East Brady Street) for empanadas. I can’t remember the last time I had empanadas, but they were authentic and fabulous. Really enjoyed catching up with Karl and meeting Helen. They also very graciously gave us a quick car tour of some of the sights in Milwaukee.

It was interesting to learn that much of what we think of today as Milwaukee’s lakefront wasn’t there when the first Europeans began to settle in this area in the early 1800s. As the city developed, land was developed nearly all the way to the ends of the tall bluffs that then lined the lakefront, leaving little space for public lands along the water. The lakefront we know today was the result of massive landfill projects over the past 100-plus years that were engineered to maximize both its industrial and recreation potential.

These landfill areas were created by literally dumping earth and stone into the lake until it built up into new, useable land. The earliest fill projects were mostly undertaken using dirt and mud dredged up from the lake or river bottoms and other loads of unneeded debris, including garbage and coal stove ash. These areas include pretty much all lands between the South Shore Marina and North Point. South of the straight cut, where the rivers enter the lake, are the huge docking terminals that were built on the outer edge of Jones Island in the early 1930s. This project was undertaken to maximize the shipping potential of the port and took advantage of the new south portion of the breakwater wall, which could protect large ships as they docked or sat moored at the island.

The lands just to the north of the straight cut have known the most varied uses of any part of the lakefront. One of the first major fill projects was untaken in the 1910s; the initial idea was to use this as expanded municipal docking space. However, by the time the project was finished, railroad shipping had taken away so much business from Great Lakes package freighters that the extra space was not needed. The area was eventually used as an airfield and later a flight school for seaplanes. During the Cold War, it was home to an anti-aircraft missile battery. Since 1970, it has been known as Henry Maier Festival Park, home to Summerfest and many of the city’s major ethnic festivals.

Karl drove us by beautiful stately homes on Oak Leaf Trail that at one point overlooked the water, but the land was filled in to create acres and acres of additional land that allowed the addition of a major thoroughfare as well as, what is today, parks and marinas for public enjoyment. The former lighthouse looks a bit out of place land locked miles from the water, but the addition of public lands was a priority for the socialist city mayor and government at the time. He was opposed to the rich barons of Milwaukee who owned those homes also owning the lake frontage and believed the lakefront should belong to the people. Fascinating!

As we considered what to do in Milwaukee, and with the Museum of Art and Brewery closed on Monday and Tuesday, we opted for the Harley Davidson Museum (see previous post) and the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks wildcard game. It was a short Uber ride back and forth to the stadium and great experience there: Really nice stadium with a roof that opens in good weather, pretty darn good traditional bratwurst and ice cold Oktoberfest and enthusiastic crowd, but sadly the Brewers fell apart in the later innings and lost…..then lost again last night (10/4) so they are out of it.

Wednesday morning (10/4) we left Milwaukee with a forecast of 2-3 foot seas and winds about 15 knots out of the South/South East. Not ideal, but we’d be taking the waves pretty much straight on the bow for the about 2.5 hour run to Racine. It was a little bouncy, certainly nothing Legacy can’t handle, but I did take the bar down and wrapped the bottles in beach towels and placed them on the floor (better safe than sorry)! It was a beautiful warm day (high 70’s) when we arrived in Racine at Reefpoint Marina – a huge marina with very nice accommodations including a smokehouse restaurant that smelled so good, we decided to eat dinner there. Yum!

We spent the afternoon at the Racine Art Museum (a bit of a snooze except for the pottery) and the Heritage Museum (much more interesting), then biked about 1.5 miles to what should have been a full service grocery store, but it’s shelves (in a bit of a seedy area) were pretty bare, so we left. Will re-provision in Chicago and we found the couple things we truly needed at the marina convenience store.

Racine has a rich history from its roots in fur trading to developing into an industrial city and a factory town almost from the beginning. The first industry in Racine County included the manufacture of fanning mills, machines that separate wheat grain from chaff. Racine flourished throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, eventually becoming the home to major corporations including the well-known SC Johnson family company with products like Windex and Pledge. Other surprising items invented in Racine include malted milk (Horlicks), the blender (Hamilton Beach), the blow dryer and the portable vacuum cleaner. Racine is also home to InSinkErator, manufacturers of the first garbage disposal and the Western Publishing factory where Little Golden Books were printed. It also has a fascinating history, well laid out in the Heritage Museum, of their support and role in the underground railway bringing slaves from the south to freedom in Canada through Racine.

Forecast for Thursday, 10/5 is super flat seas (barely a foot if at all) and winds very light (0 – 10 knots out of the north). Ideal conditions for our 5.5 hour trek to Chicago… that is ideal except for these pesky tiny flies/gnats that aren’t being blown away by the wind! Ugh!

Looking forward to reuniting with other Loopers in Chicago and doing some additional touring in Chicago. We are still on track to traverse the 3 locks on the Illinois River (Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles) on 10/14. The first of the AGLCA flotillas will move to the Joliet Wall today and lock through tomorrow. That will begin to clear the log jam of boats in the Chicago area. The plan makes for long days for the looper boats (it’s about a dawn to dusk trip) and then they need to keep moving the next day to allow the next flotillas to come through and take up their marina/wall space. There are over 20 flotillas in all. Looking forward to some time in Chicago then getting on with moving down the river system to the warm weather!

Days 128 – 132: Sept 28 – Oct 2. After spending a couple days in Holland, MI when we returned from our whirlwind 2 week trip away from the boat (see previous post), we left Holland for South Haven, MI on Thursday, 9/28 – a 3 hour run with less than 5 knot winds and flat seas. We welcomed the 65-70 degree weather and clear skies after spending an extra day in Holland due to rain and no room for us in South Haven or St. Joe. As we get closer to Chicago and the re-opening of the locks on the Illinois River, the loopers are stacking up in the marinas around Chicago making finding a slip much more difficult. Fortunately, we have reciprocity from the Annapolis Yacht Club with the Chicago Yacht Club and have a reservation there, so we know we have a place to go in Chicago.

South Haven was another quaint Michigan waterfront town with a vibrant Main Street, farmers market and very nice clubhouse and facilities at the municipal marina. We enjoyed the Michigan Maritime Museum on Friday morning and it’s excellent display and history of steam ships, pleasure and working, from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. As World War 1 ended (1914 – 1918), it was a time of relative prosperity, disposable income and the growing middle class. Steam ships with various classes of state rooms offered cruises on the Great Lakes. These ships offered elaborate dining rooms, dance halls, games, and more. The roaring 20’s saw couples and families cruising the Great Lakes in luxury for weeks at a time or seeking out destinations like Mackinac Island, Thousand Islands or other resort towns on the coast. The Great Depression (1929 – 1941), mass produced automobiles, the expansion of the rail system and WWII all contributed to the demise of the luxury steam ship era with many out and out scrapped, but some converted to working boats such as tugs or even air craft carriers. It was a very cool museum with interesting interactive way of telling their story. We left there and found a local water front restaurant called Captain Lou’s where the fish and shrimp tacos were excellent and the decor….. well just a bit odd! See pic below.

There were 14 or 15 looper boats in South Haven, most who we had not met. We enjoyed appetizers and docktails with them on Friday night and collected many new boat cards! Since we hadn’t yet had a chance to enjoy the downtown area, we stayed one more day on Saturday, which was a beautiful sunny 75 degree day – a bit unusual for Michigan at the end of September.

The weather forecast for the next several days was unseasonably warm with nearly flat seas on Lake Michigan and little/no wind. With the Michigan ports to our south getting more and more crowded with Looper boats and a perfect day to cross Lake Michigan to Milwaukee, we “called an audible” and decided on a change of plan. We ditched the idea of continuing south to St. Joe’s and then Michigan City and decided to set out to Milwaukee instead. Milwaukee was about an 8.5 hour run west and slightly north. We figured we’d spend a couple days there and head down the Wisconsin coast instead of the Michigan coast to Chicago, arriving around 10/7. We had been informed that the locks would not open as planned on 10/1 and would be delayed by 5 days, so we had time. Our flotilla would now be scheduled to pass through all 3 locks on 10/14 instead of 10/9.

We were up and out early on Sunday, leaving South Haven around 8:00 am eastern time and arriving in Milwaukee around 3:30 Central time. This was the first time we were truly out of sight of land for several hours, but the conditions were ideal. We took on about 800 gallons of fuel in Milwaukee, then anchored just south of South Side Yacht Club to enjoy a leisurely dinner and quiet evening.

Monday morning we headed north to McKinlay Marina, which is walking distance to downtown, where we had a reservation. We were disappointed to learn that both the Milwaukee Museum of Art and the Miller Brewery (where you can get a tour) are closed on Monday and Tuesday…. Dang! So we opted for the Harley Davidson Museum and lunch at the Public Market.

Very cool museum (John Zierhoffer would have LOVED it!). Gary clearly loved the Hogs; I liked the history of the business with the ups and downs in quality, ownership and customer experience! The Museum had an amazing display of over 400 motor bikes/motorcycles starting from the first Harley Davidson built in 1903 in a 10 x 15 shed. Willian Harley and Arthur Davidson started the company with 2 other Davidson brothers: Walter and William. Harley Davidson is the only remaining motor cycle company in the US.

Tomorrow, it’s lunch with a CIO friend of Carol’s who lives in Milwaukee, then the Brewers game against the Diamond Backs – Wildcard game for the National League. Wednesday looks like good weather to head down the coast – destination Racine, WI.

Day 111 – 127; Sept 11 – 27. We are back! Having been off the boat for 2 weeks it’s a little strange being back on. Carol left on 9/11 to attend 2 days of meetings in Chicago then 2 days of meetings in Boston. Gary stayed behind in Holland, MI and did a deep clean of the boat while also managing to get in a few rounds of golf before meeting up with Carol at the beach house in North Myrtle Beach, SC on 9/16.

9/16 – 9/23 was our 8th annual beach week with friends from MD, NC, TN and CA. Needless to say a great time was had by all! 9/23 took us back to Chicago where we got to spend the weekend with Michael (son) and Kylie, taking in a Cubs Game at Wrigley field (a Gary bucket list item), enjoying a sunset architectural boat tour of Chicago and venturing out to Navy Pier for dinner and fireworks. It was a quick whirlwind weekend with Michael and Kylie, both leaving early Monday morning – Kylie headed back to work in Baltimore and Michael headed to Clemson to represent their company (RK&K) at a student job fair. Carol’s brother Mike swung through Chicago from Beaver Dam, WI to pick us up and joined us in Holland, MI for a couple days of touring before heading to see family in Grand Rapids, MI then returning to WI. Sound crazy? It was! 5 states in 2 weeks, but now we are back!

In some ways it was great to be on land doing some familiar things like our annual North Myrtle Beach (NMB) trip, but also strange having left “that life” behind for life on the boat 4+ months ago. It was great to see the Chitterlings, Steinwegs, Straders, Trews, and Gadds in NMB (sorry we all missed the Mattners this year, down with COVID) and so fun to explore Chicago with Michael and Kylie and Grand Haven & Holland, MI with Mike.

Now we are back, trying to figure out our journey from here (Holland) to Chicago and through the 3 currently closed locks on the Illinois River. Just this morning we received notice that our scheduled passage on 10/9 has been delayed by 5 days…..DANG! So we are regrouping and figuring out a new plan! All the looper boats are stacking up and slips are harder to find. Chicago is turning into a bit of a log jam.

Back to the last couple weeks – had a blast in NMB relaxing at Casablanca for the 8th year in a row with great friends. Everyone appreciated the “keep it simple” theme with much simpler dinner and lunch menus. Of course we left the place better than we found it with a cleaning frenzy by all and “Mr and Mrs MacGyver” (Bill and Kim) repairing toilets, light switches, car fans and more; there was even a trip to the dump with much of the stuff renters leave behind in the game room. We had several beautiful sunny day, sitting by the pool and the guys enjoying a couple rounds of golf. Those were followed by a couple cooler rainy days that made the hot tub seem even more perfect! This was our first year without Stryker and he was certainly missed!

Saturday, 9/23 took us to Chicago where we met up with Michael and Kylie. On the architectural boat tour, I took all these great pictures of the buildings in Chicago along the Chicago River but can’t for the life of me remember which is which now. After the cruise, we walked to the Navy Pier for a late dinner and fire works show. We were all pretty exhausted so Ubered back to the hotel – amazing what different prices we all got on our separate phones! Sunday, we went to the final Cubs home game, enjoying some great seats right behind home plate with access to the Carolina Club. It was fantastic and the Cubs even won!! After the game, we returned to the River Walk finding a small table across from the Merchandise Mart to watch the light show….okay – a little strange! Monday, Michael and Kylie were up and out very early to get back to work, but we were able to be a little lazy! Mike picked us up around 11:00 am and we headed out of town back to the boat in Michigan to meet up with his family for dinner.

Tuesday we played tourist in Grand Haven and Holland, MI. We walked Grand Haven’s main street, enjoyed their Tri-Cities Historical Museum and found a sandwich shop for lunch. We could imagine this as a very busy and bustling place in the summer, full of tourists and beach goers. Being off season, many of the shops and restaurants were closed. We ventured to Grand Haven State Park and walked the South Pier with it’s two lighthouses and lighted catwalk. From there we headed back toward Holland and really enjoyed Windmill Island Gardens where we toured the De Zwaan (The Swan) Windmill, America’s only authentic working Dutch windmill disassembled in the Netherlands and brought to the US.

When Holland, MI residents Willard Wichers and Carter Brown were looking for a way to pay homage to the city’s Dutch heritage, they began a project to bring a Dutch windmill to the United States. Many of the windmills had suffered serious damage in World War II and the Dutch government had placed a ban on the sale of windmills outside the Netherlands, protecting them as national monuments. Of the once 10,000 windmills in the Netherlands, only about 1000 remain. Wichers and his group were able to gain an exemption to the ban by selecting a heavily damaged mill known as De Zwaan that had been in operation in Vinkel Netherlands. De Zwaan had been built in Krommenie, Netherlands, in 1761 as a grain mill set on a raised base to capture the wind. It was moved to Vinkel in 1884 by a family named Van Schayk. De Zwaan was at the center of a controversy, with three local agencies unable to determine the future of the heavily damaged windmill. The Dutch government finally agreed to sell it to Wichers for $2800, making De Zwaan the last windmill to leave the Netherlands. De Zwaan was in rough shape. Like many windmills at that time, De Zwaan was riddled with bullet holes. Nazi forces regularly shot at windmills because the Dutch would use them to transmit messages to neighboring towns.

In October, 1964, De Zwaan’s 7000 pieces weighing 66,000 tons arrived aboard the Prins Willem van Oranje. It was unloaded at the Muskegon harbor and transported by truck to Windmill Island in Holland. One of the stipulations of the sale was that Dutch millwright Jan D. Medendorp would supervise its relocation. It took approximately 6 months to reconstruct the mill. The city erected a raised base 3 stories high rather than the mound of earth it had been set on in Vinkel so as to restore it to its original design when it stood in Krommenie and best capture the winds from Lake Michigan.

In April 1965, the 125-foot windmill was dedicated on Windmill Island, a 36-acre site reclaimed from a swamp on the eastern end of Lake Macatawa. When winds are favorable (15 to 20 mph from the west), De Zwaan’s 80-foot diameter blades are usually in motion grinding wheat or corn.

The island also has a four columns street organ, donated by the city of Amsterdam as a thank you to the US for its efforts in liberating the Netherlands at the end of WWII. The Four column organ was built in 1928 and still plays several classic Dutch tunes from a “book” that drives the pipes and drums. It now includes a motor, but the original hand crank is still there to blow air into the bellows. It reads books of music, similar to a player piano. The organ was featured in several Tulip Time parades, but eventually fell into disrepair before being preserved and added to the Gardens. You can listen to its beautiful music below.

Next stop…. South Haven or St. Joes….. slip permitting.

Cubs game with Michael and Kylie.

Stay tuned for update on our break in No Myrtle Beach, SC

Back on the loop tomorrow.

Day 108-110; Sept 8-10: We arrived in Ludington on Monday, 9/4 thinking we’d spend a couple days and leave by Thursday, 9/7 at the latest, but Lake Michigan had other ideas. Winds were out of the south and seas 3-5 feet all week. On Thursday, the lake was still showing 5 foot waves so we stayed put. Friday, 9/8 was looking better so we headed out around 8:00 am with our eye on Muskegon – a 5 1/2 hour run. Our first challenge wasn’t the winds at 10-15 knots out of the N/NE or the seas at 1-3 feet – it was getting out beyond all the little fishing boats in the middle of the channel who didn’t really care that you were trying to get through! Being bigger than them, they did finally gave us a path!

The winds out of the N/NE were behind us actually propelling us forward as we travelled south but hitting us slightly off the starboard side. Our stabilizers pretty much neutralized the rolling action, although other smaller boats did experience some rolling. We normally travel at about 10 knots, but with the wind and waves at our backs, we were topping out around 11 knots.

Jeff and Pam on Sea the USA had left about an hour before us also heading to Muskegon. Since they travel at about 8 knots, we caught and passed them, arriving at the marina and settling in around 1:30, which worked out perfectly for Carol’s meeting at 2:00. The marina had great accommodations including Adirondack chairs and a BBQ grill right behind our slip. We enjoyed just relaxing in the chairs with a book, grilling burgers and watching the boats go by.

Our travel rhythm has definitely changed since we hit Lake Michigan and give her the respect she deserves. We have had to travel further, perhaps even skipping a desirable port when we have a good weather window, and stay in a port longer than we may have wanted due to the same.

Muskegon was an interesting town with the USS Silversides Submarine Museum within walking distance from the marina. Jeff and Pam anchored in the harbor and dinghy-ed into the marina to join us at the museum. The museum did a great job of providing a visual history of WWII with a highlight on the role of submarines. It was so good, we spent most of Saturday there. The USS Silversides is a Gato-class submarine launched in August of 1941. She is 312’ long, 27’ wide, and powered by 4 diesel engines that drive electrical generators charging 2 126 cell Sargo batteries that power 4 electrical motors. We learned that the diesels were run when the sub was on the surface and it’s the batteries and electric motors that actually drive the propellers when submerged. Unlike modern day submarines, the Silversides needed to surface to replenish its air supply after about 48 hours and was more of a submersible than a submarine. It’s superstructure included a deck from stem to stern made out of teak that supported 3 different guns; below they had 10 21” torpedo tubes (6 forward and 4 aft). It’s structure and weaponry made it a surface and subsurface fighter.

Silversides was one of the most successful submarines in the Pacific theater with credit for sinking 30 ships and damaging 14. We got to walk through the Silversides imagining what life on board was like for the crew of 60. Average tour was 52 days….. but think about that for a second. 52 days of no washer and dryer on board and the average crew member got to take a shower every 13 days! Yikes!!

Downtown Muskegon was about 5 miles away with it’s shops, restaurants and bars. We thought about heading there later in the afternoon, either by bike or taxi, but the allure of the sunshine and the adirondack chairs won out.

Sunday late morning we left Muskegon and proceeded to Holland – about a 3 1/2 hour run in absolutely flat seas. What a difference a day makes! Lake Michigan looked like a pond! Had the same challenge leaving Muskegon – fishing boats everywhere. They say they are catching salmon, but we didn’t see any catching, only fishing!

Arrived in Holland around 3:00 pm and we noticed how the water changed from blue outside the harbor to green inside…..Hmmmm. We wont get to sight see here until we get back from our trip to South Carolina. We also want to backtrack and spend some time in Grand Haven before proceeding to Chicago. Carol leaves in the morning for a 4 day business trip then we both fly to South Carolina to join friends at our beach house for a week, then we are meeting Michael and Kylie in Chicago for a couple days. Spent the afternoon doing laundry and figuring out how to pack for 2 weeks (both business and pleasure).

It’s been an amazing 110 days so far and we’ve met so many wonderful people along the way. Some are currently ahead of us and some are behind us. Our forward progress will be stalled for a while, but it’s a great time to be stopped. There are 3 locks just south of Chicago that have been closed for quite some time and will re-open to both commercial and pleasure craft on 10/1…. No one can get through til then anyway. The AGLCA has been working on organizing all of us into flotillas of 16-18 boats and working with the Army Corps of Engineers as to when each flotilla can pass through. We should get our assigned group and date tomorrow. I’m also headed off on my business trip tomorrow so no updates for a while.

BTW – in Holland, we did find a Chinese restaurant that delivered. Yum!

First let me say we LOVED Canada! The Canadian side of Lake Ontario, the Georgian Bay, North Channel, the Canadian people…. All the natural beauty. Some of the boating was stressful with the waterways carved out of granite by the glaciers. Lots of rocks, so you really had to be on your game. Unfortunately, quite a few loopers suffered some sort of prop or shaft damage by touching bottom in some particularly shallow areas or perhaps wandering slightly out of the channel – it was very unforgiving.

Tom and Diane are loopers we first met in Cape May on our bikes, and then reconnected in Brewerton, NY on the Erie Canal. They hail out of FL and are looping on their 44’ Trawlercat.

Tom and Diane posted this beautiful but hilarious video that you must listen to with the sound on. This video is reposted with all credits to Tom and Diane, with their permission.