Stats for Monday, September 17, 2018

Origin:  Grand Haven

Destination:  South Haven

Distance:  49.6 miles

Speed:  7 mph*

Time on the Move:  7 hours and 3 minutes*

* This is not totally accurate because we stopped and played in Lake Michigan for a while, but somehow our “time on the move” kept adding up.  We probably stopped for a good hour, so that would also increase our speed.  We’re obviously super fast…

 

 

We hoped to stop in Holland and Saugatuck, but the weather for the week was looking kind of iffy as far as waves go.  We were trying to coordinate with Kelly’s mom, Kathy to have her aboard for a few days, and also make it to South Haven by the weekend for friends who were coming to visit.  We went most of the way to Holland not yet knowing where we were stopping, and we talked ourselves in and out of several scenarios.  In the end, we headed straight for South Haven, knowing it would give us some more time in one of our favorite places and ensure we were there for the weekend.  We’re getting used to living day to day, sometimes hour by hour!!  Weather controls all this time of year on Lake Michigan.

 

On our way to South Haven we wanted to stop and put the dinghy on the swim platform, so we took advantage of the calm water to swim and fish for a bit out in the lake.  Interesting enough, the 58* water in Grand Haven yesterday was now 68* just outside of South Haven.  Everyone swam except for Colin–he read, because that’s what Colin does…

 

Since Mike and I both went to Western, we spent many summer days at South Haven.  We were excited to come back to the old stomping grounds and have some more fun!

Shortly after getting all settled in the north basin of the marina we scoped out a playground to check out not too far away and started getting ready to leave.  Mike noticed that there was a dinghy running loose in the channel, turning in circles at full speed.  There was another boat headed out to stop it, but Mike thought he could help or maybe take a funny video of a runaway dinghy, so he went out to help.  As he got closer he realized there was a man trapped under the dinghy, getting pulled under the water and drug behind it.  Luckily, lots of people rushed to help and amazingly, the man was okay.  It was a good reminder to all of us to be vigilant at all times because accidents can happen in a second.  It also showed us that you really should attach your kill switch to your life jacket in case you fall out of the dinghy.

After we settled down from that excitement, we headed to the playground for a beautiful sunset view.

The next day, Kelly’s mom, Kathy came to hang out on the boat.  We went to 2 playgrounds (because apparently that’s what you do when you loop with kids!) and out to lunch.  Toby couldn’t quite ride all the way to the playground the night before, so we left his bike at the public beach thinking we’d grab it on the way home, and Mike took him the rest of the way in the bike trailer.  We ended up going a different way home and left the bike overnight which was apparently a big mistake.  Someone stole Toby’s bike, training wheels and all, at some point between 7 pm and 10 am.  So now Toby is relegated to the bike trailer and there is more room on the bow of the boat.  We’re trying to look on the bright side for now, but I’m sure we’ll pick him up another bike along the way soon.

Brad and Barb Addis came to see the boat and check on the INNTW crew.  They have been besties with Kelly’s parents since the early 1970’s and were like second parents to Kelly growing up.  Barb brought delicious apple crisp, so that was amazing.  They had lots of questions about our journey so far and what is to come.  It was nice to relax with them for a bit, eat their apple crisp, and then we headed to the Maritime Museum.

We’ve been to quite a few maritime museums by now and the “breeches bouy” always amazes me.  In a storm or grounding, the crew would shoot a rope either from ship to ship or from shore to ship (depending on the situation), and then mariners would go, one by one, in the breeches bouy from the ship in peril to safety in this contraption, along the rope.  Most of the accompanying pictures show people crossing extremely stormy waters just dangling by a rope.  It is hard for me to imagine having the courage to leave a boat and hang over raging storm waters in that thing, but it has saved many lives.  Fascinating.

 

After that fun adventure, Barb, Brad, and Kathy helped the INNTW crew all get back to Kelly’s mom’s house in Kalamazoo.  We were excited to see our doggy, Madison, who has been living at my mom’s and to hang out in a REAL HOUSE for a few days.  Kathy lives on a lake and unfortunately her front yard has been flooded all spring and summer.  It is disappointing because we usually like to have so much fun playing out there, but instead there is just muck and algae everywhere.  Gross.  She is lucky, though, because many of her neighbors have flooded basements, homes and garages.  I think I’m just feeling selfish that we didn’t get to enjoy the outdoors there like we usually can.

 

We had a great few days of pampering by Grandma.  It was nice to have a cozy bed, lots of water, a huge fridge full of food and drink, and LAUNDRY.  I mean we have most of this on the boat, but who doesn’t love going home?!  Diane Lang and Gayle Witt came to visit us and hear about our trip.  Diane is a long time teacher friend of Kelly’s parents and super supportive of the INNTW adventure.  We are also hoping to meet up with them during our time in the Bahamas, so we look forward to seeing them again down the line!

When we got back to South Haven on Friday we were anxious to check on our boat because there were 6-9 foot waves in the lake since the night before.  The marina was packed with boats compared to when we left and they were all rockin!  Mike scampered around re-tying lines, adding lines, moving lines for about an hour.  I attempted to put all the groceries and laundry away, but I felt sick just being on the boat.  Plus there were several new looper boats in the marina that I wanted to say hi to.

Finally we decided it was going to be rockin like crazy no matter how many lines we had on it, so we headed out to meet up with our friends Adam and Melissa Lipski that came to visit us for the weekend all the way from Harrison Township.  Adam and Melissa and their kids Mason and Ava were staying at a cute beach condo about 5 minutes from the marina.  They had great beach space for the kids to play, a beautiful view from a little beach deck, and just enough condo space for the adults and kids to play.  The adults played cards and the kids jumped on the beds and whatever else kids do when they get to see their besties after 2 months away. (We saw the Lipskis on our last morning at home before we left–Adam brought us pizza lunch and Melissa and the kids video taped us pulling away from the dock on day #1–seems like forever ago and yesterday all at once!)  After we played in the sand for a bit, we went to Captain Lou’s, a South Haven favorite, for dinner.  Bring 5 kids into a place and you instantly liven it up, that’s for sure!

 

We had a super fun couple of days playing in the sand, watching the sunset, wine tasting, playing at the playground, watching the kids jump on the beds, pulling slivers out, eating out, and hanging with friends.  Lots of laughs, good times, and slow processing during card games.  And the Rose was apparently delicious!  Thanks so much for the visit, guys!!  Hope to see you again along the way soon!

 

 

After brunch on Sunday, my mom came back to the boat with Bob and Judy Shrimplin, other life-long family friends.  Bob and Judy got the official INNTW tour and said they were much more at ease with our adventure after seeing the boat.

 

Thank you so much for visiting, everyone, and thanks for following and supporting us on our adventure!!  Our visit was cut short because we decided we needed to move on by early afternoon on Sunday–the weather was just TOO PERFECT not to go.  The rest of the week looked a little dicey and we needed to head towards Chicago, as we are near the back of the pack of looper boats at this point.  (Honestly, we don’t care that we’re towards the end of the looper boats; our plan all along was to take our time and enjoy the Great Lakes.  However, the changing weather brings about changes on the lakes and rivers, and marinas and other services start shutting down for the season so it is best to keep moving south.)  So INNTW was on to it’s next adventure.  Thanks for reading and following along!