25th Anniversary Trip
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Our boat, Smokin’ Fish, was named by our youngest daughter. We bobbed around in it for fourteen days in 1180 cubic miles of Lake Michigan waters in celebration of our twenty-five years of marriage! We had beautiful, warm, sunny days but high waves most of the days slowed our trip to a degree. We traveled in depths ranging from 30’ to over 700’ when we crossed Lake Michigan from Frankfort, Michigan to Washington Island, Wisconsin. What was fascinating to me were the water depths; we could be a half mile off shore in 130’ of water or a couple of miles off shore and be in 30’ of water. Our average speed was about 22 mph with top speeds of 38 mph on flat water days and 15 mph in fog. Gasoline prices at the marinas were comparable to land with the most expensive being Washington Island, Wisconsin at $3.75 a gallon. Slip prices were about the same as a Michigan campground with Chicago and Washington Island being the most expensive at $60 a night. One can never be over confident when it comes to a body of water with this magnitude and force- they’re called The Great Lakes for a reason- so we constantly checked weather reports at the marinas, consulted our radar, rode bikes or walked to the piers to see the lake with our own eyes and on one occasion Steve spoke to the Coast Guard. Our electronics on board were invaluable – the GPS (Global Positioning System) and the radar. We traveled some days in mist and fog and that is when our speed went down to 15 mph and a sharp eye out from both of us for other boats and buoys. We never traveled in the dark any of the days, it was always daylight. Total travel time by water was a little over thirty hours; we covered over 300 miles. Steve has proven himself to be a safe and cautious captain and did not take chances of any kind. Most times his full attention was on steering and watching the radar and GPS. The few days we had low wave conditions he was able to relax and enjoy the ride with his bride of twenty-five years! What proved to be an invaluable tool besides the radar and GPS was the book, Lake Michigan Ports of Call. This book even had aerial shots of each harbor and was very helpful to us as we maneuvered into each marina. We made no advance reservations (except for Chicago) so as we entered each harbor from the lake I would call the Harbor Master on our cell phone to check availability of a slip for the night. We were able to get into every marina we stopped at, just squeaking in at Frankfort however. Although each and every port had a lot to offer in its own unique way, South Haven, Michigan came in first as our favorite with Frankfort, Michigan and Washington Island, Wisconsin tied for second. Chicago is in its own division and cannot be compared to the other more quaint harbors. For meals while cruising we had bologna on white with mayo or mustard or sausage and cheese. While on land we had anything from blueberry pancakes to potato crusted walleye to scallops; we had pizza only once. Some of our dinners were compliments of a Christmas gift from our kids and a 25th wedding anniversary gift from my parents – a treat indeed!
We took one of the Architecture Cruises offered which starts at Navy Pier on the Chicago River and winds its way through the forest of skyscrapers. Four styles of architecture have been used through the decades and were pointed out to us throughout the tour. Architects flocked to Chicago in by-gone years anxious to be a part of its rebirth after the great fire of 1871 that destroyed most of the young city.
We left the Chicago harbor at 1:10 p.m. and once we got out of the mixing bowl waves we traveled in 1 – 2 foot waves about five miles off shore in depths averaging 50 – 60 feet; which seems so shallow for being so far off shore. We traveled the industrial southern most section of Lake Michigan. We could see miles upon miles of shoreline dotted with the Indiana steel mills. The Chicago skyline could be seen the entire trip. Our average speed was 29 mph and it took two hours and 10 minutes to travel from Chicago across the lake to Michigan City, Indiana, a total of about 45 miles.
Washington Park Municipal Marina in Michigan City Indiana is very quiet today with maybe four boats on our entire dock that had people on them. We walked to the public beach for a flavored shaved ice. A lot of people at the beach enjoying the beautiful summer day at the lake.
Today we left Michigan City Indiana for South Haven at 9:19 a.m. in 1 – 3 foot waves that eventually grew to five feet by the time we reached South Haven. Our speed averaged 24 – 31 mph in 45’ of water, one mile off shore. It was a 49 ˝ mile trip that took us 2 hours and 50 minutes along the white sandy shoreline with many dunes visible along the way.
South Haven is known as the Blueberry Capital of the world and is a favorite vacation and pleasure port for many; its sunsets are a popular attraction as well. At one time it was a busy lumber port and then gave way to huge resorts that brought excursion boats from Chicago and tourism grew. We stayed at the municipal marina which has a friendly, helpful staff as well as very clean showers, restrooms and laundry not to mention a short walk to the quaint “sea side” town in one direction and the lighthouse and lake a short walk in the other direction from the marina. This ended up being one of our favorite ports.
We left South Haven for Saugatuck at 11:35 am. in 2 – 3 foot waves with a 4 footer thrown in now and again. Our average speed was 31 mph, a mile off shore in 40 – 50 feet of water. We traveled 16 – 18 miles in one hour. As soon as you get to the harbor you enter a channel from Lake Michigan that moves into the buoy-marked river to Kalamazoo Lake where the marina is. This is a NO-WAKE zone that takes a good 30 minutes but it’s a very scenic route with homes and cottages along the way. Our slip was right on the boardwalk and walking distance to town and a slew of shops and art galleries. Steve was trying, not real hard however, to learn art appreciation.
This ended up being our first day of rain, so we waited until 2:56 p.m. to leave the marina in Saugatuck to make our way through the channel and then on to Eldean Shipyard marina in Holland (Macatawa). The weather turned to blue skies and fluffy whites but the waves were 4 – 5 foot rollers. We only traveled half an hour today due to the high waves plus our boat stalled a couple of times just before we crossed the break wall boulders (out of the Saugatuck harbor) and we needed to check out the reason why. The panic look on Steve’s face as the waves pushed us towards the rocks told me we wouldn’t be traveling far today until he found the reason for the motor shutting off. It shut off a couple more times in the huge waves as we proceeded out farther into the lake past the boulders. After the third stall it wouldn’t start again so Steve went down into the fuse box and found the ignition fuse had popped out (due to the pounding the bow was taking exiting the harbor). We got as far as Holland harbor and called it quits for the day. We stayed closer to shore, a half mile maybe in 40 feet of water. There is a short channel that passes Holland State Park before it opens into Lake Macatawa where the marinas are located. Part of its charm comes from its history as a port of prominence for upper-class summer resorts. Then recently the port was a commercial fishing area but not anymore. Today’s focus is on waterskiing, jetskiiing, sailing and sport fishing.
Very friendly staff at the Eldean shipyard marina plus ultra-modern, very, very, clean facilities. We had the best pizza ever at the Piper restaurant-special crust, wood-roasted tomato sauce, and five cheese blend and then we added bacon, pepperoni, green olives and mushrooms. We rode our bikes a good eight miles along South Shore Drive past beautiful homes on Lake Macatawa. We then walked to the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor.
Today we are ready to cruise some distance from Holland to Ludington with hardly any waves but some fog in the beginning. We traveled in 40 – 60 feet of water with top speeds of 32 miles an hour. It took us four hours to reach Ludington, plus we slowed down to a crawl in front of the Pentwater harbor for lunch.
Ludington is a “trim, tidy little city whose restaurants, parks and shops are conveniently located near the marinas.” It is home to the S.S. Badger, the car ferry that is the “last remaining ship of her kind on the Great Lakes.” Ludington grew with the lumber boom of the 19th Century, developed into a major shipping center and today its nautical atmosphere comes from the Coast Guard station, huge charter fishing fleets and marina expansions. We rode our bikes past town to Captain Chucks to buy cut bait (for fishing on Friday). We had a coffee break on the way back through town and then stopped at a cute little bookstore on a side street.
We waited until the fog lifted before we set out for Frankfort from Ludington in 0’ waves (yippee) clipping along nicely at 38 mph we made the Frankfort harbor in two hours and eight minutes.
When we left Ludington harbor and were one mile north of the Big Sable Lighthouse we saw our first trap nets in 100 feet of water marked with orange flags. We noticed them because of the commercial fishing boat by them.
We walked to the town of Frankfort which was a stones throw from our slip quite a few times these two days. Sidewalk sale days were in progress, so the hardware store and the dime store we visited a few times. Had a fish basket dinner one night at a local restaurant named appropriately, DINGHY’S. Rode our bikes to the pier one morning to check the wave conditions. The post office in town seemed like an exact replica of Calumet’s post office as I remember it.
Frankfort is the first port we fished at and we ended up having a double on. Steve fighting one and me fighting the other – brought both in the boat. I would much rather net than reel, my arms don’t seem strong enough for all that reeling. We ended up 8 for 12 with twin monster kings in the box.
The cleaning station was a good ˝ mile from our slip. The two of us started out hauling the cooler with me stopping every 50 yards to rest until we came upon the shopping cart. Steve felt like he was “downtown.”
After two nights in Frankfort we got an early start, 7:30 a.m., in overcast skies with less than one foot waves for our northwest crossing of Lake Michigan to Washington Island, Wisconsin! A huge flock of butterflies took up residence in my stomach almost as soon as we set out. We were both quiet with our own thoughts and prayers as we traveled this day. We passed the 45th parallel at 8:57 a.m., the depth finder read 713 feet. We came across a thunderstorm off in the distance with lightning, so Steve changed our course by five miles but the storm caught up to us. We ended up going right under the tail end of the storm cloud but we had no rain, wind or lightning from it. As soon as we got through the low dark cloud, the water was calm and the ceiling lifted. It took us only two hours and 30 minutes to cross- what a difference in travel time when there are no waves! We entered the harbor at Washington Island cautiously as many spots are shallow. We had to radio into the marina to get specific directions on how to maneuver into the gas dock. Very shallow spots were evident, as you could look down into the clear water and see rocks galore. Steve was ready to get the heck out of there, but after pulling into a slip and eating a delicious breakfast at their restaurant we decided to stay. And good thing we did, it ended up being one of our favorite ports. No t-shirt or fudge shops but pure “old England style fishing village” atmosphere at Kap’s Marina. You get to the Island from the mainland by car ferry and if you are driving, the entire island’s speed limit is no higher than 45 mph, but after not driving a car for ten days, 45 mph seemed fast in a car. The island is 22 squares miles or 14,000 acres.
We rode bikes to the malt shop but then came back to rent a car as Steve was showing signs of heat exhaustion from sweating in the humidity. We did a self-guided tour of the island. This island “holds the distinction of being the country’s oldest Scandinavian settlement”, hence the Finnish flag. The island’s loyalty today is to tourism with some commercial fishing and farming. In 1816 the schooner, George Washington, anchored in this harbor on its way to Green Bay so the soldiers on this vessel named the island.
We walked through the Jackson Harbor Maritime Museum and saw interesting artifacts.
The Schoolhouse Beach was pure rock, no sandcastle building here, with a lot of people enjoying the water. Very beautiful and peaceful.
Stavkirke Chapel in the woods is associated with the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and was built with wooden pegs, not one nail was used.
Sievers School of Fiber Arts is located on the island with weekend and week long classes available. Dorm accommodations are even available. Students sell their finished products in the school’s store anything from lampshades to bent willow chairs to weaving to beading and quilting.
A lot of thimbleberry plants along the island roads.
We stayed a second night as the Coast Guard didn’t recommend traveling in the high waves. We had to let the marina owner know before noon if we were staying or not as he had a waiting list. It’s not a big marina by any means it holds about 25 to 30 boats.
Steve was in their bait shop talking “fishing tackle talk” so smokinfishlures sold some products here.
left Washington Island, Wisconsin by 8:30 a.m. under blue skies headed towards Algoma, Wisconsin. We traveled 50 – 55 miles today in 4 – 5 foot rollers with an occasional series of 6 – 7 foot sister waves (three in a row). It took us four hours to travel this distance. Algoma marina is located at the entrance to the Ahnapee River. This fishing village had many names over the ages from the Potawatomi Indians and early white settlers. Algoma claims to be the “trout and salmon capital of Wisconsin.”
We biked into town for lunch/dinner, shouldn’t have been surprised to see pasty on the menu. Visited one of the bait shops. Algoma is a very friendly town.
Fished a little before a thunderstorm blew in, brought in three king salmon, one pretty good size—gave them away. Smokinfishlures did some advertising here.
Waited until the skies cleared up nicely and started for Sheboygan Wisconsin in 1 – 2 footers. Later in the trip the rollers started and it took us four hours to travel 53 miles.
We encountered fog patches with a blue ceiling, not as claustrophobic that way!
This shoreline is different from the Michigan side, with trees, grassy hills and a lot of farms and silos.
Sheboygan Harbor Center Marina is enormous, the biggest we’ve seen, with plenty of room to turn the boat around and do any kind of maneuvering you want to do.
According to recent statistics, Sheboygan was voted the best place to raise a family and retire!
We rode our bikes into town for supper and fly traps, the sticky brown ones.
Rain kept us under an overhang for a half hour and an eerie fog rolled in while we were in town, but it rolled out just as fast.
I won Steve in three games of YAHTZEE.
Left Sheboygan at 10:05 a.m. under blue skies with speeds averaging 23 mph but we literally surfed all the way to Racine Wisconsin in humungous waves. It took us three hours and 55 minutes to go the distance.
Ate dinner at the marina and then rode our bikes into town and along the beautiful walkway/bike path around the marina.
Friday morning we dunked a few lures outside the harbor quite a ways out and ended up going 4 for 9; gave them away at the fish cleaning station.
Our friends, George and Sharon from Zion, came to Racine on their boat and had dinner with us on our last night of our cruise. |
