July 2, 2004
Ludington, MI
Waiting for weather, and happy about it! We are in Ludington, MI, almost halfway on our trek north. Ludington is great, and if you have to be stuck waiting for the wind, this is the place. It is a nice interlude during our long days of travel.
Our refrigeration compressor arrived at Steve’s parents house Tuesday, just as UPS promised. Sid and Mary Ann (Steve’s parents) drove us back to Holland where we did some last minute provisioning and went out for a sort-of-departure dinner of all-you-can-eat white fish at the Parkway Inn. Not bad. Then, back to the boat to stow everything and install the compressor. Unfortunately, it was quite late when we finally turned in.
The result: we over slept. We finally rose around 10:30 and motored from our berth at Crescent Shores Marina, down Lake Macatawa to Eldean’s Ship Yard to pump out our holding tank and buy some parts from their marine store. We finally got underway, passing Big Red lighthouse and entering Lake Michigan, around 13:15.
Setting the Cruising Shoot
Winds were light on our port quarter, finally blowing our way, just not very hard. We set a course for White Lake, about 35 nautical miles north of Holland. Our new head sails weren’t enough in the light winds, so Vanessa went below, dove deep into one of the forward lockers, and came up with our trusty old cruising spinnaker. Flying the spinnaker is more complicated than our regular head sails, but only from the stand point of deployment. Once set, it added a knot or two to our speed. Great! It pulled us along for hours, until we had a funny back-wind that caused the spinnaker to jibe and get caught on the port spreader. It took us a while to free it up, all while trying to maintain some control over the boat in the swirling wind. We got it down. Not with out damage, however, as there is a small tear in its leech. No problems, as we’ll pick up some rip-stop tape and have it back in service soon.
Sailing Along Under the
Spinnaker
We watched the beautiful sun set over the horizon and continued sailing after dark. We arrived at White Lake around 22:45, but had a hard time finding a place to anchor, as White Lake is a uniform 40 feet deep. We wanted something shallow, dropping the hook on the south shore of the lake in 24 feet. The boat secure in the lee of the south shore, we cleaned up and went to bed just before midnight. We slept like babies.
Up earlier the next morning, I made coffee and we ate granola bars as we weighed anchor, motored back out, picked up our course, and continued north. There are so many great light houses around here. Heading down the White Lake channel takes us past this really neat restored light house. It looked to be a museum and open to the public, but we didn’t have time to find out. Lake Michigan was calling.
More like yelling. Over night, the wind came around and was coming from where? If you guess “the direction we wanted to go,” you guessed right. With the wind directly on the nose, we were in for another long day with the ol’ Volvo-Penta clattering away. We had another 35 miles to go and wanted to make it in before dark, so tacking almost to Milwaukee and back just to reach Ludington was out of the question. We set the autopilot and let the GPS drive again as we head along the coast. Pretty much status quo while motoring until the GPS took us around Little Sable Point, a cape of sorts on the lake. Little Sable had been protecting us from the winds that were blowing down from Canada. So, while we were gazing at the beautiful red-stone lighthouse marking Little Sable, the cold nor’westers were building a little surprise for us. The seas built and the temperature dropped. We bundled up in our foulies again (wondering if summer is ever going to arrive). Abeam of Pentwater, the seas became wickedly rough. Not that they were that bad, but they were on the nose, which automatically makes them seem twice as bad as they really are. Nereus handled it just fine, crashing and charging through; taking water over the bow just like in the movies. Sidonia started turning green again, but the Dramamine we gave her helped her through – no chumming for salmon this time!
The Ludington Harbor Light
When we are out on the water and there’s nothing around, we rely on our trust ol’ GPS chart plotter to show us where we are. It is said to be accurate to within the length of our boat, probably accurate within a few feet. But, when you are out on the water, looking at the chart, and trying to compare it to the area surrounding, three feet don’t mean Jack! The GPS kept telling us we were within a few miles of the Ludington Harbor, but we couldn’t see it – longing for it, needing it. We just knew we were close, but pinpointing the harbor entrance was difficult. Then, at 17:25, we heard the “Sea-cure-a-tay” (security) alert from the car ferry, S.S. Badger, arriving at Ludington from Manitowoc, WI. I looked off my port beam and there was this 410′ SHIP steaming right for us! I turned back, focused, and there it was, the Ludington light marking the entrance! The race was on! Full throttle! Batten down the hatches! Damn the torpedoes! Warp speed Mr. Scott! Well show this Mam-a-jam-a our wake!…
Badger dropping anchor and swinging into postition
Not even a contest. Poor Badger didn’t stand a chance against the lightning slowness of the super Westsail, Nereus. We WON! Like sour losers, though, the Badger came into the harbor, blaring horns, hogging the channel, and taking all the glory for themselves. All the people on shore didn’t even notice us winners, gawking and pointing at Badger as if it was something they don’t see all the time. Then, to top it all off, theBadger tries to push us out of they way, (like they own the harbor, or something) dropping anchor, swinging wide, and backing into their berth as if they do it every day! We decided to show them and do the same thing. We powered gallantly to our slip at the Ludington Municipal Marina! . . . I got it right on the second try.
Badger berthing in Ludington
Ludington was to be our second night stop-over before continuing up to Frankfort. The one night turned to two as this mornings winds were . . . drum role, please . . . from the northeast – cymbal crash – right where we wanted to go! No big deal. If you have to be held up somewhere, this is it. Ludington has “boater paradise” written all over it.
Binga posing for the Camera Ludington Pier
A former lumber town of the 1800’s, Ludington has taken its industrial waterfront port and converted it into a beautiful place to visit. Lined with marinas, parks, and homes, the newly revitalized waterfront provides the friendly folks of the area terrific recreational facilities. The Municipal Marina is new, beautiful, clean, and more important, inexpensive, making it the highlight of the trip to date. Plus, it is right in the middle of everything. There is a park with swings and jungle gyms on site for little Bingas, and it is a few short blocks to the downtown area or the beach. While Saugatuck strives for and prospers on its quaintness, Ludington seems quaint completely by accident. The homes are clean and maintained. The people are genuinely friendly. They have their own ice cream factory – which is nice. We are glad the wind is wrong. We get to stay another night, affording us the opportunity to have a better look around.
Family Time Together
Today, we spent the day on ourselves, walking around, taking in the town – you know, tourist stuff. We walked over to their beautiful public beach and walked out to the pier-head. We strolled through the downtown area. We had ice cream. This is what is it suppose to be all about. We love it.
But, just when we are getting happy and comfortable, the weather turns around. Tomorrow, we are expecting perfect sailing conditions. So, first thing in the morning, we’ll check out, pump out, fuel up, and set sail again; back on our course north. Good bye Ludington, it’s been great! We certainly hope to see you again one day.
-Steve