Green water from Grand Haven to Ludington - I mean Pentwater

Again we got stir crazy staying in Grand Haven. It was time to be on the road again. Plus the Grand Isle dockage is pretty expensive. We left at about 10am after much discussion about the weather.

Our target was Ludington. We had every intention of going to Ludington. We even had reservations. It was white knuckle the entire way from Grand Haven north. We had 5 to 7 foot waves the entire time directly on the beam. But we discovered that the big 480 diesel engines love it. We sped up to 17 knots at 2100 rpm to move as fast as possible through 3 to 5 foot waves that turned into 5+ straight off the beam from the west as we moved north. This means it was coming at us directly at the side - the worst possible way to travel on a boat. We rolled the entire way. I was almost sick. Paul was on deck with Kermit and Maeo was in the back deck watching for fishnets. We rolled over 3 or 4 fishnets without incident but it was scary. We got stuck on a fishnet in Lake Huron and had to bob around for 3 hours waiting for a diver. This time it would have been dangerous with 5 to 7 foot waves. The big waves made it very hard to spot anything in the water.

We also had fog part of the way – fog without flat water was odd. We had the radar on but no GPS. It didn’t work. We are using Garmin charts on the iPad. So far it seems to be working well. We discovered that the reason the GPS doesn’t work is there is no antenna! It goes on the list of upcoming projects!!

Hard to take a picture in the waves

We took plenty of green water (water from waves not just spray) over the top!! We discovered the repairs we made to the window caulking are not enough. We took in water through the side windows although I suspect it was less than we would have experienced before making repairs. We stuck towels along the port windows to stem the worst of it. Then I started to feel raindrops. That was odd! Turns out the bimini canvas is not as solid as we would like it to be. Too bad since the canvas was replaced in 2012. We need some waterproofing! I moved back to sit with Maeo. 

Keep in mind that the water temp on Lake Michigan at about 3 to 5 miles off shore is about 45 degrees. It was wet. It was cold. All that water trickling in from the windows and dripping from the ceiling was COLD. Time for jeans, sweatshirts and life jackets.

We couldn't get there fast enough.

We spent much of the day in this terrible water. It was all we could do to stay vertical. After a while we were near Ludington. I called for reservations. No problem. Kermit handled the entrance the same way he handles entering Sandusky Bay at Cedar Point. He went past the entrance then timed the waves to make a fast 90 degree turn so we didn’t capsize. Of course he did a fine job. We surfed into the harbor.

We looked for the left turn to enter the Lidington Municipal Marina from the channel. There was no left turn! What the…? The blue water tower told the story. We were in Pentwater not Ludington!!

Pentwater is a small town about 10 miles south of Ludington but we were not going back out there. We took a slip at the municipal marina and tied up. Then up to the grass to kiss the ground that we landed safely.

I don’t remember much about Pentwater. The people were nice enough. It had the usual main street with shops. We made quesadillas out of the leftover grilled chicken then went to bed. It was an exhausting day.