Holland to Manistee
August 3, 2010
We arrived in Muskegon late Monday afternoon and found a beautiful place to anchor. It is the first time we anchored in this spot. We have another place we like, but it is not protected from a south wind. It was nice to be out of a marina for a change.
In the morning we called the marina that we would be staying in for the next couple of days. It is small and connected to a hotel and restaurant. We have the same benefits as the hotel guests. The hotel is beautiful and the amenities are great, plus the price is right.
We had a couple of regal visitors with feathers. Mike is feeding them very healthy stale crackers from Whole Foods.
There are very few boaters in the marina. The man on the boat next to us is from Chicago and is a retired American Airline executive. He has a large power boat and gave us a tour. Wow, talk about room. A full size refrigerator and chairs in the living room – we were space envious.
As always we had to check out the laundry facility. It was adequate. The difference between this place and other laundry facilities was the ability to lounge in the hot tub while waiting for the laundry to wash and dry.
While we were lounging, we met a family who lived south of Jackson, MI. The father was an auto mechanics teacher. He told us with pride that his students had won national recognition. One of his students had a full scholarship to college. We talked teacher talk. He mentioned that his district had a new superintendent who closed the entire vocation education building. This teacher was given a pink slip and is unemployed. I have always believed in the necessity of vocational education. I watched it slowly disappear in the school where I taught. Once again I wonder about the future of our educational system.
August 4, 2010
This morning was boat chores, but after the chores we walked to the culinary school located downtown Muskegon. We had a 5 star eating experience in the school’s restaurant. We watched the students in the kitchen on a large screen TV preparing the meals. The food was excellent and well presented. We talked to our waiter his education and about the school.
Today we spent time planning our future travel. Yesterday we went to lunch with friends we met in the North Channel who are going south via the Great Lakes, Erie Canal, Hudson River and Eastern Seaboard. The more we thought about our decision to go south via the river system, we began to think about seeing new territory and new adventures.
Our decision will make us add about a 1000 miles to our trip. We have to sail up Lake Michigan, down Lake Huron, through Lake Erie to the Erie Canal. In the meantime we are leaving for Chicago tomorrow for a wedding and family reunion.
We are leaving the boat at Torresen Marine. It is tight docking here, but you are greeted by several very skilled men with poles, who grab your boat and gently set you next to the dock. It is really a work of art. (see video) On our way out many days later, it was breezy and they turned us around in the dock and sent us on our way, they joked they feel like gondoliers, pulling boats through the water with poles!
August 5, 2010
We arrived in Chicago thanks to Carrie, a fellow teacher and good friend who not only volunteered to pick us up in Muskegon but to also drive us back in 10 days.
We have decided to get to Florida via the Great Lakes and East coast. This means we are not going back to Chicago in September and our current visit home is our goodbye to Chicago/Brookfield. Emotionally we had postponed all of the good byes. Now with the final departure imminent, the entire trip had a whole different feeling. Luckily we will be able to see our children since both Erin and Jim, who live in other states, were in for part of the week.
The 10 days went quickly. We stayed with our friends, Bob and Aldona. During our coming and goings with them, we went to a wedding in Lake Geneva, Mike’s parents in Lansing, Michigan, and Francie’s family reunion in Indiana.
During the 10 days we experienced several difficult moments that we had never experienced. Not having our own home to come back to not only for us but the kids was very unsettling. We had been on the boat for 10 days after leaving Hammond. It wasn’t enough time to feel like it was home. Just as we started to get a rhythm and a sense of belonging, we left again. That may be the contributing factor to our uneasiness.
The other difficult part of the trip was saying goodbye. It seems like that is all we have done for the past two months. We said goodbye to our jobs, our colleagues, our home, and to most of our friends. We had put off saying good bye to our children and family until September, but we moved that date up and this was it. The whole experience was much harder that we thought.
Francie was reminded of a W.B. Yeats quote that we had hanging in our study in our study at home (oops, this is home) the house.
“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of Joy.”
August 15, 2010
Carrie brought us back to the boat this afternoon and is going to stay with us for a few days. The work on the boat was done. We had the 500 hr check up on the engine. There were also a couple other little things that they corrected. The only hose on the boat that we had not already replaced was leaking.
We spent the following day shopping for groceries and charts for our trip east. We also took Carrie to the culinary school and enjoyed another delicious meal.
August 18, 2010
We spent Tuesday night anchored in Pentwater. We were planning to go White Lake, but decided to push on even though the lake was rough. We are trying to slow down and smell the seaweed, but we find it hard. The night was calm and relaxing. We decided not to dinghy ashore after calling the local grocery and finding they were out of the homemade cherry strudel that is always a highpoint of our visit here.
We arrived in Manistee this afternoon, Manistee is a great old town and we went on a historical walking tour. See, we are doing better; not just racing to the next port. We will be so laid back that you won’t recognize us.
It is good to be back on the boat as we try to build a rhythm that allows us to make it home. The decision to go out the east coast feels right. Even as we cruise up the Lake and visit places we have enjoyed in the past we are looking forward to exploring places that are new to us.
We arrived in Muskegon late Monday afternoon and found a beautiful place to anchor. It is the first time we anchored in this spot. We have another place we like, but it is not protected from a south wind. It was nice to be out of a marina for a change.
In the morning we called the marina that we would be staying in for the next couple of days. It is small and connected to a hotel and restaurant. We have the same benefits as the hotel guests. The hotel is beautiful and the amenities are great, plus the price is right.
We had a couple of regal visitors with feathers. Mike is feeding them very healthy stale crackers from Whole Foods.
There are very few boaters in the marina. The man on the boat next to us is from Chicago and is a retired American Airline executive. He has a large power boat and gave us a tour. Wow, talk about room. A full size refrigerator and chairs in the living room – we were space envious.
As always we had to check out the laundry facility. It was adequate. The difference between this place and other laundry facilities was the ability to lounge in the hot tub while waiting for the laundry to wash and dry.
While we were lounging, we met a family who lived south of Jackson, MI. The father was an auto mechanics teacher. He told us with pride that his students had won national recognition. One of his students had a full scholarship to college. We talked teacher talk. He mentioned that his district had a new superintendent who closed the entire vocation education building. This teacher was given a pink slip and is unemployed. I have always believed in the necessity of vocational education. I watched it slowly disappear in the school where I taught. Once again I wonder about the future of our educational system.
August 4, 2010
This morning was boat chores, but after the chores we walked to the culinary school located downtown Muskegon. We had a 5 star eating experience in the school’s restaurant. We watched the students in the kitchen on a large screen TV preparing the meals. The food was excellent and well presented. We talked to our waiter his education and about the school.
Today we spent time planning our future travel. Yesterday we went to lunch with friends we met in the North Channel who are going south via the Great Lakes, Erie Canal, Hudson River and Eastern Seaboard. The more we thought about our decision to go south via the river system, we began to think about seeing new territory and new adventures.
Our decision will make us add about a 1000 miles to our trip. We have to sail up Lake Michigan, down Lake Huron, through Lake Erie to the Erie Canal. In the meantime we are leaving for Chicago tomorrow for a wedding and family reunion.
We are leaving the boat at Torresen Marine. It is tight docking here, but you are greeted by several very skilled men with poles, who grab your boat and gently set you next to the dock. It is really a work of art. (see video) On our way out many days later, it was breezy and they turned us around in the dock and sent us on our way, they joked they feel like gondoliers, pulling boats through the water with poles!
August 5, 2010
We arrived in Chicago thanks to Carrie, a fellow teacher and good friend who not only volunteered to pick us up in Muskegon but to also drive us back in 10 days.
We have decided to get to Florida via the Great Lakes and East coast. This means we are not going back to Chicago in September and our current visit home is our goodbye to Chicago/Brookfield. Emotionally we had postponed all of the good byes. Now with the final departure imminent, the entire trip had a whole different feeling. Luckily we will be able to see our children since both Erin and Jim, who live in other states, were in for part of the week.
The 10 days went quickly. We stayed with our friends, Bob and Aldona. During our coming and goings with them, we went to a wedding in Lake Geneva, Mike’s parents in Lansing, Michigan, and Francie’s family reunion in Indiana.
During the 10 days we experienced several difficult moments that we had never experienced. Not having our own home to come back to not only for us but the kids was very unsettling. We had been on the boat for 10 days after leaving Hammond. It wasn’t enough time to feel like it was home. Just as we started to get a rhythm and a sense of belonging, we left again. That may be the contributing factor to our uneasiness.
The other difficult part of the trip was saying goodbye. It seems like that is all we have done for the past two months. We said goodbye to our jobs, our colleagues, our home, and to most of our friends. We had put off saying good bye to our children and family until September, but we moved that date up and this was it. The whole experience was much harder that we thought.
Francie was reminded of a W.B. Yeats quote that we had hanging in our study in our study at home (oops, this is home) the house.
“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of Joy.”
August 15, 2010
Carrie brought us back to the boat this afternoon and is going to stay with us for a few days. The work on the boat was done. We had the 500 hr check up on the engine. There were also a couple other little things that they corrected. The only hose on the boat that we had not already replaced was leaking.
We spent the following day shopping for groceries and charts for our trip east. We also took Carrie to the culinary school and enjoyed another delicious meal.
August 18, 2010
We spent Tuesday night anchored in Pentwater. We were planning to go White Lake, but decided to push on even though the lake was rough. We are trying to slow down and smell the seaweed, but we find it hard. The night was calm and relaxing. We decided not to dinghy ashore after calling the local grocery and finding they were out of the homemade cherry strudel that is always a highpoint of our visit here.
We arrived in Manistee this afternoon, Manistee is a great old town and we went on a historical walking tour. See, we are doing better; not just racing to the next port. We will be so laid back that you won’t recognize us.
It is good to be back on the boat as we try to build a rhythm that allows us to make it home. The decision to go out the east coast feels right. Even as we cruise up the Lake and visit places we have enjoyed in the past we are looking forward to exploring places that are new to us.