The town in Pentwater was very close to our anchorage which allowed us to dinghy in and explore. They had a nice farmer's market and we found a House of Flavors ice cream shop, where Mark was able to get orange pineapple. I had been slacking on my drawing and painting and decided to put the pencil to the paper while anchored in Muskegon.
On the ride over to Grand Haven we encountered swells from the winds. We decided to try to tie up at the free wall although we had heard it is pretty bouncy...they were right. The surge in the harbor was terrible and even with 5 fenders out we were concerned the boat could have damage. We moved to the marina just down the way. It was still rocking but we were able to secure the boat from all sides. There were many loopers there and we met Jim & Mo from Gemini who will finish the loop in 2 weeks as they cross their wake in Michigan City!
Grand Haven is really a very busy town. We rode our bikes and found a home depot and West Marine about a mile from downtown. The Walmart was about 2 miles away but located on Rt 31, which was very busy and didn't have sidewalks. The great thing about Grand Haven is they have transportation anywhere in town for $1.50 one way if your 19-59 and $.75 if your 60 or over. They picked me up right at the marina, dropped me off at Walmart, came back and picked me up. It was great to be able to stock up and not have to bike bringing it all back to the boat.
It looked like it was going to be another beautiful sunset and we rode our bikes out to the lighthouse, it did not disappoint! That's when we discovered Grand Haven State Park, a RV park right next to the harbor entrance. It's really no more than a huge parking lot with sand. We spoke to the attendant and she told us they reserve the beach front spots 6 months ahead of time. We commented on it being a big parking lot and she agreed, its just so different from what we usually see with trees and greenery. What a great view they had of the sunset and right on a very busy beach.
Every summer evening they have a musical water fountain show across the harbor from the marina. The music is synchronized to multi-colored lights and they change the music nightly. It reminded me of the water shows at the casinos in Las Vegas.
The weather forecast for the weekend is really iffy, strong winds and rain on Saturday. They are talking about 35 knot gale winds and waves occasionally to 13 feet! We would have liked to stay in Grand Haven for the weekend but they were full so on Thursday morning we set off for Lake Macatawa where we will sit out the weather and leave once the lake settles down (possibly Sunday or Monday).
Pentwater, MI
Following the freighter into Muskegon
My rendition of Presque Isle Lighthouse, MI
A freighter backing out in Grand Haven
Biking in Grand Haven
RV park - Grand Haven State Park
Water fountain show
The elevated walkway was created to allow the lighthouse
keeper to get to the lighthouse when the waves were high.
Lighthouses nowadays are automated.
This front of the fog signal building/lighthouse gives the appearance of a
ship's bow and was designed to protect the building from the lake storms.
Just beautiful! Especially that 2nd shot of the clouds! (And your sketch of the lighthouse :)
ReplyDeleteI started reading the whole story, fascinating. Question: when the boat us rolling at dock or anchoring somewhere, can you actually sleep ?
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