When Last We Spoke....

.....................we were headed south from Sheboygan along Lake Michigan's eastern shore.

Our next stop proved to be a place that earned an entry on the short list we call "Places We Could :Live".  We are talking about Port Washington, WI, where we spent four days moored in their inner harbor.   

A peaceful side-tie in the Port Washington inner harbor

A true "hurricane hole" a block from shopping and dinning, easy access to good walks for fur-Admiral Maggie, friendly locals, and the cheapest diesel we have found this year ($4.44/gal).  And its a popular stop for Loopers where we connected with Rick and Kristi on Inked Mermaid,  Steve and Ruth on Stepping Stones (who had survived the South River Per with us in Sheboygan), Gert and Chris on the Nordic Tug  Patriot, Roland on Y-Knot (a solo Looper on a 22' C-Dory!), and Sarah and Michael on Noah Genda  (sound it out😉).   Irish Lass had the privilege of hosting  host "Docktails" for this congenial group.   

Looper Docktails with new friends

But before we know it, we were underway again.  Southward, ever southward.  This time to Milwaukee and McKinley Marina.   

Our plan was to spend several days in Milwaukee,  But surprisingly, this was NOT so we could peruse the Harley Davidson Museum .  Or to sample "The Beer That Made  Milwaukee Famous".  Rather is was because McKinley Marina was only 15 Uber minutes from the Milwaukee Airport, allowing Wade to make a quick 72-hour trip home for an all-siblings visit with his 97 year old mother who recently entered hospice care.   

In typical boater fashion the locals on "F" dock at McKinley Marina took us under their wing, providing transportation to a grocery store, restaurant recommendations, and a watchful eye over Kathleen and fur-Admiral Maggie during Wade's absence.  We particularly enjoyed Bob and Nancy who own a hand-build 38-foot Diesel Duck trawler designed by George Bueller of Whidbey Island, WA.   We also learned that Milwaukee celebrates its diverse cultural heritage with a series of festivals throughout the summer at a dedicated lakefront fair grounds. Ands that we were just in time for the Irish Fest!   An evening of corned beef and lively Irish music and dancing ensued. Erin Go Bragh!

(Note:  New entry in the Big Book of Lessons Learned:  Keep a marina key with you at all times. 

After United Airlines deposited Wade back in Milwaukee at 1:00 am, (5+ hours lake) he nearly had to climb the wrought iron fence to get back to Irish Lass, except for the grace of a Milwaukee PD officer and a cooperative security guard.  Whew!)  

Our original Plan was to proceed south to Kenosha , WI for a few days , and then to back-track to Racine, WI to welcome visitors aboard for memorial Day weekend.  But an examination of the weather forecast indicated a possibility that we could get trapped in Kenosha and miss our guests.  So extended our stay at Racine to two full weeks and settled in.  Reefpoint Marina proved to be one of the nicer places we have stayed in all our travels thus far, offering a pool, a very nice store, very clean on-dock restrooms, a restaurant and an excellent staff.   

Reefpoint in a small city-owned marina.  A mere 921 slips.  Sheesh!

The boaters  on West 7 dock welcomed us warmly.  They included current and past Loopers, another Cruiser 455 owner, experienced cruisers, and a few "slippers" (as in "never leaves the slip")   They included us in their gatherings, offered advice on local features,  and  tempted Fur-Admiral Maggie with treats.  (And it does not take her long to learn which boats are worth a repeat visit.)

We hosted McKernan cousins Karen, Mary, and Ellie for a day But our weather concerns proved to be correct and we were unbale to cruise with them beyond a dinghy tour of the marina .  Kathleen's brother Terry and wife Carrie (along with their dog Skye arrived for for Labor Day weekend and we found a few hours of clam weather to take the out to meet Lake Michigan up close. .  

A diverse and happy crew. 

Lake Michigan's oldest and tallest

Newly-minted Gold (i.e. completed) Loopers Hal and Wendy on the Grand Banks Patriot shared their experience about cruising the rivers. and Platinum (i.e. 2x or more) Looper John offered wisdom on many aspects if the route through the rivers and around Florida.  We also became acquainted with Ray and Jane on Pura Vida, a Bayliner 5788 out of  Ontario, Canada, with whom we made plans to begin our trip down the rivers in a few weeks. .  Ray (aka The Mad Scotsman) is a very seasoned captain who honed his boating skills on the Isle of Man, so we welcome his knowledge and experience. 

We closed out our time at Racine with a 75 mile run directly south to the familiar  Hammond Marina in Hammond IN.  This time of year Loopers congregate in southern Lake Michigan, either in Chicago or in Hammond.  All to prepare for the voyage down the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico .  

Chicago skyline

We bypassed Chicago in the mists and Nebo showed over 20 Loopers awaiting us in Hammond.  And as we approached Ray, the Mad Scotsman, circled us in his dinghy waving and laughing historically and shouting "No Irish here! No Irish here!".  But we counted with "But we have WHISKEY!" and he relented.   🤣🤣

There Will Be A Brief Intermission

Sadly, we must pause our journey to return to Spokane to memorialize Wade's mother, Gratia Griffith, who passed away on September 2 at age 97 and 10 months.   

Cousin Lauren McLaughln has graciously agreed to look after fur-Admiral Maggie while we are gone and our fellow Loopers with care for Irish Lass. And we will be back to begin our river journey before the end of the month.

Thanks for Following! 

And be sure to track us on NEBO

Wade and Kathleen Griffith and fur-Admiral Maggie

It Takes A Village........

......To Have A Real Adventure!

Truth be told, an “adventure” is just a near disaster mitigated by the skill of our crew,  the kindness of strangers, and  the passage of time (not to mention a few  cocktails). And a true “adventure” rarely has a single root cause. No, it takes a village of smaller problems to add up to the full blown ”adventure.”

And such was our visit to Sheboygan……

As we journeyed southward from our overnight stop in Kewanee, we received a confirmation email on our reservation at the Harbor Center Marina in Sheboygan. In it they informed us that their usual “big-boat” dock was out of commission due to winter damage, , and we would be moored on the wall at the “South River Pier.”  Ok, we thought, we’ve been “on the wall” in marinas before without incident.

As we entered the Sheboygan breakwater we learned that the “South River Pier” was actually a mile from the marina on the Sheboygan River and involved a very low, duck-crap-coated, spider-infested  fixed dock along a seawall promenade, accessed by two staircases about 100 yards apart.   Jack the dock hand met us, helped with our lines, and  then worked to try to tidy up the dock (using hose and nozzle we loaned him) as there were four other boats (a club group from Kenosha) right behind us looking to join us on the South River Pier

It was then we learned that the marina facilities were a 30-minute walk or a 15-minute dinghy ride away. And that we had power and water service and access to a public restroom in a nearby park, but no other marina amenities. Jack gave Kathleen a ride to the marina office for our check-in, where she pointed out the lack of access to the pool, laundry, secure restrooms, WIFI, etc. and negotiated a discounted rate for moorage.

Ok, so not an ideal situation but we decided we would make it work. And for the first couple of days, that’s what we did.  We walked the river promenade, socialized lightly with  folks on the promenade, found a beach for Admiral Maggie, explored the downtown area, and made some dinner reservations. We even walked to the marina to pick up a package that we had shipped there.

But then the weather began to deteriorate. Slowly, at first. The wind rose a bit, some rain fell,  the wind blew some more. We adjusted our fenders and spent a  rocking  second night as the SE wind blew some waves up the river channel.

On the third day, our dock neighbors from Kenosha all left,   giving us the opportunity to shift our mooring 50 yards or so upriver and closer to a staircase.    We decided to make this move manually, with the two of us managing three lines from the dock and “walking”  the boat along. And all went well for the first 20 feet or so.  Then the wind decided to howl, pushing the boat away from the dock and we were fighting to keep a grip on the lines.

 It reached the point that Wade had to drop the stern line to avoid being pulled in the water. Fortunately, Kathleen managed to cleat off the bow line to the dock. In the process, we dropped  the midship line in the water. ( And did we mention that it was now raining, too?)  Irish Lass was now tied to the dock by a single bow line in a 20+ kts of wind-driven rain. Oh, ####

We recruited help from a passing homeless guy (yes, really) and from the captain of a NOAA survey vessel also moored on the wall. The former helped us get a second bow line cleated to the dock, while the latter provided a step ladder that allowed Wade to climb over the bow rail and to make his way to the helm to start the engines. The plan was to power the boat to a better position along the “South River Pier.”   And the rain and wind continued.

Remember the midship line we left hanging? Well,  as soon as Wade began maneuvering the boat, it wrapped around the starboard propeller, stopping the engine. And as he turned the boat with the port engine and the bow thruster, it did the same to the port propeller. Fortunately, the bot had enough momentum that he was able to bring it back to the dock using the thruster, where Kathleen and our brave  volunteers managed to secure bow and stern lines. Thank you dear God! And Whew!

Now we needed a diver. OMG!

We left a message for a nearby drive shop and Wade went to hang out of their porch until they opened in an hour. He also reached out to Sue, the AGLCA Harbor Host for Sheboygan. Kathleen called the marina, who said they might know somebody. And about an hour later, we got a call from Saint Al the Diver, who offered to come right down and clear the rope tangled in our props. After 45 minutes and a small fee, He had a tangled mess of chewed up dock line on the dock,  cleared and tested propulsion, and a smiling photo of Saint Al the Diver and his helper. Amen.

St Al The Diver and son

 

Remains of brand new 35' dockline

Sue the Harbor Host offered to take Kathleen on a grocery run and a few other errands while Wade squared thew boat away. She and husband Rick have just finished their four-year  Great Loop voyage  aboard Fire Escape earlier this summer. To us they became like angels walking the earth.

And this was all before lunch. Sheesh.

But  then the weather got even worse. Sustained winds reached 30 kts with gusts to 35.   Rain squalls blew in and out. And, we learned, the Corps of Engineers has a portion of Sheboygan’s south breakwater under demolition, leaving a gap that allowed SE winds to push 3–5-foot waves up the river channel past (you guessed it) “South River Pier”. By 3:00, waves were breaking over the dock and Irish Lass was  bucking so hard her fenders would not stay in the water. We were worried the boat would wind up on the dock or we might get caught between boat and dock. It was frightening (and unsafe).

About that time,  Harbor Host (and angel) Rick from Fire Escape came by and said he had arranged a slip for us at the little Sheboygan Yacht Club. Thank you, dear God! Of course, we said “Yes!.”    It was a bit dicey maneuvering Irish Lass in the wind and waves to this new location and into the designated slip, but Rick and Sue met us with two volunteer dock hands and made us secure. The wind was still howling but we were now had a stone and concrete breakwater between us and the waves. Amen! And,  as we watched, the final two boats from “South River Pier” (including the NOAA vessel, forced their way on the marina’s sheltered fuel pier,  over the marina’s protests. So, everyone was now safe.  Amen!

View from our safe slip at the Sheboygan Yacht Club

View from Maggie's Beach in 30 kts wind

And to top it all off, Rick and Sue offered to buy us dinner. Not wanting to leave Admiral Maggie aboard during the storm, we countered with an offer of dinner aboard.  We settled on them finding and us funding an authentic Sheboygan Bratwurst Feast, which the four of us shared aboard. Single and double brats with mustard and pickles and  onion rings, French fries, and fried cheese curds on the side. It was a wonderful evening for all (except perhaps our cardiologists), and we enjoyed  quiet night’s sleep.

Angels and Harbor Hosts Rick and Sue from Fire Escape

Two days later, with the storm’s fury abated, It was clearly time to end this “adventure.”  We bid a fond “So Long, and Thanks for all the Brats” to Sheboygan (and “So Long, and thanks for Nothing” to Harbor Center Marina)  and continued our journey southward toward The Rivers.

More to come!

Thanks for following us

Wade and Kathleen Griffith and fur-Admiral Maggie

Be sure to track us on NEBO!

Knock, Knock, Knockin'........

.........On Wisconsin's Door

We have spent the last week and a half in the Cape Cod of the mid-West, Door County, WI.   Not quite heaven's door, but a pretty darn nice place, nonetheless.   

We started out in Sturgeon Bay, a bustling small city stradling the bay of the same name at the foot of the Door Penisula.  By foot, we explored a bustling downtown, an excellent maritime museum, and busy waterfront.  (Our last-minute purchase of a Mega Millions ticket failed to produce desired results, so we will just continue our trip.  Darnit.)  Sturgeon Bay has a long history in shipbuilding in both peace time and war. Today its yards construct and service many of the largest (up to 1,000 ft LOA) Great Lakes ore freighters. 

On a tip from a fellow Looper, Kathleen contacted Door2Door, an on-demand ride service from the Door County public transit authority for a proviosning trip.  This has got to be a THE screaming deal of the Great Loop.  For $4 round trip (senior rate, no tipping allowed) they picked her up in the van, took her to the grocery store, and broght her back with a whole big cart-full of goodies 90 minutes later.   Yeah, BABY!

From Sturgeon Bay, we ventured up the west side if the peninsula to the village of Ephraim.    Nestled in a gorgeous bay, Ephriam was founded in 1853 by Morovian Christians and is today a popular tourist destination in Door County.  This despite the fact that it was "dry" until just a few years ago and has  somewhat militantly anti-development attitude,  (One long term resident Gold Looper we met told us it can take a generation to get building permit.)   What it does have is Wilson's Ice Cream Parlor, source of frozen delights since 1906.  Yeah, BABY, again!

Our next stop was Sister Bay, just 6 miles north.  And what a difference 6 miles can make.   At Sister Bay we found a great marina,  a Piggly Wiggly, an Ace Hardware, numerous boutiques and eateries, and a secret dog beach.  Add to that a restaurant with goats on the roof (Yes, really!) and one starts to wonder what else one could even ask for.   (Any why do they have goats on the roof, you may ask?   Well, how else do you expect them to mow the grass they planted up there, silly? Sheesh!) 

We thoroughly enjoyed Sister Bay, including meeting Loopers Rob and Anita (and sea-Airedale Tilly) on Pub Trawler and former NHL standout Kevin Grant on his 70 ft Hatteras, Hat Trick.  Our dock was open to foot traffic and its always fun to watch people do a double-take upon seeing Irish Lass's Spokane homeport and then muttering something about "the Panama Canal".......... 😄.

From Sister Bay, we again turned south for our next stop, Fish Bay,  a village within the township of Gibralter, WI.    After negotiating a narrow and crowded entrance, we found ourselves in a great marina a stone's throw from an equally great town.  Fellow Loopers Pub Trawler and Picnic Boat were moored nearby.  Lots of shops and restaurants just block away.  And a very cool and diverse little market and a wonderful wine/olive oil/vinegar shop.   On Sunday, we joined Jane from Picnic Boat for worship at Fish Creek Community Church and discovered it was baptism Sunday.  and no wimpy hottub baptisms for these folks.  No-sire-Bob!    The pastor led the congreation down to a lakeside park and waded into the Lake up to his waist while the elders lead the baptismal candidates to him in turn for a full dunking,  God is great. All the time.  THIS is a town we could live in. 

On Monday (8/8) we ran south back to Center Pointe marina at Sturgeon Bay for a quick overnight, a few groceries, and a a few gallons of "insurance" fuel (@ $5.60/gal!) to make sure we could safely reach cheaper sources further south.  

Tuesday morning we headed back out into the big Lake thru the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal and turned southward.  A 30 mile cruise in a following sea took us to the small harbor at Kewanee, WI.  Our berth proved to be on a seawall side-tie half a mile from the main marina.  We had dockside power and water and beach access for fur-Admiral Maggie and we made it work for one night.  Once a bustling port for cross-lake railroad car ferries, Kewanee now makes do on some minor tourism and a couple of small tableware manufacturing facilities. Its downtown is so empty the the locals are disuded to seeing anyone there and don't even slow down for it, as we discovered in a couple of crosswalk encounters. 

On Wednesday,  wth visions of bratwurst dancing in our heads, we left early for the 52 mile run to Sheboygan in light NE winds and rolling swell on the port stern quarter.  Little did we know what was in store......

Thanks for following.  Be sure to track us on NEBO!

Wade and Kathleen Griffith (and fur-Admiral Maggie!)

ONWARD!

First new Looper friends of the new season

The highlight of our time in Grand Haven, MI was meeting Denny and Diane, an aspiring Looper Couple for whom Grand Isle Marina is home.  What started as a casual dockside conversation extended to include cocktails, trips to the groceriy store (for what we forgot), West Marine (for window cleaner),  and O'Rielly Auto Parts (for a new bow thruster battery) in their car , and an introduction to a fine Mexican restaurant.  They also introduced us to a Gold Looper couple who did their 6000-mile Loop a few years ago in a 27' Sea Ray.  And still like each other, too!

Stepping further North

Monday, July 25 we departed Grand Haven for Lundington, MI, a run of about 60 miles.  Once again, we left late in the day to try to capitalize on a weather window.  But with mixed results.  Thre first 30 mikes was pretty active, with a SW swell and a west wind. miuch to Admirals Maggie's discomfort.  We were able to smooth things out a bit by speeding up (at the cost of fuel consumption) and the waters calmed as we got further north. 

At 5:00 pm we slid into the fuel dock at the familiar Ludington Municipal Marina.    One-an-a-half Boat Units bought us 300 gallons of fresh diesel.  But when the time came to move to our slip, the port starter failed to engage.  (Ts place is familiar because when we visited this fuel dock last year, the same thing happened on the starboard side.)   With the expert help of Commadore Kathleen and the marina crew, we managed to maneuver to our assigned slip on one engine and settled in for the night.

(Warnng:  Gearheda talk ahead......)

Readers with any grease under their fingernaills or Valvoline in their veins should be familiar with a concept of "hot soak", whereby the inherent electrical resistance in a starter mechanism  increases as it expands residing next to a hot engine block all day.   When called upon to perform a hot restart, the mechanism gets all reluctant, demanding more amperage than the battery can provide.   And once things cool off, everything functions normally.    

Once in the slip, Wade descended to the engine room with his tools and multi-meter.  With plenty of voltage and nothing visually amiss, he was able to determine that the starter was spinning just fine.  What wasn't happening was the process of engaging the flywheel to turn the engine, an event facilitiated by a selenoid and Bendix drive integrated with the statter motor.   After consulting with new Looper friend Denny by phone, we called it;  a classic "hot soak" problem.   Two hours later, the starter worked and the engine restarted just fine and dandy.

Ths starter was supposedly rebuilt last winter while Irish Lass was in the custody of Eldean Shipyards., as was another spare starter we had on board.  We accept this on faith because the out-sourced the work and all we saw was their invoice and a nice new coat of paint on both starters.   It would be nice to raise a stink, but we are now on the other side of the lake, some 200 miles away and we have learned that they have again  parted ways with their service manager.  History tells us that there is truth in the old adage that if you want something done right, you do it yourself.   So you can look forward to a future blog post as we self-install the second "rebuilt" starter and pray for a better outcome. 

(End of Gearhead talk...)

Brarwurst Ahoy!

We departed Ludington at 8:00 am and steered a westerly course toward Wisconsin under fair skys and a minor SW swell.  Desitnation Manitowoc.  We were tracing the 63 mile course used by the SS Badger, the last coal-fired, steam-driven ferry operating in the US.  Along the way we saw almost no boat traffic (Except the SS Badger, which overtook us about 15 miles our of Manitowoc.) water depths exceeding 500 feet, and about a 2 hour gap in cellular coverage.  🤯

Middle of the Lake on NEBO

Commadore and Admiral mid-lake with no internet. OMG!

Our Manitowoc marina was well protected and staffed with helpful knowledgeable folks, but the town really had little to offer on the waterfront.  The downtown area was largely boarded up and filled with noisy traffic.  Still we found excellent dog walking for fur-Admiral Maggie (but no swimming. Algae!), a nice marina store, and friendly folks.

Manitowoc Harbor Lighthouse

After two nights at Manitowoc, we again stretched ourselves to voyage 57 miles north to Sturgeon Bay, WI at the foot of the Door Pennisula.   A short voyage thru the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal brought us to our marina just a short walk from downtown Sturgeon Bay.

The Door Penisula and Door County, WI are well-loved recreation areas and are called by some the Cape Cod of the mid-West.   We intend to spend the next week or two exploring it.  More on that to follow.....

Thanks for following.

Be sure to follow us on NEBO

Wade and Kathleen Griffith (and fur-Admiral Maggie)

And SO It Begins.............

 Loading up and moving out

We spent Saturday and Sunday transferring our big load o' stuff from Spirit of Desoto to Iriah Lass.  This process was complicated by the fact that the Lass was still sitting in her storage cradle with the swimstep 7 feet above a concrete floor.   Fortunately, the crew fitting our a 52 foot carbon fiber racing sailboat in the same storage building loaned us a ladder.  And help heave a few of the heavier items up for us.  Thanks, guys.

On Saturday and Sunday,  as we begin to stow clothes and equipment, we encountered an immediate  cleanliness issues.  The carpet cleaning we had contracted for took place over the winter, a planned.  But subsequent work by Eldean's mechanical and electrical crews tracked back dirt on the steps and carpet around the engine room hatch in the main cabin.   Very sloppy.   Forunately, the carpet guy came back early Monday before we launched and cleaned up the mess.  But the whole incident was SO unecessary and set a bad tone for the rest of our time at Eldean.  We later found similar poor housekeeping below decks in the engine room, with bits of wire and electrical fasteners and shop towels strewn about.  Very frustrating, on top of the exhausting work of shifting all of our cargo.  We hope the repairs we paid for meet a higher standard than their housekeeping.

Meanwhile Admiral Maggie luxuriated in the king-sized comfort at the Home2 Suites by Hilton.  Sheesh.

😝PPHHHHHTTTT!!!!!😝

We launched on Monday at 1:00 PM.   Both engines started easily and we navigated to our assigned slip.  (Didnt even hit nothin, neither!  👍)  Wade began checking for leaks, etc while Commadore Kathleen made an initial grocery run. We moved aboard Monday evening.  Heavy sigh!

Tuesday, we had a date at another marina to meet our new friend Chris from Canvas Innovations, from whom we had ordered a new front bridge enclosure last fall.   It is not unusual for boat yards to assess a surcharge for work done on their premises by outside contractors. But Eldean's 25% rate was more than we could stomach.  (This despite the fact that Eldean A) does not have a canvas shop and B) recommended Canvas Inovations for our work.  Sheesh.)   By moving a few miles up Lake Macatawa to MEYR Yacht Restoration , we cut this premium to 10%  AND we got to moor at MEYR's brand new floating docks AND we were much closer to town for further provisioning.  Chris's team met us at the docks and went to work making precise laser measurements and discussing attachment options.  They then retreated to their sewing facility, promising to return on Friday with the finished product.   What's not to like?

Well, alternators, for one thing.  Long-time readers will recall our ongoing struggles with alternators.   Since purchasing the boat in 2020, we have replaced the starboard alternator twice.  Last year, the port alternator begin giving us trouble intermittently,   So much so that we intimidated it into compliance by purchasing a spare to keep on board.  

Well, on the short trip from Eldean Shipyard to MEYR, it dropped any pretence of intermittance and the alarm light flashed and the alarm horn honked pretty constantly.   And no amount of belt tightening and wire wiggling would silence it.  Clearly the time had come to replace it.  (Alternators live a hard life  and at 1150 hours of engine time, its not surprising it had failed.  But the timing sure sucks.)  

But apparently, in this post-pandemic, inflation-ridden, short-staffed world, all boat yards are back to being "booked out six weeks."   So, with the new alternator on one hand and the 50 lbs of tools he packed into the boat on the other, Wade decided it was DYI time.   Hey, its like two bolts, one belt, and four wires, right?  What could possibly go wrong?  I mean,  40 years ago, he swapped a generator on a 68 VW bus.  How much harder could this be really?

Well, actually, not much.  On Wednesday morning (Commadore Kathleen wisely left for the grocery store at this point) within an 90 minutes he had the old unit dismounted, and was sweet-talking the MEYR shop into swapping the pulley.   An hour later the new unit was in place and carefully reconnected, using the wiring to the starboard alternator as a guide.  When Kathleen returned, he had it all buttoned back up.  And, after a brief prayer, we hit the starter button.  And it turned!  And it ran!! And it charged to 14 volts!!!  An NO ALARMS SOUNDED!!!!  Thank. You.  Dear.  Lord!

Thursday morning was devoted to shifting the dinghy from the foredeck where it spent the winter to the davit on the swim platform.  This proved to much easier than lifting it  last fall for storage.  Jur tie it off and toss it over the rail.  (Gravity and botancy are our friends.)  Then it was off the Walmart and Costso on yet another provisioning run.  (The larder is full!)   We closed out Thursday at dinner with old friends Glenn and Nancy Teall, who live in the Grand Rapids area. 

Friday was designated as both Canvas Day and Departure Day, in that order.   Canvas arrived at about 10:00 am with Chris, Mitch and the crew working diligently to make everything fit correctly.  The result is downright beautiful and dramatically improves oiour forward vision while underway.   And, as subsequent heavy rains proved, it also keeps the bridge area drier.   So, except for the number of boat units on the invoice (Sheesh!), we re very happy with it.  

Canvas crew at work.  Yay!

By 1:00 PM, Deparure Day had arrived.   We set off west out of Lake Macatawoc to enter Lake Michigan and turned north.  Our destination Grand Isle  Marina in Grand Haven, MI.   This departure broke one of our cardinal rules, to leave early and to be off the water by 2:00 to avoid the inevitable afternoon heat-driven winds.   So it was a rolly, lumpy ride up the coast, with NW winds on the port bow of 15-ish knots and a weird WSW swell hitting us sideways.  We were NOT a happy ship (especially fur-Admiral Maggie)   

But it was only 27 miles and two and a half hours until we tied up at our destination for cocktails and  a nice ribeye grilled on the swim step BBQ.  And we are now officially UNDERWAY!!!

Important Reminder

Don't forget you can track us on the free NEBO boat tracking app.  Go to www.nebo.global  or in your favorite app store.  Once you have it installed, a quick search on "Irish" should find us.   (Note: Beware the similarly-named digital notebook app.  That ain't the right one.)

Thanks for following.

Wade and Kathleen Griffith (and fur-Admiral Maggie)

    

  

Back In The Mitten

It was another fast and uneventful cross-country dash.  

Montana once again proved to be our favorite state for highway travel.  Wide open spaces, minimal road  construction,  80 MPH speed limits, and limited law enforcement presence make for fast efficient cruising.  Despite a delayed start, we made Billings for dinner and overnight accommodations, as planned.

Tuesday marked our first visit to North Dakota.   The western portion of the state intrigued us with rolling green hills and stunning badlands around T. Roosevelt National Park.  We had lunch in the charming town of Madora just outside the park gates and made a mental note to return when we have time to explore.  East of there, however, we began to see the real North Dakota.   In the words of a our late friend, Mitch Thomas, "God, what were you thinking?" 

"High on a hill, it MOO's for me"

"God, what were you THINKING?"

Approaching Bismark, the terrain becomes so flat (giant cow excepted) as to make Nebraska seem  mountainous.  And those wonderfully straight and flat highways are saddled with a 75 MPH speed limit AND an surprisingly active State Patrol presence.    Our overnight location in Jamestown proved a disappointment for both accommodations and dining.  Its only redeeming feature was to be 514 miles east of Billings.  We were up early and outa there!

Our next stop was in the 'burbs of Minneapolis with Kathleen's cousin, Charlene and her wife Meg, where we enjoyed a fabulous salmon dinner and a restful night's sleep.  Their unique home is sited on 2.5 acres, including a 1.5 acre wetland teeming with wildlife. Their three dogs welcomed Admiral Maggie to their large fenced yard.  Beautiful Lake Minnetonka (an aboriginal name perhaps meaning "small yellow trucks"? ) is a short walk away.   

On Thursday we made our way south through Wisconsin.  Our lunch stop was Wisconsin Dells .  This also seems to an aboriginal term, perhaps meaning "Let's build shops and attractions to relieve city folks of their money".   More cotton candy, ice cream, museums, and curio shops than is healthy, for sure.  Even a ski "hill" with a whopping 250 ft vertical drop.   We left wondering why there is a there there.  Sheesh.

Thursday evening brought us once again to the Geneva, IL home of Charlie McLaughlin.  Always a gracious host, he treated us to a pool-side gourmet salad dinner and his cat Oliver welcomed Admiral Maggie by retreating grumpily to the basement.   Our day ended on a down note with a call from Eldean Shipyard informing us that they would be unable to launch Irish Lass on Friday as planned due to weather risk.  (We're getting back into the mode where Weather Rules All.  Good warmup for cruising)  They promised a Monday launch and gave us access to the Lass in storage over the weekend so we could being our loading and commissioning. 

On Friday, we swung south to miss Chicago and then across Indiana to reach the base of the Michigan Mitten.  Indiana apparently has a long memory and recalls the not-so-nice things we said about it on past visits.  We were treated with heavy rain, heavy traffic, and heavy construction, extending our 3.5 hour drive to Holland to 5.5 hours.  We arrived just in time to confer with Eldean's service manager and to inspect the Lass before closing.  (More on both of there later. )  And off we went to our hotel.  2014 miles on the clock! 

A few words about Spirit of Desoto

Out 2021 Chrysler Voyager minivan served us well.   For interstate travel for two people and a fur-Admiral, along with a big bunch o' stuff, he could not be beat.  A smooth quiet ride,  28.5 MPG at our customary speed-limit+5 pace, and all the room Admiral Maggie could want.  Plus he had no nanny-like "lane departure warning" feature to repeatedly annoy us everytime we drifted withing 6 inches of the center line, fog line, or any random mark on the pavement.   (Long-term followers will recall our past comments on this feature.)  

Three points of concern.  

First power from his 3.5L V-6 was adequate at best.  But perhaps that is the price of 28.5 MPG.  

Second, his "Start/Stop" feature, which shuts off the engine at stop signs, had enough latency in the restart to give one a "GLUP!" when trying to pull out into fast moving traffic.  A hole shot champion he ain't never gonna be. 

Third, we spent the entire trip wrestling with Android Auto for control of our phones and tablets.   I get that the driver needs to focused on the road.  But even the passenger cannot being up a map to assist with navigation when Androd Auto is engaged.   Talk about Nanny Tech!   I suspect with more time and study, we might have come to appreciate this technology, but this brief exposure makes us want to call it Borg Auto (Resistance-is-Futile)

Thanks for Following. More to Come!

Wade and Kathleen and fur-Admiral Maggie

 

East Bound and Down (again)

"By the time we get to Missoula, you'll be rising..........".

By the time most of you read this, we will be off on yet another one-way, cross-country highway adventure to rejoin our Great Loop adventure.  Once again, our steed is drawn from the stables of Budget rent-a-car.  And loaded with enough stuff to (hopefully not) sink a ship.  Our home is back in the custody of family and friends.  And our mail is once again in the care of St Brendan’s Isle.  (See 05-19-2020 post)

With Irish Lass awaiting us in Michigan, our trip is a bit shorter this time.  Just 1,945 miles with 4 sleeps.  Billings, MT; Jamestown, ND; Minneapolis, MN;  Geneva, IL.   (The last two are “family” stops.)  This will be our first visit to The Flickertail State (Motto: “Strength From The Soil”).    We can’t wait to see the billiard-table flatlands resulting from the 1950’s US Government Mountain Removal project.  And we are excited to see if all that fracking and tar sands make gas any cheaper.  All the time mindful of the fact that, were it independent, North Dakota would be 5^th on the list of countries with nuclear weapons.  (Maybe their motto should be “Strength From  Mutually Assured Destruction”?)

We expect to arrive at Eldean Shipyard mid-day on Friday, July 15, where we expect to see Irish Lass out of storage and floating in a slip.  Then its clean, clean, clean and stow, stow, stow.  Not to mention things like reinstalling the anchor and the dinghy and checking all systems to make sure they are ready to cruise.   By the 18^th, we expect to move aboard.  On the 19^th, we will leave Eldean to meet our new best friend, Chris, from Canvas Innovations who will install a beautiful new front bridge enclosure for us (and relieve us a of a few Boat Units*).   

If all goes as planned (listen for God’s laughter), we will be officially underway by July 22.  Our initial cruising plan  has us proceeding north on Lake Michigan from Holland to Ludington, MI, where weather permitting we will turn West and cross the Lake to the Wisconsin side in the vicinity of Manitowoc.  This will allow us the shortest possible crossing ( a distance of about 58 miles), arriving on the shore of The Badger/Bratwurst State in the closing days of July. 

August will find us gunkholing around Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay and Doer County in  Wisconsin.  The Doer Peninsula is reportedly a boater’s paradise, and we are anxious to explore it.  (More details to follow as we figure them out.)  Who knows, we may even visit Oconto, WI, the place of Irish Lass’s birth at the Cruisers Yachts manufacturing facility.

As the calendar shifts toward Labor Day, we will work our way south along the western shore of Lake Michigan, with stops in Sheboygan, Milwaukee , Racine, Port Washington and on into the coastline of the Windy City. 

With holiday behind us, we will embark on the next section of the Great Loop, the Western Rivers, with a goal of reaching the Gulf of Mexico by November.    And THAT will be a whole other adventure.  Stay tuned!

 Breaking News:  Our Ride is Here!

May we present the Spirit of DeSoto, a 2022 Chrysler Voyager minivan.   

In keeping with our conquistador tradition, we named her for Hernando De Soto, who “discovered”  the Mississippi River (at least in European-conquest-via-infectious-diseases sense) during his 16^th century wanderings north and west of  Florida.   The DeSoto Adventurer was also an  early Hemi-powered offering by The Chrysler Corporation in 1956-60.   (Voyager, Adventurer , potato, potatoe, close enough, eh?)     Regardless, The picture below captures both points of history well, don’t you think?

 

DeSoto discovers the Mississippi!

Apparently purpose-built for folks like us , she is aimed squarely at  the open interstates (and gasoline supply) of the northern plains.   She offers decent gas mileage and ample space for fur-Admiral Maggie to lounge, in addition to room for the big pile o'stuff we always seem to take along on these trips.  We pray she will serve us as well as her predecessors.   Driving impressions to follow…….

Thanks for following!
Wade and Kathleen and fur-admiral Maggie. 

 

* Regular readers will recall that a Boat Unit is a private virtual currency traded among boaters and marine service providers.  Despite supply chain issues, recent inflationary pressures, corrupt Italian satellites, and the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, these are still trading at about $1,000 each.  There is great, if short-term, comfort in denial.  As in, “Ah, its only a couple of boat units to fix that.”   Sheesh.