Chicago? Almost.

My goal this week was to make it to Chicago.  I didn't make it there, but I am close, in Hammond, Indiana.  I spent four days in Saugatuck, which was a great little town to spend a few days in.  I had planned to stay there, while waiting for a storm front to move through.  I was bad about taking pictures.  The marina was a ten minute walk from town, but having my bicycle made it very easy to get around.  The weather was unusually cold.  Even the dockmaster made a comment that it felt like October weather.  The news was reporting that it was September weather.  After a couple days of rain and gray skies, the weather cleared up, but there were still high seas in Lake Michigan.  NOAA reported 6 ft seas, the dockmaster heard it was closer to ten foot.  So, there was another day for waiting.

I noticed that the waves and winds were tending to die down at night, so I planned for my next leg to St. Joseph in the middle of the night.  My hope was to get further, weather and waves permitting.  I was up before 1 a.m, and I undocked and left Saugatuck at 2 a.m.  By 7:45, I arrived at St. Joseph. I had following seas from the north, which were very uncomfortable, but better than heading into them.  Other people that came into St. Joseph, later that day, said they were miserable out there on the lake.  My decision to leave in the middle of the night, is probably the only reason I was able to make any distance at all.

My plan for Friday, was to head across Lake Michigan to Chicago, 50 miles away.  I called on Thursday to reserve a slip, but there were no slips available throughout the weekend.  An Air Show was scheduled right over the waters, and I imagine the Du Sable marina was the prime location to be.  However, this was the one day that I had to cross.  Instead of heading to Chicago, I went with my secondary plan of Hammond, IN, which is 10 to 15 miles from the Chicago marina.  Another storm front was moving in for the weekend, with thunderstorms.  My crossing of Lake Michigan was uneventful.  The waves got higher towards the center of the Lake, but had died down to nothing by the time I got to the western shore.

Waiting on good weather days seems to be a theme for me on this trip.  When the weather is good and the lake conditions are calm, I run with it.  On the Chesapeake, I remember having a very calm day, and while most of my friends stopped at Soloman's Island, I headed north to Annapolis.  I feel like I am doing the same thing here.  I have a small boat that doesn't go very fast, so I can't bump up the speed to get through quicker and I can't take the larger waves that my friend's boats can take.  It makes it difficult to plan much of anything or being anywhere.

My friend Jane remarked that "looping" is different than "cruising", in that we have to keep moving forward.  We don't always have the time to stop or spend the time where we want to. I think we just have to enjoy seeing what we see, wherever it is, and continue to take this journey a day at a time.

Seeing Chicago from the distance.

Despite my lack of pictures, I really enjoyed Saugatuck.  They have a river boat for tourists, as well as a chain ferry running across the Kalamazoo river.  They also have an inter-urban bus system, which will take you from your door to where you want to go for a dollar in either Saugatuck or Douglas. It was a great place to spend 4 days, even if it was cold and rainy.

Saugatuck Chain Ferry- operated by a young man, who cranks the chain to take passengers across the river.  The chain is attached at both sides of the river.

Star of Saugatuck Boat Cruise - they passed my boat a few times each day.