What brand is the jump start battery pack?

Don't laugh at the brand name....it is obviously Chinese....but then I think probably all of them are...

Mine is an AVAPOW 6000 amp unit. AVAPOW also makes smaller ones.

Got mine off Amazon.

And I need to make a correction to my previous post....I said it also has inverter capabilities built in. It does not. I do have a small portable 1000 watt inverter that I can hook up to it though.

It does have multiple USB and charging ports and direct 12 plug options as well as flashlight.

I like having the backup option onboard.

Travel day .... Manistee to Ludington

Patchy fog on a light wind travel day. Moved about 26 miles further south to Ludington, Michigan

Left Manistee about 830 and found 1s and 2s all the way down south to the breakwater and Lighthouse outside of Ludington.

The fog would roll in and out all day giving a the feel of a New England trip.

Upon leaving Manistee, take a look at the lighthouse and the elevated walkway and railing....so a person could still get access to the lighthouse if needed when the big waves are washing up over the breakwater.

The salmon fishing fleet is out today in abundance. Lots of success with plenty of 3 foot salmon being caught as we worked our way through them. At the end of the day in the marina witnessed dozens of salmon being cleaned and filets packaged up.

Ludington is home to the S.S. Badger....one of the last coal fired ferries on the Great Lakes. Used to take rail cars the 60 plus miles from Wisconsin to Michigan. Now carries passengers and cars and trucks....or DID until about August 1st when the vehicle loading ramp suffered a breakdown. BADGER is out for repairs currently but will resume service again in 2024.

Pleasant Temps (mid 50s to upper 70s ) and another walkable town , so we will hang out here a couple days and explore.

https://www.ssbadger.com/

So, Salmon for dinner I assume?

Love this thread, thanks for letting us live vicariously through you.

Just outside the entrance to the Ludington marina this morning. Easily more than 50 boats !

Watched as several salmon and lake trout were landed.

As wife and I walked into town I snapped a couple quick pics of one guys catch. Lots of fish being landed !

Arrived Muskegon mid day.
Have had the opportunity to select my travel days lately to best take advantage if some really favorable conditions ! Traveled from Ludington to Whitehall on the smoothest, calmest seas I have ever seen on Lake Michigan !

Traveled today from Whitehall to Muskegon on the 2nd smoothest i have ever seen ! Two awesome travel days.

Ducking out of and back into the ports along the Michigan oastline of Lake Michigan is a game of finding wind/weather windows being able to travel at that time.

Was originally planning on going Ludington to Pen****er, then Pen****er to Whitehall the following day. Once out on the perfect wster we made the decision to stay out get and bypass Pen****er. Good call.

Similarly, we had planned a two day stop here in Muskegon, but the forecast for Saturday onward looks like crap so we are going to depart in the morning and use Friday as our travel day down to Grand Haven. Will stay there almost a week and meet up with some family and have our mail and some packages delivered to us there in the marina.

Saw a pair of Coast Guard boats "flying" in formation at high speed. Read later that they are deploying to a different region/station and the transit was part of the training.

Right now is salmon season up here and the fishermen are out in abundance ! Unfortunately they often gather right in the navigation channel right at the mouth where it is the narrowest passage. We have encountered groups of 30 to 75 boats all within a two hundred yard circle. They do not move for us or for other larger boats....just expect us to deviate out of the channel and pick our way around them.. But they are sure catching a lot of fish.

All of the Michigan harbors have breakwater walls and lighthouses. We have seen several different sizes and styles along the way.

Some large ferries up here stay pretty busy shuttling back and forth from the Wisconsin side (Milwaukee ?) to the Michigan side. Each way takes few hours.

Muskegon has a museum and the actual submarine ... Silversides. It is moored right alongside the entrance channel off the Lake. Looks cool and has good reviews, but weather coming necessitates we move tomorrow so we don't have a chance to visit

An odd item....while in the marina at Whitehall, there was a big wind shift and blustery two days. It caused the duckweed and alge to get pushed out of some coves and bays....and drift right into us ! It literally surrounded us ! I had some concern with it blocking/plugging our raw water cooling intakes....but I used very little throttle and mostly drifted out backwards....so we sucked up minimal vegetation and all was good.

Neat towns. Cool parks. Huge 35 foot wind vane in Montague.

It has been a pretty chilly last couple days....wife and I could both see our breath this morning making preparations to depart!

EDIT......Cracks me up that the town name PENT WATER is blocked on here !

Thanks so much for the pictures and updates. I really have been enjoying this thread.

Travel day - Grand Haven to Holland, Michigan

Spent the last week in Grand Haven. Met up with some family members. Had our mail forwarded so we could sort through the last 45 days worth. Chance to catch up on some phone calls and such.

Grand Haven attracts a lot of visitors, tourists and fishermen. The waterfront has a long wide sidewalk and park area. Very inviting and pleasant.

The city built a large amphitheater right on the waterfront that faces the dancing waters/lights/music display. Think Bellagio Fountain display except a bit smaller, set on a forested hillside and with different choreographed music each night. Draws a crowd of about 500 or so with lots of families and kids. Runs 25 minutes at 900pm on Fri, Sat and Sunday and also on Labor Day. Night after Jimmy Buffet passed it was all his music. Kinda cool to see once....and then other times viewed right from our boat.

Waves and wind were the story of the week. Mid lake waves were 6 to 8 a couple days last week. We waited until today to travel and found 1s and 2s. Much more pleasant !

We walked the town and out to the lighthouse on the jetty. Sampled several local distillery products, local craft brews and some wine.

Labor Day was non stop boat parade up and down the channel to Spring Lake. Michigan guys LOVE their "muscle boats" ! Fountains and Formulas everywhere!

Large number of charter fishing boats here. Success rate appears 100%. Lotta salmon being cleaned.

Surprisingly large cargo ships use this port.....however...there does NOT seem to be a turning basin so they come in load/unload...then BACK OUT through the jetties to open water before turning around in the open Lake. Different !

Had a minor fuel blockage issue one day as I was changing from one slip to another. Fuel starved. So I changed out both RACORS as well as the spin on fuel filter. Not much help. Had to blow out the fuel line back into the tank to dislodge something small impeding flow. Bingo. Problem solved.

Several other Loopers were here this week. Good to share info and stories and plans since we are all doing the same route...but are not traveling together.

Left for Holland hoping the forecasts were correct about winds and waves. They were. Northeastern winds coming off the shore laid down the waves. 1s and 2s. Nice travel day ,but chilly. Mid to high 50s this morning and high mid 60s on the water. Wearing fleece quarter zips and jeans !

Typical lighthouse arrangements as we came into Holland.

We will stay a couple days so we can try and find a location with a TV tuned to the Aggie game and a beer. Travel Sunday to South Haven.

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We will stay a couple days so we can try and find a location with a TV tuned to the Aggie game and a beer. Travel Sunday to South Haven.

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New Holland Brewing has a nice BrewPub in the downtown shopping district. Worth a sip or 10.

https://www.newhollandbrew.com/location/holland/

The brewery is known for Stouts that will give you extra chest hair and very robust IPAs. This being Oktoberfest time (roughly) you can probably access their fall options.

The Midwest fall season is just amazing. The not-too-bitter chill in the air, the stark sunlight mixing with shadow, the explosion of harvest festivals, football on the tv . . . .makes me nostalgic for living up that way.

Take your time. It is 107 in Kemah right now.

Update from South Haven

We spent the weekend in Holland and stayed at the Ottawa Beach Marina. Nice, small and quiet. But also quite a ways from town and access to pubs. So we ended up watching the game onboard using YouTube. Disappointing outcome.

There are some of our boating acquaintances that have invested in the starlink system but we have found that just having a dedicated hotspot to supplement our cellular signal has been plenty good enough. We are now 3/4s of the way through the Loop and have been happy with our phones/tablets/hotspot for our needs. Just providing that info for folks worried about connectivity while traveling by boat. Only 2 places up in remote Canada where we were without signal.

Left Holland Sunday on a calm day and had an easy 30 plus mile trip down to South Haven. Picking good weather days to travel with 1s and 2s just makes life much more relaxed and comfortable than on days of 3 to 5s.

South Haven business district is set up in a compact 3 block by 3 block area downtown. Major grocery and Walmart is a mile or so away....but with courtesy bikes from the marina it becomes within reach. Backpacking groceries is just a way of life for us.

The marina here is only a short distance off the big lake and is pretty much a straight shot channel. Convenient to get to but it funnels in the surge and swell so the marina is rocking and rolling even if the surface is not wind driven. Interesting to be in a calm marina and yet rocking so much that occasionally a glass or bottle will tip or slide.

Forecast appears good for travel on Thursday and again Friday. We plan to move 25 to 30 miles down to St Joseph on Thursday then a similar distance to New Buffalo Friday. We will linger about a week in New Buffalo.

If it seems as though we are"lingering" and moving slowly ....its because we are !

There is only one pathway for boats traveling south off of the Great Lakes to the Gulf. All boats MUST pass through the Illinois River south of Chicago to reach the Mississippi. ( Common misconception is that Loopers travel down the Mississippi to the Gulf. ALMOST NONE do so. The Mississippi is inhospitable to pleasure boats with virtually no marinas or services, lots of commercial traffic and almost no safe anchorages. The Loop route goes Illinois, Mississippi to just past St Louis, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee and then the Tenn-Tombigbee waterway.to Mobile )

The problem is that three locks south of Chicago through which ALL Looper boats must pass have been entirely closed for construction and repairs from June 1st to October 1st ( fingers crossed ! ) no one can travel southward from Chicago until those 3 locks reopen. Can't. Period.

So COOL BREEZE and about 250 of her closest friends are in a slowmotion dance working our way closer and closer towards Chicago but not wanting to get there too early and have to just sit waiting in one marina until the locks open back up.

We will try to stretch out the next 3 weeks between here and Hammond, Indiana where we have reserved slip until the first week of October. Hammond is far cheaper than trying to stay at DuSable or any of the other Chicago marinas. Hammond is about 15 miles from the canal which leads right through the Heart of Chicago and down to the currently closed locks. We will remain until we know the locks are again operating and then pass through Chicago and stage at the foot of the reopening lock.

An additional complication is all of the commercial barge traffic up this way has also not been able to travel down south since June 1st. A huge backlog of vessels. And since commercial traffic has priority over pleasure craft, the Corps of Engineers will ONLY ALLOW one lock through of pleasure vessels per day, at dawn each day. So I have to be at the foot of the lock and ready .....

Along with lots of other Loopers !

So...a plan has been devised by America's Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) to help with the bottleneck. They have solicited input from us Looping and have grouped us into "flotillas" of 16 boats. That's about how many can jam into one lock at a time. If all 16 of us abide by our assigned dates and all goes well...we can all lock through together....head down to the 2nd lock....lock through together....and arrive and lock through the 3rd lock together in one long day. The next day the next 16 boats can do likewise....rinse/repeat until all 270 Looper boats make it past those 3 under construction locks.

Then there are still approximately 40 more locks to pass through on our way down to Mobile Bay. But those will be at everyone's own pace and not limited to one locking per day for pleasure craft.

Long story....but just trying to give perspective on why we are not traveling further or more frequently down Lake Michigan right now...no where to go ....for now anyway.

A few pics from South Haven and Holland....cruising life on The Great Loop.

Such a cool adventure and thread. Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you. Hope one day you can go back and document the first part of the loop too.

Not ALL of the locks....but those three ...Brandon Road Lock and Dam , Dresden Lock and Dam and Marseilles Lock and Dam.

Since they are in series and are spread out over 40 miles.....the thinking was to do all three at one time to minimize the blockage time....if each takes 3 months to complete, close it for 3 months total rather than 9 months or whatever.

Yes.....the northern entrance .Chicago Harbor Lock adjacent to Navy Pier. Lock into the Chicago River through downtown. There is a fixed height bridge on this branch of about 17'6". Your boat MUST BE ABLE to pass under this bridge on this branch. This route is more desirable because of the scenic view from the Heart of downtown Chicago.

The other entrance is often used by boats with slightly taller air-drafts...... the Calumet Sag Channel and Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal ...because this route has a fixed bridge height of 19'6" so a taller boat can pass under.

Regardless....either route...if you cannot get your boat under a 19'6" fixed height bridge....then your boat is not capable of doing the whole Loop.

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This route is more desirable because of the scenic view from the Heart of downtown Chicago.

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Yep absolutely spectacular and you will be there at a wonderful time of year

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