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.