The Penultimate Day on Lake Michigan

When we travel long distances, I sit on the floor in the salon and play solitaire 

until I win.  This is my winning game today.

We left Saugatuck as soon as dawn arrived, around 7:10 am.  When we came out into the lake, it was fine:  The waves were just one foot.  Yahoo!  We were off for Benton Harbor, 45 miles south.  This was our next to last day on the lake.  We had a couple of quiet hours.  Then the waves rose to two feet and then to three.  They were always on our bow.  Even as they became bigger and bouncier, they weren't scary.  I could always move around the boat and fix drinks and snacks and go to the bathroom downstairs.  So it was a good day on the lake.  

We entered Benton Harbor around 12:30 pm.  We called our marina, West Basin, on channel 9.  No answer.  We called on channel 16.  No answer.  I called on the telephone and got a message.  Hmm.

I went outside and prepared for a starboard tie even though we did not have any docking information.  The marina had seemed attentive earlier this morning when I called to make the reservation, so this was puzzling.

Finally, we entered the marina and still had no instructions.  We tied up to a pole at the entrance.  I got off the boat and went to the gas dock.  No one was there.  I went to the marina office.  No one was there.  Had the Rapture occurred here in Benton Harbor?  Outside in the back I found the manager and dock hands having lunch.  It was a celebration because this is the last day the dockhands will work.  (Were they working??) They are returning to college tomorrow.  It was weird, however, that they had no phone or radio at the table.  

Andrew, the manager, came back with me and helped us get into a slip.  Then he and George and I grabbed the lines for our friends, Nearly Perfect and Spirit.  

We had lunch and naps.  There is just time to clean the boat before going over for a picnic supper with our buddies.  Tonight Georgia Tech is playing the first football game of the season.  Woohoo!  We will try to find it on tv and surely be able to stream it on radio.  Fall is coming. 

Tomorrow we are going across the bottom of the lake to Hammond Marina, south of Chicago in Indiana.  We'll keep Aunt Aggie there for two weeks as we explore Chicago and also visit Atlanta.

Another attempt to show the waves splashing on Aunt Aggie.  

See the water on the right?