The boat is safe from being bashed against the wall, but it is still rocking and rolling. This is the first time we have experienced a place like this. We walked out to the inlet yesterday afternoon. There we watched what we estimated as a four foot swell running at a two second period churn up the inlet and sweeping down the breakwaters. The few boats braving the channel were rolling and pitching, some surfing as the swell lifted the stern, others digging in and throwing sheets of spray as they plunged in bow first, still others turning around and heading back the way they came after seeing the wave height.
Salt Nest, Number 99, and First Light
First Light in in a slip a half mile and around a corner from the inlet to the big lake. But the boat is still moving like we're sitting in an open anchorage with miles of fetch and 20 knot winds. Not as uncomfortable as it was on the wall, and certainly not as bad as it would be out on the lake in this mess. But it is still far from comfortable. Sleep is shallow and troubled while appetites are lacking and the enthusiasm level for doing much of anything fades to near zero. Last night at 0400 we were up adding lines in an attempt to keep the boat from banging against the finger pier. Both of the pilings off the starboard side of the boat are working loose from the bottom, rocking every time the swell throws the boat against the lines. The dock lines are taking such a beating, being stretched and chafed on the poles, that we will likely have to replace them all.
The earliest escape is still 24 hours away at least, and even that is looking a bit optimistic at the moment. Lake Michigan is a bathtub of confused waves that will likely take at least a day to settle down. But that day is the only day for the next week that has winds forecast at less than 15. If this isn't the longest we have ever been pinned in place with no good options since we first moved onto a boat, it is certainly in the top (bottom?) five. Keeping my head on an "even keel" (couldn't resist the pun) is getting to be a challenge. I am rapidly developing a deep dislike in regards to this part of the trip. If I am ever on Lake Michigan again (not that that is ever going to happen) avoiding this particular stop would be at the very top of my "things that must be done" list. All in all, I am starting to think that "doing the loop" is barely breaking even on the "fun to suck" and risk + cost/reward scales.
We did get a bit of boost as a couple who ran across a copy of our book on “How NOT To Buy a Cruising Boat”, learned that we were in town, gathered up their three young boys, and dropped by for a visit. Trevor, Alexis, Jax, Luca and Milo greeted us at the dock along with a loaf of the absolute best sourdough bread we've ever eaten. (Seriously. Anywhere.) They got a tour of the boat and then we headed off for ice cream and a walk to a nearby playground for the kids. They had many questions about looking for the right boat for the kind of traveling they are thinking about doing. (Their Catalina 34 is too small for the family.) We answered them as honestly as we could. We didn't recommend doing the Loop over going to the Islands and shared our opinions of of how to make the cruising life work.
After they left, we got together with others of the Stranded Looper Gang for snacks and drinks. In the group was the life long mariner who had tried to warn us off the wall. He carries both a Master's and Engineer's ratings, unlimited tonnage, and put them to use during a career that, literally, covered the planet—touching the shores of more than 130 countries, and involving some of the biggest ships to ever take to the seas. Being pinned by the same weather in the same place with a person of that level of experience? As trying as this has been, at least it seems clear that we are in good company and doing the only sensible thing.
A boat that pulled into the dock the night before last.
600-ft ships come up this river. In fact, this one interrupted the musical fountain show that they have
on weekends here because he was blocking the view.
The musical fountain show. Each night they have themed music - this night was country (which is
definitely not our favorite). Honestly, Mother Nature's moon display was more impressive.
Another one of the boardwalk sculptures.
Early this morning - the buoy report for the buoy at Holland, MI, just south of us.
And as if that isn't enough...we have a tropical depression headed our way.
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