Aug. 26-27, 2016 Muskegon, MI Reunions with good friends, long-time and quite new

When we were making our way along the Erie Canal, we chanced to meet the folks on a boat with a gaelic name...Feath. Pronounced (fee-a), it means Tranquil. Lenny and Nancy had just bought a Jefferson 37 Motor Yacht on the East Coast and with friends on board they were making their way back to the Muskegon, Michigan area. They fit in with all of the Loopers just fine and we enjoyed visiting along the lock walls at the day’s end. As we approached their homeport here on the Michigan shore, we emailed them to see if we could re-connect. They invited us to their home in Grand Haven for a delicious cook-out and chat time on the night we arrived. We got a much-needed “fur-fix” with their dog Charlie, also known as Chuck. What a sweet couple!

Meanwhile, another couple we came to know about 10 years ago at the Saguaro Co-op RV Park in Benson, Arizona, live about one hour away from Muskhegon in the summer. Bob and Cheri had been following our progress through Facebook and agreed to drive over for a lunchtime visit on our second day. They got to see “Summertime” up close and personal and then we opted for a neighborhood pub meal. We had a lot of catching up to do since we haven’t seen each other in four years. These kind of reunions make this life of ours even more special.

Created by Darcy O Campbell

Aug. 25, 2016 Ludington, MI and The S.S. Badger... an historic car ferry

My blog post on Tues.-Wed. Aug. 16 & 17 included a piece on Trailer Sailers. It was recently highlighted on the AGLCA website as a blog entry worthy of note. What a nice surprise to find that it attracted that kind of response!

We have been hearing about a great car/passenger ferry based out of Ludington, Michigan. Entering service in 1953, The S.S. Badger is the only coal-fired cross-lake ship remaining on any of The Great Lakes today. She can carry 620 passengers and 180 cars. She cruises at 18mph, but can go as fast as 24 mph.  In “the day”, a fleet of 13 ferries called Ludington their home port!

The S.S. Badger has gained even more notoriety for her unorthodox docking style. Imagine a 410-foot ship approaching her dock at a healthy clip. Suddenly her starboard anchor is deployed and she begins to spin in a clock-wise direction. By the time The S.S. Badger’s stern is where her bow used to be, she is being secured to the dock and is ready for passengers and vehicles to off-load. Amazing!  We were treated to this display of ingenuity at 6:30 Thursday night and again at 6:30 Friday morning. (From our slip in the Luddington Municipal Marina, we could look out on her dock.) In the 12 hours that had past, she had crossed to Manitowac, Wisconsin and back again. What a grand old lady!

Created by Darcy O Campbell