Where did we leave off…oh yeah, the broken salon AC. That’s still broken. We tried running some Barnacle Buster through it, but nope, didn’t help. So we are trying to find marine AC guys as we proceed but they are all booked up and not available for short notice jobs. We will probably find someone somewhere along the way. At least for now the weather is decent and we still have the forward and aft AC’s in a pinch.
The day before we left Holland the aft (back) head (toilet) pump finally gave up…There’s that “always something” again. We suspected it was going to go at some time but e had already used the “spare” pump on the forward (front) head last year and for some reason did not get a replacement spare. We had a new pump shipped to Grand Haven, which was waiting for us when we got here and a couple of hours later Michael had it installed and working and even much better than it ever had.
We finally left Holland and went just a few hours north to Grand Haven.
It was a beautiful day on Lake Michigan. The water was glass smooth and the winds were minimal as we traveled 26 miles, 3 1/2 hours. We only saw one other boat which is that little white slash way off to the front of us. It’s a sail boat which we ultimately passed as they had no wind.
So, here you go Kevin…Grand Haven.
Grand Haven is at the mouth of the Grand River on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans for centuries and used as trade waterways to interior Michigan. The city got it’s start when French colonial settlers started up fir trading in the early 1800’s. After the war of 1812 the area became more settled by Americans who established trading posts. It was named Grand Haven in 1835 and was incorporated in 1867. In the mid to late 1800’s Grand Haven developed into logging, lumber milling, shipping and ship building centers.
George “Baby Face” Nelson and Homer Van Meter, notorious criminals of the 1930’s, committed their first bank robberies at Grand Haven Bank. There are still bullet holes in some of the buildings on the corner of 3rd St and Washington Ave as Nelson and Eddie Betz later teamed up to rob the People’s Savings Bank at that location.
Today Grand Haven is an active beach resort with boating, fishing, sailing, biking and skating with connecting campgrounds and recreational areas.
The downtown area, which is blocked off from cars and is called the Social District where open drinking is allowed, is within a block from the marina and is full of all kinds of shops, restaurants, drinking establishments and an unusually high number of ice cream shops. We can see 3 from the boat and two are even in the same building. Ice cream is a big deal here.
At night the city puts on Grand Haven Musical Fountains which is a lot like the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. They have been doing this since 1962 and put on quite a show which lasts for about a half hour. People pack into the park at night to watch the event. We sat on the back deck and watched the show.
Tomorrow we are heading out and looks like we are going about another 30 miles north to an anchorage. The marinas are booked this time of the year during weekends, but we are looking to do a lot of anchoring anyway.
Thanks for following along with us and keep checking back as we make our way back north and into Lake Superior. Love to all, Gina and Mike
