6/10/23 - Ludington - day 2

Sunrise with Happy Destiny in the foreground 

Morning visitor as we sipped coffee on the aft deck 

It was a very relaxing day today.  Ludington has a lot to offer but we made sure to not let it offer so much to wear us out.  The weather was partly cloudy a good majority of the day with slightly cooler temps but almost no wind so it was comfortable.  After breakfast we unloaded the bikes and rode to the grocery store, ACE Hardware and O’Reilys Auto Parts.  We had been shopping both in person and online to try and find battery boxes for the four batteries we have aboard.   They consist of two typical group 24 batteries, one for the starboard engine and one for the generator, and two group 27 AGM batteries for our ‘house bank’ and port engine.   It had been challenging locating the correct boxes for the group 27 ones off the shelf and we didn’t particularly want to order and have delivered to a marina.   On a whim we stopped at the local Ace Hardware and the actually had what we wanted; a little more expensive than online but worth it to have them in hand.   Erik plans to install all of the batteries tomorrow since it is supposed to be a rainy day.   He also wants to tighten the fittings on the port side shaft stuffing box.   It is supposed to drip every few seconds while underway but is currently dripping/streaming way more than it should.   Easy fix but it happens to be directly under the house batteries so it will be much easier to accomplish while having the batteries out anyhow.   

Refrigerator stocked and items procured for maintenance we grabbed Riva from the boat and walked over to the next dock to visit with Jim and Dawn aboard ‘Liberty’ who are fellow loopers whom we spotted on our Nebo app.  Riva enjoyed trouncing around their boat with their 2 year old lab mix, Piper.   They invited us to attend dinner with them later at their favorite Mexican joint and we agreed to meet up at 6:30.   Continuing with our bike ride we headed over to one of three local lighthouses here in Ludington, the North Breakwater Lighthouse.   It was built in 1924 and moved to the other side of the channel later.   It leans at a 4 degree angle which can be felt when standing at the top.  We had walked out the 1/2 mile pier to it but found that Riva was not allowed to climb with us.  Fortunately the two volunteer ladies in the gift shop at the base offered to watch herb while we went up to enjoy views of the lake and Ludington.   On the ride back we stopped at the small dog beach where Riva jumped right in to the frigid waters again and proceeded to romp in the sand…..time for another bath when we get back to the boat!   

Almost there! 
Riva thought she could catch every seagull 🤣 

We got well over our 10K steps again today

Nice pictures and artwork adorned the walls of the lighthouse 
Winter lighthouse pictures are spectacular 

Each of the four floors of the lighthouse as you climbed up had port windows on each due side to take in views from

View looking into the harbor from the lighthouse top 

❤️ 

Heading out to sail

Riva the water dog! 

Leaving the dog beach with a wet sand covered pooch in the basket Erik accidentally took a wrong turn and somehow ended up at The House of Flavors instead of the marina 🤷‍♂️.   As we were sitting on the sidewalk bench dusting sand from our feet and putting our shoes back on we heard a pooof/hisssss as the rear tire on a Renee’s bike went flat.   Ugh…..we had major issues with that same tire last year when it had 3-4 flats over the month period.   We’d had the wheel checked thoroughly and bought a new tire and tube late last summer at home and THOUGHT we had the issue resolved.  Coffee ice cream for Erik and Salted Caramel for Renee made the situation easier to bear….whenever there’s a dilemma I’ve cream is the start of a good answer!   Riva and Renee headed back to the boat and Erik walked the disabled bike .1 mile further into town to a bike shop where the shell was AGAIN inspected and said to have no issue and a new tube installed.   A spare tube was procured as well because, when you have a spare anything you KNOW it won’t be needed.    

The remainder of the afternoon was spent on a nice nap and a relaxing stent in the hot tub before heading out to dinner.   jim and Dawn met us in the parking lot.   This is their home base and are not currently ‘Looping’.   Dawn is a recently retired school teacher and Jim owns an impressive hardwood saw mill and lumber yard here in town.   The drove us to dinner and unexpectedly treated us to a large and yummy dining experience….thanks Jim and Dawn!   The food, comapny and story sharing were nice.  After dinner they took us on a short driving tour of the town including a drive through their lumber yard with 2 huge kiln buildings and rows upon rows of stacks of air drying hardwoods; red maple, ash, cherry and other species.   

The mostly cloudy day had cleared and it appeared that there may be a wonderful sunset in store so we capped off the evening with another bike ride over to the beach.  Low and behold by the time we made it over and as the sun was setting a thick cloud cover rolled in to stifle the viewing….maybe tomorrow.