6/3-6/4 St Joseph to South Haven MI

Saturday 6/3 - A RUFF day for Riva 

Everyone was excited to arrive back to Happy Destiny in St Joseph!  Upon our arrival, at about 3:30pm, we talked and decided that since we were there early enough in the day that we would likely depart tomorrow (Sunday) rather than Monday.  We had plenty of time in the day remaining to finish up on the boat preparations and provisioning.   

The service folks at the marina had completed the change out of the two heat pump seacocks so we now have heat and A/C.  They also said that they had gotten the generator started.  It was stated that it could use a tune up but that they could not get that completed on our desired timeline.   We tested out systems and sure enough the generator started but unfortunately it was not providing power….hmmm.   We poked around looking for loose wires or a tripped breaker but could not determine the issue.   Rather than spend too much time or energy on that task we made the decision to put our portable generator aboard; it fit like a glove into our dock box on the bow.   Off to the store we went to complete provisioning of food and beverage along with a few other items.  

Back aboard, we were relaxing on the aft deck when Riva decided to take an accidental swim!  She attempted to jump over the partially opened canvas gate down to the side stairs leading down to the gunwale.  We were sitting and chatting, enjoying watching the boys cruise up and down the river when we heard a clunk and splash.  We leapt into action to retrieve her but that wasn’t exactly easy.  The finger dock was about 3’ up from the water level making it hard to reach down to grab her.  Erik nearly had her several times when she would swim away and under the finger dock beside the boat.  Riva could not look up to see him while she was paddling away.  Fortunately there was a ladder on the wall one slip over that went down to the water.  Mamma Renee quickly descended to the water (we all knew she REALLY wanted to go swimming herself) where Riva could see see her and she swam over to be rescued.   Disaster averted we were left with a clean, wet, traumatized puppy.  

Drying off and warming up Riva after her evening plunge! Silly puppy

After a quick blow dry for Riva we were all exhausted and shortly after retired to bed.   We were awoken at about 2am to the sound of another clunk…..Riva falling out of bed.  Apparently Riva needs to get her sea legs and sleeping posture back in shape!   

Sunday 6/4 - Leg one of 2023 Journeys - South Haven 

Erik rose his usual dark thirty and was able to enjoy the setting full moon over the river.   Very Peaceful! 

4:30am good morning and welcome to moon river 

Beautiful full moon

We sat and chatted while Renee charted our course and input it into the chart plotter.  We wanted to depart on full tanks and had found the cheapest gasoline (if cheap can be defined as $5.14 per gallon!) to be at a marina about 1/2 mile up the river but they didn’t open the fuel dock until 10am so we sat around some more, had yogurt and granola for breakfast and did a little more cleaning.  We also decided that we would investigate our generator issue with fresh eyes before departing.   It was quickly discovered that the issue was really just what many fondly refer to as a DFU problem...lol.   There are several disconnects and breakers now on the electrical system of the boat since we had it all upgraded and it turned out that we simply had not turned on the breaker to the generator on the main panel.  Yay for easy, free fixes/solutions!   

The ‘Windy’ and ‘Great Lakes Navigational Forecast’ apps were predicting light winds in the AM building to moderate winds later in the day with waves early of only 1’ or less with a long (8 second) duration between waves.   Upon leaving the break walls at the mouth of the river and out onto the lake the forecasts proved to be accurate providing us with a comfortable cruise of about 25 miles to South Haven.  The approach to South Haven afforded us wonderful views of beaches on either side of the inlet and an always welcoming historic lighthouse.  

Entering the inlet to the Black River and South Haven Michigan

We had reserved a slip at the Municipal Marina which was just a few hundred yards off the lake up the Black River.  The river is lined with a park and very nice homes.  We got nestled into our slip about 1pm and after taking Riva to do her business we set out on foot to go to the nearby Michigan Maritime Museum.  Given that we had not had any lunch it was imperative that we stop in for a delicious double scoop of local homemade ice cream!  

Lunch of champions! 

It was a quite impressive museum that encompasses multiple buildings and docks and did a nice job of covering the history primarily of steamships on the Great Lakes.  We’d not imagined beforehand what a rich history of luxury passenger steamships the lake held.  Think Titanic on a slightly smaller scale and these are the types of many ships that carried passengers around the lakes from the early 1800’s all the way up until around 1940 when the boom of motor vehicle and air travel started to cause its decline.  It was interesting to see some of the luxury as well as much of the peril that caused multiple disasters.  

We even had a little dance in the salon

The museum had a neat display of several historical Coast Guard boats

Friends of Goodwill sailing vessel

One building was focused on all wood boats

Would LOVE to have an old Lyman someday! Beautiful boats

Tired from our walk through town and time at the museum, when we returned to the boat we relaxed and briefly napped in our recliners before lighting up our new grill to put some nice burn lines on a juicy ribeye.  Rested and with full bellies we headed out toward the lighthouse and beach for a walk.   Riva got to meet many new new friends both human and canine which always makes her happy.  The afternoon sun was still warm but the cool winds had picked up enough that when not in the sun it was a bit chilly.   We walked the beach and Riva didn’t hesitate to run right in to the cold 52 degree water….brrrrrr.    We walked in just up to our ankles for a very brief time before our toes were telling us they’d had enough.   The sand was very soft and fine.  Riva was covered in sand and we thought it would be a chore to get it all out when we got back and bathed her.   However, much to our surprise by the time we had walked out to the lighthouse and back the several hundred yards to the marina she had dried completely and the sand had all fallen off of her like magic; we’ve never seen sand like that before.   Our kind of beach for a dog. 

 

Riva loves the water!  

Tank up on the hill just inside the entrance to the river off of the lake next to the American Legion Hall

Friends of Goodwill coming in from an evening cruise on the lake

Lighthouse keepers

Back at the boat pajamas, long sleeved shirts and hot coffee were on the menu as the evening temps were coming down.  We considered riding bikes back up to the beach to see what was sure to be a nice sunset but we were all three getting awfully comfy and instead decided to hang loose at the boat and relax for the remainder of the evening.   Today was another glorious start to this years adventures aboard Happy Destiny cruising Americas waterways and exploring the interesting towns along the way.