September 14, Day 93 - Muskegon to South Haven

Today marked 3 months since we started the Great Loop. We now have 307 engine hours and have covered 1,900 miles. While the first part of the trip brought lots of cold and rainy weather, the past month has been wonderful. Only a couple of days with rain and then only for a brief period and the temps have been in the 70’s and 80’s for highs and usually somewhere in the 50’s for a low. We’d give the weather an A+ for the past month.

Today we traveled 56 miles from Muskegon to South Haven. While there was not much wind today, there was some last night and so the seas were a little rolly today. Since our anticipated company, Jim and Judy (Gerry’s sister and brother-in-law) had a change of plans and had to cancel their visit with us, we decided to forge ahead toward Chicago.

As we pulled into the Municipal Marina in South Haven, we were greeted by another Looper. They are on a DeFever 44 (Aloha Friday) out of Solomon’s Island, Maryland. After settling in, we went out to explore the town. We walked through the downtown area and then across the bridge to the other side. We ended up eating at Clementines which is somewhat of a local institution. It is housed in the building occupied by the first bank in South Haven. They still have the old vault as part of the décor. The food was excellent. After that, Gerry went back to the boat and Linda continued her walk out to the end of the pier at the inlet. It was a gorgeous evening.

After a quick shower, we watched the Duthie Video on the Tennessee River. Jay & Nanci McCalister are planning to join us there, so we figured we better find out more about that section of the trip.

We have a short trip to St. Joe’s/Benton Harbor tomorrow. We plan to do our 300 hour oil change service after we get there and then check out the town.

Here is a summary of the detailed costs for the last 3 month:
Months 3
nautical miles 1900
Engine hours 307
Generator hours 40
fuel used 688
Gallons per hour 2.24

Dining out $ 4,261.00
slip fees $ 2,359.00
electrical $ 25.00
pump outs $ 151.00
provisioning $ 2,013.00
maintenance $ 100.00
Misc - charts, fenders, laptop $ 2,514.00
fuel cost $ 2,250.00
total $ 13,673.00

Looks like we need to cut back on that “Dining Out” category – the rest seem pretty well in line with our expectation

Departing Muskegon early on a misty morning


We spotted this sailing tour boat shortly before arriving at South Haven

Beach and houses just prior to entering the South Haven Inlet

Entrance to South Haven
.... and the welcoming sign
Monk's Vineyard at the marina

Clementine's restaurant

We thought this was a cute name and sign with the dinghy above.

Yet another restaurant with our boat's name .... we're always on the lookout for Vineyards

A mural on one of the buildings depicting the South Haven Inlet
A shot of the riverfront from the bridge

The bridge ..... lots of flowers

Inside Clementines ... where we ate ... good food

A shot of the inlet from the hill

A shot of the inlet from the pier ... it was just before dusk and the colors were muted .... almost looks like a black and white photo.