A Beautiful Lake Michigan

Just to finish up some thoughts from yesterday's "adventure".  I guess it was a micro burst or straight line winds that we encountered out on the river. Whatever it was, I hope I never experience it again. There were no waves on the river to speak of, maybe a foot during the storm, nothing that we even noticed. The high freeboard of the 459 and all the canvas made the boat very susceptible to the effects of the wind. The wind came up in the blink of an eye. We were traveling up the river and it was raining. It went from heavy rain to "I can't see anything rain". Within 10 seconds, the wind had us sideways. It was the craziest thing I have ever experienced in a boat. For almost a minute, I really didn't have control of the boat. That is what scared me. Once we got the bow into the wind and I got control back, we were able to handle the rain and wind. It was still unnerving, but manageable.

Today on the other hand was fantastic. We came through our last lock at 7:00am. We completed the final 7 miles on the Illinois River and came out onto a beautiful Lake Michigan. We had to stop at Hammonds Marina for some fuel before crossing the lake. Once topped off with diesel, we had 2 foot sloppy seas for the first 45 minutes. Then the seas began to calm down and about an hour later, the lake was near perfect with seas around 1 foot. It was a great run over to Saugatuck.

Let me tell you how beautiful it is here in Saugatuck. This is my first time into Saugatuck, but I will most certainly be back. The homes, shops and river here are breathtaking. It is like a Norman Rockwell painting. I am looking forward to having Rich and his wife Maggie show us around town later today.

Boat ran just beautifully the entire trip. Rich and Maggie bought themselves a great boat. Some final numbers for the trip.

Total miles: 1,071
Fuel: 1,171 gallons
Average MPG: .91
Run time: 79.2 hours
Average fuel price: $2.69/gallon

Thanks to all who followed along.