Rest Days

We arrived in Muskegon on Thursday, 7 July. Our intent was to stay for one night as it looked like we had three or four days of good cruising then three or four days of wind that would keep us in port.

In Pentwater we had met Ann & Frank Beisemann, Loopers who have a slip at Hartshorn Marina. They mentioned that they were taking a two week trip with friends to Charlevoix before returning to their home slip. We were welcome to use it while they were gone. Normally this is a harbour of refuge with a number of slips reserved for transients. However during the two years of the pandemic they lost the whole floating dock normally reserved for transients so other than their slip there would be no room for Moon Dance. 

The plan was to stay there for a night and then head on to Grand Haven a few hours down the lake. However, a fishing tournament is centred here in Muskegon but also involves the harbours of White Lake and Grand Haven. There is not a slip to be had anywhere – we called them all. 

We really don’t mind though. We’ve been on the move for several weeks now and some down time would be great. There is nothing around here so we’ve been forced into a couple days of rest which we really enjoyed. We spent the days getting up late, having a big breakfast, a few boat chores, reading and then a short walk. There isn’t even a laundromat within reasonable distance so I don’t even have to worry about that. Pull another pair of sheets out from under the bed and we are good.

Shortly after we arrived here on Thursday night we were fortunate to meet Pam and Pat who have a beautiful 48 foot Defever Classic in the slip next door. They kindly drove us to a grocery store about 13 km away so that we could pick up some things to hold us over for a few days.

On Saturday, we walked over to Fatty Lumpkins Sandwich Shack for lunch. An Italian style sandwich shop only open 11-3. On the way we walked we walked past a condo development in what from the harbour side looks like an old abandoned building on the other side they’ve started renovating. I’d love to see inside – it looks quite spectacular.

After lunch we walked back towards the marina and along the shore to the Heritage Park where the fishing tournament weight-in was taking place. There were some pretty spectacular fish. One team weighing in a salmon a little over 14 pounds and in total their five fish catch was 42 pounds and change. Entry fee for the tournament is $500, first prize is $7,000. All of the fish caught are donated, cleaned, frozen and served at a fish boil later in the summer. Proceeds to charity.

Hartshorne Marina is a very quiet stop as it is all seasonal slip holders there is almost no one here during the week. Even Friday night was very quiet. The parking lot filled up on Saturday and a progressive cocktail party started around 5.