{"id":338,"date":"2026-06-12T16:24:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T20:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/?p=338"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T20:25:00","slug":"thursday-june-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/thursday-june-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday June 11"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We stayed in Muskegon until Wednesday morning. Tuesday was mostly foggy, and we stayed put, as the anchor held us tight. You learn a lot about the bottom when you weigh anchor. We were in black mud and silt. Excellent holding, but you need to go over top of the anchor to break it free. The flukes of the anchor hold onto a pretty big blob of the mud.  Easiest way to remove the mud is to bring the anchor up near the surface of the water, and gently motor forward. The moving water will rinse it clean, and then we pull it up tight with the anchor windlass, attach the chain hook to take the load off of the windlass and ease it back out a few inches.  This is a similar technique used in anchoring. The windlass is designed to move chain but not to hold a load.The chain hook slips over a link in the chain and the hook has a line secured to a cleat in the anchor locker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light winds from behind us carried us toward Pentwater, but not fast enough. The forecast had the wind at 25 knots by 2pm (almost 30 miles per hour) and building seas. We knew if got around Little Sable Point, we would be sheltered from the four foot waves. We motored more than we like, about four hours of the 44 mile journey. The wind was solidly 20 knots by the time we rounded the point, and we reached Pentwater around 5pm.  There was a dredge working near the north breakwater, and it looked like it was finishing up for the day. A dredge is a massive barge mounted engine and pump with a cutter head and pipe that is lowered to the bottom with crane-like structure and it removes the sand and whatnot on the bottom. The outlet of the pump goes into a large polyethylene pipe about a half meter (or eighteen to twenty inches) in diameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pipe might be near the surface, or on the bottom. You can\u2019t tell if it\u2019s on the bottom, but you sure can tell when approaching it when near the surface. Once upon a time we went over a pipe that surfaced just a few feet behind us.  The pipe is marked with orange buoys, and it takes a bit of time to suss out the path the dredge line goes. Then you can try to find the safe course to miss the pipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Count the buoys. There are eight, but only four in the photo. Four are hidden by the waves. The dredge line connects to the yellow float, and goes left all the way across the photo. I’m standing on the north breakwater, and that’s similar to the view from the boat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now we were behind the dredge and the small tug pushing it through the channel. Even our idle speed was enough to catch up to the tug. So you put it into gear and move along, then put the gearbox in neutral until you lose steerage (without moving water over the rudder, the rudder is useless to keep the boat pointed in the right direction), and repeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We headed towards an anchor spot we have used before, only a short dinghy ride to town. Anchor down, I backed down to set the anchor and it didn\u2019t hold. Probably weeds, and that was confirmed as we brought it up. Marcia used a boat hook to pull the weeds off the anchor as we headed to Plan B, Big Bayou about a mile up Pentwater Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big Bayou is about 200 meters wide, and water is about twenty feet deep right up close to shore. We payed out about 80 feet of chain, and set the anchor. It set hard, very solidly set. Attached the bridle and tidied up the deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Looking into Big Bayou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was about five minutes later when the wind picked up, the heavy rain fell, and the anchor was put to the test. Fortunately, Big Bayou is ringed by a sizable dune with tall trees. Our mast was not the tallest thing around as the thunderstorm blew through. Rose sent a text to see if we were off the big lake. I sent a text just before hers arrived saying that we had arrived, but the storm had knocked out their power, internet and cell service. The storm was especially severe between Saugatuck and Muskegon. It was gusty, but the choice to go to Big Bayou was perfect – excellent holding and protection from the south and west winds. It was a thoughtful decision, but the timing was just luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night was fairly peaceful, and we stayed put on Thursday. A dinghy ride of about two miles roundtrip to downtown (using about 10% charge of our electric outboard) to check out the marinas. We will get a slip for Friday – Sunday, as the winds will pick up and shift to the north, and there isn\u2019t any good spots to anchor with the north wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s okay, because we\u2019ve used most of the produce from last week\u2019s shopping trip, and the laundry bag is full again. There\u2019s a nice bakery in town just a short walk from the marina, a grocery store is near, and laundry is right at the marina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a lot more time in marinas than usual. And we\u2019ll get a slip sometime next week in Ludington, as there are more friends to visit. But we\u2019ll be at anchor in Frankfort, South Manitou and then who knows from there. Wisconsin is close by, Northport isn\u2019t too far, Suttons Bay is well protected except from the north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We rather enjoy this lifestyle. Making decisions about where we are going to be, and for how long only a day or two before. We have an app on our phone that has different weather models for wind and waves, and the model\u2019s accuracy compared to the actual weather it forecast.  I wish the political pundits, and sports commenters had similar metrics on the web or TV screen. Golly, wrong 2\/3\u2019s of the time, no need to listen to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I write, the wind came up, shifted a bit, skies have darkened – there it is, the rain. Time to close up ports, lower the hatches and zip up the enclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We stayed in Muskegon until Wednesday morning. Tuesday was mostly foggy, and we stayed put, as the anchor held us tight. You learn a lot about the bottom when you weigh anchor. We were in black mud and silt. Excellent holding, but you need to go over top of the anchor to break it free. 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