Weather

This week we experienced Lake Michigan living up to its reputation for tantrums after Labor Day. This, so far, five day hiatus is NOT because we are off the boat enjoying family celebrations and re-unions; this is a full fledged weather delay. There is a very good chance that we will not leave South Haven until Monday the 27th… all up to when Lake Michigan wants to calm down.

Monday, Sep 20^th: We left Saugatuck a day earlier than planned because we saw bad weather coming. South Haven is a short 20 mile hop down the coast and we snuck in there before the rain started. We were still optimistic that the delay would be a short one and the clearing skies reinforced our hopes.

Tuesday, Sep 21^st: After a miserable night sloshing up against the pilings in our slip and looking at an updated forecast, we sought shelter in the marina’s seasonal basin as it was a little more protected. The waves coming into the river, at this point, were only 2 ft but were forecasted to go to 5. By Tuesday evening, Lake Michigan was starting to boil.

Wednesday, Sep 22^nd: By Wednesday, the early morning forecast was for up to 20 ft (6 m) waves on the lower part of the lake. The image below is a tool we use on the Great Lakes which provides wave height and wind direction status & forecasts. The little red star is about where South Haven is and any place we would travel to is south… In this case, green is NOT good… By Wednesday evening, there were 5 ft waves on the South Haven beach and at the mouth of the river.

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Thursday, Sep 23^rd: Still no change in the wind direction on Thursday. The waves rolling into the river are still 4-5 ft and now, it is cold🥶. This has been a north wind for two full days.

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You can get a sense of the volume of water that was ricochetting from one wall of the channel to the other if you keep your eye on the red barrel.

Friday, Sep 24^th: Today the wind changed direction and lessened in speed. The forecast looks much better BUT those waves will be right on our nose if we head directly to Chicago (not a pleasant ride). Also, the wind forecasting tool has the wind picking up again tomorrow… Still, it is much warmer today and there are even sailboats out enjoying the wind (they are heading north).