Loop day 100 and the $h1! hits the fan.

Today was Loop Day 100 and by far the “crappiest” day we have ever had! Cruising wasn’t terrible- it was the mess we had to deal with once we got to South Haven. I accidentally flushed a washcloth down the head with other unmentionable material and of course it would not flush. My wonderful, knight-in-shining armor husband took the entire system apart and literally cleaned the entire mess out. If any of you ever doubted my love and admiration for him before- after today there would never be a question. WHAT A MESS! It took nearly two hours to take it all apart and clean it up. I took over the decon process after re-assembly. I just feel so bad for our boat neighbors who must have thought we were really beyond rude. And believe me- Dave and I felt the same way. In the end (literally)  all Dave can say is “I feel much better knowing that my Tecma toilet didn’t let me down!” Seriously- the man loves his heads! But we made it- Day 100 and we are closer now than ever!

We left Muskegon around 7:00 after waiting until it was light enough. The first part of the trip wasn’t bad- we had following seas off our back starboard quarter. It was kind of like surfing in our boat. Our fall-back plan was to go to Saugatuck but we were feeling confident we could do another 20. About 10 miles before the turn into South Haven- the seas became confused and we were taking the waves on our side and the winds had shifted back to the left. It wasn’t too terribly awful- just had to deal with a very short entrance into their harbor and had to rush to get fenders down and lines ready. All in all- it was wonderful to be back on the water!

I am excited because the authors of two of the books that I read faithfully for cruising information are in our marina. George and Pat Hospodar are Gold Loopers who wrote the books: Reflection On America’s Great Loop and The Great Loop Experience: from Concept to Completion. They are on their second loop and will be speakers at the fall rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama. I am hoping to go over and say hello after I get cleaned up and smell better. :-)  Enough with the jokes- and in all seriousness we are very happy to have done 100 days of this wonderful journey. Here’s to 300 more!

 SS Silversides at dawn coming out the channel

 Muskegon lighthouse and NOAA station

 Most of the big clean up is done here. It was not a pretty sight when the hoses came off!

"There is nothing- absolutely nothing-
half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."