Friday, August 9, 2013

On to Ludington – and the SS Badger


On to Ludington – and the SS Badger

After a long leisurely morning – a side effect of the 3 AM thunderstorm that disturbed our sleep, knocked out the internet at the grocery store and littered the streets with limbs and debris, we headed out onto Lake Michigan for the shortish run to Ludington.  The winds fortunately slacked off enough to make the lake comfortable and in late afternoon we dropped the hook in a cove on Lake Pere Marquette. On one side we had protected forest and the other a Dow Chemical operation – but down the lake we had a great view of the SS Badger dock. This is the only former railroad car ferry still in operation as a car and passenger ferry.  Celebrating her 60 years on the lake, she sails several times a day during the summer between Ludington and Manitowoc, WI. The Badger is the longest ferry ever built for the Great Lakes at over 400 feet and after our tour of the Milwaukee, it was fun to see one of these behemoths glide into the lake, drop anchor and spin around to back into the loading dock.  Since we didn’t pay the fee to travel on the Badger we don’t know if this 1950s era ship is appointed in the manner of the Milwaukee, but just seeing her smoke stack and hearing her horn made our visit to the Milwaukee come to life.




Ludington is the town where two marinas are joined by a sculpture park only a couple blocks from the heart of downtown. Nearby is a state park and for those with wheels the distinctive Point Sable lighthouse. We confined ourselves to a stroll downtown, an ice cream snack, and peek into the antique mall. (My collection of Travis McGee books is growing as I haunt the antique and used bookstores of Michigan.)

Our anchorage in Ludington revealed a new twist – this spot is deep and therefore requires several hundred feet of chain be let out with the anchor.  At about 150 ft we jammed up and Steve had to go and untwist the chain – not an easy operation. We finally got enough out to safely weather the night without dragging - not a good thing to drag and end up on shore, on rocks or in some cute cottage garden. For our morning exercise we pulled the remaining hundred and fifty feet or so of chain out of the locker onto our bed and proceed to UNTWIST. After all the twists were worked to the end and off, we fed it back in and hope to not have to repeat this routine for another few months. Steve speculates that the twists are a result of all that current reversing on the Atlantic ICW, but it just may be another one of those every once in a while boat chores. (Note that royal WE really means Steve with minor assistance from the Admiral.)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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