Whitehall,Grand Haven and Saugatuck

We anchored one night in Whitehall in a quiet secluded spot.  We initially looked for an anchorage at the foot of the lake but as soon as we got off the channel we found ourselves in some very skinny water, at one point we only had 9 inches below our keel.  Yikes!

Left for Grand Haven the next day and stayed at the City Dock overnight.  Nice location for accessing the town and events but lots of foot traffic.  When we stayed it was free with no electricity, but they will soon be charging $10 per night, still a bargain.   For anyone coming into Grand Haven the Coast Guard festival begins July 28 through August 6.

We spent the next three days in Saugatuck.  It was a rocky day on the lake, the forecasted 1-3 foot waves became 4-6 footers with the occasional 7-8 footer thrown in for good measure coming on our bow or on the starboard quarter for the last few miles.  It was a bow smacking day.  Oh well, we call days like this payback days for all the beautiful boating days.

We saw this boater rowing across Lake Michigan (not sure but he was headed across the lake).  The picture isn't very clear due to the waves, although we were still in the 2-4 foot wave stage. Along with the relief from the heavy seas when we reached Saugatuck we were pleasantly surprised by the next 4 miles to our anchorage along the Saugatuck river.  Wooded hills lined both banks with houses interspersed along the way.

Here is a house that appeared to be built straight out from the hill, notice the door underneath in all the greenery?

Forget the flowers, I think a bird lover lives here, there were actually 4 birdhouses in a row (I only captured 3).

One more photo of the Saugatuck River with no signs of habitation, people houses or bird houses!
We found a Super Valu grocery store within walking distance in Douglas.  You had to dinghy to the right spot but we were able to tie our dinghy to the dock at The Red Dock.  The Red Dock is an outdoor bar and restaurant.  As we didn't eat there (we were there early in the day) I can't comment on the beer or food but it was very nice to let us tie off at their dock.
The next couple of days we checked out the other side of the lake, the town of Saugatuck which was touristy and artsy and also enjoyable.
One more stop on Lake Michigan.
On to St. Joseph ~~~~~~