A Dedicated Post to Sue’s Dad

 Rev Michael W Cassell

At 3am this morning we received the call that the lord had called one of his brightest servants, Sue’s Dad,  to join his father in heaven. Although saddened and heavy hearted at the loss, his rapid passing was a blessing as he was in failing health for only a couple of weeks. He lived 88 incredible years devoting most of his life to the service of the church and in post retirement, Food for the Poor. He was survived by his 5 children and numerous grandchildren and even a great who all will miss his presence dearly. Pop was a fantastic conversationalist. He was somebody you would just love to sit and talk with. He was an avid learner always reading and studying to keep expanding his mind. He was incredibly knowledgeable in so many subjects. He never backed down for a cause. To me Pop was the second father I got when I married Sue. He had a special way of seeding my brain without me even sometimes knowing it. His impact on my life was profound as was it for the many thousands of parishioners he fathered over the four decades he was a priest. I recall one such seeding. It actually occurred while we were floating down the lower Niagara River in inner tubes enjoying a couple of beers along the way. As we were floating along he looked over to me and said, “Mike, what do you consider the truest thing you know in life?” I immediately wanted some type of clarification or direction but he would yield not. I of course shot from the hip and tried to throw out a couple of quick answers but he did not accept them. Then he let the pressure off and said, “you don’t have to answer now just think about it.” I must of sat there in that tube for the next hour rolling in my head what my answer would be. What a way to kill a good beer tube buzz. About six months later we happened to be in town and had the opportunity to go to church and hear one of his magnificent sermons. Well by luck or by plan the sermon title was, “What is absolute truth in your life.” As this happened over 25 years ago, and the question had repeated in my mind quite frequently I never felt I could come up with the answer that was true for me. Until now. Call it Devine call it what ever but I have my answer. Human relationships are finite. They are all ultimately broken by death. Cherish, honor, nurture and protect those relationships always because after all they are finite. 

Pop, may you Rest In Peace and continue your good works in heaven. I’m sure there will be new bright star in the night time sky. 

Next Chapter does the Architectural Tour of Downtown

Chicago River

The rules to take your boat thru downtown Chicago are that you must be able to get under a 17’ bridge. Next Chapters air draft is 17’9” with the radar still mounted. I had spoke to a river boat captain who said the river level was down almost 2’. So Stray Cat decided to chance it being at 17’ band went down the river. He was kind enough to have a crew member use a pool noodle to to physically measure each bridge.

Let me tell you there is a ton of them between downtown and the intersection of the Cal-Sag. He called me after he reached Jolliet and said, “come on you can make it.” So to have a little insurance I went thur the pain of removing the radar dome. I then put my sister on the Sundeck and told her to stand there and if her head hit one of the bridges to let me know. Well it was pretty funny I thought.

I can write her response as I am keeping this G rated. I must say it was another boating experience that defies description. Fortunately the 38 mile ride to Jolliet was uneventful. When we arrived the wall was packed with Loopers but room for us. Now Jolliet is not one of those quaint little towns. In fact there have been some issues that boaters on the wall have run into with some of the locals.

Fortunately the town and police have not taken kindly to that so mast nights there is a police car stationed there. The officer was kind enough to come over and introduce himself and assured us they had pretty much resolved the issues. Unfortunately this would be where we would say goodbye to my sister and future brother-in-law. The night went without incident except for the fact it got pretty cold, once again reinforcing the fact we need to push south. 

Chi-Towne

 The Land of Deep Dish Pizza

On Thursday morning we headed out for the 52 mile cruise across the lower part of Lake Michigan, Chicago bound. It was not the smoothest of rides as we had a bit of a beam sea meaning it caused us to rock side to side. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad. We arrived to Columbia Yacht club directly in the shadows of the Chicago skyline. It is a remarkably beautiful city. 

The view from our boat was nothing short of breathtaking. The marina we were in had a 400’ ship that served as their club house which included a bar and restaurant. About an hour later I got a text from our friend John Gawn who just happened to be in Chicago for a layover. Even more crazy he actually flew over us and saw us on his approach to Ohare International Airport. Ya just can’t make this stuff up. Since we all had been sitting a lot that day we decided to take a walk into town. We walked the famed river walk through the heart of downtown. Shortly after we returned to the boat my sister Patty showed up with our dog Teak who would be aboard for a conjugal visit.

We really missed him but did not miss the hair! The night kicked off with a bang literally as it was Mexican Independence Day and boy do they celebrate. Fireworks, music, blocked streets, street racing and burnouts all till about 4am and the actual day was Friday! We had our own little party onboard as Patty brought a delicious dish of pumpkin rigatoni. Boy was it good. 

On Friday we did the Architectural tour down the Chicago river. Fascinating facts about the different buildings and who designed them. One of the most interesting facts is that when new skyscrapers go up the must relate architecturally to the ones around them. Really cool how they pull that off. There was a name for that type of deal but it escapes me. We were joined later by my future brother-in-law Dan. Great guy. He is a plumber for the city of Chicago. We enjoyed drinks dinner at the bar in the club house bar on the ship. Awesome time. 

On Saturday we went to Oak Park where famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright built his first house and studio. It is also one of the largest concentrations of homes he designed. We did the tour and really enjoyed it. It was fascinating to see how even in his first design he incorporated many of the elements that would later make him famous. He was a true rogue of his time as the style of the day was Victorian. You could see throughout the home and studio his struggle to break out of the current style and define a new direction. The walking tour took us past 10 other homes and one church he designed. Saturday nite we went to a fabulous steak house right downtown overlooking all the lit up buildings and river. 

Sunday morning Sue left for Florida to see her ailing 88 year old Dad. That left me, my sister and the dog to fend for ourselves. Fortunately we survived just fine. We were able to take in the Field Museum, biked to China Town for lunch, hit a Mexican Street market and explored a number of the great parks right in downtown. And yes we did stare into the ever talked about Bean in Millennium Park. 

On Tuesday we had another one of those exciting boating moments only this time I was solo. The winds had picked up a bit causing a bit of a swell in the marina. Our boat was pointed in the direction where the swells were coming which is generally good. So I put out a few more lines and additional fenders to secure Next Chapter. I felt pretty good so I jumped on my bike to head to West Marine 2.5 miles away to replace a chaffed line from the last event.

Well I was about a mile and a half out when my phone rang. It was another boating friend that was also on the same dock. He said, “You might want to get back here the conditions are terrible and the boats are beating themselves on the dock.” Well after a 1.5 mile Tour De France back to the boat I found Next Chapter acting like a bucking bronco ready to bust loose.

With the help of the staff and another boating friend I pulled the boat away from the dock and went to the marina next door and just tied up on a slip. I went into the office and said, “Hey I’m here for my slip.” The Dockmaster asked, “Do you have a reservation?” I said nope and proceeded to explain my dire straights. Now remember this is the downtown water front of Chicago. What are the chances they had a slip I could stay in?

Well Lady Luck was on my side and they fit me in.  Whew! Another disaster averted. 

Late Wednesday afternoon Sue returned from Florida and needed some cheering up which my sister happily did by walking her into downtown to a grocery store to get some supplies. Oh you say what in the world was my sister thinking?

Well turns out the grocery store in downtown called Mariano’s has a bar inside of it the serves wine that you can walk around with while you shop and at the grocery store price of $3 a glass! That certainly took the edge off. We finished off the night by ordering the famous Chicago deep dish pizza from Giordanos to enjoy onboard. If you have never had one you are really missing something special. I’m pretty sure that did the trick with Sue. 

China Town

Stunning skyline

Great spending quality time with my nephew Brad

Final Towns of Michigan

 St. Josephs

On Tuesday September 13th we cruised 24 miles to Benton Harbor where the town of St Josephs was located. Because of the recent rough lake conditions the only marina was full. Fortunately there was a city wall we could tie up to. There was still a good bit of swell coming into the inlet so the wall would not be a good stay over night but would work for the day as we explored the town.

There was the usual shops and restaurants with one major exception. A boating candy store called Wolfs Marine. This place has been owned by three generations. They literally have everything a boater could possibly want or need. Some new and some used. We managed to find a seat for the dinghy. After dinner we took Anna out for ice cream and watched the sunset. Because of the weather delay we were coming up against a logistical problem of getting Anna back to Chicago to catch her flight back home. We knew we would not make Chicago by Wednesday. 

New Buffalo

The cruise Wednesday morning was 28 miles with bright sunny warm skies. We arrived to port a bit after noon. We put our heads together and found out that Amtrak had a stop right next to the marina that would take Anna to Union station and then on to O’Hara to catch her flight back home. It was hard to let her go but it was great to spend so much quality time with her. We kissed her goodbye and off she went. The rest of the day was spent with boat chores and mundane things like getting groceries. In the middle of washing the boat one of my Looper buddies showed up and said, “Hey get your bike, we are going to church.”

Now consider it was Wednesday at 3:00 in the afternoon. Sue was already  suspicious but off I went. We pulled up to this old simple church that had been converted to a brewery called none other than Church Brewery. Well we had to go in and commune. After all it was a church. 

Departure day for Anna

      

Either we made a wrong turn somewhere or it really is that pretty in Lake Michigan.  

The Edmund Fitzgerald Revisited

South Haven

So on Sunday Sue, Anna and my self set out for south Haven 22 miles down the coast. The skies looked somewhat threatening but it looked like we would make it with a decent margins to spare. And we did. We actually got very little rain on the cruise. We arrived at the DNR marina and tied up to the face wall on the Kalamazoo river and settled in. Remember this little detail. My sister Patty was there to greet us. We had some lunch aboard to wait out the weather as it had started to rain. Fortunately it let up and we were able to explore the town. They have a very nice brand new maritime museum full of displays both indoor and out. I had been watching the weather a bit as the forecast was for some brisk winds over night. Sue did her usual magic in the galley and we enjoyed supper aboard. It was a bit rolly on the face dock but nothing too severe. Anna was pretty tired from her travels the night before so was eager to hit the rack early. Unfortunately her efforts were in vain. About midnight the winds picked up substantially which woke me as the boat began to hit the dock. I went outside to adjust the lines and saw that there was 1’ swells in the river and the wind was blowing 25-30 mph.

 

The boat was dancing so much Anna and Sue abandoned ships and went into the boaters lounge and posted up on the couches. As any good captain would do I remained with the ship. About a half hour later thing went from bad to worse. The winds were a steady 30-40 mph gusting to 45 with 2’ swells at the dock. The fight was on to save Next Chapter. I deployed every line and fender I had on board.

 

I even deployed the anchor and pulled the anchor rode onto the dock to lash it to a piling 75’ away to take the strain of the dock lines. The lines groaned and stretched like I have never seen. The fenders almost went totally flat looking like they would burst at any moment. At about 2am I gave up the fight and took the position that I had done all I could.

 

I crawled into the bucking bronco and went to bed. Crazy enough I passed out because the next thing I knew it was light out. Although it was still pretty rough it had settled down a good bit. Even better news Next Chapter had survived with the exception of a few scratches in the gel coat. What a night and one for an exciting blog post. My crew returned from the boat house looking a bit tired also but not too worse for ware. The winds were not projected to lay down until late in the day so we stayed in port. Anna and I rode bikes around and enjoyed some great time together. We also had the opportunity to meet and have lunch with Bryan VanReesema’s cousin who is interested in doing the Great Loop. Good old fashion Michigan guy. He cracked us up when he told us he had dropped a tree on his wife cutting it down. Good news is she is still married to her. We really hope they get to do the Loop. The Great Lakes are no joke. They eat freighters like the famous Edmund Fitzgerald. Thank god they did not eat Next Chapter. Like the song,”Oh what a night.” 

The Mysterious Circumstances Keep Rolling

 Saugatuck

We were so excited to leave for Saugatuck on Saturday because Anna, our daughter was coming to join us on the boat. Not to mention it just so happened that our nephew Brad would be coming to the same town for a batchelor party and would be able to pick Anna up at the airport and bring her to us. Well our excitement was soon dashed even before we left the wall.

Anna phoned to tell us she had missed her flight due to what amounted to short staffing at the airport. So we had to find another way to get her to us. Well fortunately my sister Patty stepped up grabbed her at the airport and brought her to us. Auntie to the rescue! The cruise to Saugatuck was 28 miles and finished with a beautiful 3 mile cruise up the river to the marina where we would be staying. Brad and his crew were waiting for us. 

After begging to borrow some extra life jackets the whole crew boarded the boat for a short cruise and swim. We didn’t realize that many of these young adults from Chicago had never been on a larger boat let alone on the lake. Needless to say they were all pretty stoked. We cruised them out of the inlet and then anchored in the Caribbean clear water of Lake Michigan. They had a blast jumping off of the boat into the water.

It was so great being able to share that with them. They must have thanked us a hundred times. Once at port Sue and I headed out and had a great meal at a local Italian restaurant. The town was really nice and became one of our favorites. Sometime after midnight Anna and my sister arrived. They tiptoed in and hit the rack. It was the long time since we had seen her. It felt so good to hug her again. The next morning it was a bit overcast and storms threatened from the west. We had a pretty short window to get to our next port in South Haven 30 miles to the south before the storms arrived. So we made a hasty departure . My sister decided to meet us at the next port so we could spend time together. 

Dancing Waters

 Grand Haven

On Friday Sept 9th we departed early from Muskegon as the forecast changed with winds expected to pick up a good bit later in the day. We only had 19 miles so it was a pretty quick cruise even for us and the water was getting a bit lumpy towards the end of our cruise. There was no room in the Inn or should I say marina but there was space on the wall right in town. We traveled with Charley Girl and tied up just behind them.

Grand Haven is just west of the much larger city of Grand Rapids. The Main Street of town ends right at the waterfront where the wall was where we tied up. This was another repeat of the many neat and clean small Michigan towns we have enjoyed along the coast but again it had a different feel than all the others. On the Main Street they had a bakery that mainly makes bread. They excellent bait to get you to buy their baked goods.

They give you a free slice with fresh butter as a sample. The day we were there they had pecan cinnamon bread that was absolutely to die for. It was much more dessert that regular bread. We were thinking it would make world class French toast. With great pain and effort we resisted the temptation to buy a loaf of it but we did get a loaf of their whole wheat which is great for sandwiches. I still regret not giving in to that sinful desire. Sue and I took in the local museum that was not only free but it was excellent to boot. It was one of the better town museums we have come across.  In the late afternoon we headed out with the crew of Charlie Girl and hit a couple of brewery’s followed by dinner. Back at the boat we watched the dancing water show which is set to lights and music. For a small town it was really enjoyable. It was built in the early 60’s and is said to be the largest one of it’s kind in the country. The waterfront was teaming with people and boats enjoying the show. 

 

The Hits Keep on Rolling

 Ludington

Have you been someplace where something tells you that you have bee there before? Well Ludington  happened to be that place for me. As we were walking down a street there was a campground that sat right on Lake Michigan. As we passed I had that strange feeling of familiarity. After a conversation with my sister Patty it turns out we had vacationed in Ludington in our pop-up camper. 

We are talking well over 50 years ago. How life flys by. Our cruise to Ludington was about 26 miles on a nice sunny day. We arrived just before noon and we were luckily to be able to tie up to the Town marina wall for $5 for the day. We need some supplies so being on a wall makes that process a whole lot easier. The town was very nice and had a lot to offer. It’s funny how each of these little towns have their own unique feel about them.

It is very evident that most of them are seeing a revival as the population seems to be leaving the city centers for a quieter life. After a short walk through the town our groceries arrived and we pulled off the wall to go to anchor. We were interested in going to a museum of sorts called White Pine Village. The village is a collection of old donated buildings from the early 1900’s that have been moved from their original location in the local area. They are all fully outfitted or furnished and range from a home, post office, general store, dairy barn, blacksmith shop, etc…

 

It was a short dinghy from our anchorage and then a mile walk. It was supposed to be open till 5 but when we arrived they said they sell the last tickets at 3:30 pm. Bummer. So back down the road and to the boat. It looked really interesting so we decided to delay our departure the next day so we could see it in the morning. We invited a Looper couple, Doug and Judy from Mobile Home, over for dinner aboard. We had a great time. We also got to see the SS Badger come into port and dock. The Badger is a huge 410’ passenger and auto ferry that goes between Ludington and Manitowoc, WI. When she comes in she drops her 7000 lb anchor and pivots on it to swing to the dock. Quite amazing seamanship to witness. The next morning we spent a couple of hours at the Village enjoying all the exhibits. 

Pentwater

We weighed anchor about 12:30 pm on Wednesday Sept 7th and headed to our next small town about 12 miles down the coast. Once we were secure on the anchor and the dinghy was launched I headed to explore the town. It again was another one of those towns that was very neat and clean. Everybody seemed to have a great deal of pride on how their home and yards looked. And like the other towns this one had it’s own unique feel to it. We spoke to a local that was working in their flower bed who told us that Sandra Bullock owned the home  three doors down. Who would have thought? This place was definitely on the path to roll up the sidewalks for the season. We found most of the restaurants were closed but a number of shops were open. The message was the same in that nobody could find help and the business owners were wore out from the busy summer season. We took a small cruise around the harbor to look at some of the houses and did a short hike up a tree covered sand dune. It was fairly warm so the beach was a pretty popular spot. 

Muskegon

I know what you’re thinking, “Where do they come up with these names.” So most of this part of the state was originally inhabited by Indians so names all reflect that or at least we are lead to believe. The cruise Thursday morning was one of our longer ones clocking in at 47 miles. So for us that meant about 6 hours. Fortunately the lake was calm and the skies were bright and sunny.

It made for a very enjoyable day. The coast of Michigan from Mackinaw City to Chicago is about 350 miles. Muskegon has a very different feel to it. Much more post industrial. The big industry back in the 1800’s was lumber. There was a number of big sawmills along the waterfront. One of them was run by two guys Hackley and Hunes  Their houses in town still stand today and served to be a fantastic tour for Sue and I. The homes were constructed on one large lot and shared a carriage barn however each half of the carriage barn reflected each homes architecture. The homes were of the very ornate Victorian style with extensive mill work both inside and out.

Mr Hackley’s home was much more elaborate as he owned 75% of the business that he himself started. If I recall correctly his house had over 13 different colors on the outside. Both homes have been beautifully restored. The guided tour also included a fire house and a depression era house. 

Just at the end of our tour our phone rang. It was a Looper couple from Charley Girl that we had cruised with back in the Trent Severn and they were in town. So we met up for some dinner at this crazy place that the back wall opened up to an ice rink. We were also with the crew from Razor’s Edge and Odyssey. So the night really turned out to be a blast. Sue and I narrowly averted disaster on our bike ride back to the dinghy, in the dark when we almost ran over a skunk crossing the bike path. In a Fred Flintstone moment we slammed on the brakes and very quietly back up to give the stinky little fellow the right of way. Whew that was close. We had a great laugh and went on our way. 

 Although both were beautiful you can see the difference between the wealth status of the 75% partner and the 25% guy. 

A horse and buggy port

                                                         Nice example of stained glass

This was the bunk room in the firehouse. Mr Hackley contributed a great deal of money to the fire house in self interest as his house was only a block away. 

Cool distillery in Muskegon. The town is really in the middle of a renaissance. The story from a local is that only about 10 years ago Muskegon was not a safe place especially at night. Then a woman was elected as mayor with a background in law enforcement and social work. She told the community she was going to “fix this place.” And fix it she did. 

Girls at Happy Hourly 

                                Church at the White Pine Village

Kitchen in a vintage home in the village

                   Sometimes life teaches painful lessons. Sue has a good story to tell

Kitchen in Hackleys house

                                                           Front door in Hunes house

Fire place in Hackley’s house

                             General store at White Pine Village

Sue holds class at White Pine Village

OK so this is the spirit of Loopers. No mater how much or little money, how big or small of the boat enjoying the Loop is available to all. You have to love this guys spirit. He actually sleeps on this boat! Great guy and is having just as much fun as we are.