Montague to Ludington, MI take II

So, no wind as forecast…seas less than one foot as forecast…visibility on White Lake? NO What a difference a day makes! We woke at 5:30 to FOG! The temperature had dropped to 49 degrees, much lower than the water temp of White Lake and a thick fog formed. A fairly common occurrence on the lakes around here; however, in the month we’ve been in Montague there hasn’t been any! Not until the first day of our new adventure! Okay, Who Cares, we have excellent radar and chart plotter so we confidently yet cautiously head out. We see a few small fishing boats on the radar and a couple become close enough to see and we get and give a wave. Our hope is that Lake Michigan, being much colder than White Lake, won’t have any fog and the fog ends at the inlet. A natural harbor lake along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, White Lake is approximately seven miles long, one mile across and flows into Lake Michigan through a deep water channel.

We were out of our slip by 6:00 am in thick fog and by 6:45 coming out of it and into sunshine and blue sky, just before the channel to Lake Michigan! Beautiful!! On the south side of the channel sits the charming and picturesque White River Light Station Museum. The White River Light station was built in 1875, just four years after the Great Chicago fire. A channel was dug between Lake Michigan and White Lake to facilitate the access of lumber schooners. The ship captains were headed to the sawmills which were located on White Lake, a tributary of the White River and adjacent to the majestic pine forests. Eventually, passengers traveled on steamships from Chicago to enjoy the summer resort activities of the White Lake area. The light station was decommissioned in 1960 and opened its doors as a museum in 1970.

Into Lake Michigan at 7:00 am and we had a great 45 mile cruise with near flat seas. At 11:20 am we were transiting the channel into the Pere Marquette River/Lake and Ludington Municipal Marina. We “topped off” the tanks with 730 gallons of fuel, tied up in our slip for the next two nights (storm forecast for tomorrow), popped a couple beers and headed out to explore the town of Ludington, MI.

Ludington has a beautiful waterfront park, adjacent to the marina, with many handsome and informative sculptures…couldn’t resist taking some goofy pics with some of them. After walking through the park and picking up some local history we walk the few short blocks to downtown and found ourselves in the obviously popular and robust Jamesport Brewing Co, a gastropub in a Victorian storefront that serves diverse beers & hearty grub in warm, rustic surroundings. We had a couple of flights of four beers and loved all of them and our dinner was delicious!

As we walked back to the marina through the park we were treated with the arrival of the SS Badger! The SS Badger is a 410′ passenger and vehicle ferry that has been in service on Lake Michigan since 1953. She is the largest car ferry ever to sail Lake Michigan, and has provided a safe, fun, and reliable shortcut across the huge inland sea for more than 60 years. The S.S. Badger is a national treasure, offering a cruise experience that links us to an earlier time when a sea voyage was the ultimate travel and vacation adventure. She is the only coal-fired steamship in operation in the United States.