C2C 38 Grand Haven to South Haven MI

Today’s ride was Havenly. Hugging the western Michigan coast, 64 miles from Haven to Haven. A little slice of haven. All haven, no hail (and clear skies). For haven’s sake, that’s probably enough haven puns.

Sunny morning departure from Grand Haven

70 degrees and westerly winds on departure from Grand Haven. The severe storms from yesterday gave way to clearing skies, leaving behind some wet spots and scattered twigs and branches. A southerly route along Lakeshore Drive – or ‘Lack-a-Shore Drive’, as the GPS voice likes to say. Lack-a-Shore is actually more apt, as the view was primarily that of beautiful tree-covered sand dunes. Every once in awhile, you could catch a glimpse of the Lake Michigan shore line.

The ride went thru the splendid harbor town of Holland and then into the town of Saugatuck, where the Kalamazoo river winds its way into Lake Michigan. I had planned to take the famed ‘Saugatuck Chain Ferry’ across the river, but alas, the ferry was closed today. According to the owner, all the ferry operators went back to school… presumably to learn a trade other than ‘chain-ferry operator’. Operating since 1857, the Saugatuck ferry is the last of its kind in the United States – a hand-cranked conveyance that utilizes a sunken chain and special gearing to get from one side of the river to the other. The unanticipated chain-ferry labor shortage caused a two mile detour for me.

Saugatuck Chain Ferry, closed due to labor shortage

Jax took advantage of the lack of ferry traffic to take a paddleboard excursion on the slow-moving Kalamazoo. Now that’s a modern chain-free way to cross a river.