September 9, 2008: Holland to South Haven, Michigan

It was so nice to wake up this morning with sunshine in Holland. The little town of Holland was settled by a Rev Van Raalte and his followers from the Netherlands in 1847. They planned to use Lake Macatawa as a harbor, but there were sandbars bars between the lake and the larger Lake Michigan. When they were unable to get funding from Congress, the Dutch settlers dug the channel by hand. The red lighthouse with the unique gables was built in 1870 to mark the entrance to the harbor and is supposedly the most photographed lighthouse on Lake Michigan. It has a nickname “Big Red”. Other local Dutch attractions in Holland include tulip gardens and a Delph factory.

We took a short bike ride to the Holland State Park this morning and took a walk on the sandy white beach. We saw butterflies and heard crickets as we pedaled down their paved bike path. They were flying a red flag to indicate that the beach was closed for swimming. We saw the explanation one place that said a red flag meant that the water was too cold for entry; however, the wind and currents would have also made swimming unsafe.

We decided today to have our new prop but on the port engine to replace the one that had been dinged in Canada. They pulled the boat for us and changed to prop very quickly, and we were then on our way to South Haven. There were still strong winds this afternoon, but we had a following sea which made the two hour ride rolling but not pounding.
We arrived in South Haven around 5:00 PM with a slip reserved at the Municipal Marina on the north side of the beautiful harbor where there is the most shelter. This small town was settled in 1787 by the Ottawa tribe, and they named it Ni-Ko-Nog, meaning beautiful sunsets. In 1833 Europeans moved in to pursue the lumber and built saw mills We rode into town to have dinner at Clementine’s, a restaurant built in an old bank with beautiful tin ceilings and glass globe chandeliers. After dinner, we road out to the water front, the Stanley Johnson Park, and to watch the sun set. The soft white sand was patterned both with the wind and the seagulls tracks. The pink glow lit the beach as several sail boats ended their day sailing in the inlet.