Day 39 - in Saugatuck at Singapore Yacht Club - August 14, 2011

We woke this morning to a poor weather forecast – the wind and waves at the northern Lake Michigan buoy were 23 knots and 6 ½ feet and at the southern Lake Michigan buoy 17 knots and 4 feet, so we decided to stay another night in Saugatuck.  Staying gave us a chance to cross the Kalamazoo River and visit Oval Beach and Mt. Baldhead.  We crossed the river on the Saugatuck Chain Ferry, North America’s only hand-cranked chain ferry.  The trip is $1 each way and takes just over 1 minute.

After exiting the ferry, we followed the road to Oval Beach.  This beach receives rave reviews from all sorts of travel publications.  We didn’t see it on the most beautiful day as it was somewhat overcast, but it is definitely a beautiful beach.  For the return trip to the ferry, Fred conned me in to taking the walking path.  It is essentially a 220 foot climb in the sand straight up Mt. Baldhead.  We took it easy, but it was quite a strenuous climb.  From the top of the mountain, it was down 282 stairs to the bottom.

We took a dinghy ride around Kalamazoo Lake in the evening.  There are lots of condos and lots of boat slips around this lake.  It is a very shallow lake (actually a fat spot in the Kalamazoo River), but a very protected spot to hang out on a boat.

Oval Beach and the Kalamazoo River break wall

the top of Mt Baldhead

view of Saugatuck from the top of Mt Baldhead

from the top of Mt Baldhead (if you look carefully, you can
see Boreas in the middle of the photo)

the Saugatuck Chain Ferry

Boreas at the Singapore Yacht Club