Great Loop: Benton Harbor & Michigan City

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Harbor Entrance in St. Jo / Benton Harbor Michigan


I'm sure we did a dis-service to the portion of Michigan between Grand Haven and Chicago.  We were so excited about getting to Chicago, that we blasted through as quickly as possible with our eyes set on the goal of visiting the windy city.  I hope we will be forgiven.  We didn't even get out of the harbor at our first stop in St. Jo, just across the river from Benton Harbor.  We understand this city has a great amusement park.  Did we see it?  NO!  Why? We had a long travel day, ate dinner, and went to bed so we could depart in the morning for Chicago!  Unfortunately, the afternoon winds did build to an uncomfortable level and we called an audible, and ducked into Michigan City hoping the weather in the morning would be more to our liking.


This is a snapshot of all the Looper boats in transit down the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in our immediate vicinity.  This is the mariners equivalent of flying south for the winter.  This string of vessels sprinting to get off Lake Michigan while the weather semi-cooperated stretched the entire length of the coast.  You have to move when you have a good weather window.  Soon enough the calm lake weather was due to transition to the storms of fall and winter.



Nothing looks nicer to a Lake Michigan boater than reaching a harbor safely.  Breakwaters on both sides of the channel, with lighthouses on the end, signal respite from winds and waves.  It is a good feeling when you are safely inside their embrace.



The Coast Guard maintains a station in Benton Harbor.
It is on the port side as you enter.



Also on the port side is the West Basin Marina.  This is where we spent the night.
It is a clean marina with good facilities and helpful, friendly staff.



Another shot of the northern Benton Harbor breakwater as we exited the next morning.



The power plant at the entrance to Michigan City Harbor makes this destination visible from miles away.  We used the tall smoke stack as an aiming point.



We had a wonderful dinner with the crews of Off Leash, Peregrine, Fjaka, Yolo and Amy Marie



We convoyed with Brian, on Yolo, for several days as he single handed his boat to Hammond to rendezvous with his wife Jen.  We had excellent conditions as we exited Michigan City, bound for Chicago!  We made the right decision to get off the lake the day before and wait for better weather.



Again, you can see the gaggle of Looper boats heading to Chicago.  Hope the city is ready for this armada!  Looks like shoppers headed to a Black Friday Sale at Walmart!



The day remained calm as we cruised the final 34 miles from Michigan City to Chicago.

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Berthing Information

  • St Jo/Benton Harbor:
    • We stayed at West Basin Marina
    • Phone: (269) 983-5432
    • This is a full service marina.  Clean restrooms and showers.
  • Michigan City:

Track Logs








Location: Benton Harbor, MI, USA

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2022 at 1:53 PM

    Glad you made it safely. I was thinking if you all.

    ReplyDelete

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