Marina Shores at Dune Harbor, Portage, Indiana

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 152 - August 30, 2017

We woke up this morning on Daydream still in New Buffalo Marine Service's boat yard. The plan was for the crew to get down to work to finish the rub rail installation at 8:30 a.m., but work did not actually start until after 9 a.m. Sam was there on time, Billy was late, and Ed was the last on the scene.

The work actually proceeded fairly well, as they laboriously removed each section, caulked each hole, reinserted the bolt or screw with the special thin washer under the head, put the washer and nylock nut on the bolts inside the boat, and tightened each one down. Either Ed or Sam was on the outside and Billy was on the inside. Sam then inserted the rubber insert, and the work was done about 1:00 p.m.  We settled the bill, way too much in our view. Sam works very efficiently but Ed and Billy just do not move very fast. Ed did cut a number of hours off the bill at the end, but we no way anticipated the rub rail repair would take a day and a half or cost so much. Oh well, it is done, and we are pretty confident that it was done correctly. Now it is up to us to make sure we never get into a situation like we did at St. Joseph again!

We were back in the water at about 3 p.m. at the City boat launch, and since we are headed west, it was only 2 p.m. Indiana time. We made good time to Marina Shores at Dune Harbor in Portage, arriving about 5:30 p.m., covering the 30 miles in about three and a half hours. This calculates to an average speed of 8.5 smph, as we were getting a great push from the following seas.

As we were passing Portage, we went by Burns International Harbor. This is a blight on Lake Michigan, the ugliest industrial shoreline we have ever seen! I did not take any photos, and I am reluctant to use images from Google images because of potential copyright issues. But we were soon past that, and found the entrance to the Portage Burns Waterway leading back to Marina Shores at Dune Harbor.

We stopped at the fuel dock to gas up, and it was a good thing we did! From our telephone conversations with the marina office, we did not have a clear picture of where our slip was. All they told us was "B" on the east side! The gal in the office showed us the map, and it was immediately clear. Almost all of the slips here are long term. There are only twelve transient slips, and they are on the outside end of each dock, which are marked as you come in from F down to A. There were no other boats in the transient slips except a boat on B on the west side, naturally. We also bought ice cream at the Ship's Store for dessert tonight, we figure we deserve it after the stress of the last two days at New Buffalo Marine Services boat yard!

Navionics screenshot of  our slip at Marina Shores at Dune Harbor

This is a very nice marina. There is the marina and a residential development directly above the docks, with tennis court, beautiful swimming pool, and a clubhouse with fitness room, bathrooms and a free laundry, which we took advantage of!

We need to be at Du Sable marina tomorrow, but looking at SailFlow and Marine Weather, we may get our fillings knocked out - not good. We will go during the afternoon window when the winds are the lowest, and keep our fingers crossed!