Grand Haven

Phasma

Phasma2128
Sep 17, 2016
689
West Michigan
Boat Info
2003 360 Sundancer
Engines
Mercruiser 8.1s Horizon
Ahhhhh.....Coast Guard fest is over. It looks like it will be a beautiful weekend. Wayyyyyy less boat traffic. Looking forward to getting things back to normal.
 
Here are three pix of some of the fleet coming into our harbor.
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WHAAAAAT, NO PICTURES? Wassup widat?
 
Every year we camp at Muskegon State Park. I usually take the boat down from Muskegon to Grand Haven on the Friday before the start of the Festival. This year Michigan was too rough for my boat on Friday.

We went on Saturday. Could not believe my luck. We pulled up to the pier around 3:00 just in time for someone to leave.



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This is not even the full crew. Back at the camp there are 3 terrariums with a Bearded Dragon, Gecko and an Albino Boa Constrictor. The kids insisted we bring them.
 
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Here is a couple pictures of the Escanaba leaving, they had to back all the way out of the chanel, even the Coast Guard can have a bad day. With assistance of a tug they came within feet of hitting the North breakwall, sorry about the quality of pictures, I was riding in my dinghy and fighting the big surg and 17 knot winds. Can’t see very well from the picture but they were dropping bumpers down the side of the ship in case they hit the wall.
Winds were crazy that day, two people drowned at the beach with several others rescued.
Sad end to the festival.
 
View attachment 58776 View attachment 58777 Here is a couple pictures of the Escanaba leaving, they had to back all the way out of the chanel, even the Coast Guard can have a bad day.

Winds were crazy that day, two people drowned at the beach with several others rescued. Sad end to the festival.

Interesting about the ship having to back out of the channel. Was the wind too strong to try to spin it around?

Any time people drown it's a sad day. To have it happen at a festival just seems to make it worse.
 
Interesting about the ship having to back out of the channel. Was the wind too strong to try to spin it around?

Any time people drown it's a sad day. To have it happen at a festival just seems to make it worse.
Winds were from the south gusting to 25 with waves building to 3-5 feet. One of the things I noticed about the Escanaba is how tall and narrow it is compared to other ships that call on our port. It clearly needed a big tug for docking whereas the others did not use tugs. The pic shows the tug on the south side of the cutter. Suggests the captain did not want to be in the lee of the cutter going out. I'm certainly no expert but I would think the tug would have more control pushing from the north side going out. Maybe the captain was worried about being crushed?
As far as backing out, that is common in Grand Haven. The turning basin is about a mile upstream and few ships use it. You need to battle the wind up there as well so it is easier to back out.
 
The pic shows the tug on the south side of the cutter. Suggests the captain did not want to be in the lee of the cutter going out. I'm certainly no expert but I would think the tug would have more control pushing from the north side going out. Maybe the captain was worried about being crushed?
Interesting placement of the tug given the winds from the south. Like you, I'd have thought the tug would want to push the ship upwind to keep it off the rocks.
 
Interesting placement of the tug given the winds from the south. Like you, I'd have thought the tug would want to push the ship upwind to keep it off the rocks.
Maybe someone with Navy or CG real world experience will chime in.
 
In the first picture the tug did a 180 and was trying to turn the bow and push it back up the channel and get the stern away from the breakwall. The small coast guard boat that was keeping us away, the crew said they were very concerned about the deepth of the channel. Turning a 270’ ship not easy in those winds.
 
Seems to suggest pushing from the north could have prevented a sticky situation.
 
Not sure what a cutter drafts but that channel is 29’ deep minimum
 
My wife's family lives in GH - it's a bit of a circus, but CG is their superbowl and a lot of fun. Only criticism is to stay away from Carnival late at night - a big fight broke out Saturday night and they shut it down.

The cutters were fun to tour, as well as the Canadian boat.
 
My wife's family lives in GH - it's a bit of a circus, but CG is their superbowl and a lot of fun. Only criticism is to stay away from Carnival late at night - a big fight broke out Saturday night and they shut it down.

The cutters were fun to tour, as well as the Canadian boat.
Living here, we tend to avoid the area altogether during festivals and look forward to things quieting down at the end of the tourist season. There are always a few out of towners who seem to spoil things for the vast majority of people who visit. As you point out, late at night tends to be the worst time to be out and about.
 
Always thought this was a cool picture of the Escanaba.
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Yes. Very cool indeed. I was struck by how tall the boat is compared to its beam when following it from behind. Looked a little tippy to my eye. This pic shows lots of deadrise, so maybe not too bad in heavy seas.
 

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