In preparation for WMCKA next weekend, I figured I’d better get some paddling time in. I also wanted to get a bit more time paddling the fiberglass boat, which despite being the same design as the plastic one, handles differently.
Saturday, I was informed that the Grand Haven Kite Festival was going on, so I figured it would make for some interesting viewing and headed over to Lake Michigan. I saw the forecast that said dense fog until 4:00, and figured that if I showed up at 4:00 I’d hit maybe the very tail end of it… Wrong.
This was the view from the North Shore Park. Not really optimal for paddling solo across a channel with no fog horn, or GPS.
Plan A abandoned, I resorted to a local paddle and headed to the Upper Thornapple River for a cruise. Josh and I had paddled there before. It’s a bit of an architecture tour and there are power boats, but overall it’s not too bad a place to go cruise around. I paddled what I later found to be 3.5 miles up river to the known “end” of the trip, this house:
I continue to be impressed by this mansion of a house on the river. Hopefully the owner won’t mind the picture being posted on my obscure little blog.
The forecast was extended, but was canceled today mid-morning. So, Josh and I headed over to Grand Haven with the same plan in mind as I had on Saturday. Today it worked. We started at North Shore Park and headed around the channel to Grand Haven State Park to see the kites. It was a calm day, and we hadn’t considered how optimal this was for power boats to more just outside the swim area. Still, the kites did not disappoint.
The giant kites – Josh included so you can verify that this is my picture and not scammed off the web.
A more extensive view of the beach.
Video clip of a kite demo. It’s 15MB and I’m not really interested in learning how to embed it at the moment, so you’ll have to download if you want to see it.
