New Destinations

The Canadian and US Coast Guards work together on the Great Lakes since the border passes through 4 of the 5 lakes. However, Canadian CG vessels rarely go into Lake Michigan. This past month my ship was invited to attend the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven, Michigan, which is located on the eastern shore of the lake at the mouth of the Grand River.

Grand Haven was named Coast Guard City, USA by Bill Clinton when he was president and the citizens take the title very seriously.

We were invited, along with two USCG vessels, to the festival in order to open the ship for tours to the many visitors who come to Grand Haven to enjoy the beaches, carnival, parade and especially the fireworks.

Grand Haven actually has a number of bike paths although some of them that pass along the waterfront such as the picture above tend to be just another sidewalk when there are alot of pedestrians around. But at six in the morning, there are not many people competing for space on the paths.

This picture was taken from a path in a park area near the generating station (why do so many green lands tend to be near power plants or sewage treatment plants?) accessed from the Third Avenue bridge. There are thousands of pleasure craft moored in marinas throughout the Grand River.

Another morning took me exploring through the town. There was something about this place that screamed USA; I had to take a picture.

It was an interesting and intense trip with ten thousand people visiting the ship over the week, but I was happy to leave the harbour and head back to Canadian waters even if they were a bit rough.