Scouting St. Joe

Winter Home

Just a few weeks ago, I posted about SV Zeke E Boy’s summer home in New Buffalo but the seasons, they are a changin’ so I want to share our plans for her winter home this year.

Hips Don’t Lie

Unfortunately, the marinas in New Buffalo and Michigan City are not set up to handle big sailboats. Our mast is too tall to fit around power lines and the cradles to take boats out of the water aren’t big enough for her wide hips. Instead of heading south for warmer weather (or west to East Indiana or Chicago), we’ll make a short trek up north to St. Joseph, Michigan. This is only ~30 – 40 minutes vehicle drive from our home so we’ll be able to make frequent trips for our winter projects.

A few months ago we scouted the area on land to prepare for our sail up there, and to better understand the harbor entrance, bridge schedules and marinas in the area.  Here’s our report:

(Note: this is for information and entertainment purposes only.  We encourage you to do your own scouting prior to visiting St. Joe / Benton Harbor.)

Harbor Entrance

The St. Joseph harbor entrance is 250’ wide and 21’ deep.  There are freighters that enter on a regular basis so depth will not be a problem.  It will be like a dream entering it – quite different from the New Buffalo harbor entrance. They were dredging the entrance here too but there was much more room at the entrance.  Although, I wouldn’t want to pass a freighter in the channel, so we’ll be monitoring the radio (as usual).

Like a River

The good news is that there is a nice open turnaround space in front of the US Coast Guard station and the St Joseph River Yacht Club before reaching the municipal, transient marina. (According to the US Army Corps of Engineers website, this area isn’t maintained so we’ll need to keep an eye out for the depths.)

Municipal Marina

The West Basin Marina is the municipal marina for the city, and was completely full when we stopped by – even in the middle of the week.  Most of the slips were for smaller boats but there was a whole row of 45′ slips, and it’s possible that some of these boats will be put up for the winter so we may be able to use a seasonal rental space.  The slip numbers are low to the water and on the end post.

The marina is very well maintained and the workers have always been extremely friendly and helpful when we asked questions about the area.  I can see why it’s busy.  It looks like most of the wooden dock was replaced with new trex recently so it’s in great shape.

Bridges

There are additional marinas upstream but we would need to cross a few bridges to get to them.  The first bridge is just east of the municipal marina; it’s an CSX / Amtrak train bridge that remains open – and closes briefly to allow for a train to pass from 8:30 am to 9:15 pm.

The next bridge is called Blossomland Bridge, and May 15th – Sept 30th, it operates 7 am – 8 pm by opening every hour and ½ hour, but is also manned 24-hours a day and can be opened on demand before and after those times.  In the off-season (Sept 30th – Dec 15th), both Blossomland and Bicentennial bridge will operate on demand, and after Dec 15th, you can make an appointment, but realistically, take your boat out – it’s freezing cold up here! 

Going further upstream, there’s the Bicentennial bridge, which May 15th – Sept 30th operates 7 am – 8 pm by opening every hour on the ¼-hour and ¾-hour – similarly to the Blossomland Bridge, it will operate on demand from Sept 30th – Dec 15th.

Uh, we’re gonna need a lift

We are fortunate that we’ve never needed to use our radio this season but that also means that we have limited experience as well.  As part of our emergency procedures, I put together a document on ‘how to make a radio call‘ but realistically, there’s very little information on making standard radio calls so we’re just using the info we’ve gathered all year listening to the captains and operators in Chicago and NWI.

Scott, Kyle’s dad, said that the bridge operators will need to see us before they will open the bridge, so fortunately there’s a lot of space before each of the bridges to make turns if needed but we’ll be relying on maps, surveys and our electronics for depth readings. 

Anchor’s Way Marina

We stopped at Anchor’s Way Marina in St. Joe and the people working were extremely friendly.  We got details on their process for haul-out schedules and then walked around the boatyard.  There were transient slips on the river and it felt like we could get in and out very easily.  This means that we can plan a good weather window and come up early prior to our haul out date and stay until it’s time to pull her out.

Once we pay, we’ll get a key fob to access the boatyard at any time.  They have member restrooms to access if we are working all day on projects and most importantly we can run extension cords for power.  It seems like a really great facility and I feel better about keeping SV Zeke E Boy there for the winter.

A little more about St. Joe

The town is located in SW Michigan along the shores of Lake Michigan’s ‘sunset coast’.  There’s plenty to do in St. Joseph such as take a walk to the pier and view the century-old lighthouse, discover restaurants, breweries and shops located high on a hill overlooking Silver Beach County Park.

What about Benton Harbor?

Benton Harbor is located just east of St. Joseph across the St. Joseph River.  When we drove around the arts district and visited Wolf’s Marine, it looked like the city is working on creating a fun vibe in the historic downtown streets off of West Main Street.  There are several restaurants, cafes and even a theatre to check out here as well. We’ll be spending more time in the area so lots to explore!

Tell us what you think

Let us know what you think of our sailing adventures by sharing your feedback in the comments below. Do you have advice for us on scouting or preparing to go to new ports, harbors and marinas?  Are there any places in St. Joseph or Benton Harbor that you would recommend?  I want to continue to get better and better!  We’d love to hear from you!

– Kara from Zeke Life

Live like Zeke
You’re such a good boy!