We've stayed at both the municipal marina and the North Shore Marina in our trawler, same trip in fact.  City marina has at-your-doorstep access to a nice town, but surge can make it uncomfortable if any W component to the wind. North side is a basin so weather and surge not an issue, but no access to town unless you lower your dinghy or have access to a car.  But, for nature lovers, on the north side there's a beautiful hiking trail in the tree-covered hills that's about a mile stroll north from the marina along the beach. Looking back at our blog postfrom 2011 from that stay, here's what we said: "We tied-up at the city marina and soon found we were rolling side-to-side thanks to a quiet and constant surge created by an east-west inlet and a westerly wind. Dinner was like a scene from Popeye. Half the crew on one side of the vessel eating when the table rolled to port and the rest of the crew stuck forks into the spinach when Muddy Waters rocked back to starboard. We decided to stay through the evening, notwithstanding the surge, since we had a back porch view of the musical fountain light show. Maybe kinda’ of corny but well put together, nicely attended by lots of summer tourists and good fun.  During the wee hours, with the perpendicular surge increasing in intensity, we found ourselves lassoing pilings with additional lines and rearranging all our fenders to stop from whacking Muddy’s teak cap rail and stainless steel upper rails into the dock. Boaters beware, if there’s a westerly of more than just a few knots, you’ll feel it right good in Grand Haven. By morning, we’d made arrangements to move across the channel to North Shore Marina, a protected spot and family friendly marina." Good luck. The Samways http://www.samwayadventure.com ________________________________ From: Marilyn <adena3@charter.net> To: great-loop@lists.trawlering.com Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 11:12 AM Subject: GL: Grand Haven Municipal Marina We have stayed at the Grand Haven Municipal Marina in a trawler. The location is wonderful, the view across the river to the evening light and fountain show is fun, good restaurants nearby and nice staff at the Marina. If a howling gale is in the forecast for due west, you will get some rolling.  But the marina is well inland, around a bend in the river.  www.windmapper.com doesn't forecast any strong westerlies in the next few days. Enjoy! Marilyn Kinsey "Adena" Escanaba, MI _______________________________________________ http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com