I arrived at the Muskegon ferry loading site ridiculously early, wanting not to miss the ferry and be forced to take the dreaded ride around the tip of Lake Michigan through Chicago. As I pulled up to the entrance gate, I realized something was different. Muskegon police officers blocked the way.

“Don't tell me the ferry sank,” I said.

“No,” I was told. “There's a dignitary on this trip.”

“Who?” I asked.

“John Kerry,” came the response.

Oh great, I thought to myself. Just what I need. All I wanted to do was get home, and now I run into this.

I was turned away and told to return after the Secret Service provided the police with a list of people who had reservations on the ferry. Thankfully, I had made mine, so I returned later and was admitted through the first layer of security.

I rode through the gate and got into line for the next layer of security. The place was swarming with local police, Michigan state police, and Secret Service agents. My motorcycle and I had to be searched thoroughly. I took a photo and was ordered then by a Secret Service agent not to take any more photos of this process.

A Lake Express security agent searched my saddlebags, top case, tank bag, and glove box and found nothing amiss. I was told to put my Leatherman tool and Vise Grip into one of the locked saddlebags. I had passed the second layer of security.

It began to rain about then, and I parked my R1150RT in line to board the ferry. I don't care to be behind a Harley, but I had no choice.

After parking, I entered the terminal building, where I faced security layer #3. I was “wanded” and physically searched, and my camera case was examined by a Secret Service agent, who was shy about being photographed:

Thereafter, we were kept in the guarded terminal building until after “the candidate” arrived on his bus and boarded the ferry.

As the rain was stopping, “vehicle operators” were allowed out to their vehicles to drive/ride them on to the ferry. The ferry provides tie downs for motorcyclists, so I tied the RT securely.

I had a “business class” reservation, which provides fancier seats, but having ridden the ferry the previous week to Michigan (see photo below, where Milwaukee is vanishing rapidly in the background) I wanted to stay outside and topside regardless of the weather. So I took my motorcycling rain gear with me, but that turned out to be unnecessary as the sun came out, Lake Michigan was calm, and a glorious ferry ride followed.

It turns out that “the candidate” had a similar desire to be outside in the 40-MPH breeze, so I got to see a lot of him. He appeared to enjoy the trip as much as did the children running around the deck fighting to keep upright in the stiff wind. He happened to position himself a few feet from where I was standing. Here is the good Senator with his wife huddled behind him out of the wind:

You can see some of the media in the background. Indeed, the place was swarming with print and TV media documenting Kerry's every movement. I decided on the spot that I would never run for President. I value my anonymity far too much :)

The place was also swarming with Secret Service agents, who watched everyone but Kerry—which is their job. This one seemed to be honed in on yours truly:

I suggested to Senator Kerry that when he rides a motorcycle he always wear a motorcycle helmet. He noted that his brief ride in Boston was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I also noted that the last time I was able to shake the hand of a presidential candidate was in 1960, and that candidate also had the initials “JFK.” I have no idea whether my handshake with John F. Kennedy was instrumental in his election or not.

Naturally, having this rare photographic opportunity I had to take maximum advantage of it:

We were accompanied all the way across Lake Michigan by a Coast Guard helicopter, and Coast Guard vessels monitored our progress as best they could, but their boats could not keep up with the Lake Express.

My impressions of Kerry during this brief encounter? He is tall, a little shorter than I am, skinny, serious, and seems to have fun with his staff. He certainly appeared to enjoy the ride on Lake Express.

At one point, I asked a Boston Globe photographer crouched between me and Kerry, “Whose chin do you think is larger, Jay Leno's or his?”

“Who's Jay Leno?” responded the photographer.

Hearing all this, Sen. Kerry said to her with no lack of incredulity, “You have never seen The Tonight Show?”

He then said to me that it was scientifically proven that his chin is not as large as Jay Leno's.

So, mainly, he seemed like just a nice, ordinary guy. After you see celebrities so often on television, you really do not know what to expect should you actually meet them in person. Well, John Kerry looks to me like he puts his pants on one leg at a time. His hair gets blown in the wind, like anyone else's.

Once the boat got underway and all the security stuff was over with, it was a pretty normal trip except for the media and Secret Service agents. Kerry was very approachable, and I was not prevented at any time from being near him or talking to him—although there was little of the latter because of the numbers of people and media folks who wanted his time.

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