Door County Touring by Stacy and Laura

My Mother has grown on her year in a boat. Once a prolific list maker, she is now a full-fledged blogger extraordinaire. In honor of who she was when she began this looping adventure, I will now guest blog in list form.

Door County: with Stacy and Laura
Labor Day weekend and so many people!

Saturday:
Stacy and Laura arrive at 1:00.
Wine Tasting at Stones Throw Winery – fun but wine not awesome
          Mom made a face to match how much she liked each wine
Shops
Husby’s in Sister Bay for drinks
Marina in Sister Bay – Crazy windy!
Shops – no metal goats left
Dinner at Shipwrecked – tasty chowder and drummies
Boat fun and frivolity – fudge included

Sunday:
Breakfast at Village Café – yum
Cave Point Park – beautiful
      The water was freezing!
Bjorklunden’s Chapel – Lovely chapel and pretty area
Rousing and slightly dangerous game of horseshoes
Cana Lighthouse in Bailys Harbor – now $6
Seaquist’s Orchard Market – Dennis learned about tractors
Ice cream and deep discussion about adventures vs. ordeals
Island Orchard Cidery – hard cider tasting
Leather studio/gallery – leather works of art and nice dog
Quite time on boat
Trio – Favorite Egg Harbor restaurant, sooooo delicious
Food coma on boat

Driven to the Edge

Laura and Stacy on the Rocks

Laura enjoys the refreshing waters of Lake Michigan

Dennis and Stacy show their horse shoe throwing form

Carol provides a wine analysis

Laura and Stacy at the Cana Lighthouse

Carol and Dennis at the Bjorklunden's Chapel

Egg Harbor, Door County WI

It was rainy and windy today but we found a piece of time to walk up the hill and make the rounds of Egg Harbor.  There is one shop that has copper yard sculptures that spin in the wind, or if connected to a hose, throw a great pattern of water – like sculptured rain.  We looked at glass art, watercolor art and pottery.  But we only indulged in buying ice cream – at the Chocolate Chicken.  When we run out of fudge, there are nearby places to replenish that supply as well.  The town is beautifully landscaped with flower gardens and rock outcroppings at every turn.  There is also a terrific grocery store, with outstanding wine selection, just up the hill from the marina.

The marina is beginning to fill up with labor-day weekend vacationers, in spite of the weather.  Sister Bay (15 miles north) will be having a “Marine Fest”,  Fish Creek is having a run and duathalon and Sunday will be the sail boat races here in Egg Harbor.

Copper Sculpture in the Park

Ice cream at the Chocolate Chicken

Washington Island to Egg Harbor, Door County WI

We woke up early to a beautiful sunrise and got on the phone to pin down a transient slip.  Because Door County is so popular, and it is labor-day weekend it was no small feat.

We played the “who’s got the shortest waiting list” game with a couple of our favorite marinas last night and luckily got a spot at Egg Harbor Marina for the next few days – one of our favorite places.  The marina is recently tripled in size and has a great protective seawall to protect from north winds.  It also has great fuel prices, a nice clean shower set-up, laundry etc.  Best part is it’s a one-block walk up to the main street of Egg Harbor. 

Heading for the grocery this evening we found a concert in the park and decided it was a better offer than grocery shopping.  A trio played great rock legends songs and they were quite talented.  We enjoyed it very much.  Then, since we had no groceries we stopped at Shipwrecked for dinner.  Great evening.

For the many loopers who don’t make the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan:  Door County is the “thumb” of the state of Wisconsin and it is exquisite.  There are tall limestone cliffs, covered with hills of pine and deciduous trees.  The regulations are very strict here and so there are no franchise businesses.  Everything is local and one-of-a-kind.  The Door, as it is called, prides itself on about 5 or 6 small towns and they are separated by cherry orchards, apple orchards, farms and woods.  Every town has its charms and you can drive from the south end to the northern tip in about 1-2 hours.  During that trip you can test approximately 30 different kinds of homemade cherry pie – if you are up for a gourmet eating challenge.

Sunrise over Detroit Harbor

Pilot Is, vegetation killed by Cormorant droppings

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, Peninsula State Park

Tiered housing

Great Venue for a concert

Rock Seating, cool but enjoyable, fun in Door County

Beaver Island to Detroit Harbor, Washington Island, WI

August 26, 2014

Always great to arrive in Door County, today was a long travel day. We planned to leave at 7:30 but needed to wait for a shower to develop and pass. We were on our way by 8:00, we planned a long travel day and searched the weather for the best information and then decided to take the route south of Beaver Island and then straight west. The weather indicated the wind would be northwest backing to west later in the day. Sure enough the wind was more out of the north early this morning and as we rounded the tip of the island we felt the full force of the wind mostly northwest with waves 1 to 1½ feet. Heavily overcast after the shower this morning and then clearing to a mostly sunny afternoon. The wind diminished and switched to the west as forecast. We have two favored anchorages on Washington Island one is on the north side protected from all winds except north, the best anchorage is here in Detroit harbor and is protected from all directions. We arrived about 7:00 after traveling 89 miles today, not much to see mostly open water, happy to be back in Wisconsin.

Pottawatomie Light, Rock Island first sighting of WI

Limestone Cliffs west side of Washington Island

Homes along the bay

Lawn Chairs needs more color

Nice setting

Mackinaw to Beaver Island

We had two mechanics from Sheplar’s Marine work on the transmission and repack the stuffing box today. Corey and Tyler did an excellent job on replacing the output shaft seal and replacing the stuffing box packing. They were polite and directly went to work on the project. Corey took great care at getting everything completed correctly. When he noticed the engine was a bit out of alignment he corrected that problem as well. I can highly recommend Sheplar’s Marine and Corey and Tyler.

We departed Straits Harbor Marina at 1 pm and crossed under the Mackinac Bridge.  It is an awesome sight.  Traffic flow is always moving, but it slows up substantially behind the big log trucks rolling north and south as they slow for the rise in the bridge.

From there on it was 6 hours across Northern Lake Michigan – a brisk breeze and some rolling waves which all calmed down by late afternoon.  We came into Beaver Island Marina at 7 pm.  The office had already closed so we found our slip and tied up.  The harbormaster called us on the phone to give us the key codes for the shower and restrooms before she left.

Big Mac, in the sunshine

A shoal marker at Grave's Reef

A freighter passes the Grave's Reef Lighthouse

The Arthur M. Anderson, I believe at one time a US Steel ship

Grave's Reef lighthouse, lots of Cormorants

Beaver Island Harbor Entrance

Mackinaw City

 No matter if it is spelled Mackinac or Mackinaw – its always pronounced MackinAW.  That’s your fact for today.  We spent the day learning all about the history of this area and toured the Michilimackinaw Fort.  It is on the northernmost tip of southern Michigan and was an active fur-trading center since the 1600’s.  The French came early to trade with the Ojibway/Chippewa tribes and then the French Catholic church sent a missionary priest out to this post.  The Fort was built and populated  first by the French and then around 1761 it was taken by the British.  In 1763 the regional Native tribes attacked and took the fort back from the British, but through treaties and improved policies the British regained it again.  Through the 1700’s this was the westernmost outpost of the British Empire.  It was more of a traders fort than a military outpost.

Soon after, the British moved the Fort to Mackinaw Island because it was more defensible and they moved most of the buildings to the Island and burned the remaining fort so the American rebels couldn’t inhabit it.

 

By the 1950’s the original site had become an archaeological dig and the Fort has since been meticulously restored on its original foundations.  This was one of the most interesting Fort areas we have seen.  It is furnished with period artifacts and has living gardens and people in costume to give commentary and demonstrations.  A highly recommended stop on the loop.

Mackinac Bridge is an engineering marvel on its own, and was built in the 1950’s – I remember my Dad being enthralled with the whole project – a build that spans over 5 miles of water.  It replaced numerous ferries and now the ferries only operate to take tourists to Mackinaw Island where no cars are allowed.  The Island features horse drawn carriage tours, approximately two fudge shops for every tourist and the beautiful Grand Hotel.  You can enjoy a day or a weekend there, or as long as your credit card holds out.

The transmission part arrived today, so we will see what progress is made on repairs tomorrow.

Cannon Firing Demonstration

Musket Firing on the parade grounds

The Mighty Mac 

Lighthouse Museum

Toast and Jam singing in the plaza

Detour to Mackinaw City

We crossed Lake Huron today through the Round Island Passage to Mackinaw City in sight of the big bridge. East south East breeze with two foot waves on the port aft quarter, not a sea the auto pilot likes, so we steered manually. Eight miles from the Passage the fog became quite dense with about a quarter of a mile of visibility. In addition, there are 3 very active ferry services between Mackinaw Island and either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace. So we have dense fog, ferries moving through the Passage, and the Passage is known for a strong current and stiff waves. All of the boats traversing the area make a Securite’ call on the VHF radio to let other boaters know they will be making a crossing. Well it was a bit tense with a couple of surprises as breakwalls appeared close by and the lighthouse jumped out in front of us, the current also produced three or four strong waves in the middle of all the confusion. On a positive note one of the ferries called back on the radio to ask our direction and altered his course as he passed us.

We walked into town this afternoon, Mackinaw City is a tourist town with more fudge shops than residents, a really nice clean Michigan town. John Leatherman the Mackinaw City Harbor Host just stopped by to offer us a ride to the grocery store later today or tomorrow morning.

We have a leak in the output shaft seal on our transmission and hope to have it repaired tomorrow at Shepler’s Marine, I ordered the repair part and it should will arrive tomorrow.

Detour Lighthouse, with volunteer keepers

Starline Ferry with their trademark rooster tail

Mixing the next batch of Carmel Corn

One of many fudge shops

Quaint shopping center

Meldrum Bay to Detour, MI

 Back in the US of A.  We crossed the border from Canada to the US around noon today, stopping at Drummond Harbor Yacht Club to pass through customs.  Simple enough – but the patrolman was being extra protective of our borders and so he confiscated 2 onions, 1 potato, an orange and a lemon from us.  Good thing we were just about out of fresh fruit and veggies.  I guess we must have looked like highly  suspicious agri-terrorists.

So upon stopping at Detour Marina, we made a quick trip to the grocery store.  This is a nice marina, one of the Michigan State Refuge harbors.  It is a short walk to a nice little restaurant/bar and the grocery store right next door.

We are appreciating things like fast internet service, full cell phone service and some American specialties like baked beans for $1.39 and Milky Way candy bars.  This evening we will go out for dinner with our companion boaters from Attitude Changer.

Great to be back in the States!!!!

A great house on Little Rogg Island

Customs inspection at Drummond Is Yacht Haven

Giraffe style tug, pushing a barge to Lake Superior

Killarney to Meldrum Bay

August 23, 2014

A long travel day today – 63 miles – to try and make up for all the bad weather days lately.  The water started out calm as a millpond, and stayed that way from 8 am til 6:30 pm when we dropped anchor here in Meldrum Bay.  On the North Channel that is just more than you can expect in terms of perfect cruising weather.

Leaving Killarney this morning we noticed that Badgely Island is being “scalped”.  The big rounded granite hilltop that is a part of the constant geography around here is being harvested.  We could see the giant quarry where the hilltop used to be, and then the grinding equipment and the shipping dock where the granite is carried off the island.

We came through Little Current – which looked like a nice little town, with possibly more interesting things to see than Killarney.   On the boat radio this morning there was a Cruisers program – for all the recreational boats in the area.  They did weather, news, sports and then asked everyone to radio in and give their location, which we did.  It was fun to imagine all those other boats out there that we couldn’t see.  Fifty-nine boats were counted as listening to the show.  Then they announced a potluck dinner for all cruisers on Georgian Bay and the North Channel – “come on in to the Little Current town dock, bring your own plates and cutlery”.  Since we were determined to make a lot of miles today we did not accept the invitation, as we would have had to stop around 10 in the morning.

Attitude Changer – the Looper boat that was held up with the bent props for three weeks, caught up to us last night and has been boating right with us all day.  They are also trying to get across these big waters before the weather gets worse.

Our other constant companions today were bugs, zillions of teeny little bugs. We finally had to drive from the inside helm as they would get in your teeth if you so much as opened your mouth.   Fortunately we can shut the doors for the evening and have a nice salmon supper.

Badgely Island Cropped

Stone loading equipment

Smooth

Canadian Lighthouse at Little Current

Sailboats headed for Little Current

Attitude Changer ready to anchor

Tie Island to Killarney

This morning the Georgian Bay was smooth as glass and we set out early.  We plotted a path directly for Killarney and turned on the radar because of patchy fog.  The radar did come in useful as we met a couple of boats coming toward us in the channel and we were able to keep a wide distance from them.

There are three marinas here in Killarney, all in a row next to the main street.  We ate lunch at Herbert’s Fishery.  It is a construction trailer that sells take out fish fry and many varieties of fish right off the boat – literally, 30 feet from the dock where the fishing boat comes in.  Then we went to the Pitfield General Store and bought a quart of milk for $4.  We couldn’t afford apples or baked beans – the smallest can was $3.99.  So to continue our exploration we had a $3 ice cream cone and came back to the boat.

We are at the Sportsmans Inn and Marina and it’s a nice clean, well-kept place that has benefitted from recent updates and new docks.  It also has a hotel/motel and a nice dining room and a small pub.   In good weather they show movies on a giant screen on the hillside across the river (it’s a billboard, painted white).  Since we’ve only seen a pinch of blue sky all day, I doubt there will be a movie tonight.

A foggy morning

We could see the stick but not the boat

The granite rocks are pink here

The commercial fishing boat

The line to purchase fish

Sportsman's Inn