Reunion Voyage: Weather Day #2, Sturgeon Bay

It rained hard all night, according to NOAA some areas of northern Wisconsin received 5” of rain in the last 24 hours and flash flood warnings were issued. Lake Michigan was a bit rough this morning so we waited until 10:00 to make our decision to stay in port. Two fronts were still converging on the area one promised cooler temperatures and the other was a warm front. So we were unsure of the lake conditions and decided to stay. So far the weather looks good for the next couple of days. I did a couple of boat projects this morning, some recreational reading, and visited the Maritime Museum this afternoon. Sturgeon Bay has a long shipbuilding history dating back to the 1800’s with wood boats and was a boom town during the WWII. Four shipbuilding companies in Sturgeon Bay produced many different varieties of ships for the war effort and the work force grew to over 7,000 workers from less than a hundred. Daily busses brought workers from Green Bay, two large federally sponsored housing developments were built, and much of the local population was involved in the effort. I also toured the tug John Purves a 149 ft. ocean going tug. The tour guide had served on the boat for 22 years and completed his career as the Chief Engineer. The boat has been totally refurbished and now is part of the museum.

We expect the weather to be much better tomorrow and if so we will continue our cruise.