7.16… (3 weeks out today) …
The wind had us pretty well pinned against the dock this morning. Jim devised a plan to use a long line cleated to the aft of the boat so when to backed up he would pull in on the line and we would pivot into the wind. worked great! Wind was a howling right on the nose, a large barge with a tug (named Undaunted) in the aft V pushed through the bridges just as we were leaving. Out through the bay we headed north. We passed the biggest gantry crane in the Great Lakes. The coast guard cutter ‘The Mackinaw' dwarfed us as we passed. Lots of big stuff here. This passage is the first of many with rocks and shoals to avoid. Really glad for the chart plotter. it gives a lot a reassurance knowing someone has ‘found’ the rocks and marked them so we don’t have to…
We motor-sailed the whole way. Sunny and cool but pleasant. a bit of chopped left from the winds the day before but not too bad. We out-skirted the notorious Strawberry Islands where there is shallow water, rounded the tip of Peninsula Point State Part and found the warmth we have been looking for all summer. Off with the hats and sweater and make ready to anchor. Only 2 other power boats here so we pretty much had our choice of anchorages. A good bottom and we held so off with the motor. Home for a few days. We lowered the dinghy and motor and were ready for a trip upon the shore, but the motor wouldn’t start. grrr several tries and no good. Looks like a faulty fitting for the gas tank. motor back on the rail mount and off to shore by oars, powdered by Jim. A quick hike took us to the beach area and facilities with a camp store, bike and boat rentals, etc. One of the employees, Jake, was very helpful and said he would try to get us the faulty gas line fittings in the morning while in town. We continued exploring on foot and found the theater in the woods that has nightly shows with actors of varying caliber. maybe something for tomorrow night… more exploring and back to the boat. The beach area gets quite busy during the day but pretty much shuts down a 5:30 - 6. no more rentals so people head home or to their camp sites. Us too. dinner: spaghetti with italian sausage and garlic bread. A very peaceful night, no wind. one additional sailboat at anchor.
7.17
Morning was quiet and flat as glass on the bay here. plans to meet Jake after noon, hopefully with the replacement parts. A leisurely morning and off with the dinghy and motor, rowing to shore. We picked up a map of trails and set off for a jaunt. the Peninsula is pretty narrow and in no time we were on the Green Bay side. A pelican sighting off shore. It seems pretty weird to see them Up North… We continued to a light house then along the bay and back through the woods to the beach area. Jake came through and had the parts, already attached to the old hose. What a guy! we paid him and included a tip for his trouble and off to see if it worked. A lot of sputtering but it eventually bled out the air and seems to be running fine.
The bay here is filling up. back on board we were treated to an afternoon of antics by several other boaters. First up, a very nice, new Boston Whaler with 2 adorable young girls. they headed to shore and we lost interest in them. Jim goes below to take a nap and I'm reading when out of the corner of my eye comes the Boston Whaler. no one on board just gently gliding through the bay, anchor dragging. I yelled to Jim, and we jumped in the dinghy to try to catch it. Just as it is about to hit the sailboat next to us the sailboat owner who has just returned to his boat sees it and jumps forward and yells at the boat… The two girls were on board sunning themselves and never knew they had drug anchor. they jumped up and back to shore they head. They were successful in not setting there anchor several more times, finally giving up they left the bay. the 3 sailboats now anchored are on high alert. Next up, 2 pontoon boats, heavy loaded with bodies and booze. they “toss” their anchors overboard and open their coolers. Their boats begin drifting nearly immediately. We watch them drift down on several boats, they realized what was happening and pulled their anchors up, motored forward and repeated the process. By now there are about 15 other boats in the harbor, their anchors seem to be holding. We are thankful our placement was not downwind of the antics. The 2 pontoon boats continued these maneuvers for over an hour, all the while we and anyone near them is sitting on their bows or close to the rails keeping tabs. Finally their anchors are set…NOT, so most of them jump in for a swim with their beverages and “floaties”. 2 women and a child stayed on the largest boat. Of course the anchor was just taking a break from all it’s drifting and off it goes again. The swimmers, oblivious to their drifting boat. The 2 adults on board seem unconcerned. The boat gets quite a distance away and seems to be heading to Washington Island when the swimmers notice and start swimming for it, making sure not to spill their beverages. It was a long swim but one of them made it to the boat about the time it caught on a no wake buoy. The others then caught up and both boats headed back to ???? anywhere but here for the night. We have had our share of anchoring mishaps so we always test the anchor before setting back to relax.
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| entering Detroit Harbor |
7.18
Nicolet Bay to Washington Island / Detroit Harbor
A very quiet night and delightful mooring. Up very early. Jim off for a jog on shore. He got a little disoriented and had an extra long journey. upon his return I made bacon and pancakes. In the process of readying the boat for departure one of the of sailors dinghy’d over to introduce himself and have a gam. We departed soon after he left. Jim decided we should practice the technique known as ‘sail off the anchor’ (no motor) is the event we might have to do this due to mechanical failure someday. we had good clearance around us and the winds were light so we gave it a go. It was slow going but we did it quite successfully. we continued out of the harbor with light winds that picked up after clearing the Peninsula. Unfortunately, it was short lived and within an hour we had to fire up the iron wind and drop sails. the wind piped up to 15 - 20 knots as we rounded the waypoint. todays run would be about 20 miles, keeping clear of islands, rocks and shoals again. The approach to Washington Island is full of warnings. Go here, not there, beware of the ferry boats coming and going every 30 minutes… The guide book also said to watch for the color change in the bay as it is quite shallow indicating the really shallow areas. It did NOT mention the huge barge and tug that was dredging and we were forced to make a quick retreat to avoid it and the 2 ferries converging at the harbor mouth. The ferries exchanged places and we headed back in after a call to the tug to ensure all was clear. He gave us the go ahead and back in we went, passed the tug and barge which by the way was dredging the channel. This in turn had clouded the entire channel and bay. the water was milky green, no way to see any differing color changes to help navigation.
Dinner over, we went back to the boatyard / marina to find it closed for the night. Don’t blame them. it’s friday evening. We met several couples cooking on the dock from Green Bay (we didn’t hold it against them, being Packers fans and all…). They were fun to chat with and offered help if the dinghy gave us trouble. We said our goodbyes fully expecting Jim would be rowing back across the wind whipped harbor but the motor fired right up and we were off. Made it all the way without quitting. It must have heard my comment to Jim about trading it in at the marina if Andy can’t fix it… It’s quite cool and we got dinghy butt from the waves so we were wet too. Tucked below, we are cozy. Anchor light on. still the only boat here. One sailboat attempted the channel but turned about and headed back to sea…. kind of erie. I am so full from dinner, and dessert, flour-less chocolate cake and ice cream, I can hardly type.
7.19
rough night. I was so full I tossed and turned a lot. That and being at anchor with quite a breeze and unfamiliar anchorage, I guess it got the better of me. With the dawn we were up and ready for a new adventure. As it turned out, we were to have a great day! 8 am we went off to to see if we could find Andy from the marina. The outboard worked fine all the way ??? We waited till after 9 then a call to Andy. He came over and was able to give us a fix for the problem. As it turns out, Jake, from Nicolet Bay, although good intentioned, fit the hoses with the wrong size and wrong type of fittings for the gas to motor tank. It was handed to us with fittings attached and we assumed, correctly affixed. Andy, a Yamaha dealer, popped the fittings off to discover they were the wrong size, taped to make it fit and in the process they had taped nearly completely over the intake hole. Little fuel and sucking air. Andy had the proper fittings and soon had us on our way. Hopefully this works throughout this trip and beyond. As we were getting ready to leave, a water snake cruised past the dingy… Andy’s brother Lou from the marina said they are aggressive because people swat at them. I just wanted to be far away from the darn thing. 
Next, off to town to rent bikes. Lou tipped us off about the Flyin’ and Fish Boil at the airport today. Yipee… a damp, cool ride across the bay, we rented a tandem bike and off we went. We discovered a few years back that tandem bikes are the way to go to keep piece in the family. I am a pretty slow, uncoordinated biker and Jim likes to go, fast and hard. He has far more strength than I do or ever will so, this saves the marriage. 4.5 miles later we arrived. Close to a 100 small planes there and pots of fish a boilin’. We saw a ‘Wayco', and several biplanes, 2 of which, ‘Stinson’s’, flew over us as we enter the harbor yesterday. Lots of experiment crafts too. Many planes coming and going the 2 hours we were there.
The fish boil was quite interesting. They had 5 pots a boiling and at the appointed time, the ‘Boil Master’ threw the kerosene in the fire to finish the pot and boil it over. Talking to one of the locals, he said as we suspected, that part is for show. It was quite impressive. Another local said it was not worth the trouble to eat though. Lots of bones. the fish is thrown in the pot in large chunks, white fish I believe, which is reddish before cooking… It looked pretty bland with the boiled potatoes and onions… and picking out the bones, just not appetizing. We had hotdogs.
A quick stop at one of the dueling Lavender Farms here on the island. It smelled so nice, and back to the harbor to return the bike. Snake check and off we went for home. The harbor has cleared up from the dredging and the chop is down so no dinghy butt today… Jim did take a coupled good splashes over the starboard side though. At least is wasn’t as cold as it’s been. Donna from the restaurant last night said the Island has not even seen a 70 degree day yet this year. I think it got to 72 today.. it was at least sunny.
Leftovers for dinner then ‘Saturday Night at Sea’ shanty songs serenading us for the sunset. It is much warmer below tonight. I asked Jim to turn the dorade vents this morning so the wind would not blow directly into the cabin. Great improvement. We can still get fresh air but it’s not funneling through the cabin anymore. The vessels at our anchorage have quadrupled. All choosing to anchor much closer to shore.
7.20
Up with the sun, well not quite but 6 am is not far off sunrise up here. I stayed in bed. Jim noticed one of or neighbors had already left. early birds. He ventured on deck about 7 to prepare us for departure to Washington Harbor, but known by the locals as ‘School House Beach’. He called down to me, ‘The neighbors are drifting’, they had not left as we thought but were slowly dragging their anchor across the very shallow bay. Jim jumped in our dinghy and set off after them. He yelled and banged on their hull waking the crew. The owner woke and came on deck to Jim’s call and was told of his predicament. ‘Ohhh, not good’, he says. Jim, ‘well, as yet you’re ok but in a bit, not so much’. he left them and returned to continue our departure. A few minutes later 2 people and a dog head off for shore. They did not reset their anchor… We continued our preparations keeping an eye on their boat which is still slowly making it’s way downwind. They returned to their boat and went below. Nothing more we can do for them… This boat happened to share a dock with us for 4 days, 3 nights in Sturgeon Bay.
We up’d our anchor and made our way past them, through the really narrow, shallow channel. I took the wheel with Jim sitting close. My heart beating, watching the chart as well as the buoys when up ahead comes the ferry… I’m feeling a panic coming on but Jim assures me all is fine, stay on course. We pass, my blood pressure starts to decrease. The wind is just a snortin’ out of the south. At this point, boaters have a choice, they can go to the west or the east around the Island. Going east means going through the passage known as Death’s Door. Supposedly there are around 100 ship wrecks there. We make our turn west, Jim raised the reefed mainsail. Following seas make a comfortable ride. We are past’ and saluted by a boat we recognize from the marina at Sailors Pub. They appear to be heading back to Fish Creek, their homeport.
We sail slowly most of the way. Nothing but shore to run into today. The shoreline of Washington Island is really beautiful. Intermittently through the trees you can see the limestone bluffs. Some appear to have caves. It is a fantastic landscape. We round the point and take down sail, motor the last mile or so into the harbor. It is large and protected from all but north winds. Tonights winds are predicted from the south, we are good. We are the only boat anchored here. A few swimmers and one power boat towing kids and a skier. The beach is limestone rocks worn smooth by the passage of time, wind, waves and weather. Shoes making walking bearable. We took the dinghy to the shore around the point where the bluff is. Very impressive. Birds nest in the crevasses and spiders big enough to eat scurry about the rocks. Walking is difficult and the shore is narrow. Back in the dinghy we are straight into the waves that carried us here. Jim takes the brunt of it on the upwind side. Tough way to get the days bath in. After dinner we head to School House Beach directly in front of us. The shore drops off quickly here, 2 -3 feet of water covered rocks, dropping rapidly to over a100 feet the same. The anchor should hold well tonight.
On shore we are told of the Farm House Museum down the road so we are off. It was really interesting. Many old buildings, machinery and a few live animals replicating farm life in the 1800’s. We wandered about then headed back. Boarding the dinghy we discover it partially deflated. Must have found a sharp rock among all the weathered ones… We will keep the pump on board from now on. The winds have diminished, the sun has set and we are soon to follow.
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