Lake Michigan!

When Ken last posted we were headed to Charlevoix on Lake Michigan.  That was Sunday, 7/29!  Let’s talk a little about boating on Lake Michigan.  It is like doing a mini gulf crossing every day!  You have to know how strong are the winds blowing and in what direction.  You have to know how high the NOAA buoy says the waves will be and lastly because the boating season on Michigan is relatively short, the popular marinas are often booked!  Therefore you always have to have a Plan B and realistically a Plan C.  That was the case with heading to Charlevoix.  There was no room in the inn so we continued further south to Leland, MI, a small fishing village that has a section of town called “Fishtown”!

Here is Fishtown!  It is a channel off the Lake where commercial and charter fishing boats dock, pick up their passengers and unload their catch!  

Leland was a charming village with lots of little shops to wander through.

We also saw interesting modes of transportation!  The sign on the front of the dinghy reads, “Old boat motors wanted, 1 - 3 HP!”

The next decision you have to make on Lake Michigan is whether to go down the east coast or west coast of the lake.  There are strong opinions on this supporting both sides.  East has neater towns to explore, the west side is calmer etc. etc.!  We knew we were going to meet up with our friends Jean and Denny at their marina in Racine, WI (on the west side).  The weather was looking pretty windy for the next few days with winds that would cause the east side to be bumpy!  We were at a point on the lake with one of the shortest crossing distances so.......we decided to cross to the west side and head into Green Bay (the bay, not the city) and explore a little of Door County!   The crossing to the west side was pretty rough but her majesty 20BUCK$ and Captain Ken handled it beautifully!  It is really nice to be able to get up and run when the seas are bumpy even if the $20 bills fly out the exhaust pipes!

Sister Bay in Door County was our destination!  Much like the other seaside towns in Door County, Sister Bay was beautiful!  We tried to go this restaurant, Al Johnson’s, with the goats on the grassy roof but the wait was way too long and we were too hungry! 

The evening in Sister Bay brought one of the strongest thunderstorms we have had since we left MN a year ago!  The TV was alive with storm warnings and we did not escape.  Fortunately the large hail that hit some parts of WI missed us.  We had strong winds and torrential rain!  A few pictures of the storm!

Today we headed the rest of the way down Green Bay and through a canal that takes you to Sturgeon Bay where we stopped for gas and a pump out!  Once through Sturgeon Bay you are back out on Michigan but now on the west coast! 

Today's destination was Manitowoc, WI!  Manitowoc was home to a large ship building facility in WWII.  It was also home to Burger Boats, maker of mega yachts!  Right next to the city marina where we are docked is the Wisconsin Maritime Museum advertised to be the best Great Lakes maritime museum!  So off we went! 

The picture below is the car ferry that still runs twice a day to MI!

The museum had displays of the rise and fall of commercial fishing on the Great Lakes!  The numbers of commercial fishermen have dropped dramatically and now much of the fishing on the Great Lakes is done by sport fishermen!   Other displays were of boat building and how that industry has changed over the years!

The highlight of the museum was a tour of the USS Cobia, a submarine built in Connecticut in 1943!  I can’t imaging spending a 90 day tour of duty during war time in a submarine!  And we think we have tight quarters on 20BUCK$! 

 

 

Check out the bunk on top of the torpedo and the launch tubes in front!  Sweet dreams! 

There is a 10 step process to flush the head or the next person to use it gets a major back wash!  EEEWWWW!!!!

They even had an America’s Great Loop exhibit!  Amazing to see how far we have traveled posted on a large display on the wall!

Tomorrow we continue down Lake Michigan to Port Washington, WI.  We are 300 miles from Minneapolis, by car that is, but still over 1,000 miles to go by water at an average of 60 miles per day! 

Time to watch the Olympics!  Such an amazing group of talented athletes!

Still more to come from the Loop!  Pat