The Door Peninsula, Wisconsin
We departed Northpoint, Michigan early on Sunday morning to capitalize on the calm waves and winds for the 70-mile crossing of Lake Michigan to Wisconsin and the Door Peninsula. The crossing was as comfortable as one could expect but at time we had a less than favorable side sea and our boat does not like that. Alan applied some power to smooth out the roll, which shortened our travel day from 10 hours to 8.5 hours. Naturally our fuel burn increased with the increase in speed.
Washington Island
We reached Washington Island and opted for a quiet anchorage, well away from the ferry traffic. We enjoyed a very quiet, restful night but in the morning discovered that just about every possible species of bug on the island decided to make their final landing all over our boat!
Egg Harbor
The City of Egg Harbor’s name dates to 1614 when the Dutch Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, sailed his ship from New York to explore the New Jersey coast. When they entered the mouths of two rivers Captain Mey and his men were amazed at the great number of bird eggs piled on the banks. Because of what Captain Mey saw he named the rivers “The Little Egg Harbor” and “The Great Egg Harbor,” and the countryside “Eyren Hafen” which meant “The Harbor of Eggs”.
Throughout this charming town are artistic eggs commemorating the town's name.
The beautiful Harbor View Park overlooks the harbor, greeting us as we walked up the hill to town.
The waterfront is lined with gorgeous mansions, mostly from a past era.
Knot Kaos is visible through the trees, floating peacefully at anchor.
Hello again, Egg Harbor
After spending 4 days at resort style marinas in Sturgeon Bay, weather indicated we could start our travels northwards back up the Door Peninsula towards Washington Island. For most of the trip conditions were good, but later as we made a course change, the wind and waves were on our side, causing uncomfortable rolling. As a result, we opted to head into Egg Harbor for the afternoon and evening.
Northern Michigan was in the midst of a heat dome with temperatures peaking in the mid 90's and with the humidity felt like 100. In need of some basic provisions, we made the trek uphill to town, stopping for a cold beer and lunch before crossing the street to the market which was well stocked and had lots of variety. We spent $187 (no alcohol and had 5 bags to carry back down to the marina. The lady at the checkout said we couldn't possibly carry these groceries in this heat and said Mauricio would help us. A delightful young man from El Salvadore on a summer work program carried the bags to the boat. I tried to tip him $5, which he declined saying they were not allowed to accept tips and this was all part of the service. Kudos to the Egg Harbor Market and staff, particularly Mauricio.
A ride in the dinghy to cool down in this heat.
The locals were out on the beach enjoying the summer heat.
Lots of boats were anchored outside the swimming area and enjoying time in the refreshing water. We beached the dinghy and ventured thigh deep into the water and it certainly was refreshing.
Another beautiful sunset!
Until tomorrow!
Egg Harbor, Wisconsin to Fayette State Park, Michigan
The following morning we said farewell to Egg Harbor and continued our travels north. The wind was stronger than desirable but both wind and waves would be on our stern, making for a comfortable ride. Conditions were comfortable as Fish Creek was abeam so we opted to continue on to Detroit Harbor on Washington Island.
Conditions still remained comfortable as we approached Washington Island, so given the winds were forecast to switch from southwest to north overnight we opted to make hay while the sun shone and travel another 3 hours north to Fayette State Park where dockage was available for next couple of days.
Once out in the middle of Green Bay, past the point of no-return, the winds freshened reaching 28 knots at times and then slowly switched direction, giving us some side seas and confused waves. After 2 hours, we reached Fayette State Park, the site of an old, abandoned town, which grew up around the smelting of iron ore in the late 1800's.
What a delight!
Lots to explore tomorrow.
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