Labor Day Weekend

Well we successfully crossed Lake Michigan from Frankfort to Sturgeon Bay.  I forgot to post up a couple pictures of Fish Town in Leland so I've gone back and updated the blog post with a couple pictures of it.  In the last post I also commented on the depth of the water at over 500 feet.  During the Lake Michigan crossing we reached depths over over 860 feet, nearly three football fields.  A picture of the screen showing depth is below.

Depth of 867 feet crossing Lake Michigan

We started early to cross and had all the canvas zipped up tight because it was rather cool so we decided to let the cats out to see how they would do.  Turner didn't care at all about having full run of the boat and resumed his normal place in the guest stateroom on the floor per the usual.  CJ however is ever curious and joined us on the bridge for most of the day.  His tail can spin in some pretty great circles as he tried to keep his balance on a moving boat standing on fiberglass that is slippery.  He can't sink is claws into it and was pretty helpless.  It was most entertaining for us to watch CJ for the first bit until he decided to just give up and lay down on the seat behind us.

CJ discovers the bridge during the crossing

The entrance off Lake Michigan into the channel at Sturgeon Bay is long and tree-lined as you can see from the picture.

Channel into Sturgeon Bay

The marina we stayed at (CenterPointe), a private one, was recommended by the Harbor Master in Frankfort and was it superb!  It had a fantastic club house, a pool, an amazing outside grill area that looked like the outdoor kitchen from a magazine.  There was a huge outdoor hearth for bonfires and there was even a big in-ground chess set to play on.  Each square of the board was a patio tile and the chess pieces were probably 2 feet tall.  The flowers were also very pretty there as was the grass.  A very nicely manicured marina.

Surgeon Bay is the home to Palmer Johnson Yacht builders.  We walked by where the big bay doors were open and the yachts inside being constructed were amazing.  The one being worked on was 170  feet.  It took up a building the size of an airport hanger.

Palmer Johnson Yacht in progress

We  were also able to attend a lake front Fish Boil in the evening.  What is a fish boil you ask?  I certainly had never heard of one before entering the Door Peninsula.  It all starts with a blazing bonfire under a kettle of salted water - 4 quarts of salt.  When the temperature is just right and the crackle of the first is just loud enough  the boil master adds a basket of potatoes and then onions to the kettle.  A few crackles later, the mild whitefish steaks (cod in our case), are delicately lowered in.  And just at the right moment, kerosene is tossed into the fire, exciting the blase and causing the water to boil over, dramatically carrying off the fish oil that has collected on top.  The food baskets are pulled out and greeted with a generous drizzling of butter.  The last picture below is a video clip of the kerosene being added to the fire for the boil over.  Click on it to launch the video.  Also - all the pictures on the blog can be clicked on to enlarge them for a better look.

  

Early stages of fish boil

The boil over

This morning we left Sturgeon Bay very early (6:30 am) because of such a long travel day, 9 hours.  Today we got to see our first sunrise because we started so early.

Sunrise leaving Sturgeon Bay

Once we arrived in Sheboygan, WI, we went walking on the boardwalk.  On the way into the marina we noticed a sunken boat with only the bow sticking out along the marina breakwall.  On the way back from our walk on the boardwalk the sunken boat was being towed in by another pleasure boater.  The first tow was just the hull.  The second tow was the deck of the boat.  Yesterday we stayed put in Sturgeon Bay for a day because 6-9 foot waves were predicted and I'm guessing the owner of the sunken boat didn't listen to the weather report for yesterday.  We stood at the boat launch for probably 45 minutes while we watched both pieces of the boat being brought in and getting loaded back on the trailer.  Interestingly enough, there were no authority type officials around.  No coast guard, no conservation officers and no police.  We noticed most of the boat's interior and also the engine was missing.  As soon it was on the trailer, it was gone down the street.  Not even a tie down.

Tomorrow we had planned to motor onto Kenosha, WI, however 4' waves are predicted from Milwaukee all the way down to Chicago by noon so we have changed plans and are only moving 20 miles tomorrow morning  to Port Washington.  Once we arrive, we will stay there until likely Monday as the high waves are predicted to last through Sunday.