Wonderful Wisconsin

 July, 2023         Port Washington

          We arrived in Port Washington on July 6th after a brief cruise down from Manitowoc.  As I said in the last blog, we were assigned a t-head which we totally dominated.  Our first stop was a local restaurant /bar for a maneuver schlook.  Unfortunately, we chose poorly.  The beer was good - a dark brew called Moose Drowl- but the salads were certainly not worth what we paid.  

        We rode our bikes to the Coal Dock Park and then on to the original lighthouse up the hill.  Unfortunately the light house is only open to the public on weekends so we’d have to make a return trip the next day.

        The following morning we struck out early to ride to the Peir Lighthouse and then to the originalPort Washington Lighthouse.

1860 Port Washington Lighthouse

     We took the tour of the lighthouse and we’re pleasantly surprised.  It’s a very unique light.  It housed a 4th order Fresnel Lens that was lit by an oil lanter that was placed inside the lens.   To get to the lantern room you had to climb two ladders that basically went straight up.   We signed a release form before they would let us climb.  Others in our group chose not to attempt it.

Pierhead Light

    The Pier Head Light marks the entrance to  Port Washington Harbor.   It was built in 1935 to replace the original light up on the hill. It is still and active aid to navigation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

     Bob and I try to keep in shape by riding our bicycles every chance we get.  Port Washington was on the Ozaukee Interurban Trail.  We suited up and got our water and computers and hit the trail.   We rode to the village of Grafton, mostly through farm lands.   It was a pretty ride and we even saw some wildlife (deer and rabbits).

      I must say that the marina in Port Washington is one of the best we have stayed in so far.  They had all the appropriate safety gear, beautiful restrooms and the grounds were like a park.Too bad we couldn’t stay longer but it was time to move on.   Milwaukee and the Harley-Davidson Museum were next on our list.

 Milwaukee Lighthouse

McKinley Marina gas dock where we checked in and we’re assigned a t-head

Sandra’s Mom, Sandra Foppiano, and Clare

We had reservations at the McKinley Marina right downtown.   It just so happened that a great friend from Texas and sailing buddy was in Milwaukee visiting relatives.   It would be a double header for us. So we left Port Washington and cruised south to Milwaukee.

     WOW - This was one BIG. Marina.   They lay claim to 655 slips.   When we arrived they directed us to the fuel dock to get our slip assignment.  We couldn’t understand docking twice but followed orders.  We took up most of their fuel dock but there was no one waiting so we didn’t feel too bad.   Once assigned our t-head we left the fuel dock and head out to F dock.   Friendly neighbors helped us tie up  because there were no dockhands to be seen.  We decided to walk back to the main office/restaurant for a quick lunch since Sandra would be arriving in a couple of hours.   We’ll it became apparent why you got your slip assignment at the fuel dock.   The walk back to the office was about 1/2mile.  We bought a maneuver schlook and sat and watch people trying to launch their boats then walked back to Carolina for our lunch.  I’m counting that as exercise!

     We had a lovely visit with Sandra Foppiano and her mother .  Mom is not as spry as she used to be but she was a real trooper and climbed up our boarding ladder and onto the back porch.  Sandra took me to the grocery while Bob entertained Mom.  It was so good to see them both.  We would have kept them longer but they had a busy schedule before leaving for NC.

   The following day we brought the bikes ashore and figured out a route mostly on the Oak Leaf Trail to the Harley-Davidson Museum.  We stuck out like sore thumbs pulling into the museum on bicycles….but we did get to park right up front.

More bikes than you could shake a stick at!

A snappy little racer

Bob on a Fat Boy

It a wonderful museum with lots of static displays but we both wanted a bit more of the technical information.  We stopped at Grassroots Salad Co. for lunch and had wonderful salads.  Our salad chef knew what he was doing and we were very pleased.  The ride back to the boat was a bit shorter - we didn’t take Bob’s “short cut”.  Now it was time to prepare for a cruise further south to Racine.  Remember you can track us at share.garmin.com/PerkinsCarolina

 July, 2023

      We said goodbye to Kewaunee on July 3rd and traveled about 20 miles south to Manitowoc.  I was kind of sad that we would miss the fireworks in Kewaunee, but hopeful that Manitowoc would have some to make up for our loss.  

    We arrived early afternoon so we decided to take a bike ride to scope out our new town.  There is a bike trail that passes through here….in fact two trails, the Ahnapee State Trail and the Ice Age Trail. We took the bikes off the boat and struck out into town.  We followed the trail south along the edge of the lake. Look what we found around the first sweeping turn!

That’s right- a giant badger and his baby brother🤣

  We continued north from this point to a lovely bench overlooking the lake and one of many sunken ships. All together we rode around 5 miles then called it a day.  We were saving our strength for the 4th.  Manitowoc had a parade planned for 10am, a street party from 12 till dusk and then fireworks right off the point south of the marina.  We were going to have a busy day.

    The following day we walked with our chairs up to the road in front of the marina.   We joined the crowds of children and adults waiting for the parade to arrive.   It wasn’t long.  Small town parades are always so revealing.   You tell a lot about the community by what appears in the parade . We saw MissHarbor Cities, ads for the Harvest Festival and the Yacht Club and lots and lots of tractors.

Damn big tractor

Steam Powered Tractor

Women’s Lib Tractor in Yellow

A Case at work

     When the parade was over we walked over to the lighthouse.    Word on the street was that it would be open to the public for 4 hours.   Turns out it’s never open to the public except on special occasions or if you rent it for an affair.   

Bob at the top of Manitowoc light with grain elevators in background

Clare at the top of the Manitowoc Light

Manitowoc Lighthouse, built in 1895

Walkway out to the light

Next we walked through the venues to see what kind of music was playing.  It was all LOUD!!  We stopped and got in a food line run by the Salmon Fish Rodeo Committee.  We were hoping for some sweet salmon but all they were serving were Derbyburgers, burgers, and brats.  We opted for Derby Burgers - you know, when in Rome eat like a Roman.🤣.  A Derby burger consisted of a brat patty, a slice of Wisconsin sharp cheddar, a beef Patty topped with sauerkraut all on a hard roll.

Derby Burger with refreshments

     We took our burgers back to the boat and ate them on our back porch-the music was just the right volume from there.  We sat and enjoyed watching all the people go past for an hour then began preparing for the fireworks show.  We spoke with many locals about the best vantage point and determined that our boat was in a primo spot.

       As dusk arrived  we moved up to the flybridge to enjoy the fireworks.  We were not disappointed. We played our own music and had a great view of Manitowoc fireworks plus those north in Two Rivers.

Happy 4th!

     The following day, July 5th, was predicted to be stormy.  We woke To an overcast sky with big storm clouds piling up.   We had a smattering of rain before lunch but the the skies seemed to clear.   There were more storms on the way but we saw a window of opportunity and hopped on our bikes for a ride.   The Mariner Trail followed the coast of the lake both north and south.   We decided to head north towards Two Rivers where we were told there was a hardware store. It was about a 6.5 mile ride along the spectacular coast of Lake Michigan.  We rode the streets of Two Rivers then found the hardware.  They actually had what we needed even though the front desk girl said they didn’t carry brass screws, Bob and I found them!  When we left the hardware we noticed that the skies were clouding up again and the wind had picked up.   Must be time to head back to the boat. 

    Later, after the rain storms had passed, we rode bikes down to see the USS Cobia.   She is a WWII Pacific fleet submarine.   You ask, Why did they put a submarine in Manitowoc?  Excellent question.  Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., to help the war effort, began building submarines.  They built 28 in total.  The Cobia was not one of them.   Go figure.

Maritime Museum

USS Cobia

USSCobia

    We had hoped to go to Sheboygan next but their dock master insisted that they had no slips available so we will carry on to Port Washington.   Sorry we missed Sheboygan and sorry we couldn’t help boost their economy. 

    We had a bumpy ride from Manitowoc to Port Washington.  There was a one foot swell that could be annoying at times.  We arrived in Port Washington around 2pm and took advantage of their “cheap” diesel prices - $3.53/gal.  We are on a t-head because we are larger then most of the other boats in this marina.

Port Washington Lighthouse

Port Washington Marina

We take the  whole t-head which is set up for two boats. We plan on staying here for a couple of days then moving down to Milwaukee for a brief visit.  I’ll fill you in on our visit to Port Washington in my next installment.   There are more bike trails, lighthouses and other points of interest.  Stay tuned. 

Carolina Splashed for the Season

Carolina in the slings

 June, 2023

     We’ll we have begun a new cruising season in the Great Lakes.  At the end of last season we made a mad dash for Sturgeon Bay, WI to put Carolina in winter heated storage.  Our daughter was expecting her second child and we were racing to get Carolina put up so I could fly to Boston to help with the new grand child.   Best laid plans….Maggie went into labor the day I was to fly in.   Bob dropped me at Green Bay’s Austin Straubel Airport and continued on in the rental car to retrieve our truck from Brewerton, NY.

    I sat in the airport for 3 hours waiting for the ground stop in Chicago to end (due to tremendous storms).  If I had gone with Bob in the car, I could have caught my original flight to Boston but instead I waited and was late getting into Boston.  Baby Lily had arrived and I went directly to their house to stay with Lily’s older brother, Teddy.   It was a very hectic couple of weeks but exciting too.

      We left Carolina in Matt’s capable hands at CenterPointe Boatyard in Sturgeon Bay, WI.  We were very pleased with the care they took and their accommodating our needs.  Kudos to Matt and CenterPointe Boatyard!   Matt convinced us that June 1st was going to be too cold and suggested we aim for June 15th so that became the new plan.

      We left New Bern on June 12th and drove to Cedarville, OH home of Cedarville University.  We had a lovely hotel and enjoyed a good nights rest.  The following day we drove to Sturgeon Bay to a hotel for the night.  Carolina was still on the jack stands in the shed.  The following day Matt called to let us know that they were ready to splash her.  We had all our fingers crossed that the batteries had survived the winter and would start her up.   We didn’t need to worry.  Both Hercule and Arthur(Carolina’s John Deere’s) turned right over.  Very impressive.   We moved her to the wall outside the yard and settled in to lugging boxes for clothing and parts to the boat.  It took all morning to get everything on board then we had to unpack and stow it all.  It sure felt good to be back on board.

      The following day we set up our starlink dish to see if it would work as well here as it does at home.  We were not disappointed.   We added a Roku  and our oldish t.v.s now get all the channels we could possibly need.  Along with that, Moray downloaded about 400 movies and series for us on our external hard drive.  We would be bored on rainy days.

Capt. Bob 

Sunset in Sister Bay

Sister Bay by day

      Our cruising plan was to head north, up Door County and visit some of the touristy towns.  So after a couple of days waiting for weather and provisioning, we left for Chambers Island to anchor out for a few nights.   We enjoyed the solitude but saw some weather heading toward us to we left for Sister Bay and a slip.   We stayed at the Sister Bay Marina which is right in the downtown area.  We arrived in the afternoon and spent an hour walking to waterfront seeing some of the sights and wandering the gift shops.  The weather never materialized so the following day we left for Washington Island and Penderson Bay for another anchor out.  Unfortunately all these great secluded anchorages were marred by Canadian smoke.  We had hoped to do some star gazing but we’re fouled each time by smoke.

Smoke on the water and weed up to my thigh!

      Our next stop would be Sturgeon Bay again for safe harbor during a blow.  We stayed 4 days provisioning, touring and drinking Smithwicks on tap at Kitty O’Rielly’s!  When it was time to leave we had to ask the dockhands to walk us back out of our weed patch.  The weed was terrible in the marina and many people had left because of it.  We ran into one man who was having both his outboards worked on because the weed fouled them so badly.   We had to do some fancy maneuvering to shake loose what was wrapped on our prop but eventually we’re sure we had shed it all.

      Next stop is Kewaunee, WI, home of the worlds largest grandfather clock.