Lovekamp wrote:I would like to join a cruise around Door County, Wisconsin, or near Mackinac Island, Michigan.
People, People
I've cruised this area. It is wonderful. Cruising with other sailors makes for a better adventure. Now I'll try to sell you on the idea.
Green Bay is a superb cruising ground, rich in history, with beaches and a variety of outstanding harbors and anchorages and islands. Green Bay is a big body of water; its harbors are generally close at hand. You can leave one harbor at 10 (after having had your relaxing morning cup of coffee, swim, and having walked several miles), sail to the next harbor by 3, day-sail for an hour or two so that you can use the winds as you want, and be securely docked, beached or anchored before cocktail hour. It is as quiet as anything in the North Channel and not nearly as far.
There are plenty of sand beaches for swimming or, better yet, plunge in alongside your boat. The water is clear and clean - perfect for wakeboarding
.
A dinghy is not a necessity with the beaches and piers.
We'd launch in Ephram. They have a place to store your vehicle and trailer for free. Ephram also has a nice restaurant. We ate breakfast there on the last day of our trip. Note that Ephraim is a "dry" village, so no alcoholic beverages are available.
http://www.ephraim-wisconsin.com/
From Ephram, wed sail out to Chambers and Horseshoe Islands. Chambers island is large, and has numerous public and private gravel and sand roads for walking. There is an old lighthouse park operated by the town of Gibraltar (Fish Creek) to the west, and Lake Mackaysee. Lake Mackaysee is very large. If you brought a dinghy it would be interesting to explore. We got a bit of a tour by a man we met there. He showed us the ruins of an old hotel that once overlooked this lake. He also showed us his magnificent house on this island. Horseshoe Island is small but has a nice little bay for a stopover or hike.
A really nice place is Shanty Bay (Called Nicolet Bay on the charts). Shanty Bay is in Peninsula State Park which includes most of the shore from Fish Creek to Ephraim. We rented a bicycle build for two here and biked into Fish Creek for dinner. It is a very scenic bike ride.
We could then spend a day cruising up to Washington Island. Stops along the way could include Sister Bay. The village of Sister Bay has a village dock. A pier there is close to restaurants, drugstore, hardware store, service station, night entertainment, and other public facilities. There is also a place to stop at the tip of Door County where the ferry to Washington Island comes and goes.
The day we were there, the winds were perfect for sailing over to Washington Island.
If youre into fishing, perhaps there is no greater concentration of excellent fishing spots on the entire Great Lakes than in the waters around Rock and Washington Islands. West Harbor, Jackson Harbor, Detroit Harbor and Washington Harbor all offer the best possible fishing grounds for lake trout, salmon, perch, black bass, northern pike, and rock bass. We did see a number of commercial fishing boats out there.
At Washington Island we could stop at Detroit Island or Jackson Harbor. I stayed at both but preferred Jackson Harbor. Jackson Harbor is a quaint harbor on the northeast shore of Washington Island that affords shelter from all winds.
Rock Island is interesting. The island was acquired in 1964 from the Chester Thordarson estate. Prior to that time no visitors were allowed. Chester Thordarsona Chicago inventor and manufacturer of various types of electrical transformers and a pioneer in radioacquired the island in 1910. This guy was loaded. He built the buildings that dominate the southwest corner of the island, including a boathouse and dock. The boathouse, of Icelandic architecture, has on its upper floor a huge hall, the east end of which is dominated by a massive fireplace.
From there we could sail down the east side of Door County, through Sturgeon Bay and Back up to Ephram. This is what I did on our previous trip. Sturgeon Bay Canal connects Lake Michigan with Sturgeon Bay. Sturgeon Bay is considered by many cruisers as the "yachting capital" of the north end of Lake Michigan. Some of the finest yachts in the nation have been built here. There is free city docking here. We spent a day. Looked at the yachts; saw some big ones being built and went to a movie that night.
It would also be possible to sail from Washington/Rock Islands over to the Beaver Island Group.
And then to Mackinac Island, Michigan.
I hesitate to do this because it is about 30 miles form Washington Island to the Beaver Island group and then another 40 miles to Mackinac. This stretch might be better for another trip. But if you guys wanted to you could talk me into it. If the sailing was slow, we could always power. Wed just have to watch the weather.
Mackinac Island is pretty cool. I remember going there when I was about 10. Numerous carriages and bicycles, as well as riding horses, are available for hire to tour the island. At the time, We rented a horse and buggy. Outside of town, about 80% of Mackinac Island is park. The best tour is to ride around the island, on the perimeter road. Its paved and an easy, pleasant pedal, of about 8 miles. There are lots of touristy things to see on the island. Id say we could spoil ourselves and round up the tour with a meal at the Grand Hotel but you cant go inside the Grand unless youre wearing a suit jacket and tie (men) or fairly formal wear (women); in fact, you cant even walk by in front of the place after 6 pm unless you attire is "proper," which leaves out many sailors including me. Id think we could find places to eat in town.
In conclusion:
Guys, we have to get together for this trip next year. It would be an awsome adventure. Heck, Id bet thered be local radio stations so we could pickup O'Reillys No Spin Zone or Rush Limbaugh. We wouldnt have to miss accurate reporting of the news.
Signed,
Mark
is in the Kansas City/Missouri area and might have some good ideas about sailing areas. I would invite everyone to Kansas but I would guarantee that you would be underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, the place I sail is great and you can stay out all day and never cover the whole lake, but Missouri has some fantastic lakes surrounded by cliffs, trees, clear water, etc.
So, I'll thow out