CP-19 visits Door County

[skip1930]

So I'm at work for the Door County Parks Department Friday 5:46 am North of Bailey's Harbor, Wisconsin and I look over at the parking lot at the Sunset Hotel and there on her trailer is a Com-Pac 19 with her name mid-ship [I could not read it] hooked up to a cream colored Toyota [?] pick-up truck.

It's one of the Com-Pac Yacht Owners Association members ... I saw this rig on the site a few times. On a vacation I'm guessing.

Who could it be? ... skip.

[cal27sailor]

Skip...that was me!  My wife and I were in Egg Harbor and then Bailey's Harbor for 10 days.  Brought our new-to-us 1984 Compac 19 with us.  You saw us as we were leaving, headed back home Friday morning about 9:00.  We had her out several times on Green Bay while we had her in a slip at the Egg Harbor Marina.  You live in a wonderful part of the country.  I hope we get back there again soon.

By the way...it was a Ford Explorer Sport-Trac, not a Toyota.

Tony
1984 CP19 "Rita Marlene"

[skip1930]

That's so cool !

I was on lone from the aeroport [the kids returned to school] I suggested to Kyra [the driver] to go back to leave a note ... but we had Parks to service for the weekend crowds.
And we had to work Saturday to for ten hours and 177 miles. We hit all but one county park.

So Rita Marlene was splashed in Green Bay and in Lake Michigan at Baileys' Harbor. Both sides of the peninsula.
Sure sounds good. In our USPS boat club Janelle and her buddy Eric sailed around the whole peninsula.

Their story with fotos and more at http://www.usps.org/localusps/door/. [ And look~see the facebook page of Com-Pac Yacht Owner Association, for pictures and my video. I can't understand how to post fotos here on the CPYOA web site any more.]

Day One – July 7th We sailed north out of Sawyer Harbor, tacking
back and forth all day, slowly making progress toward our destination of Egg
Harbor. We had reservations at the marina there but could tell we were going
to arrive after the dockmaster was gone for the day. We finally gave up and
motored the last bit just so we could make our dinner connection with family
that had agreed to meet us in Egg Harbor. Ironically we ate at Shipwrecked
which is a brew pub and an easy walk from the marina. I am happy to report
that the name did not jinx the trip! Amazingly we found ourselves feeling the
earth moving under us after only one long day on the boat. Moon Dancer is
small but has a tent that snaps over the cockpit and we can set up the double
bed supports that I constructed last sailing season and sleep quite comfortably
on a full size double bed.

Day Two – July 8th We continued sailing north past Fish Creek and
anchored at Shanty Bay near Peninsula Park. It may not have been necessary
but we chose to set a second anchor just to be secure. We don't have a dingy
but hailed a nearby yacht to bring us to shore with their dingy for the payment
of two precious homemade gingerbread cookies so that we could attend
Northern Sky Theatre (the old American Folklore Theatre) that night. If you
have never attended this theatre in the park, you must do it and it is a perfect
end to a day of sailing! We reassured our dingy "taxi" driver that we would be
fine for the return trip as could swim back to our boat with the help of a dry
bag for our clothes. We are experienced cruisers who have done this before!


Day Three – July 9th Today was a sleepy, windless sail up to Ellison Bay but we got out the trolling fishing gear for some attempts at trolling for salmon that we are told lie in the deep waters beyond Sister Bay. No luck, but it passed the time. We ended up motoring into Ellison Bay and had some challenge to find the correct dock for the reservation that we had with the Liberty Grove Town Marina. Amenities were few but the price was right and we were within walking distance from sever-al great restaurants including the Wickman House and the Fire-side.

Days Four & Five – July 10 and 11th After a lovely morning swim and great coffee at "Brew" we set out for Rock Island. Today was a fantastic day of sailing with winds of 15 knots out of the east and we got Moon Dancer flying. We took some beautiful pictures of the Washington Island cliffs and soon had the Rock Island boat house in our sight. While we had a reservation at Jackson Harbor on Washington Island we decided it was worth checking to see if we might be able to get a spot at the dock on Rock Island. There isn't a lot of room on the inside wall and they are not reservable. One also needs to stay out of the way of the Karfi ferry that goes back and forth between Rock Island and Washington Island on the hour. The wind had us coming in pretty "hot" but we got our binoculars and could see that there was room at the Rock Island dock and we decided to beat the ferry to the dock. It was a great decision! They had room and we were able to pay for overnight docking on Rock Island, canceling our need to stay at Jackson Harbor. We have a friend who is living on Rock Island for the summer, working as the naturalist, so it was wonderful to be right there on Rock Island to visit. We ended up hiking the island, visiting and staying a second night just for fun. There is a lot of history on Rock Island, beautiful hikes, and a visit is worth your while.

Day Six – July 12th We were up early in the morning for our big sail down to Rowley's Bay. The winds and waves were initially in our favor and we had a beautiful sail around the north side of Rock Island with spectacular views of the Rock Island Lighthouse. However, once we rounded the island and started heading in a more southerly direction the waves really picked up and the wind was out of the south. We tacked a few times but, knowing that thunder-storms were predicted in the late afternoon and we still had to pass the entrance to Death's Door, we chose to motor for a space of time to get a head start. Once we were past Washington Island we began long tacks and ultimately the wind dropped. We had a good trolling speed and decided to try our luck fishing at the "legendary" Four Foot Shoal at the entrance to Rowley's Bay. No luck, but amazing views of thousands of cormorants. Our next challenge was navigating into Rowley's Bay where we had never been and finding the Rowley's Bay Resort. Thunderstorms were predicted that evening and we were anxious to get off our boat! We initially went to the wrong dock but soon figured out we needed to go deeper into the harbor. We had called ahead to find out if they had hotel rooms at the resort so we could sleep off the boat due to the possibility of lightening. Fortunately they did, so we tied the boat secure and pulled necessities out of the boat including electronics that could be removed. We were glad we did as that night brought heavy wind, lightening, rain and lots of texts from friends & family asking where we were and if we were safe!!

Day Seven – July 13th We evaluated the weather before we went to bed and again in the morning and decided it was best to stay put another night. The weather was still unstable and more lightening was possible. Besides, Grandmas' Swedish Bakery was at our doorstep and we wanted to explore the Mink River Estuary. We rented a two person kayak and spent almost three hours kayaking up the estuary and returning against huge waves coming in from the lake. Just as we returned and our kayak hit the sand, a deep fog from the lake settled in. We were glad not to be sailing in that!! We finished the day with an authentic Door County fish boil at the Rowley's Bay Resort (formerly the Wagon Trail) while contemplating our route to Baileys Harbor the next day.

Day Eight – July 14th We found a good Samaritan to give us a ride to Ellison Bay to buy gas for our outboard (note to self – we might want to bring extra fuel in a gas can next time) and then set sail for Baileys Harbor. We were greeted with post storm waves of three-to-five feet, with a north wind blowing over 20 mph and gusts much greater than that at times. However, we expected this and with no roller furler decided to skip a foresail altogether and just go with a mainsail. We tried reefing but didn't like how the boom was slightly lower (I learned the following weekend at a DCS&PS Saturday seminar that I could have done this another way). However, we were in control and having fun surfing with amazing following waves that on occasion got us going over 8 knots! What was less fun was having to turn upwind into Bailey's Harbor: tacking really didn't seem like an option as the waves were huge, we were dead against the wind, and really needed to pay attention to our course to avoid shallow are-as. We were forced to pull down our sail and motor the "bucking bronco" Moon Dancer had become. Eric had to don full rain gear and was drenched with waves and water washing over the deck. I had to go below just to get more weight forward and navigate from below with Navionics. We successfully made our way to the Baileys Harbor Town Marina and were very glad to have a spot on the wall to tie up and relax. The people at the marina were very helpful and the amenities were excellent – full showers, lounge, picnic areas and right next to Nelsons Hardware where you can find anything you could possible need! Wonderful restaurants are within easy walking distance.

Day Nine – July 15th We were up early as we had a long sail ahead of us but it was a beautiful, sunny day with low winds mostly out of the east southeast. We enjoyed some trolling and really took in the views of Cave Point, the Dunes State Park and my own undeveloped private land on Lake Michigan that I rarely see from this vantage point. We made use of our depth finder to sneak in as close as we dared in places and enjoyed a picnic lunch off shore. Before we knew it the Sturgeon Bay Canal beacon was in our sights and we were almost home. We motored through the canal and were able to sail wing on wing to and under the highway bridge! For the first time, we then hailed the bridge tender on the radio and warned him that we were awaiting the scheduled bridge lifts of the Oregon and Michigan Street Bridges. For once we stopped traffic instead of us having to wait for others...that was kind of fun! After motoring through the second bridge into the ship canal of Sturgeon Bay, we set sail wing on wing for our final leg to Sawyer Harbor. It was another gorgeous evening sail here like so many before but this was a glorious return from our first circumnavigation of the Door!

Things we learned along the way that might be helpful to others:
1. For many purposes we loved our iPad with the very inexpensive Navionics app for navigation better than the Garmin chart plotter. It has great resolution, a large screen, maximum portability and we could quickly use it to check weather or the wave forecast too.
2. For us the NOAA wave forecast http://www.crh.noaa.gov/greatlakes/?c=map&l=lm&p=a&m=wh proved to be invaluable for safely navigating the lake side. Weather alone was not enough information. It gives you a prediction every three hours over the next four days and we found it very helpful. Lake Michigan has a long fetch!
3. While there are fewer ports on the lake side than the bay side, it should not stop one from doing a circumnavigation. Rowley's Bay and Baileys Harbor both have marinas plus one could anchor in North Bay in a pinch, especially this year with the higher water. We have a very shallow draft with a swing keel so it definitely would not have been a problem for us and was part of our back up plan.
4. Door County is a popular place in July and therefore marina reservations are necessary. We often had to change them to accommodate our changing schedule but it was worth doing as slip space was tight.

skip.

[cal27sailor]

Skip....that sounds like a great sailing adventure.  I am envious of the sailing opportunities you have in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes area.  We had a good time getting out on our CP19.  The last few days the weather did not cooperate with small craft warnings and most larger sailboats staying put in the marina.  Needless to say I did not risk it.  But that just leaves more adventures to plan for my next trip to Door County.

Tony