Door County Sailing Trip

[Greene]

We are scheduled to go up to Door County to sail in Green Bay Sept.  9 - 12.  Along with our friends in their Hunter 22 we reserved a slip in the new Egg Harbor Municipal Marina.  We haven't sailed the area and were wondering if some of you might have some suggestions, tips or advice.

Mike and B
 

[John J]

Hey Mike and Brenda,
Glad you made it home from Carlyle OK.  Door County sounds nice in Sept.  I sailed my CP16 there a few years back around Sister Bay and launched it off the northern tip of the peninsula and sailed over to Washington Island.  Have you sailed Pepin and Geneva yet?  I recommend both if you haven't.  I launched from
the WI side at a small marina in Pepin.  Much quieter and more scenic from the WI shore.  I came through Oshkosh a week ago from Canada and passed
Luke and Debbie heading north to Winnebego on I-39 with their Eclipse.  Busy summer.  I think Steve and Sarah may be heading to Door County soon also.

Fair winds,  JohnJ

[Greene]

Good to hear from you John J.   Brenda and I have never had a boat on Green Bay before, so this will be new territory for us.  Maybe you could bop up and show us the area and throw in a few sailing lessons. 

Enjoy the rest of your sailing season.

Mike and B

[John J]

You'll like Sturgeon Bay where there is a large sailing community and lots to do.  Check out the Maritime Museum there
also.  I hope to sail again at Carlyle with Steve and maybe spend a few days at Mark Twain Lake near Hannibal, MO.
Just sailed the North Channel in a custom made steel-hull 30 footer.  Quite an adventure after the motor gave out.
Enjoy your trip and let us hear about it.  John J

[Craig Weis]

So your sailing/motoring out of Green Bay, North to Egg Harbor. Four days. The 9th~12th. Four people on a Hunter 22. You'll be cramped and you'll run out of time. You'll be too cold or too hot, too wet or too dry. Did anyone look at the chart yet?

Look here--> http://www.usps.org/localusps/door/

Green Bay to Egg Harbor is one whole hard day's travel to be sure. Winds will probably be on your nose. So you'll be motoring at 5 knots. No good place to fuel up on the way 'cept for Dykesville. About half way to Sturgeon Bay. So about 3 to 5 more hours to Egg Harbor from Sturgeon Bay. Another day to Washington Island. And you have to get back to Green Bay.

The Tall Ships went Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay at 5 knots. Left at 8:00 am arrived at 2:30 pm with paying passengers. Sails up but motored all the way.

Anyway what I would recommend is to trailer the boat to Sturgeon Bay the night of the 8th and meet friends and boat there. There really is not a lot of good sailing or sight seeing between Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay. But Sturgeon Bay north or North-West is great. No need to cut through to Lake Michigan either. Nothing there to see.

Last Friday I left home port Wamma-Lamma Loogoon at 2:10 pm with fair winds 15 to 20 knots. Wing on wing at 6.4 knots average S.O.G. all the way to Green Island [14 nm] with the boom vang holding the boom down. I sailed with a really ugly sky and storm chasing me down. Surfed to a speed of 7.4 knots. Dragged a 100 foot line in case I fell overboard and needed to grab something.

The storm hit just a bit shy of Green Island and winds picked up to 60 knots dead astern and slowly altered to port abeam. Rained so hard I could not see 25 foot in front of Comfort & Joy and she was buttoned up tight as a drum just in case. The depth was 87 foot. [Max depth I sailed over was 114 ft.] Water temp was 74.6 deg F. No water shipped over the rail and no waves pooped into the cockpit. And at no time did I ever give up on the boat's stability. I don't think I ever saw 30 degrees swing up on the incline meter under the compass. I had my waders on and a rain coat and my hat and my blow-up 'if it gets wet, she pops' life vest on. I was not tethered to the boat, an option I had. I was dry and comfy and well braced on the port side settee, legs stretch out front of me on the starboard settee. No sails were reefed. I broke my lower batton. A bad decision on my part.

The main sail and boom, at the Green Island passing, was perpendicular to centerline of the hull. Pressed flat against the starboard side standing rigging. The sail pushed past and was ballooning into the starboard spreader triangle, the 155% head sail lapper was pulling well too. Thank goodness for a boom vang.  Speed at this point was 6.4 knots S.O.G. The Chartplotter showed Green Island 'right there' but I could not see it and was concerned about fetching up on one of it's two shoal's.

Moments later I was basically not in control of the boat. To make matters worse I let the head sail sheets slip and soon both stopper knots pull out of the sheet blocks on the deck and the whole damn head sail was flailing out front of the boat with the both sheets bouncing off the waves and snapping and tangling up into a knot under the sail. I pulled the tiller hard over to turn into the wind so I could yank the main down and be bare poled. She would not come about and she was stuck in the troughs of the waves. I could not leave my settee to put the motor down. I was not going to get on my knees. No way. I doubt if it would have helped anyway. The U.V. protective cover was beaten off the head sail so it looked a wee bit tattered.

I could not reel in the furler, not enough arm strength. So I let that go for a while. It finely dawned on me that I could wrap the furler line around the winch and crank that line in. The bottom of the head sail was twisted one way while the top of the head sail was twisted the other way. No matter it was all furled in as is with it's knotted sheets below it. I did not have enough arm strength to reel in the boom and anyway that would just exacerbate the situation. Still doing 6.4 knots and heading for the port of Marinette-Menominee. [Sturgeon Bay to MM one way 25.3 nm. Round trip 53.3 nm. Not as the crow flys]

After 20 minutes of this it was sunny, warm and pleasent over head with a rain bow off Green Island. The storm knocked out power and trees in Sturgeon Bay and across the the Bay of Green Bay.

The funnest thing was I could see the port and had just put the motor down and was happly and safely chugging along when pop, my blow-up life vets decides to self inflate. Instant 'Dolly Partton'. So I peeled that off and tossed it down below.

Really no damage to the boat or me. They build them good at Com-Pac.

I really think a walk through Egg Harbor would be enjoyable and a stay at a slip at the new harbor would be fun. It's a $ 6.7 million dollar harbor for 60 boats in a town of 250 people...property taxes went up a bit to be sure.

Interestingly enough, during the 2010 Census, just a few miles North of Sturgeon Bay, on a line from hywy TT North 87.3% of  the homes are' Vancant. Usual Home Elsewhere'.  So these homes are empty 6 months a year. I was an Enumerator and knocked on about 700 doors in Liberty Grove. No body home. No lites on. Attests to our wonderful winters. Talked to one guy in his 'Up-Nort' house who said he had a 'down south house'. "Oh Yea? Where's that?" I asked. "Egg Harbor". He said.

skip.

Wamma Lamma Home Port

Leaving Sturgeon Bay, heading out to M-M or Up left to Egg Harbor. The Lethem Smith stone quarry and harbor of refuge just in case.

Green Island. Cap't. Wind Rover and Cap't Peanut Butter

Port M-M Rafted together on the wall.

Fuel Dock at M-M

M-M office. Stack on right is Boater's Lounge. Worth the $10.00 a night fee.

Left to the bay of Green Bay

To the right is Lake Michigan

If your in town call me up 920.599.1221 cell

Driveway.

[lostsailor101]

I have never been to Door County  (southern boy here) so I have no insight on the sailing
.
But if you don't mind I would like to comment on Skips post:

What a great narrative, at times I felt like I was sitting at the tiller myself. I had a similar but less harrowing experience on the Chesapeake awhile back. Thanks Skip, I enjoyed the adventurous read. You were out there living the dream, which is the place where all good sailing stories come from.

"There's no thrill in easy sailing when the skies are clear and blue, there's no joy in merely doing things which any one can do. But there is some satisfaction that is mighty sweet to take, when you reach a destination that you never thought you'd make"

[Greene]

Skip,

Thanks for all the great pics of the area.  We won't all be on the Hunter 22.  Brenda and I will be trailering our 19 up there as well.  We plan on trailering all the way to the marina in Egg Harbor and put in there.  We won't be making any long, hard windward slogs on this trip.  We will look at the forecast each day and plan some nice daysails with each night spent at the slip in Egg Harbor.

Mike

[Craig Weis]

OK, each to there own boat. Much better as to comfort. Now your talking. Starting at Egg Harbor is a better plan.

Today, Saturday I need to be in Egg Harbor for the 'spreading of Cashin's ashes' on the water. He was a very active member of our Door County United States Power Squadron who passed away from congestive heart failure. His career was with the Federal Government and he was the guy who did the background checks of those wishing to become Federal 'higher-ups'. His wife Paula had a career at The Enrico Fermi National Accelerator Ring in Batavia, Illinois. All hush~hush stuff. So guess where these two met?

skip. Enjoy your trip.

[Greene]

A great place to sail and explore.  Thursday we had an easy 3.5 hour tow up to the brand new marina in Egg Harbor and set up camp in the Marina's parking lot for the evening.  Too early to call it a night, we walked up the hill to the Shipwrecked Bar and Brew Pub.  We shared lots of good food, local wines and the bar's own beers.  We recommend the Blonde beer they make, it was pretty darn good and I'm not a beer drinker.


We had a cool night (40's) which made for a nippy night in the boats without electricity to plug in our little space heaters.  I managed to set off the truck alarm at 6:30 am by leaning on my keyfob in my jacket pocket.  Later on I expected my buddy to really ridicule me for winning the "bad marina neighbor" contest,  but he told me that at about the same time my truck alarm was going off he was busy putting out a fire in his boat and considering calling in the fire department.  It seems he spilled a little alcohol when he filled his one-burner campstove and it ignited around the tank and on his cushions.  He woke up his wife by telling her, "You better get up now, the boat is on fire."  Fortunately he was able to smother the flames with a pillow, so no fire trucks for us.


Friday morning we walked about 3 blocks to the Bistro restaurant for breakfast and a sail planning meeting.  We decided to sail north since there was an unusual east wind predicted.  We rigged and dunked the boats to a beautiful morning sun which foretold a truly awesome day.   I was nervous about motoring out of the marina past all the 40 - 50 foot yachts worth more than my entire life's earnings.  My 8 hp Mariner was just picked up at the shop the day before for carb repairs and I hadn't test run it  yet.  I normally do all my own mechanical work, but work and other commitments didn't leave me enough time to get to the repair.  The motor ran fine all weekend and we found motoring out of the marina to be quite easy.  


We had a great sail in 7 - 12 mph winds with just a few 15 mph gusts.  The views of the shoreline, BIG sailboats, and the small islands dotting the area made for a pleasant, relaxing morning.  I found that we moved along nicely at 6.5 mph with very little heeling, but the Hunter 22 could still pull away from us without even rolling out all of his 155 genoa.  All weekend I was impressed with how little sail he had to put out to move along quickly.  


Our plan was to sail up to Fish Creek Harbor  for lunch and wandering around the neat old town.  As we were approaching the entrance to the bay a huge odd barge was overtaking us in a big hurry.  It looked like an enormous upside down catamaran with the two hulls reaching high into the air.  We continued to the far side of the bay entrance to allow the ship room to pass on our starboard side.  As he came cruising by we realized the barge was transporting two huge cement trucks (one on each side) 2 skidsteers and a mound of sand.    They pulled into the marina and started pouring out cement to repair  a section of the dock.



We hailed the harbormaster who told us to go the metal wharf for temporary dockage and met us there to catch our lines.  They are definitely set up for much larger ships than ours.  We had to stand on our cabin tops and get a hand from the harbormaster to jump up to the pier.


We secured the boats, signed in and wandered around Fish Creek shopping and enjoying the great company and perfect weather.  After a  nice lunch at the Bayside Tavern and a  little more shopping  it was time to check out and get sailing back to our slip.  The wind had picked up which was a lot of fun for Brenda and I, but the Hunter 22 was having some roller furler issues and struggled to make headway out of the bay on tack to the south.  Once underway, the sail was fun and the slowly setting sun made for some beautiful views.  Some lovely older wooden sloops and schooners followed us out and we really enjoyed watching them overtake us.  


We docked up and decided that we really needed to have a glass of Drambuie for our first official sundowners (not on our home waters) that night.  We enjoyed the sunset and then moved into the Hunter 22's cabin for a while to catch up with our friends and continue to do damage to the bottle of Drambuie.  The party was going pretty well until Brenda decided to take away our bottle.  It was a good move on her part, my friend and I certainly didn't need any more.



Since Saturday was supposed to be rainy all day we went out for a great breakfast at the Village Cafe ($8 for oatmeal?) and back to the boats to read/nap.  The Wisconsin Badgers played at 11:30 am so we HAD to go back to the Shipwrecked bar to watch the game with an occasional toddy.  The girls lasted about 10 minutes before leaving for a 2 1/2  hour shopping excursion.  They only spent about $20 while the boys might have managed to drink slightly more than that.    After the Badger win, we toured the 1884 lighthouse in Baileys Harbor - Cana Island where they still have an original Fresnel lens in operation.  It is amazing that it is lit by one little 250 watt bulb.
Sunday morning arrived with really fresh winds forecast at 10 - 15 mph which quickly turned into 15 - 26 mph actual winds with strong gusts.  We reefed down our mainsails and went out into Egg Harbor to play in the somewhat protected area.  We practiced putting in and taking out our reef and played with different sail setups while the Hunter flew around with just his reefed mainsail.  We found our boat handled best with the standard jib up and the mainsail reefed.  We are still thrilled with the improvement in tiller feel with the NACA 0014 rudder.  Even with 20 + mph winds the tiller was easily managed with a very light grip.  Sweet.    After playing for a while we led the other boat into the protected shore of the bay to about 5 feet of water and rafted up.  We enjoyed a great afternoon of conversation, sun, cheese and crackers,  and music while we bobbed in the water.  A wonderful relaxing way to end our sailing adventure.

We motored back to the marina and loaded up the boats.  It was interesting helping my friend drop his mast in the strong winds.  Even with a ginpole and multiple side supports the mast wanted to move all over.  Once  I grabbed his front stay and used it to hold the mast on plane, it came down all right.  Another easy tow home and our Door County sailing adventure was done.  We'll certainly be back for more next year.

[lostsailor101]

Greene,

Sounds like a nice trip, thanks for taking us along for the ride. Great photos.

Cheers mate

[brackish]

Mike, what a great trip.  Thanks for the report. 

Jackets? 40's overnight?  I'm envious.  Today's forecast is for 98F with light and variable winds up at the lake.  Was supposed to take a friend sailing, but that may not happen.  Might just motor out, anchor and swim.  Can't seem to get this heat to break this year. 

[Salty19]

Hi Mike, Thanks for sharing and glad you had a good time up there!

[kickingbug1]

   know what you mean --we skipped a lot of day this summer because it was just too hot to sail and when we did we pretty much let the boat drag us thru the water

[Bob23]

Mike:
   THAT WAS EXCELLENT! Great report on a great trip! Thanks!!
Bob23