A Long Weekend in Door County, Wisconsin

If you remember this post from a few months ago, we were thinking a Door County, Wisconsin trip would be our "big trip" of the year. Well... soon after writing that, we decided that we're heading to Northern Michigan and the North Channel for 16 days this summer instead! BUT, we still wanted to spend some time in Door County, since it's been a special place to Ben since childhood. So we found time for a long weekend trip (Thursday-Sunday) and loaded up the trailer for the 5+ hour drive to Little Sturgeon Bay! We left the house about 11am, and arrived in Little Sturgeon Bay around 5pm. The trip took a little longer than expected since it was the first trailer trip of the year, and we stopped multiple times to make sure the trailer tires were holding up.

Carmody Park Public Launch Ramp

At dock - Wave Pointe Marina

Birminghams - a family tradition

Our first stop once getting settled in at the dock was Birmingham's in Sturgeon Bay. Ben's family always stayed at Andropolis Cottages in Sturgeon Bay, and Birmingham's (right down the road) was a must-have on every vacation. Ben ordered the Filet & Deep Fried Lobster Chunks, and I ordered the Filet & Shrimp. Both were excellent, served with salad & baked potato. After dinner, we made the mandatory Walmart stop where Ben got an "As Seen on TV" Expanding Pocket Hose!!! which he says is the "best purchase EVER." :-)

Fresh blueberry pancakes on the griddle

Relaxing with a book and coffee on the back of the boat

Friday morning I made blueberry pancakes on the griddle (fresh picked blueberries from our garden!), then went for a swim in the pool, and finally relaxed on the back on the boat with my book and coffee. PERFECT first day of vacation so far! We were having a great time at Wave Pointe Marina, so we took our time in the morning and left for Sister Bay, with a stopover planned first at Horseshoe Island. 

The weather forecast was not looking to be in our favor, but we lucked out and missed all of the storms and rain surrounding the area.

Dana's favorite place to be - navigating in Little Sturgeon Bay

Storms to the South and to the West

Gorgeous bluffs along the Door County shoreline

Red Marker #6 was making Ben uneasy until we found it. We were able to go through with no trouble.

The trip from Wave Pointe Marina to Horseshoe Island was pretty smooth, although watching the storms move in to the south and to the west of us was a little unsettling.  We lucked out though, and arrived to Horseshoe Island in less than an hour. We were very excited to be there... we weren't sure if we'd make it or not on this trip, and we heard that it can get very busy on weekends.

Beautiful, serene Horseshoe Island

Seapickle II anchored at Horseshoe Island, stern tied to a tree on shore

Horseshoe Island was all that we'd hoped it would be. A quiet, protected little anchorage only 4 miles off Sister Bay. We enjoyed hiking the 1k "rugged" trail around the island, and seeing that outside the protection of the island the wind was howling and waves were building. But we spent a wonderful afternoon relaxing before heading over to Sister Bay for the next 2 nights.

On the opposite side of the Horseshoe Island anchorage

Hiking Horseshoe Island

Monument off the hiking trail, to Moravian settlers who died there in 1853

Making friends - Colby on "Midnight Flyer"

As soon as we were outside the protection of Horseshoe Island, around 5 in the afternoon, the waves had built to 4-6 feet and we were forced to make a slow 4 mile journey to Sister Bay Marina. We arrived in about 45 minutes, feeling very windblown and worn out! The very friendly harbor master, Wendy, suggested dinner at Husby's when we asked for a good perch dinner. And she was right on! The perch, walleye and cheese curds were fantastic! As was the atmosphere, beer list, and service. We liked it so much we went back Saturday night for the BBQ Rib special!

Arriving to the Sister Bay Marina

Ben anxious for some dinner at Husby's in Sister Bay

Cheese curds! Because we're in Wisconsin!

The winds and waves were not in our favor Friday night and Saturday

A very fashionable Dana enjoying coffee overlooking Green Bay & the Sister Islands

Al Johnsons' goats on the roof

A Swedish breakfast at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant

The Country Walk Shops in Sister Bay

Couldn't leave without some Door County Cherry ice cream!

We spent a relaxing Saturday in Sister Bay. Enjoying coffee on the rocks in the morning (as in, coffee on the breakwall, not coffee on ice), breakfast at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant (famous for their goats on the roof), and then a long walk and some shopping. Later Ben took a nap while I walked to the Country Walk Shops and bought some Renards Cheese at the Piggly Wiggly. My lunch purchase was rounded out at Cupcake Heaven, with a strawberry shortcake cupcake for me, and a peanut butter cup cupcake for Ben. After lunch, another walk and some shopping (new pink Door County cap for Dana!) and then dinner again at Husby's (excellent again, but longer wait on Saturday night). 

Overall, we had a wonderful, relaxing 4 day weekend. We wished we had more time to explore more Door County ports & islands, but I guess that leaves a reason to go back for the next adventure!

Last night of our Door County adventure

Boat Project Weekend

Uh oh... what is Ben up to now? Is this how the boat is going to look all weekend?

Well it's "Boat Project Weekend" here on Seapickle II. Honestly I couldn't tell you all of what Ben has in store for upgrades this season, but the current project is installing arch lights. We've already been working on Seapickle a lot this year, so hopefully we'll be finishing up with the "work" part of the season soon! :-)

In the meantime, I will try to update with blog with some other things we've been working on this spring. We apologize for our absence on the blog lately! It's been a pretty crazy/busy year so far.

Check back soon for some boat project & upgrade details!

-Dana

Happy First Day of Spring!

These photos were taken last Friday at Boaters' Beach. It was a relatively warm almost 50 degrees, especially compared to today, the official first day of Spring! There was a dense fog over the lake, as you can see in the video below, but we still saw at least one fishing boat out. If you listen closely to the video, you can hear the sound of the waves breaking on shore... ahhhhh I missed that sound.

It'll probably still be another month at least until Seapickle II returns to the lake, but hopefully we'll have a few more hikes to Boater's Beach before then. And we'll remember next time not to take the "long route" which added about an extra hour to our hike!

View from the bottom of the sand dune, looking toward the lake

Dana and her favorite hiking stick of the day

Caught Ben looking wistfully at the frozen lake

Great News for Northwest Indiana Boaters!

copied from http://www.nwitimes.com

Army Corps commits $5.2M for Great Lakes repairs

Associated Press

NEW BUFFALO, Mich. (AP) — A top official of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says her agency will spend $5.2 million in Hurricane Sandy relief funds to repair 10 Great Lakes harbors, including three in Northwest Indiana.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin says the assistant Army secretary for public works told him Wednesday that the money will cover work at Indiana's Burns Waterway, Burns Waterway Small Boat and Michigan City harbors.
Waukegan harbor in Illinois and six harbors in Michigan — New Buffalo, Holland, Muskegon, Saugatuck, South Haven and St. Joseph -- will also receive funds.
Levin says Jo-Ellen Darcy told him the work is part of $19 million in hurricane recovery funds being used for work on the Great Lakes.
Congress in January approved emergency Hurricane Sandy relief funds. Levin says the Great Lakes sustained millions in storm damage.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte/michigan-city/army-corps-commits-m-for-great-lakes-repairs/article_25e87e13-dd98-5e50-bc52-d1b209d33ede.html

This is great news for those of us (probably all of us) southern Lake Michigan boaters who have been worried about getting our boats to the lake this spring! Bring on boating season!

Yearning for Adventure

Croker Island in the North Channel, Ontario, Canada

Really missing the summer and our boating/traveling adventures lately. Maybe it's the snow/ice/sleet/rain mix we've been getting here in Northwest Indiana all day. Maybe it's just that summer just seems so close... or maybe I just need to find an adventurous winter hobby! Any ideas?

Planning our 2013 Trip!

Door County is famous for it's gorgeous sunsets!

We have spent this off season trying to decide what the coming 2013 boating season would hold for us. Lately we've been considering putting our adventures on hold and selling our beloved Seapickle, after all we are just a couple of working stiffs and this economy just doesn't seem to be getting better. For now we plan to hang on for at least one more season before seeing what other adventures life has in store for us.

There are so many places we want to see but we can only choose one for our big trip. Initially we planned on giving the North Channel a second chance since our first trip there was derailed by a break down for 4 days, and a rough night spend on the rocks after dragging anchor. After much thought we decided it was time to return to Door County Wisconsin. Ben's family visited Door County every summer for their family vacation and we spent a week there when we were dating. We can't wait to experience it by boat.

Although we did visit Sturgeon Bay while avoiding a storm in our 2010 trip  the weather was so bad we weren't able to explore the area. This time we will be trailering instead of cruising the 225 miles north from our home port. This will give us the extra days we will need to cross the famous Port Des Morts  channel, otherwise know as Death's Door, as we head north to the Garden Peninsula of Michigan for a few nights of anchoring under the stars. This small passage is a watery grave for the many ships who have run aground here trying to pass between Green Bay and Lake Michigan.

www.doorcounty.com

Some other stops will include Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, and Sister Bay! Although we will mostly be staying in marinas we are hoping to spend a night or two in picturesque Nicolet Bay or Horseshoe Island a long the way. As always we will post many pictures and share our trip with you! We hope if this is our last big adventure that's it's a good one :-) (dana's note - what?!? this is NOT our last big adventure!)

Preparing for Winter

Pulling the boat out one last time for 2012

Well we've come to the end of another wonderful season with Seapickle II, and normally this starts the most depressing time in a boater's life....winter :-( Part of the reason we bought the trailer was to open up our storage options and more specifically so we could store the boat in heated storage instead of the outdoor storage we have used in past years. Once we had plenty of space cleared out in the warehouse we still had one major obsticle to overcome, the top of the boats arch was 4-6 inches taller than the opening of the garage door. We spent the last month cleaning and clearing space all while assuming the boat would fit so I was determined to find a way to squeeze under that door! Our only option would be to remove the boats arch.

One of the 6 bolts holding the arch on

After removing a few panels in the cockpit we were able to easily access the 6 bolts that hold the arch to the hull of the boat. We were unsure how heavy the arch was so we asked Ben's dad Bill to be there to hold the arch while Ben removed the bolts. Once all 6 bolts were removed we were shocked at how light this arch really was.

Dana posing with the dropped arch.

We set our V birth fill-in cushion on the helm and rested the arch on it without any problems and now the boat cleared the door with ease!

Bill standing by Seapickle II in her new winter home

Dana showing that there is plenty of room for those winter projects!

Once under the door we had plenty of ceiling height inside the building so we raised the arch back up, after all we don't want that big arch getting in the way of our mid winter cocktail parties we're planning ;-)

Stay tuned for some winter projects!