We're Getting Good at This

It was a struggle to get all the things done this week in order to leave Friday morning. It did not help that we had the hottest week of the year so far and everything we did was slow and sweaty. In addition to the heat, our lives get busy with kids that is for sure. Pierce had his last soccer game in the heat as well on Wednesday. The league cut the skills portion out and just played the game. His coach ended the game with a water balloon fight.

Susan ended up leaving work earlier on Thursday so she could get the grocery shopping done and get a head start on the packing. It was still so hot and we ended up trying to wait until the sun would be lower to get the bikes on the boat. When I finally grabbed Susan's bike that was hanging in the garage  I noticed her front tire was flat. Yup it had a hole! It was already after 8 and all of our bike shops where closed. Quick trip to the local Walmart and we were back in business, however, this delay was enough to give the mosquitoes a jump on us. As soon as the sun went down it was on and we were still putting the bikes on the boat. We quickly finished up covered the boat and called it quits.

Friday morning we ended up getting out about 10:30am. I wanted to clean up the boat's hull and polish some of the repairs I had done. Once that was done we where on our way. We ended up taking a back route to Green Bay to avoid road construction. Around 11am tummies began to rumble. We ended up stopping at a truck stop and getting some food in Forest Junction. The thought was to eat now verses waiting until we get there as we had much to do once getting to Sturgeon Bay.

Once we arrived in Sturgeon Bay we called Center Point Marina to get our slip assignment. After getting into the slip Susan and I had a plan on how we where going to get the boat back together and entertain the boys.  Remember the heat index was well into the triple digits on this day!!!! Once we got into our slip we started re-installing the canvas and electronics. The original plan was to have Susan take the boys to the pool once the canvas was removed from the cabin and in place. Not completely installed just pined in place. I needed to get the electronics on the arch before we can zip the canvas into place. It went so smooth that the boys helped out and everything fell into place quickly and we all went to the pool afterward. 

On a very positive note: my Sister and Brother-in-Law offered to watch our dogs because of the conflict that my parents had. This was a wonderful surprise and we appreciate it very much. It was amazing to not have the dogs amongst the chaos that ensues when we have to put the boat back together.

Day 6 - Egg Harbor and the Best Behaved Dinner

After a night in Fish Creek of storms wind and rain we woke up and had breakfast at Pelletier's after there was a break in the weather.  Pelletier's is straight up the road from Alibi Marina where we stayed. As we left the boat I said to Susan, "Should I go back to boat and grab the rain gear?" as it was starting to rain, but not that hard.  Her answer was "no, it is not that bad." At the time is was just sprinkling and honestly it was hard to tell between rain and the blow off of the trees we were walking under...As a side note we have been gifted really nice rain gear and it hung in out closet on the boat as we walked through the rain...Then of course as luck would have, it down poured while eating breakfast which made me regret not grabbing it even more as I thought we would be getting wet. But as luck would have it again it stopped raining just as we were getting ready to leave.  We walked around the town and went in one or two shops and decided to get back to the boat and get ready to go.  As we sat there we checked the radar and winds to see what we should do. When we left for breakfast the wind was causing white caps on the bay and was not looking very good. We took our time getting ready to go and while we disembarked two boats arrived just as we where leaving and waited for us to leave the marina, as this marina is pretty tight maneuvering.  Turns out the first of these two boats was being directed to our slip.  We did not leave until after noon and the normal check out is 11am.  The deck hands were held up in the harbor house playing a game of Monopoly as the marina was not very active on a wet cold day.  They never came down to see if we actually left and just assumed.  As we were leaving Susan I chuckled thinking how funny it was that we almost caused an issue and timed our departure perfectly.

Our destination was the next harbor south about 6-8 miles away, Egg Harbor.  We stayed at the renovated municipal marina.  Egg Harbor redid there Marina about 2 years ago and did a very nice job.  I must give great praise to the city for rallying and investing in this gem on the the water.  There was much debate if they were going to put the necessary funds to rebuild it, as it was basically condemned a few years ago. When we got to the dock we checked in immediately, set our lines, power, water and cable and shoved off right away to the beach. It is right outside the break wall of the marina.  This allowed us to take everything with us to the beach and allowed Pierce to go up to the beach (what he likes best) and Peyton to play with the dinghy and swim in the deep (which he likes best). Actually, we did not leave immediately.  I had taken Peyton aside and have a conversation.  We were having some major issues to this point in the vacation with the boys behaviors.  I basically said to him - Susan and I plan these trips with great intentions of building great memories and so far this trip the only memories we sharing is having to discipline and yell all the time. If this continues we will not plan anymore of these type of trips....When Peyton and I got back from our sit down on the edge of the dock Susan started her message with both of them as audience and to my amazement was almost verbatim to the talk I had just had with Peyton.  I think this talk worked, because after playing on the beach we went to Trio, an Italia restaurant Susan found on Yelp, and we had the best dinner as a family I can remember.  Peyton suggested he sit next to Pierce promising it was going to be fine. Susan and I had our doubts and do not allow this as they fidget and fuss with each other and cause more stress for us. To our surprise it went off with out any issues.  Best Dinner Ever!

Egg Harbor Marina

Day 4 & 5 - Indecision!

As the title says, day's 4 and 5 of vacation were definitely the most indecisive of any of our vacations.   Monday was a scorching hot day with the winds all over the place on the lake.  Our largest concern was not necessarily getting over to Grand Haven, it was in fact to get back.  I absolutely need to return home by Monday and it looks like wind and wave forecast continue their strength through the week.  Normally, we would target to come back on Saturday, but 3-6 foot waves are not something that we would cross in.   If we were alone it would be different and we would risk something like that, but with 2 small boys and 2 dogs, one of which doesn't necessarily like boating all that much, 6 foot waves on Michigan would be treacherous.

So what to do???   After much deliberation, and due to the extreme heat we decided that Monday would be a day at the pool and that bright and early Tuesday we would head to Milwaukee.   Once there we could find plenty to do, such as a Milwaukee Brewer game, the children's museum or just hanging out at their beach and enjoying their parks and restaurants.  At 3AM Paul woke me up and told me that he was putting the canvas on the back due to rain, at 5AM, like clockwork the dogs woke me up for their morning potty break, then at 6AM it was a wake up call from Paul.   Apparently huge storms were due to go through Milwaukee, it was either leave now or never.  After much review of the various weather stations we monitor, it looked like that if we went to Milwaukee that we would spend the day in rain, with additional rain scheduled for the remainder of the week.  




So we did what we seem to do best, chase the sunshine!   We loaded up the trailer and headed north, up to Sturgeon Bay where we decided that if we couldn't cross then why not go to a place that had more options where at least we would be less dependant on the wind.    We packed up the boat in record time and were off, trying to beat the rain that was on it's way to Sheboygan.   In a few short hours we arrived in Sturgeon Bay and then quickly put the boat back together.  We called around to see if we could get a deal for keeping our boat somewhere for the remainder of July/August, and yet to find a place that is cost effective for us.  

For those of you that know me, I am a control freak and not having a plan is quite challenging for me, however, I woke this morning and decided that whatever the day would bring I would just go with it.   One thing that Paul always wanted to do was stay on the hook.   Since we didn't have a plan, or a slip at this point, we decided that we would head to horseshoe island and try our first night without being in a marina.  Once we arrived, we looked at the wind forecast and found yet again it was not in our favor.   Horseshoe island is protected by all winds except for from the south east.  You guessed it, winds were scheduled out of the east south east, and rain was scheduled.  After enjoying some time swimming and soaking up some sun at Nicolet Bay we decided we would have to wait staying on the hook due to the wind and rain.  We called and found a slip at Alibi Marina in Fish Creek.  

After what seemed like a completely exhausting day, I would have never guessed that I would be blogging from Fish Creek, but alas it was a beautiful day and I am always happiest when with my family!

Day 3 - Exploring and Beach Day in Sheboygan

Due to some unforeseen circumstances we are forced to stay in Sheboygan until at least Monday.  In the morning we made breakfast on the boat again and did some shopping.  We had to pick up some supplies and found a local Walmart.  On the way back we decided to try out a pizza place that was mentioned to us by some permanent boaters here.  The place was called Fay's Pizza and was very good. I would defiantly recommend it.

We spent the rest of the day playing on the beach and enjoying the waves. Around noon we prepared the dinghy for the trip over to the beach. The wave height was about 2 - 3 footers, and with four people and a boat full of beach items we were bouncing and splashing around pretty good. In fact on our way back it seemed to be worse as we caught air in the dinghy a couple of times.

  Peyton immediately jumped in as we came into the beach.  After he went in the water he helped me pull the boat to shore.  Susan and I pulled it up to the beach, which means picking it up and carrying it being careful not to drag it on the sand.  After getting the boat up onto the shore we decided that we need a hard bottom dinghy verses the inflatable bottom we have, then we would not have to be so careful.  The dinghy also has a 9.9 horse older Johnson on it, so it is pretty heavy. Picking up is necessary because repeated abuse from the sand could cause leaking over time.Once at the beach the kids had a good time. Peyton and Pierce enjoyed the waves and swimming in the lake.

After the beach we decided to go to town and check out two bars in town.  The 8th Street Ale Haus was our first stop.  This place was quite nice, 30 tap beers and great service.  They also had a full service restaurant as well. We should have eaten there, but I wanted to check out the original Legend Larry's.  The wing sauce here is award winning and world famous.  The National Buffalo Wing event has awarded Legend Larry's sauces year over year.  The wing eating contest has used their sauce for the wing eating contest in Buffalo NY for a few years in a row now.  One of my friends from college has married into the family and started his own bar in Green Bay.  I have to admit I was not impressed at all with the wings here in Sheboygan. They were not meaty at all (much better wings in GB I must say).

The weather this week is not the greatest for crossing. The wind direction continues to switch and it is very windy.  We will have to figure out what to do.  If we do not go across we will be going north or south; not sure yet, but only time will tell I guess.

Sheboygan or Bust!

This year we are starting out behind schedule as usual. My mother retired this week and had a party Thursday night! We are so happy for my parents; can't wait to see what adventures they go on now.... So anyway that limited our pre-packing to be all set to go on Friday. My plans on Friday were delayed by a group of friends from college days.  One I have not seen in about 5 years was in town. However, I did ask for some help after we hung out for awhile. My friends were able to get me back on track after a short bit.

The drive here was great until we got into town and the mapping system sent us down some residential roads. The route was lined with low hanging trees, so low that they hit the windshield on the boat. This caused a big mess, as the tree breaks up and falls into the boat. We did not leave Neenah until shortly after 6pm. After fueling the boat in Sheboygan at a station with pure gas(only took three stops to find one, thanks Qwik Trip, we did not arrive until 8pm.

Once at the launch at Skipper Buds - Harbor Center Marina things went realitivly well. Susan got a jump on putting things back together while I figured out what to do with truck, trailer and launch the dingy. The marina is very nice and the river walk here is very pretty. Tomorrow we will have explore as tonight we need some rest as we did not have everything in order until after 11pm.

Google map of trips

Cruising Lake Michigan. Here is the map as promised. The 2010 is in blue and 2011 is in red.  According to the GPS we did 287.5 this year.


View Lake Mi Trips in a larger map

Day 7: A day of disappointments...

Radar is a wonderful thing. We cuirsed about 50 or 60 miles up the east shore from Ludington to Frankfort and had at times less than a few hundred feet of visibility. It turned out my radar has worked on the entire trip.  It’s crazy this is actually working now, but I can say I will never recommend Raymarine to anyone. I do not think it is worth the hype and Raymarine needs to do some work to get me back on their good side.

Day 6: Why is it so hard to find fresh salmon?

Well, the day started out fine, but the rain was just a couple hours away. We spent the day reading and washing. We washed clothes and read books in the Harbor View club house. I did a quick video of the club house when we arrived the day before(click here to watch) During this time I also took my bike to a shop nearby for some repairs. Beyond the sketchy roads to the fish place susan mentioned, I also had some major issues with my bike. $85 later my bike was back to normal. After the laundry and showers, Peyton and I went to the Jamestown brew pub to let susan put Pierce down for a nap (he was being unruly).

After that, I was restless and decided that if two cities and at least six people told me to go to Bortell's I better try it out.

Day 3: Manistee....no Pentwater

At the last moment as we were heading down the channel out of Sturgeon Bay Scott radioed and said "what do you think of going across to Pentwater first?". Not ever being that far south, and lake Michigan looking good we decided why not, and went across to Pentwater. This was a surprise to me, as I was certain Susan would not want to cruise that far. She really has her hands full with the kids and dogs. The dogs both did ok Appa was scared most of the three hour ride (tour)...just realized the parody to Gilligan's Island.

Scott said this was the longest Lake Michigan crossing he has done with a continuous heading. The weather coming in was a little ominous. It looked like it was raining south of here and later during the day we did get a few rain drops; when I say few I mean you could count them. Before the rain we did make it out to walk through town. We stopped at Cosmic Candy for ice cream and a wine store for some wine.  I got a local Pinot Griot and a nice Ferrari Carano Cabernet. We plan on sharing the local tonight and have the cab with dinner tomorrow night.  

After returning from our walk and arguing with the kids about who gets to push the stroller among other things, Susan had enough of the boys whining, screaming and not sharing and told them "this is the last time on a Michigan trip, I have had enough...!". At this point we separated the boys, so Peyton thought it would be a good time to try some fishing. It was unproductive for fish, but it let the two of them have a break and let Susan regroup. After Peyton gave up on the fish he and I went for a dinghy ride around Pentwater lake. The boys like to push us to or limits. It is definitely manic how we have such highs and lows.

Tomorrow we will be going to the beach and hopefully have a great day. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate.

Destination: Manistee MI

It has been decided. We are going to Manistee Michigan on our trip this year. I know prior to this we were heading north and it was dictated by our oldest, but we decided just to get back to Wisconsin on the following Friday to make it easier on all. We will drop him with his mom and step dad as they are driving around back to lower MI. Lake Michigan vacations are all about being agile and having the flexibility to change for a verity of reasons.

Manistee Michigan really looks like a nice little spot. We plan on making that our home port and do day trips to close cities. Having the dinghy with the motor is going to be very nice so we can explore the inland lake as well. I am looking forward to taking the kids on the S.S. Milwaukee tour. From what I have read it is a very nice tour and a great look back in maritime history. The plan at the end of the week is to head north to Frankfort, MI, and cross back on Friday. Jacobsen marina in Frankfort has been in our trip every year so far. It is comfortable, we really enjoy the convenience of the town and the short crossing back to WI. Although, going to Manistee from Sturgeon Bay really only adds 10 miles or so.

The final weekend on our trip, after dropping off our oldest, we plan to hook up with some friends who could not make it out with us on Lake Winnebago a few weekends ago due to a family member with cancer was not doing well. We hope the weather is nice and we can entertain them in Sturgeon Bay. Lord knows they need it after the long struggle of watching a close family member lose their battle with cancer.