On the Hook - High Cliff State Park

It was decided late in the evening to run over to High Cliff State Park for a night on the hook. For Susan and I it was our first attempt at this. The same for our friends Scott and Jill who accompanied us in their Regal 2760. Our largest barrier to doing in the past is the hassle we have with two dogs requiring the land to do "their business".

When we made the decision after dinner to do it, Scott and I needed to run back my house to grab the dinghy. Susan and I normally do not leave our dinghy on the boat when we are on Lake Winnebago. There is really no real benefit from having a dinghy on this lake, however, getting the dogs to and from land when anchored it was a must. The dinghy ended up working great and everyone used it to entertain the kids as well as getting Scott and his wife back and forth for their ritual morning runs.

We really lucked out with the weather which was the driving factor for doing this, especially so last minute. Scott and I had talked about it during the week, however, I was having difficulty convincing Susan because she did not want to hassle with the dogs. It turned out the night could not have been better for anchoring. There was absolutely no wind that night and throughout the following day it continued to be eerily calm. 

The area is so beautiful, it is the largest natural shoreline on the lake about three miles of uninterrupted natural shoreline. We woke in the morning to cook breakfast for the entire crew as Scott and Jill are not equipped with a generator. Susan and I were more then happy to cook as they took care of dinner on the dock the night before. While Scott took the kids out on the dinghy he was able to get some great shots of our boats tied up.  

We had both a great evening and morning and all agreed to do this more often. The only downside of this trip was Scott and Jill needed to cut the weekend short. They needed to leave early Saturday afternoon to get their oldest to a Girl Scout Camp and to attend a party at Jill's mother's place for Manitowoc county's annual fly-in airshow.

So many boaters are fearful of anchoring out from the horror stories that many tell.  Many include scary nights on the hook from either storms or tide. Scott and I agreed we really have nothing to worry about and should not over complicate things. We do not have extreme tide effects, being an inland lake, and storms were not going to be an issue this particular night. Even having that security, we did use our Drag Queen app on the iPhone. This is actually a great app as you always have your phone near by and it really never gets turned off. At least my never does...

Day 8, 9 & 10 - Sturgeon Bay

Another vacation is in the bag and we have decided to keep our boat in Sturgeon Bay for the Month of Aug.  With the weather we have seen this summer it is probably best. Lake Winnebago has been unbelievably green with algae.  The lack of rain and hot temps has spoiled the lake.

On Saturday we started out struggling with the boys and are contemplating a slight change for next years vacation.  Our plan is to have a long weekend with the kids and then have our crossing trip just Susan and I next year.  We have decided it is just not fun to have the stress for that long.  Maybe it is the cramped quarters I don't know what it is, but we agree it may be best to shorten it until they are a bit older.

The rest of the day went well.  We spent it by the pool and had fun with the boys.  It helped that Pierce found a 12 year old girl that was an awesome playmate.  She and her younger brother who was 3 and they all had a lot of fun.  Peyton had some other kids on and off that he played with, and Susan and I would get in the mix when we would get too hot sitting poolside.

On Sunday we got up late cleaned the boat and decide to go home after having a meal at Mel's. Mel's Place was a greatnew find for breakfast. It is located right across the street from Centerpointe marina. I had the best salmon eggs benedict.  It was severed perfectly and had quite a kick to it as the hollandaise sauce was fused with many spices as well as jalapenos. The kids enjoyed french toast that Mel should win an award for.  Peyton had the normal serving and Pierce did the kids version.  Each dish had it's own twist.  Neither boy could finish.  Peyton was convinced he should get the normal serving as he has bad luck with the last few places.  He seemed to come away hungry all week; not at Mel's Place though. Everything here was fantastic! Their service was a bit slow, however, we gave them some leeway, because they were getting slammed.  We also over heard a cook called in sick.  The food made up for the time we had to wait and we sat outside on a gorgeous day.  I am excited to go back and try more of the menu.

We will be back to Centerpointe for the next few weekends and look forward to enjoying door county some more and possibly even staying on the hook some night. Until next time~bye~

Getting ready to splash!

Always Starboard came home this morning! The day was spent bottom painting.  This was the first time I have attempted to do this task.  Actually, not as bad as I thought.  I was planning on having this done professionally this spring and called around last fall to get an idea of the cost and details.  It ranged from $850 - 2,500!  We had worked out that the bottom paint and some fiberglass repair at the same shop and had planned on calling him up this spring.  Well, this did not happen, and it was mainly due to moving recently.  Over the winter we sold our house and moved in to a new place at the end of March. Needless to say we have had plenty of miscellaneous expense and have plans for some cosmetic updates through-out the house, so money is tight.  This job was physically strenuous, but I do not think at my age and physical condition is worth having someone else do it for even $800.  It took my about 4 hrs. Granted I did not get all the way under the boat, but it was good enough for what we wanted.  Maybe I will find some jack stands so that I can do it off the trailer some time.

Last season before putting her away I did perform the impeller repair and thank goodness I did not put this out any further. They were toast.  About half the blades were missing or damaged.  I replaced both without incident. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the winterization. I had one mess up.  I pulled the wrong plug on my generator.  This was not the first time I had done this, however, as soon as the fluid released I realized what I had done.  In my urgency to replace the plug to avoid all the antifreeze leaving the cooler and reservoir I dropped the plug in an attempt to thread it back in. I quickly bent into multiple contortions trying to locate the plug in the bilge, but failed to find the damn thing before all the fluid had drained.  I then spent hours attempting to find it and was not successful.  I will be ordering the plug tomorrow.

I purchased one new battery (one of four).  I hope this was not a bad idea to only to replace the one and not as a pair.  Only time will tell.  I just have to put the batteries in and put her in the water.  Launching it can be a task in itself as I need to put up the radar dome and put up all the canvas so we may just be waiting until next weekend.  Oh almost forgot...I don't think I filled up before we put her away....this will be a treat to fill up at fuel cost over $4.00 a gallon at the local stations.  Cant wait to see what the no ethanol on water prices are!

Neenah

I love staying in Neenah!

I have said it, and have witnessed others state it...if I came across this city on lake MI I would love it, and it may be a favorite.

This little city with shattuck park, the public library, walk through fountain, downtown and first class national recognized hospital all within a few steps is amazing. Tomorrow we will wake up to a farmers market outside our dock. We will walk maybe one hundred steps downtown (i will count tomorrow) and hit the coffee shop and bread store for a iced intelligenceia americano and a cinnamon roll to die for. On our way back from downtown we will grab some fresh egg rolls and fresh vegetables for the weekend and will be off for our weekend on the lake. We will go to another spot where we can have a camp fire, but it will not be as nice as what we have at home. The only reason we leave is to make sure the boat runs!;-)

Happy independence America!

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