Overnight we had 2 rain showers come through, lasting about 30 minutes each. When we got up, the skies were still cloudy, but the rain had ended. We have a sailing charter scheduled for 6-8 PM tonight with Bob’s brother, Chris, and his wife, Dawn who now live in Port Charlotte, FL but are vacationing in Suamico (near Green Bay), WI. They are big sailors, so they suggested we charter a sailboat together, with a captain, of course. If the weather holds out it should be fun. Today we decided to go to Egg Harbor Marina and walk around town. The sun finally came out and we headed out to Egg Harbor. Our first stop was the City Marina.
The city did a fabulous job of updating the marina with nice gathering areas for the boaters and putting in a new breakwater and pedestrian walkway.
We walked out to the end of the breakwater to see all the new slips that were added to the Marina.
This new marina statue of a mariner was added.
We walked on the gas dock which is part of the original structure and where we used to dock our boat along this wall when we visited Egg Harbor by water.
From there, we got a better look at this Cigarette boat with 5-400hp racing Mercury engines on the back. There was hardly room on the transom for them all.
After leaving the marina, we found a parking spot on the street and took a walk around town, looking to see what we remembered and what was new.
There was a small group of vendors in Harbor View Park at the top of the hill above the marina selling their wares.
From that vantage point, we got a great view of the marina down below.
We browsed some shops and went back to the Jeep.
Bob wanted to take Highway EE to Bailey’s Harbor on the other side of the peninsula where we would be camping next. That was the road the GPS said to take and he wanted to be sure it was a good route for us. He also wanted to see the campsite we were assigned for our stay there just so we wouldn’t have any surprises. Everything looked good. On the way back to our campground, we took Highway F through Fish Creek just to get a quick preview before our more thorough visit in the days to come. The town was busy with tourists.
We saw people enjoying the beach in town.
We saw some new businesses and some familiar ones.
We made one last stop at Wood Orchard Market on our way back to see what looked good. Door County cherries are in season.
We got back to the campground around 2:00 and sat outside with Auggie. The sun was out and there was a nice breeze. We left again at 3:00 to head out for our sailing charter with a quick stop at the Quarterdeck Marina in Sturgeon Bay to see Patty and Paul on their boat, Dawn. It is appropriately named “Dawn” because it’s a Willard trawler, top speed 7 mph, and you have to get up at the crack of dawn to get anywhere. We crossed the Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal and it was very hazy looking down the channel.
We pulled into the Quarterdeck Marina and noticed what nice improvements they made to the landscaping and buildings.
This commercial fishing tug was sitting in the storage yard never getting into the water this season.
We spotted Dawn sitting near the end of “B” dock.
We took the long walk out to their boat at the end of the pier.
They were waiting for us.
We sat and visited for a short time before saying our goodbyes.
After a quick visit with them, we drove about 40 miles out to Little Sturgeon Bay and met up with Chris and Dawn. The plan was to have an early dinner at 4:30 before our cruise at 6:00. We met them at Wave Pointe Marina in Little Sturgeon Bay.
The wind had picked up quite a bit since we left the campground and it seemed like it was going to be a “sporty ride” as they say. The captain and his wife, Suzie, gave us the option of going on the cruise earlier and eating afterwards in case the winds get worse later. Since none of us wanted to deal with an upset stomach and possibly what might follow, we opted to go cruising first and eat dinner after. We met our captain and his wife, Suzie, at their new boat, a 39′ Sun Odyssey called Leah Helen.
We introduced ourselves and got aboard.
After a tour of the boat, a lesson on how to use the head, and where to find the life jackets, they threw off the lines and we got underway.
We pulled away from the marina and motored out into Green Bay. Once we got into the open water and into the wind they raised the sails.
Sailing near the shore, the winds were lighter. Farther out in the Bay we picked up more wind. We got up to 9 knots which is really moving. Then we started to heel over to one side…my side of the boat. How exciting!
This was a dual helm boat, and at times Chris took the helm.
Bob even touched the helm for a minute to test it out (and he knows how to sail), but he and I were content to relax and enjoy the voyage.
It was a beautiful night with a perfect temperature and enough wind for a very exciting sail at times.
The boat was very comfortable and so quiet. We enjoyed our time in good conversation and learning a little about sailing. Suzie offered to take some group pictures before turning back. The sunlight was shimmering on the water and made for a perfect backdrop.
She had us move to the other side of the boat to get the shoreline cliffs in the background of our pictures.
The coast was lined with cliffs and beautiful homes sitting on the rocky bluffs.
Bob noticed these little “doors” in the cliffs. We wondered if they were man-made or natural.
The ride back was against the waves, but the boat sliced through the waves with ease. The sun put a warm glow on everything.
We arrived back at the dock a little after 7:00. We had a wonderful sail on a beautiful night.
Thanks Chris and Dawn for putting this cruise together for us. The 4 of us went into the restaurant, Gilmos Bistro, and had a nice dinner. Three of us had perch fish fries and Dawn had a pizza. I had the largest Old Fashioned I have ever seen. It was so good!
We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. The next time we would see Chris and Dawn would probably be this fall in Florida. We left there around 8:45 and made the drive back to the campground as the sun set and the moon rose.
Auggie was excited to see us and he was hungry! It was past his dinnertime. He gulped down his dinner and we went for our walk in the dark. We watched a little TV before calling it a night. It was a quiet end to a wonderful day on the water! Any day on the water is a great day!