Memories

Leland is a historic town also known as fishtown. It is now very touristy. When Bev was pre-teen, her family pulled into Leland one night after a long trip crossing Lake Michigan. There was no large protected harbor like there is now. There were 5x10 platforms on the river where the great lake fish boats used as their base. The great lake fish boats would fish for white fish or walleye and perch. Now days, there is a full-fledged county marina complete with historic fishtown restaurants, ice cream and sport fish tours. We left fishtown at dawn for Washington Island on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan. Washington Island was one of the lower mileage lake crossing options at 55.6 nautical miles.

We passed between North and South Manitou Islands then West Northwest to Washington Island. We were curious what Manitou meant so a quick look up with Dr. Google found that Manitou is a supernatural force for good or evil that permeates the world. There are shoals and rocks littered around the islands with plenty of marked wrecks on the chart. The bad Manitou must have been prominent in the past. We had the good Manitou present. We travel at 7 to 8 knots, so it was a long day. We landed at our marina on Washington Island. There were bicycle, electric bicycle and ATV rentals near our marina. We did not rent anything as we were tired from our long day of cruising. We had reservations at Fayette, a Michigan State Park in the upper peninsula, north of Washington Island Wisconsin the next day.

Fayette is a historical pig iron foundry and company town. Michigan took it over, cleaned it up and created fancy docks. It doesn’t look the same as it was 60 years ago. We wandered about the company town, ate ice cream, and took a tour of the pig iron smelter. During the tour we learned how iron was made in the 1860’s. They would make their own charcoal from trees that they basicaly cooked using a low heat. Once the charcoal was made, they would mix crushed limestone with the local iron ore then smelt it at a high heat. The impurities in the iron ore would attach to the lime and float to the top of the heated iron where it would be removed. The remainder was pig iron that could be purified into iron, steel, etc. They created 100 pound bars for shipping to the big cities where it would be turned into other products. It really is an interesting park and shouldn’t be missed by anyone traveling in the area.

There was another American Tug in at Fayette when we arrived. It turned out to be one of the boats from the rendezvous we attended. We both were planning on heading south in Green Bay, so we decided to travel together. We left at 7:00 am the next morning. The wind had calmed down and there were beautiful shadows on the water.

It turned out we both were heading for Sister Bay, WI. Sister Bay is a tourist town with many activities such as swimming at beaches, sailboat tours and bicycle rentals. South of Sister Bay is Peninsula state park is located between Fish Creek and Ephriam. There is a pretty awesome golf course where one drives off a raised bluff to a green down below. In Sister Bay, there is the famous Al Johnsons restaurant where the roof is sodded and goats are used to “mow the lawn”. I kept checking their webcam for the goats but failed to see them. Look up Al Johnsons restaurant in Sister Bay and check out their webcams. Can you find the goats?

While in Sister Bay on Saturday August 9, the national weather service reported a thunderstorm approaching at 50 mph with winds to 60 mph. It hit us while we were tied to the dock. Water was blowing through the window seals. We had no control of the situation. We were tied to a dock, but it was not a good situation. Due to the location of the cleats on the dock, we had been using multiple spring lines to secure to the dock. At one point we were being held about 5 feet off the dock with our lines severely stretched, no way to pull the boat in against the wind, no way to get off. At least our lines held. Kevin went outside to check on some items on the back deck and the door went to the open position and latched itself. Torrential rain blew three feet into the cabin. Finally, after two tries, Kevin unlatched the door and pulled it shut. We had a heater running to help dry out the carpet. Two boats were out in the bay when the storm hit. It looked dicey for them, but, they were able to come in when the winds abated. The marina sent three dock hands out to the docks to help. Poor dock kids, they were soaked. An electric scooter that had been parked on the main dock was blown into the water. It took 5 people to get it out of the water. After fishing it out the rear taillight was still on. When we left the next day, some of our cleat hitches were so tight that Kevin had to work the knots for several minutes before they could be taken off the cleats. We agreed that it was probably the nastiest thunderstorm either of us had ever been through.

We left Sisters Bay for Chambers Island, a little detour on our way to Fish Creek, Wisc. About 5 miles out from Sister Bay we received a weather announcement on our phones: thunderstorm warning for Fish Creek. Oops, did they say thunderstorms? Yep . . . change course straight for Fish Creek and get tied up. We were a little freaked out by the thunderstorm that had hit us the prior evening and did not want to be caught out cruising in it. We got into our spot at Fish Creek without any weather issues. Fish Creek and Chambers Island have a lot of great memories for Bev of family vacations as a child. We would cruise our boat up to Fish Creek and use that as a base to go 8 miles out to Chambers Island where we would fish, swim and explore the island. As a kid, Fish Creek was wonderful with a putt putt golf, bicycle rentals and ice cream all near the marina. Score! Well, the putt putt golf has moved to a mile or so out of the waterfront district. It was sad seeing the empty lot. There are free bikes at the marina and the rental place has been converted to a small shopping district. At least, there is still plenty of ice cream to be had.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the Wisconsin fish boil that Bev’s parents took her to 50 plus years ago. There is a big black kettle like the one described in the fairy tale Hansel and Grettel. It sits in the middle of a burning fire.

The boil master puts red potatoes in a rack and puts them in the bottom of the big pot of boiling water. About 10 minute later he puts whole onions into the same pot to cook. Then, he gets pails of fresh white fish and puts the fish into a rack that will fit into the pot where the potatoes and onions are happily cooking. Near the end, he puts a rack of corn on the cobb on top to boil. The artistry comes from a can of kerosene. Yes, kerosene. You see the boil master walks near the fire, throws a coffee can worth of kerosene on the fire and yells boil over at the top of his lungs. Well, you can imagine how hot the fire becomes as it envelops the caldron of goodies you are yet to call dinner. You see, the oils from the fish rise to the top while cooking and the heat from the kerosene causes the oils to boil over the sides of the kettle. What comes out on your plate is perfectly cooked white fish, complete with bones, red potatoes, an onion and of course a corn on the cobb.

We left Fish Creek, Wisc, headed for Sturgeon Bay, the long way. As this section of our trip was kind of nostalgia trip for Bev, we couldn’t leave Chambers Island behind. Chambers Island has a horseshoe shaped cove on the north end of the island that is part of a nature preserve. Yes, there are a small number of houses on the island along with a long standing Catholic retreat, but, imagine what an entire empty beach would look like to a kid. Nirvana. Bev had not been back there in over 50 years. The beach was still empty and peaceful. This was Bev’s special place as good childhood memories came flooding back.