We're back form Door County, what a great trip. Spent first 3 days at a friend's place on the water, very nice time. We put Serenity in at Egg Harbor on Monday and sailed down SLOWLY. Only 4 miles or so, but what little winds there were came from the exact direction we needed to go. So it was way out into the bay and back. Winds built nicely once we made our tack so the last 1/3 of the trip was actually enjoyable. Our friends have a great cement pier and breakwall made of stacked boulders, so she was fortunately very protected while docked. This was hugely important since the winds that were building behind us for the last 1/3 of the trip down were the leading edge of a very strong thunderstorm. Truth be told I never saw it building as it was behind us to the NE and my gaze was fixed on the shore in the distance by this point. As we disembarked someone at the dock said "Looks like you timed it perfectly". Um yeah, sure I did...
No winds whatsoever on Tuesday, but a few diehards had to have a shot at a sail so we had an early evening sail with a few friends before dinner - again little wind, but nice.
Wednesday everyone was departing back for Chicago, except us (to me this leg of the trip is where the real fun was to begin!) We brought the car back to the marina in Egg Harbor so it would be waiting for us when we arrived at the marina on the boat. Then it was back to the house to clean up, load the boat, say our good-byes to our hosts, then board our boat and head back up to Egg Harbor, with my wife and 2 girls (11 and 8). Light winds at first (kids were swimming along side faster than I was sailing at one point), but they filled in very well after a bit and pushed us right back to the Egg Harbor marina - in about 1/2 the time it took to come down. By the time we reached the bay the winds were strong and flukey! I looked at one flag that stood pointing to the NE, and at the same time another across the bay stood pointing due West. It was a little tricky getting in, but we managed well, dropped sails and motored to the ramp. Loaded Serenity on the trailer (sans battens! ...more on that later) and drove up to Ephraim (with a stop in Fish Creek for ice cream, of course!)
Arrived in Ephraim late afternoon Wednesday - rigged and launched at the ramp then took our place at the transient slip. At that point it was off to dinner then back to the marina for lounging, reading and first night aboard Serenity. All were in good spirits and nice to have just the 4 of us together after several days of the larger crowd at our friends place.
It was decided that Thursday would be the big sail adventure to Horseshoe island - only 3 miles or so into the bay - but with our first overnight at anchor in the cove at the south end of the island. As we prepared for departure we realized no battens! 45 minute roundtrip drive back down to Egg Harbor, retrieve the battens and return to Ephraim. Finally, we headed out in a pretty stiff S/SW wind (10-15 kts.). Ephraim sits east of Peninsula State Park (named both for the Door County peninsula, as well as the fact that it is a peninsula itself).
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ephraim,+Wi&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.052328,78.837891&ie=UTF8&ll=45.170783,-87.190847&spn=0.032252,0.07699&t=h&z=14After motoring into the bay and raising sails, I quickly realized we'd be on a run for the first 1/2, then it should be a port side broad reach to the island. That was mostly the case, except for wind shifts off the cliff of the park. Coming off the cliff they would die and come up quite unexpectedly, but all in all pretty manageable. Only a couple hairy moments when I didn't know what the wind would do and ended up with a jibe or 2. We reached the cove, and took our place among 3 other boats. One of which, very pretty, had to be a 40 footer, one large motor boat cruiser tied off on the only "dock" and the other a small speedboat from which a family and kids were swimming and playing, for just a bit. We anchored in about 10 feet of water, with our stern about 20 yards from the shore.
The better anchorage would have been across the strait in Nicolet Bay (part of the State Park) as the winds were from the due south, and therefore the bay was quite protected. Crew disagreed as they really wanted to be anchored off the island, so the captain was over ruled - so it was agreed we'd spend the night at anchor pointed into a consistent southerly breeze. Time for a swim, some reading and some island exploration. REALLY rugged terrain, but beautiful! It took about 45 minutes to hike the island loop trail, kids loved the adventure and exploring! After cleaning up (bathing in the cove) it was time to fire up the Coleman single burner camp stove to boil water for some freeze dried food. All in all, tasty enough and more importantly it was hot (and not another meal of lunch meat, which had been the fare for lunch most of the preceding days). The stars were beautiful, we got to see a bit of the Perseid Meteor Shower, and boy does it get dark! Some chatter in the dark before falling to sleep, then just quiet and the sound small waves running up the rocks. A great evening.
Woke EARLY and read in the cockpit while the rest of the family slept down below. Once they were up up it was time for coffee and cereal on the boat. I can't say enough about the little Coleman stove and having steeped French press coffee on board! Of course, after coffee I took an early swim and hike. On my way back, I could see thunderheads building NW, and by the time I swam the 20 yards back I Realized this was happening quickly. So we pulled up anchor and motored out and no sooner had we exited the cove when thunder and rain started. Motored back to Ephraim in a driving rain, arrived soaking wet to wait out the storm. Although from the radar in the harbormaster's office it looked as if it would pass in an hour or so, it remained cloudy and rainy much of the day. So a little land-based exploration and a few hours of fishing off the dock at the marina for some, and napping for others. Then it was out for dinner and a play. The American Folklore Theatre is located within the state park and the put on some very entertaining productions. We caught (pun intended) a show called Muskie Love - a contemporary take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, but with deep connection to Wisconsin's northwoods, fishing camps and the Packers. I underestimated it going in, but was really entertained! Then back to Ephraim after the play for our last night aboard.
By Saturday morning (actually Friday afternoon / evening) it was clear by our kids' behavior they were ready to wrap up this little adventure. As you can imagine when they're getting restless it affects everyone. So Saturday morning we were ready pack up shortly after waking and having coffee. I woke VERY early once again and fished on the piers for a bit while waiting for everyone else to rise. Once everyone was up I brewed another caraffe of French press coffee, which is exactly what was needed to get the blood flowing and renew the sailing interest. As we sat and drank coffee my wife says, "...seems silly to not sail this morning since we're all rigged up, right?"
Right!
Surprisingly, the girls were up for it as well, I think everyone looked at is as a bit of a farewell. And what a sail it was! Winds were predicted at 10 - 15, and were every bit of and more. We again motored out and raised the sails, but this time I had a better understanding for the wind and the correct positioning relative to promontory, so I was able to head further north this time to cross to the island on a reach. Talk about heart pounding, we were screaming along! The kids called out readings from the GPS and we topped 6 kts. on several occasions and flew along at hull speed for extended stretches. Once we were reaching the end of strait with Nicolet Bay and the state park to the south and Horshoe Island to the north, I decided it was time to come about. We did a 180 tack and went racing back! I heard a 6.5 or 6.6 called out from the crew at times on this tack, but once back inside the bay down to high 4's (which on Wednesday grabbed my attention, but now just seemed somewhat mellow)
Once back in the harbor it was obvious we all had more spring in our step enjoyed the de-rigging and were very satisfied with our little family adventure!
There were so many lessons along the way that I will be noting at some point (e.g. remember all materials need to be accounted for after haul-out...like battens!; Periodically the centerboard gets overlooked due to other demands for attention - for example, when leaving on our overnight there was quite a bit of traffic and I was feeling like I wasn't able to make certain turns as well as I should, then realized the CB wasn't down nearly enough; GPS management - learned lots about how to properly use various GPS functions in order to record our tracks, etc.)
Can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks for reading.
Sean
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