Our last stop in Sturgeon Bay and Door County included a few days to wait out more winds/weather in anticipation of crossing back out to Lake Michigan (remember we've now been thoroughly sensitized to the history of shipwrecks of the Death's Door peninsula). Finally on a morning where the winds did not seem to really be relenting as much as we hoped, we called to a couple of the coastline towns ahead to get some feedback and heard that the Lake was about as calm as we should have expected. Casting off mid-day we made the short, safe run down to Kewaunee and then the next day to Manitowoc where we planned to spend time on land with Pat's side of the family at a beach house.
Our stay in Manitowoc is timed to coincide with attending the annual Sputnik Festival ("voted one of the five wackiest" by Readers Digest (are they still in business?)). As it turns out we're also around for the annual Kites over the Lake Festival in nearby Two Rivers.
During this time the winds/waves off the Lake and the FOG (OMG) make us glad we're tied up in a safe harbor. During the week plus time we're here we encounter other boaters/Loopers moving south and hear more than a few stories of safe, but "lumpy" passages (at one point the forecast for Lake Michigan includes gusts exceeding 30 knots and waves 7 - 13 ft!) and prepare ourselves for the eventual departure and journey down the remainder of The Lake to Chicago.
On the way south we pass the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant, decommissioned in 2013 due to falling energy prices.
The town of Kewaunee has a WWII tug that is a national historic landmark! The Ludington ferried barges back and forth across the English Channel during the invasion of Normandy (how dangerous was that!).
Happy Happy berthed next to yet another classic wood beauty, mmmmmmmmm!
Of course all you motorheads know what a Rat Rod is
Entering the breakwater at Manitowoc we encounter the Badger, a car ferry that makes daily runs across Lake Michigan to Ludington even in winter accompanied by an icebreaker!
Can you imagine encountering the Badger in the fog..........................................
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is in Manitowoc which became famous during WWII for building 28 submarines
The forward torpedo room of the Cobia, tied up at the museum. There are 8 bunks over/under the torpedos
One of 4 "heads" on the Cobia which carried a crew of 70. One was only for the captain and another was only for the 6 officers........... do the math
Of course for every beautiful boat, there's another story about shipwrecks
The Kites Over Lake Michigan festival
So yeah Axe Throwing and 20 craft beers.............notice who the neighbor is...........
Our time in Manitowoc included attending the annual Sputnik Festival................... space the final frontier!
The metal ring in the ground marking the place where part of Sputnik crashed back to earth
Of course attending Sputnik Fest would not be appropriate without staying in The Dome House
