Door County - Day Four

The beautiful scenery at Peninsula State Park

Our sailing partners pulled out early so we had the day to play on own. After we helped them put their boat on the trailer, we headed back to Wrinkles and motored out through the channel.

The winds were lighter, but looked promising. We kept the reef in the main and went to full headsail until we figured out what the winds were going to do. We didn't really have a plan on where we wanted to go and since the winds would let us, we headed south toward Fish Creek and the Strawberry Islands. We had sailed into Fish Creek from Egg Harbor before, but this would be the first time we had come in from the North. There are small islands and numerous shoals in this are which required us to hone our dead reckoning skills while allowing us to play with the iNavX software on the the iPad.We also had our paper charts along for reference.  Mike preferred the iNavX and Brenda preferred the old fashioned paper method.

Screen shot from iNavX on iPad

The winds were dying so we switched back and forth from sailing to motor sailing. We passed close by the Number 6 bell buoy. We haven't sailed close to one of these kinds of buoys before so we had to stop, listen and video.You can see the shoals in the background of the picture below.

We turned to the West following the shoals toward Chambers Island enjoying the beautiful scenery. To our naked eye we could see what appeared to be white posts sticking up in the middle of the water. It looked like a dilapidated picket fence. Through our binoculars we could see that this was actually the birds standing ankle deep on rocks in the water. It was a pretty cool sight, but if someone wasn't using their charts, they could very easily take the bottom out of their boat! So take your charts with you if you are going to sail this area folks!

The shoals in the Strawberry Islands

We sailed between Chambers Island and the Strawberry Islands which consist of Adventure Island, Jack Island and Pirate Island. Two islands even had what appeared to be private residences. How cool would that be??!!

Lots of room to sail here!

We were zipping right along and then the winds died again. We bobbed along for awhile (thank goodness for the bimini). When the wind cooperated, we played around a little bit with the loose-footed set up on the mainsail. It seems like it should offer better sail shape. We are anxious to get our new sail to see what a difference it makes.

Beautiful view during one of the calms

It was hard to motor in, but after six hours of sailing and about 20 nm, we were ready to get Wrinkles loaded up and start our four hour drive home.

Motoring into Eagle Harbor and our marina

When we got back to the dock, there were boats coming and going. There was no holding area there, so we ended up just killing time in the three foot deep channel waiting for a gap to open up.  The mast-raising system continues to serve us well and draw a crowd of observers. Tear down went quickly and easily, but it was still hot. We took advantage of the showers at the marina before we hit the road.

Now you can see why we look forward to our Door County sailing trips. There is beautiful scenery, nice marinas, great sailing grounds, interesting boats to see, places to shop and eat, and maybe a bar or two. We will definitely return again next year.

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