Once again we ventured north to the beautiful Door County area. The weather provided us with many varied sailing experiences.
 |
| Just launched in Egg Harbor |
On Thursday we headed out for a shake-down cruise. Our friends beat us there and were ready to cast off. We quickly rigged and dunked at the Egg Harbor Marina. Winds were light, but steady. We didn't really have a destination, so we headed out toward Chambers Island about four miles and when the winds quit entirely, we motored back to the marina.
Oh shucks, we'll have to find someplace to go for supper. We decided to be adventuresome and tried Parador which is a restaurant that specializes in tapas (appetizers). They serve them much the same way as a Japanese hibachi grill. Your table picks several dishes to try and the plates are brought out for "family style" serving. Every few minutes another dish arrives. This was something entirely new to us and took some getting used to, but in the end we ended up loving it. We were adventurous and tried several new entrees. We were never disappointed! We'll have to try that again.
 |
| Jim and Joni's Hunter 235 |
For desert we went to the Chocolate Chicken for some ice cream. This store is just around the corner from the marina, so they saw us several times over the weekend. On our way back to the dock we were pleased to see that a band was setting up on the hill overlooking the marina. We pulled out our lawn chairs, sweatshirts and blankets (and of course Drambuie) and settled in for a relaxing evening of conversation with great music in the background. We even shared a slow dance on the dock. How romantic!
 |
| Brenda and Joni at Egg Harbor Marina |
 |
| Wrinkles and her friend the Hunter 235 |
Friday looked like good winds, so we skipped the out for breakfast routine and had Brenda's coffee cake instead as we unfurled the sails and took off early. The plan was to go NNE to Fish Creek for lunch and maybe some shopping. What a ride it was! The winds were steady, but not strong. The waves were large enough to create a really fun ride! It was like being on a roller coaster - first we went up and down, then we went side to side followed by both at once.
Note to fellow sailors, the dockmaster at Fish Creek did not answer hails on Channel 16 or 9, you have to use Channel 12. There were two short term (two-hour) parking spots so we tied off and headed into town for lunch at Cooper's. Mike was very impressed with the bar - second story open air. After lunch we met our son's girlfriend's mom for the first time. They live in Door County and had a Hunter 35 that they lived aboard for several summers. After a fun visit with Kay on Wrinkles, our" parking meter" was running out, so we cast of the lines, hoisted our sails and headed back to Egg Harbor after a near miss with an inattentive overtaking sailboat.
 |
| Fish Creek Municipal Dock |
Then the fun sail began. The winds picked up, the waves were larger and more consistent, and we clipped along at about 5.9 knots with one reef in the main and three or four turns on the headsail furler. We worried about our sailing partners as Joni's idea of sailing is flat water with the motor running. We were pleasantly surprised when we returned to dock to find that she had enjoyed the rocky sail. Go Joni!!!
Back on land our partner boat asked us if we wanted to go to Kitty's in Sturgeon Bay. Kitty's????? That doesn't sound very family friendly! Turns out it is Kitty O'Riley's, a restaurant and bar. We found a table outside with a gas log fire in the center. Perfect, since the temperature was falling rapidly. The food was great and their bread pudding was ...oh baby!!!!! It was big enough for all four of us to fill up. Believe it or not, next we were off to the Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club for an Elvis impersonator show. Evidently Elvis has left the building. What we actually attended was a one-man band playing who knows what. He did have dark hair kind of like Elvis, but the similarities ended there. He didn't look, sing, act or dance like Elvis. He actually sat on a stool the whole time. Joni commented that all he needed was neck bolts and he would resemble Herman Munster. Oh well, Brenda got a slow dance with Mike.
Back to the docks for another round of chatting and Drambuie while admiring the big, BIG boats.
From the looks of the boats that kept docking up for fuel, our economy is doing well. We heard one skipper say, "I'll still need another 100 gallons." One after another these million dollar yachts came in to fill up. We saw a tanker truck deliver fuel to the dock on both Saturday and Sunday. We laughed as we noted that the gas pump handle wouldn't even fit in our 3 1/2 gallon gas tanks.
Jim posted a similar photo on Facebook with the caption, "When four 350 HP outboards just isn't quite enough."
Saturday arrived with no wind which worked out well since it was Marina Days. We stayed in the marina eating coffee cake, coffee and tea while watching the small boat and regular boats race with no wind. Kiddie fishing contest -Lunch at Fred and Fuzzy's and then later that evening we drove north again for a fabulous dinner at the Shoreline restaurant in Gill's Rock (that is the very tip of the "thumb" on Wisconsin's "glove"). We had eaten here last year and raved about the presentation and quality of the food. We had to return. We were treated once again to meals that were as much art as they were mouth-watering. We timed our visit to coincide with the sunset. The view from Gill's Rock is beautiful during the day and breath-taking when the sun is setting. So don't miss The Shoreline if you are ever in this area. It is well worth the drive!!!! Despite the fact that we were stuffed to the gills, Joni still needed her ice cream fix. We thought about Door County Ice Cream in Ellison Bay, but that was too soon. We drove on toward Ephriam and world famous Wilson's Ice Cream, but the line was about an hour long. Good thing - we were still full. So it was back to Egg Harbor and our nightly visit to the Chocolate Chicken for ice cream and hot chocolate.
 |
| Fred and Fuzzy's |
 |
| Dinner at the Shoreline Restaurant |
 |
| Pecan Encrusted Walleye |
 |
| Sunset view at the Shoreline |
Sunday morning we went out for breakfast at The Bistro and then Jim and Joni headed home thinking there was no wind again. We said we wanted to just bob in the water, even if we wouldn't be able to raise the sails. Very glad we chose to stay. The winds picked up to a steady 8-10 on a beam reach. We were able to play with our navigation skills as we headed over to Chamber's Island which is 7 miles off shore. Our goal was to circumnavigate the island, but the winds were not cooperating. They died down and we headed back to the marina. Just then, the winds picked up again and we had a brisk 5.9 knot sail that had us both grinning from ear to ear. We commented that it would be much easier to end our weekend and pull the boat after a sail like that.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment