PORT WASHINGTON: A QUEEN ANNE TOWN

August 30, 2011  Dateline: Port Washington, WI USA

As I pulled out of Sheboygan this morning at 8:30 AM (Rich and Carol are getting lazy in their old age.) I was hailed by Passport who was about a mile away.  Her owners recognized my gorgeous shape and asked where I was going.  They were going to Port Washington as well so we agreed to get together later in the day.  I had meet Passport in Frankfort, Michigan when we both were stuck for three days due to the strong winds on the lake.  They went to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin  with Oddysea when I went to Manistee, Michigan.  I arrived in Port Washington about 11:30 and Passport came in about 15 minutes later.

Port Washington is the oldest man made harbor in North America and has the largest concentration of pre-Civil War buildings in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Chair Company operated in the city from 1888 to 1954 and was its largest employer and employed one sixth of the people in the county.  The city also had a large fishing industry.  The Smith Brothers operated a  fishing business in the city, as the fishing died off ,they then opened a restaurant that only closed a few years ago.

There are many Queen Anne style buildings that were erected before the turn of the 20^th Century.  The Wilson Hotel Building was built in 1850 as a commercial building and was converted into a hotel between 1867 and 1875.  When the Wisconsin Chair Company burned in 1891 and nearly consumed the whole town the hotel served as the headquarters for all the fireman that came in to fight the blaze.  The first floor was changed over the years but the current owners have restored it to its “original” look.

The Michael Bink building was built in 1891.  The buildings first floor was originally a saloon and then became a funeral home.  If it was a funeral home during Prohibition, I would guess that people were dying to get a drink in the old saloon.

The Hoffman House Hotel was built in 1895.  It was billed as a “first class” hotel in every respect.  The building even had an “automobile terminal” on the side.

The Edward Dodge home was built in 1848 and is made out of beach stones.  A blacksmith by trade Smith and his wife gathered colored stones from the Lake and used them to make the colored bands that form the buildings walls.

Rich found this sign interesting, is it a warning to criminals or is to let citizens know they’re always open for business?  Something to ponder!!!

These stairs lead to a church at the top of the hill.  After climbing the stairs I wonder how many church goers stay awake during the service.

Tomorrow it’s off to Milwaukee, WI    

ANOTHER VICTORIAN TOWN

August 29, 2011  Dateline: Sheboygan, WI USA

I arrived in Sheboygan at 12:15 this afternoon, the wind had not picked up so the water was relatively flat and the ride was smooth.

Sheboygan, WI is like many towns on the Great Lakes. It once was an important fishing and transportation hub.  Now it is turning to tourism to drive its economic engine.  The river front has been rebuilt and there is a long Riverwalk on both sides of the river with shops and restaurants.  The main street is, however, quiet.

While walking along Rich & Carol saw this example of a land boat.  It was at what appeared to be an ex General Motors dealership that now survives repairing GM cars and selling used ones.

The architecture of the town is very interesting; here are pictures of some of the buildings.  They appear to be well maintained.

This fellow’s job certainly gets him up in the world. He must be sweeping a chimney that is 60 feet tall. Rich and Carol said they walked by again several hours later and he was still at it. That job must take forever.

This picture is of an early Burger boat.  The Lottie Cooper was a schooner used to haul lumber.  She was built in 1876 at the Rand and Burger ship yard in Manitowoc.  She sank in a gale wind just off the coast of Sheboygan in 1891.  The lumber that fell off of the deck floated in the water and made rescue efforts difficult.  Discovered in 1992, she was lifted out of the harbor and put on the hard.  Her white oak beams are massive giving an indication of the size of the trees that were used to build her.

Off to Port Washington tomorrow.

MARITIME MANITOWOC

August 28, 2011  Dateline: Manitowoc, WI USA

I had a day off today; Rich and Carol went to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. 

The museum is located on the Manitowoc River and its collection includes the WW II submarine Cobia.  The Cobia is the best restored submarine in the States and is on the Registry of Historic Places.  Under treaty with Canada the propellers and batteries have been removed, so it can’t be used in an attack. We thought that the War of 1812 was over.  You enter the boat in the forward torpedo room and the tour guide takes you through the boat exiting through the rear torpedo room.  Only one sailor was ever lost on this boat. 

High on the coning tower of the Cobia stood an upside corn broom.  Rich asked what the significance of the broom was.  The tour guide explained that the United States Submarine Service during World War II generally considered a patrol a "clean sweep" if the sub sank every target she engaged  Individual torpedoes might miss, and convoys usually had far too many ships for all to be sunk by a single boat, but these unavoidable inefficiencies did not mar a "clean sweep."

Each submarine had a battle insignia; Rich thought that this insignia was particularly interesting.  The insignias were designed and drawn by Walt Disney Studios.

The forward steam engine of the Chief Wawatam, a railroad car ferry, is part of the museum.  The engine, weighing 65 tons and standing 20-25 feet high, is so big that the engine was first mounted to the building foundation and then the building built around it.  The ship had three triple expansion steam engines producing a combined 4,500 horse power.  They each had only three cylinders.  The stroke of the pistons was 40 inches but the diameter of the three cylinders varied.  Steam was used over and over, the first cylinder was 21” in diameter the secondary was 33” and the final cylinder was 52”.  The steam was pumped into the top of the cylinder to move the piston down, then into the lower part to move the piston up.  After cylinder one was done the steam then went on to cylinder 2 and then on to cylinder 3.

The Museum also has a large display on the Great Loop.  Submarines produced in Manitowoc were sailed down Lake Michigan by their crew then loaded on to barges in Chicago to float down the Illinois then the Mississippi to New Orleans where they were refloated and then off to battle.  That route has many portions that are common to the Great Loop.

Like most maritime museums this one has its share of models. One of the impressive models was the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald as it rests on the bottom of Lake Superior.

ACROSS I GO

August 27, 2011  Dateline: Manitowoc, WI USA

This morning I left early for the trip across Lake Michigan from Manistee, MI to Manitowoc, WI.  The weather forecast called for the northerly wind to increase as the day wore on so Rich figured the sooner I got going the better we would be.  The wind would be hitting me on my starboard beam which meant that I would be rolling as the waves past under me.  Rich and Carol forgot to put some items on the floor so I did it for them after a few rolling waves.  I did not put any liquids on the floor, so there was not a big mess.  When I left Manistee, shortly after sunrise, the Lake was full of small fishing boats, there msut have been at least 75 of them in a line that I had to weave through.  I was nice I did not wake any of them.

They got to Manitowoc about 11:30 EDT, 10:30 local time.  The lady at the marina told them about a farmers market that was close by.  I was a distance away so they left and went straight to the market.  Unlike all other farmers’ markets that they saw along the way this one actually had farmers at it selling local produce.  Carol asked Rich for some cash---Rich said he didn’t have any so that ended that venture—no cash no purchases.  Oh well!!

Manitowoc was the home of the first wooden sailing ship built on the Great Lakes.  There were also 28 submarines built in Manitowoc for service in World War II.  The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is now the home of the SS Cobia a WW II submarine.  On the third weekend in August former crew members give tours of the boat.  Carol and Rich will be taking the tour tomorrow.  The luxury yacht builder Burger Boats is located in Manitowoc today continuing the long tradition of boat building.

The western terminus of the SS Badger is Manitowoc while its eastern terminus is Ludington, MI.  The Badger is not only the largest railroad car ferry built, it is the only remaining coal fired ship  operating in North America and is on the Register of Historic Places.  The 410 foot Badger was built in 1940s as a ferry to carry railroad cars back and forth across Lake Michigan.  She was converted to a car ferry that can hold up to 600 passengers plus 180 automobile, buses and large trucks.  Her trip across the Lake takes about 4 hours.   You can see a large tank being loaded into the Badger in the picture on the left. We saw a tour bus follow that tank. There were a lot of passengers onboard who were willing to pay $70.00 one way to cross the lake. This ferry trip saves 400 miles of driving.

SALT

August 25, 2011  Dateline: Frankfort, MI USA

Nothing happened on this day.  For the third day I sat in my slip at Frankfort.  All of my friends were just itching to get going agai,n but we will have to wait  another day for the seas to settle down.

August 26, 2011  Dateline: Manistee, MI USA

The seas were finally calm.

It was a short ride of less than 25 miles, but I had to go to Manistee as the marina there was holding a propeller for me that had been repaired.  I got Rich and Carol there by 10 AM.  My friends were going much longer distances, including two who were going across the lake, they all left before 5AM.  That was too early for me.

Manistee is located up the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on the Manistee River, which flows from Manistee Lake.  In 1841, the John Stronach family constructed a sawmill on Manistee Lake and later another on the Manistee River. By 1849, more settlers were arriving and the Ojibwe Indian reservation on the site was dismantled, with land given to settlers. The city was set back in 1871 when a fire swept through and destroyed over one-half of the city’s buildings. Much of it was rebuilt, this time of brick.  The Main Street still has most of those brick buildings.  Lake steamers from Chicago regularly called upon the city bringing passengers in and taking lumber away.

By 1885, there were forty sawmills operating and by the end of the century the population reached 14,260. Manistee claimed to have more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States. These millionaires started investing in salt wells. While drilling for salt beds they hit oil and just capped the well. After all they were after salt, which they saw as the next big industry. The citizens of Manistee had city-provided fire protection, a parks department, water, sewer and street lighting.

Rich and Carol went into the Manistee County Historical Society’s museum.  The museum is located inside a building that was constructed before the turn of the 20^th Century.  The collection of items in the museum’s first floor is extensive and the professional rooms and apartment on the second floor represent life and business in the 1890s.  Here is the building as it looked at that time.

The main route into Manistee is lined with petunias for several blocks.  They look really cool. 

The Manistee River passes through the center of the city.  The city has built a one and a half mile Riverwalk along both shores of the river from Manistee Lake to Lake Michigan for all to enjoy.  The river is very busy with pleasure boat traffic and fishing charters now.  The steamer traffic has long since disappeared.

There are no other Loopers here, so tomorrow I cross Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin alone. I hope the seas are good to me.

 

THE SLEEPING BEAR

August 24, 2011  Dateline: Frankfort, MI USA

The strong winds of yesterday continued into today so it was another day of sitting still. Rich and Carol joined Ross and Nancy of Oddysea and rented a car to drive to the Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore Park.

The Chippewa Indians said that the sleeping bear dunes were created when a mother bear swam across Lake Michigan with her two bear cubs.  When she got to the western shore of the Lake she turned and her cubs were not with her.  She lay down on the shore and went to sleep to wait for them.  She became the huge sand dunes and her cubs became the North and South Manitou Islands.

I sailed past the dunes three days ago so today’s posting is devoted to what Rich and Carol saw and told me.

Contrary to Indian legend the dunes were formed by the advancing and receding glaciers of more than 10,000 years ago.  The westerly wind blows the sand up and over the dunes making them “walk” inland.  In 1985 the Park Service placed a measured board at the inland base of the dune.  The board was marked in foot increments up to 70 feet.  Since 1985 the dune has moved 64 feet inland.  You can climb up the dune and take a 3.5 mile walking tour around the top of the dune; Rich and Carol did not take the tour.

They visited a place called Glen Haven.  Glen Haven is a town that was founded as a fueling station for the steamers that sailed the Great Lakes.  In 1857 there was a boarding house built in the town for the lumberjacks and that building still stands today.  David H. Day ran the station for a number of years and finally purchased it.  Seeing that coal was replacing wood as the steamship fuel, Day went into the lumber business.  As he cut down all of the nearby trees Day again realized he needed to change his business plan.  The clear cut fields provided a place for farming and he went to New York coming back with 5,000 fruit trees, cherry and apple.  He then opened a canning business and shipped his cherries through the Great Lakes.  Continuing with his thoughts and ideas in 1922 he saw the opportunity to turn Glen Haven into a tourist location; however the Great Depression ended that venture.  Day’s wife operated the general store in Glen Haven, the store is still operating today and has its Red Crown gasoline pump outside.

Within the Park there is museum about the US Life Saving Service, one of the precursors of today’s Coast Guard.  The passage between Sleeping Bear and Manitou Islands is dangerous.  Up until about 2 weeks ago there had been 47 ship wrecks in the passage. Two weeks ago a tour boat was hit by a rogue wave; it went aground and became number 48. Everybody onboard was okay.  The picture on the left is the equipment that was used to let a rescue line to the floudering boat.

Below is a picture of Glen Lake just to the east of Lake Michigan.  Glen Lake was a bay in prehistoric Lake Algonquin.  Glen Lake was cut off by sand moving steadily along the shoreline as Lake Algonquin receded.

Glen Haven was also served fishing boats.  Here is a picture of the fishing tug call Aloha.  She is 41 feet long had a draft of 5 feet, weighted 26 tons, had a single 50-60 horsepower engine and was built in 1937.  Rich learned about her design, she was enclosed so she could be fished all year long and while made of wood the metal sheathing below the water line enabled her to break through the lake ice.

WIND, WIND AND MORE WIND

August 23, 2011  Dateline : Frankfort, MI USA

Today I did not travel and throughout the day the wind bounced me around like a rubber duck in my slip at the Jacobson Marina.  Rich tied me with more lines than he uses in the winter at Cape May and I still bounced around.  The wind speed has been in excess of 30 miles an hour.

The lake was really rough and the waves were very high. Here are some pictures of the waves breaking over the sea wall.  In some cases you could watch the waves come over the wall as they moved along the wall.

Rich did some maintenance on me and Carol got caught up on house cleaning. Then they walked into town and went to the grocery store and the Port City Smokehouse. The smokehouse sold all sorts of fish as well as smoked fish pate. They sampled White fish, Salmon, and Trout pate. They said it was very good.

 In the late afternoon (5  PM) the owners of Great Escape, BlueSkies and Oddysea  got together on me and they all had happy hour. At 7 they went to Dinghy’s for dinner. Rich and Carol told me they all had a good time.

SAND DUNES AND MINERAL SPRINGS

August 22, 2011  Dateline: Frankfort, MI USA

Today was a 40 mile day.  Oddysea, Great Escape and BlueSkies  all left before 7 AM, I dragged behind as usual and was on my way shortly after 7.  I was amazed how quickly Rich and Carol can move when they want to.  The Lake was nice and smooth but as I pulled into Frankfort it was beginning to build and by mid afternoon there were white caps on the lake again.

My route took me past the Sleeping Bear National Park with its white sand dunes that come down to the lake.  The dunes go up from the lake more than 400 feet, they were just incredible.  The park has recently been named as one of the best places to visit in the United States.

How did the town of Frankfort get its name? A man named Frank built a stockade around his house to keep the snow out.  With the passage of time the area became known as Franks Fort, ultimately Frankfort.  Is the story true?  I don’t know.

In Frankfort there is a mineral spring where people can fill their water jugs.  Rich told me that he tried the water and it tasted like iron.  The sign says that the spring’s water can have some beneficial health qualities. Based on Rich’s tasting, it probably takes some getting used to. 

In the marina next to me replicas of the Nina and Pinta are docked and offering tours. These are two of the three ships that Columbus sailed across the Atlantic in 1492 to “the New World”.  As I looked at them I thought about crossing the ocean powered only by the wind.  Those were some sailors.  The picture is of the Nina.

Rich saw this building and thought that it was neat so he took a picture of it.  It is the Betsie Bay Inn.

The weather looks bad for tomorrow, Tuesday,  so I think that I may be staying where I am.  

THE LAKE WAS LIKE AN OCEAN

August 21, 2011  Dateline: Leland, MI (Fishtown)

Yesterday and today were short distance days.  Yesterday was only about 30 miles from Charlevoix to Northport and today another 30 miles from Northport to Leland. 

Northport is a small town on the protected west side of the Grand Traverse Bay near where it opens into Lake Michigan.  It was founded in 1849 and obliviously was a milling town.  The main street is called Mill Street and there is this waterwheel located next to a mill.  

The town’s train station has been converted to a hot dog restaurant with the addition of a caboose.  It didn’t look like business was very good as the Depot was being offered for sale.

Last evening I hosted a get together with the owners of Oddysea and Great Escape.  Everyone must have had a good time as they were all smiling.  I first met Oddysea last year at the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 fishing tournament.  A year later we are together again.

I woke up with the sun this morning, but because I am so far west in the Eastern Time zone the sun comes up much later in the morning and likewise sets later in the day.   At almost 9:30 PM it is still light.  I overheard Rich and Carol debating whether or not to leave.  Great Escape left by 7:30 this morning and Oddysea by 8:15.  I stayed behind and went to the fuel dock for some diesel; it is “cheap” at the Northport Marina.  The wind was picking up and I had a hard time getting onto the fuel dock, but I made it.

After leaving the marina and turning into Lake Michigan, the fun began.  Lake waves are different than ocean waves.  The waves in the lake are closer together and steeper.  I was taking them on the beam and did I rock and roll for a few hours.  I heard Carol say she was happy that she but a patch behind her ear this morning before we left so she wouldn’t get seasick----no patch for me.

I got to Leland, MI by about 12:30.  There was a concern as to whether or not there would be a slip for me, there was.  The owners of Great Escape and Oddysea were there to greet me and of course watch Rich use his remote Yacht Controller to slide me into the slip in spite of the very strong on shore wind.

Leland is an old fishing town.  Many of the old shanties in the harbor still stand and have been converted into retail shops.  There is also a Main Street that is full of nice shops. Rich showed me a picture of a Great Lakes Fishing boat, it is interesting because it is all enclosed, and I guess this is because the Great Lakes can get so rough. 

The old channel for the fishing boats is still used by charter boats. At the inland end of the channel is a salmon fish ladder so that the salmon can swim and leap their way up the Leland River to lay their eggs.  Through conservation efforts the over fished salmon are returning to Lake Michigan

CHARLEVOIX, MICHIGAN

The City of Charlevoix is located in northwest Michigan. The City borders on picturesque Round Lake, Lake Michigan, and Lake Charlevoix. Charlevoix first became a village in 1871 and was later established as a city in 1905. It has a year round population of roughly 3,000 people. The population increases dramatically in the summer months due to tourism and the high number of vacation/seasonal homes.   Soon after its formation in the 1850s, Charlevoix entered into a short lived conflict with Jesse Strang, leader and namesake of the Strangite Mormons, and then king of Beaver Island. Relations between Charlevoix residents and the Strangites were often tense. In 1853, a gunfight broke out between the two groups as the townspeople refused to hand over a man who was called for jury duty on the island, an event known locally as The Battle of Pine River. When Strang was assassinated on June 20, 1856, many believed residents from Charlevoix to be responsible.  The town was also the location of several “Clubs” which were areas in the town and associations where houses were built.  The pictures of yesterday of the painted ladies were taken in the Belvedere Club; there are also the Chicago and the Sequanota Clubs.  The waters of Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix are crystal clear and you can see all the way to the bottom.  The water had always been clear but with the invasion of the zebra mussel they have become crystal clear as the mussel has and is consuming the plankton.

Included in yesterday’s blog was a reference to the John Winn house.  Below is a picture of that house.  The large openings at water level are the entrances to his boat house and yes they can be closed.

One of the town’s notable features is its collection of “Mushroom Houses”.  They are best described as the digs of Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as Little Red Riding Hood's grandma.

Earl Young, a real estate developer who stood at 5-feet-4, loved the cozy cottages in the rural areas of Great Britain. From the 1920s-1970s, he transferred these images to Charlevoix and built, without plans, many homes and several commercial buildings, including the Weathervane Terrace Hotel.  (Imagine going into a town today and telling the building inspector that you are building a house without plans.)

The Ice Age boulders of the Great Lakes region were Young’s favorite building material. They became his signature, along with the wavy, overhanging shingled roofs he used. These give the smaller homes a mushroom-like shape.

MORE PAINTED LADIES

August 18, 2011   Dateline Charlevoix, MI USA

Grianan and I went our separate ways yesterday.  Grianan, a trawler, was going 70 miles while I was only going about 20.  Makes sense, huh, the faster boat goes the shorter distance.  Oh well there is no accounting for what owners do, I just do what they tell me----unless the wind and the current tell me to do something different.

We went to Charlevoix, MI.  Charlevoix is like Petoskey and is located on the same shore as Petoskey.  The entrance to the harbor from Lake Michigan is a narrow channel which leads to a draw bridge that opens on the hour and half hour.  Rich got me there 15 minutes too early and I had to sit in the channel.  What a pain in the transmission.  Once under the bridge and inside the harbor I was on Round Lake which is about 2 miles across, it connects to Lake Charlevoix which is 17 miles long. They did not take me into the big lake.  As Rich pulled into the slip a automobile tourist stood in amazement as Rich moved me backward into the slip using his little wireless controller.

Rich ordered a part for my Automatic Identification System (AIS) from a local parts supplier and had it delivered here.  Along the way as he walked to the marina, where the part was, he saw these painted ladies.  They are pretty neat.  Aren’t they?  There were many in this area, as they were built at the turn of the last century as part of the Charlevoix Summer Home Association.  Those Victorian people sure liked gingerbread. Just a Note – while Rich walked more than a mile each way, Carol spent a relaxing 2 hours at the Salon getting a much needed hair makeover.

In the afternoon, Rich went with several other Loopers to the home of John Winn.  John was the owner of a boat manufacturer called Four Winns.  John has a very large house on Round Lake and under his house is an equally large boat house.  John is a collector and restorer of antiques wooden boat. His collection of boats, outboard engines and marine memorabilia is very impressive.  John’s family room contains a full size bar, six video games as would be in an arcade, a pool table, two shuffle boards and then the more than usual chairs and sofas.  The collection of old boats contained the S.S. Magoo which he bought from Walt Disney after it had been in the movie about Mr. Magoo.

Rich then spent several painful hours replacing the AIS antenna as the antenna wire had to be threaded from the hardtop to the upper helm station and of course the old wire had to be removed. Needless to say, it was an early night.