Planning a Green Bay/Door County Cruise

[CaspersCruiser]

To get my feet wet in Great Lakes cruising, I'm planning a cruise on Green Bay July 31-August 4 after attending the EAA airshow at Oshkosh. I'm picking weekdays so I don't have to deal with weekend crowds. I've asked a few people with some experience cruising on Green Bay for their picks and Sister Bay, Fish Creek, and Fayette State Historic Park have been suggested. From my review of Active Captain on Blue Chart Mobile, Chambers Island and Washington Island might fit in our cruising plans.

What other spots do you recommend? Things to do? Things to see? Places to eat? Marinas? Anchorages? We will have bikes and a dinghy.

I'm an inland river and lake cruiser with 2,000 miles experience in a 21' cuddy. This will be my first multi-day trip in my R27 and my first Great Lakes experience. What safety equipment or navigation tips do you have?

Since most of the destinations are at the top of Door County, where should I launch? Sturgeon Bay seems centrally located. What ramp, given the need to leave truck trailer for a few days?

 

[dandcwestbrook]

My wife and I are in our first season owning an R27 harbored on Washington Island. Although new to cruising Door County and northern Green Bay and Lake Michigan, I can offer the following insights:

Fish Creek and Sister Bay both have very good municipal marinas with excellent places to eat and shop nearby. Sister Bay is our favorite with Bayfront for dinner and Al Johnson's for breakfast and lunch right across the street from the marina.

Highly recommend Fayette. It's well protected harbor has new docks with shore power/water and you can make reservations through the MI DNR. It's about a 2.5 hour run up from Washington Island. Be sure to check the wind and wave forecast before heading up as you will be in open, unprotected water and the waves can build. Here is a NOAA site I use before heading out on the open lake: https://www.glerl.noaa.gov//res/glcfs/k ... m=waves_ft

Washington Island has several possibilities. On the south side in Detroit Harbor you can dock at either Shipyard Marina or anchor in Pedersons Bay. Shipyard is a full-service marina with fuel, pump out, showers, etc. Sailors Pub is right on its docks and the Hotel Washington is within walking distance - both are great places for dinner. If you anchor in Pedersons, you can reach both easily by dingy. On the northeast side is Jackson Harbor where you can dock at the WI Town Dock. It has limited services (no fuel, pit toilets) but is very scenic and has a couple of options for lunch - Jackson Harbor Soup & Sandwiches and Time Out Concessions. You can anchor in the north end of Jackson Harbor if you wish. WI has a grocery store about 4 miles from either Detroit or Jackson Harbors. Access to the north east side of the Island is best by the west side only. There are shoals between Washington and Detroit Islands that prevent heading east out of Detroit Harbor to go up the east side of Washington. And if you do go around the south side of Detroit Island to go up the east side of Washington, there are shoals between Washington and Rock Island that prevent getting into Jackson Harbor without going all the way around Rock.

Another spot I recommend is Rock Island state park off the north east side of Washington. It has several historical structures including a restored lighthouse with tours, a nice beach, miles of hiking trails and is very quiet after the last day trip passenger ferry leaves at 4PM. You can tie-up overnight on its dock/pier, but they don't take reservations (first come) and there are no services other than flush toilets. However it is reachable, wind/waves permitting, by dingy from Jackson Harbor on WI. Even though Rock is only about a mile from JH, the waves can really build if the wind is out of the N or NW.

Although I cannot offer any specific insights as to where to launch, you may want to take a look at Egg Harbor or Fish Creek as alternatives to Sturgeon Bay. They are little further up the county saving you some cruising time to Sister Bay, WI, etc.

We'd love to meet up with you during your trip to Door County, but unfortunately, we are heading across Lake Michigan for the Ranger Tug Rendezvous in Charlevoix Michigan July 31 to Aug 3. Let us know if you have any questions or need more info. Enjoy your trip!

Dan and Connie Westbrook
Alegria

 

[CaspersCruiser]

Thanks for the detailed reply. They take time and I appreciate it.

I was planning to go to the rendezvous, but I'll have my daughter with me and she'd rather spend our time cruising. Since we're already on the west side of the lake, it just makes sense to cruise there. I'm planning to Loop in a year or two and I'll hit the east side of Lake Michigan then.

I will certainly keep an eye on the weather/winds. The biggest waves I've seen have been two, maybe three feet on Kentucky Lake during a blow. And three feet is probably an exaggeration.

 

[Dale777]

CaspersCruiser,

My son lives in Oshkosh, so a few years ago I trailered my R27 from Texas to Oshkosh and cruised around the Lake Winnebago area, so I'm somewhat familiar with the area.

Since you will be at the EAA air show in Oshkosh, why not launch your tug on Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh. There is a good launch and trailer storage at the Pioneer Marina a few blocks from the air field:

https://www.thepioneermarina.com/

Then you can tour Lake Winnebago, the Fox River around downtown Oshkosh and the Lower Fox River lock system. That lock system takes you almost to Green Bay. There are 17 recently restored locks with 16 of them operating. The last one at Green Bay (Rapide Croche) is in limbo until they can determine how to allow locking through and still keep out invasive species from entering the Fox River from Lake Michigan. But, still you can enjoy the river trip and get lots of experience locking. These are all hand operated locks with lock tenders. See these links for info about the locks:

http://www.friendsofthefox.org/navigate/charts-maps/
http://foxlocks.org/

 

[CaspersCruiser]

We are staying on the boat at Pioneer Marina four nights. I've been to the EAA airshow 25 times or more, camping with the airplane many years and staying in the UW-Oshkosh dorms a few years. I may cruise a little on Lake Winnebago, but I want to get some Great Lakes experience so we'll pull the boat and trailer up to Door County and relaunch. Taking the Fox River to Green Bay does have some appeal, but as you mention, it's not possible. Anyway, after 2,000 miles of river cruising, I've had all the lock fun I can stand.