We arrived in Manitowoc, Wi on 8/7 and were happy to be settled in before the storm. Afterwards we learned that Milwaukee had a major hit from the overnight winds and rain. Over 225,000 residents were left without power from what was called the largest storm in the history of the power company. Whew, that was a close one for us.
Manitowoc is the Badger’s Wisconsin port and we saw and heard her daily as she entered and exited the harbor.
We also visited the free Wisconsin Maritime Museum. While this wasn’t the most informative or interesting maritime museum we’ve been to, I was impressed by how kid friendly it was. As a former elementary grade teacher, I could envision bringing a large group of kids here and keeping them engaged and excited with all the hands on exhibits. We were also surprised to see an exhibit about The Great Loop. Hmmm, maybe we should give that a try.
While the museum was no charge, we did pay for a guided tour of the submarine. USS Cobia. The 312’ Cobia was launched from Connecticut in 1944 and saw plenty of action during WWII, including the sinking of a transport carrying 28 Japanese tanks.
Here’s a dump of some photos I took on the tour. A couple things to notice- look at how cozy some sailors were with their torpedo bunk mates. The sailors literally dropped their bunk down over the torpedos and snuggled in for the night. The bulkhead doors weren’t designed for big boys. Some found it a tight fit getting thru.
The Cobia is propelled by her electric motors. When her batteries needed to be recharged, they had to surface. Once on the surface, the diesel generators could charge the batteries.
We stayed a day longer in Manitowoc than planned as we waited for weather to pass and then continued south on Lake Michigan to Sheboygan.
August 9, our planned day to leave, had storms threatening.
Sheboygan is a much larger city than Manitowoc and we found lots to keep us occupied.
Just outside of the marina we found the remains of the Lottie Cooper.
The Lottie Cooper was built in Manitowoc in 1876, was 131’ long, 27’ wide and had 9’ of depth. She capsized off Sheboygan in an April gale in 1894. Her remains were found during the construction of the marina in1992.
Sheboygan also has the best farmer’s market we have found so far this year. I was so excited to wander through and pick out fresh ears of corn, cauliflower, carrots, fingerling potatoes, and cucumber. I got all for only $20.
One of the other highlights of Sheboygan was meeting several other loopers. Rick and Sue, The Fire Escape, live in Sheboygan and will be heading to their DeFever 44 in Brunswick, Ga. as the weather cools. In the meantime, they are amazing hosts to loopers who come to their hometown. Not only did they drive Tim to a grocery store and introduce us to friends, they took us on a driving tour of their city. We can now say that we were at Whistling Straits golf club in Koehler where the 2021 Ryder Cup is currently being held. Speaking of Kohler, did you know that Sheboygan is the home to the Kohler dynasty? Yes, Kohler as in toilets and sinks. The Kohler family has been in this area since the 1900’s. We wandered through their America Club which as built in 1918 as a residence for their immigrant employees. The America Club is now a high class hotel (I bet some of those Ryder Cup guys are staying there).
We also toured the Kohler Design Center, a museum that showcases current and past products made by Kohler.
We enjoyed Sheboygan for it’s historic architecture, watching the charter fishing boats coming in loaded with the morning catch, the daily activities at the Sailing Club right behind our boat, the bar overlooking the marina and the great people we met there.
Next stop- Port Washington
Port Washington is a much smaller city than Sheboygan and even with it’s nice, new marina, bigger is not always better. Once again, there were no slips available that could accommodate our length, so we were assigned a spot on a wall. For one of us, Maggie, this was great news. For her it means a very short walk to the grass so she can take care of business and she gets to meet and greet all the tourists and local walkers/joggers that cruise the walkway. For another crew member, it means he has a very long walk to the boater’s restroom to take care of business and it means we all have to listen to Maggie’s high pitched meet and greet. Ah, we take the good with the not so good.
Soon after our arrival, a late lunch was is order. Just a block from the marina we found the Fork and Tap had just what we needed- outside seating, shade, and cold beer. You know that we consider ourselves fairly frequent brewsters. But we have discovered that there’s a new way of filling a glass with beer. Maybe you already discovered this, but it was new to us. Instead of filling your glass from a tap, the beer is pushed into the glass from the bottom. Really! Filling from the bottom creates less foam. Hmmmm. I wonder if the person who invented this was on Shark Tank.
Here’s some shots from our wandering around Port Washington.
After a few days, it was time to head south again. Time for the big city, Milwaukee.
We’ll be biding our time in Milwaukee for about 10days as we let summer draw to a close. Yes, we, like the rest of the country are running our AC full time. What a difference from when we were up on Lake Huron in Cheboygan. As we watch the temperatures soar in the Midwest, we are happy to have decided to hold off on the trip down the rivers. Meanwhile, we are anxiously awaiting our first boat guest in 2 years. Dear friend, Lisa, who joined us on our trip up the Rideau to Ottawa in 2019, will be flying in on the 31st. She better bring us fresh stories. Tim and I have heard enough of each other and desperately need some new ones
