The Sailing Vessel 'Heaven Bound'
Door County 2012
The summer of 2012 Debbie & I vacationed in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin, staying at a Bed & Breakfast right on the shores of Eagle Harbor on Green Bay, which is actually an arm of Lake Michigan. Each day we would go cycling at Peninsula State Park in the morning then sailing on Green Bay in the afternoon.
One of my goals with our new-to-us sailboat was to sail to 'Death's Door', the area at the top of the Door County peninsula where Green Bay and Lake Michigan meet. I think Debbie was a little nervous about going with a rookie sailor at the helm so she volunteered to take pictures from the shore - some of which you will see below.
A bit of history - Door County peninsula is surrounded by Green Bay
on
the west side and Lake Michigan on the east side. At the northern tip of
the peninsula, Green Bay and Lake Michigan join. The passage between
Green Bay and Lake Michigan was originally called 'Death's Door' due to it's
reputation of being difficult
to navigate during rough weather. Apparently the chamber of commerce thought it sounded
a bit 'rough'
for tourism so they shortened the name to 'Door County'...
This
guy loved to hang around the boat at the slip...
The water definitely has that 'Green Bay' look from this angle... This is the view that Debbie had from the tower That's
Horseshoe Island in the background As you can see, she is zoomed in quite a bit! I sailed from Eagle Harbor on Green
Bay (lower left) to the infamous 'Death's Door' (upper right) where Green Bay and Lake Michigan join Further North
of the bluff is
Washington Island
If
you look closely, you just might see a smile in there somewhere... We
stayed in
the quaint town of Ephraim, WI. Each evening it seemed the entire town would
come out to the shoreline to enjoy this beautiful sunset. The funny
thing was, the minute the
sun dropped below the horizon, everyone would literally disappear and
the entire town would be closed for business. The first couple of
evenings we tried to find even a coffee shop that was open but to no
avail. We
eventually learned that, if you want something after sunset, you better get it
ahead of time!
Our Bed & Breakfast - Overlooking Eagle Harbor
on Green Bay
Waiting at the marina - just a few steps from the B
& B
Getting her ready to set sail for an afternoon of
fun...
Headed out for the solo trip to 'Death's Door' &
Lake Michigan...
After seeing me off, Debbie climbed to the top of the tower
(upper right) on Eagle Bluff and took
pictures of the boat as I was leaving. To get an idea of how large Eagle
Bluff is, look for the people standing on the shore and in the crevasses of
the bluff.
Sailing past Horseshoe Island in Green Bay for the
'photo op'
Headed North now toward 'Death's Door' & Lake
Michigan
Here's the chart of the Western side of Door County peninsula.
This is just one of several lighthouses on the peninsula
I know that Green Bay this is the smallest lake of
the Great Lakes, however, it sure looks like an ocean when you're out there!
Death's Door is ahead on the right just beyond the
bluff
We were treated to this beautiful sight every night!
(Unretouched photo)