Day 78 & 79 September 6 and 7, 2022

Day 78 Tuesday September 6, 2022

Ludington Michigan to Manitowac, WISCONSIN!

Although not as long as we had originally planned, we enjoyed our 1 day stay in Ludington.  Lake Michigan was cooperating and we got the weather window we needed to cross Lake Michigan to the Wisconsin side.  Travel to the western shore is affected by winds from the west.  As the winds cross the lake the waves created get bigger so that by the time they reach the opposite shore they can be quite unfriendly.  Fetch is the area of water that the wind blows over creating waves.  More fetch, potential for greater waves.  Waves for our travel were predicted to be 1 foot or less. It took us 7 hours 15minutes to cross and we were grateful for a calm lake.

  

 SS Badger crossing from Ludington to Manitowac

We had a great crossing with The Grand Wazoo, Tug Bussle and Her Idea; winds and lake behaved.  We celebrated our arrival with docktails and then set off into town.  Our exploring would be limited -- we hoped to visit the Maritime Museum but it was closed until Thursday.  We did get to check out the submarine USS Cobia outside of the museum when we went to dinner.  

  Manitowac is known for the manufacture of 28 freshwater submarines during WWII.

Dinner at The Fat Seagull was awesome!  Recommended by the marina we were skeptical when we entered.  Local bar and restaurant with a "dive" type atmosphere.  Our first impression was so wrong.  Great service with good food delivered hot and fast.  Definitely a neighborhood hang out the locals knew where to go. 

 

Back at the boats it was planning time.  The weather was going to cooperate -- we would head to Port Washington Wisconsin, another 6 plus hour day.

Day 79 Wednesday September 7, 2022

Manitowac to Port Washington Wisconsin

We left Manitowac at 7:30, bright and clear.  Already light out because when we crossed Lake Michigan we crossed into the Central time zone.  Our day was beautiful with NO wind and the lake like glass. 

 

We went straight to the fuel dock when we arrived.  Manitowac Municipal Marina is known as being the cheapest fuel arround.  Diesel was $4.84/gallon, the best price we've seen for the entire trip.  We are pretty pleased with our fuel consumption so far -- calculated 3.38 gallons/hour, 1.7 gallon/engine.

Once we fueled we headed to our assigned slip only to find a boat already in it!!  The marina wall is situated right in town and our spot easy access to local restaurants.  Seems someone was enjoying the town without using the dedicated day dock.  The dock attendant resolved the situation pretty quickly.  When he couldn't find the boat owner in the nearby restaurant he consulted with the boat in front of it (a Looper, Table Six) and proceeded to untie the offending boat and raft it to Table Six, emptying the spot for us.  I think that Table Six enjoyed the look of confusion when the owners returned to see their boat gone and ours in its place.  They also had to walk across Table Six to board their boat.  

Enough excitement, off to the laundry.  Need to get it done in time for docktails, LOL.   Eight Loop boats attended -- The Grand Wazoo, Tug Bussle, Her Idea, Picnic, Moonshadow, Phil-N-Wild, Arion and us.  A toast and birthday wishes to Joe and Laura.  

Tomorrow a short travel day to Milwaukee, welcome after 2 long days in a row.