Category: On the Water
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Questions & Artists: Maritime Painter Lee Radtke
North of the Door County Maritime Museum, the giants of the Great Lakes wait out winter’s hold. The sheer magnitude of the ships is awe-inspiring for anyone, maritime enthusiast or not. For Illinois oil painter Lee Radtke, seeing those ships last winter on a cold, February evening at sunset proved an “almost religious experience.” He […]
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Filmmaker Hopes to Highlight, Preserve County Lighthouses
Kewaunee filmmaker Jake Heffernan hopes his upcoming documentary film about each of Door County’s 11 lighthouses will not only bring awareness to the regional treasures, but help in preserving them as well. Slated for a spring 2019 release, the profits of Lighting the Door will go toward the organizations that work to preserve and restore […]
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Weather Wizard: Walking the Bay of Green Bay
It was a sleepy Saturday morning in the quaint and still Village of Egg Harbor, cars could be heard crunching through the snow as they filed one-by-one through the village and down the steep hill to the marina. The sun shrouded in misty grey clouds had barely lifted over the surrounding hills to greet the […]
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Small Steps and Big Goals on Plum and Pilot Islands
The remaining historic structures on Plum and Pilot Islands are facing the fate of Pilot Island’s fog signal building: little more than four crumbling stone walls and a collapsed roof covered in bird droppings. They are decades past needed maintenance and, without some support, the islands of Death’s Door would reclaim them to their natural […]
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Weather Wizard: Walking Across the Bay of Green Bay
It’s 6:30 am, and I’m standing barefoot in the backyard. The temperature is one degree…one. It’s twilight, and to my left, I can begin to make out the rich green needles of a white cedar. Four inches of crystalline snow blanket the ground, cover my feet and brush my ankles. I lean over and gently […]
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Weather Wizard: Ice Fishing in Door County
A sharp blast of glacial air came screaming through the suddenly opened door, about negative 30 degrees factoring in the wind-chill. A young man, no more than 12 years of age, popped his head into the ice shanty with only frozen eyelashes and a red nose exposed. Crunching footsteps could be heard behind him, and […]
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VIDEO: How Shipbuilding Became Sturgeon Bay’s Defining Industry
Shipbuilding has defined Sturgeon Bay for nearly a century. Learn how a small Wisconsin city became an international hub in this new video from Peninsula Filmworks produced for the Door County Visitor Bureau.
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Commission Faults Governments for Problems in Great Lakes
The governments of Canada and the United States are failing to keep the Great Lakes healthy, according to a new report from the International Joint Commission (IJC). The report, released last week by the joint Canadian-American organization created by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, highlighted some of the major challenges to the Great Lakes. […]
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Bay Ship Christens New Tug and Barge
A warm November sun welcomed executives from Pennsylvania-based Wawa Inc. convenience stores and gas stations to Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding on the morning of Nov. 28 to christen two new vessels. The 130-foot articulated tug barge Millville and the 578-foot barge 1964 will help Wawa provide 17,000 barrels of fuel per day to Florida. “I, for […]
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Wisconsin Finds 240 More Impaired Waterways
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released a list of 240 waterways that it will add to the state’s impaired waters list. The additions will bring the total number of impaired waterways recognized by the state to approximately 1,500. One of Door County’s waterways, Stony Creek, which starts northeast of Maplewood and runs southeast […]
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Snowbirds By Sea: Sailing South for Winter
There are three bridges connecting the northern half of Door County to the rest of the country by land and there are three waterways that connect the peninsula’s shores to the sea. The St. Lawrence Seaway, Erie Canal and the Twain-esque Western Rivers have all provided passage from Door County to Florida and beyond for […]
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Maritime Museum Raffling Handbuilt Kayak
Each winter the Door County Maritime Museum (DCMM) hosts a wooden boatbuilding class. At the end of the class, tickets are sold throughout the summer for a raffle drawing to win the newly constructed handmade masterpiece. Along with the grand prize of the completed wooden boat, more than 50 additional prizes are typically available. The […]
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Maritime Museum Offers Free Children’s Admission Special
The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay is offering free admission to children 12 and under with an accompanying paid adult Oct. 15, 22 and 29. The museum offers this opportunity to encourage children to embrace their maritime history and enjoy the interactive exhibits that make learning fun. Children can expect to find interactive, […]
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Two Sailors Make Trip Across Lake Michigan
Two friends who traveled the width of Lake Michigan on a small sailboat in support of Great Lakes research gained a new respect for the lake. Gusting winds and five-foot waves made for an intense eight-hour journey for Drew Fries and J.T Bohland, two pals who sailed from Two Rivers, Wis., to Ludington, Mich., aboard […]
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Traveling Exhibit about Wisconsin Waterways Visits Sturgeon Bay
From ancient glaciers to today’s research and industry, water has always been at the heart of Wisconsin and Door County’s history. Made possible by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Door County Maritime Museum is excited to host the traveling exhibit, Great Lakes, Small Streams: How Water Shapes Wisconsin. The exhibit is currently displayed in the […]
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Door County Kayak Begins Fall Foliage Tours
Door County Kayak Tours welcome autumn with their 2017 seasonal kayak tour: “Fall Foliage,” located on Moonlight Bay on Highway 57 from September to October. White cedar, white spruce and white pines are some of the few natural amusements that surround Moonlight Bay in Baileys Harbor. Guided tours are offered from 10 am to 2 […]
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Something For All Seasons: Sand Bay Beach Resort & Suites
When Ingrid and Bill Stroschein purchased Sand Bay Beach Resort in 1962, it consisted of a handful of small housekeeping cottages and the family home that also included a small grocery store and an ice cream stand. The location is 7.5 miles southwest of Sturgeon Bay, about halfway between Little Sturgeon and IdleWild Golf Course. […]
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Door County Adventure Center Offering Mink River Estuary Eco-Tours
Mink River Estuary Kayak Tour provides a different type of feeling than the rest of what Door County has to offer. Door County Adventure Center offers guided eco-tours that provide a look into what the land was like nearly 100 years ago. A tour is a great place for bird watching, with an estimated 200 […]
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Registration Now Open For Fall Light House Fest Tours
Reacting to the popularity of the Door County Lighthouse Festival each June and a positive response to the first two installments of an abbreviated Door County Fall Lighthouse Festival, the Door County Maritime Museum (DCMM) is again offering some of its most popular tours Columbus Day weekend. Reservations are now being taken for these nautical […]
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Where’s the Nude Beach at Newport Park?
At the end of my conversation with Newport State Park superintendent Michelle Hefty in her office for the fall issue of our sister publication Door County Living magazine, I asked her the standard final question for interviews as a journalist: Is there anything I’m missing? After her universal response that she had just been blathering […]