Category: On the Water
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All EYC Members On Deck for Season Clean-up
All Ephraim Yacht Club (EYC) members are requested to help close the EYC beginning at 9 am on Sept. 5. They will be putting away boats and equipment, organizing the house for winter and removing dock equipment. Most projects should be finished before noon. There are jobs for people of all ages, abilities and strengths. The […]
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Tamara Thomsen Surveys Plum Island Shipwreck
Wisconsin Historical Society underwater archaeologist Tamara Thomsen was on Plum Island Aug. 22 with a dive team to survey and document the wreck of the Grape Shot, an 1855 schooner that sank in 1867 just off Plum Island’s north shore. Thomsen’s visit aboard the Sea Grant Institute’s research vessel Dawn Treader was arranged in large […]
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Maritime Museum Offering Chambers Island Tour, Schooner Cruise
Reacting to the popularity of the Lighthouse Festival each June, the Door County Maritime Museum is offering a couple of its most popular tours Columbus Day weekend. The Chambers Island tour and the Sail Door County Schooner Cruise will be a part of this abbreviated and exciting offering. Two schooner tours out of the Sister […]
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Casting Colors – The Art of Hooking Fish
“What those crazy fish see, I don’t know. But it matters.” Todd Haleen is the owner of First Choice Charters in Baileys Harbor and anglers across the county echo his statement. The fishing lure may be the single most important variable between a big haul and driving home with an empty cooler. The science behind […]
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Fish Creek Rethinking Waterfront Access Areas
A Waterfront Master Plan is in the works for Fish Creek with the goal of redeveloping public water access areas. The plan will focus on the town docks, boat launches and the public beach with a long-term design to be developed over the next year. Although separate from the planned highway resurfacing slated for the […]
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Palmer Johnson to Close Sturgeon Bay Facilities
Palmer Johnson Yachts is closing its manufacturing operations at their facilities in Sturgeon Bay. The boat builder known throughout the world for its luxury yachts has been a major employer and a point of pride in Sturgeon Bay for generations. The closure is expected to eliminate 100 jobs in the city when it takes effect […]
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Marinafest, Duathlon and More Plans for Labor Day Weekend in Door County
It’s nearly Labor Day weekend in Door County and as always, a cause for celebration on the peninsula. Looking for some fun and interesting things to do? We’ve got you covered: Friday, Sept.
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Coast Guardsmen Honored at Annual Mariner Awards Dinner
Fourteen iconic figures in the rich maritime history of the Door Peninsula and three local Coast Guardsmen were honored at the annual Mariner Award Dinner held at the Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club on Aug.
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Sturgeon Bay is World’s Bass Capital
“When an 8.45-pound fish wins big bass — and that fish is a smallmouth — heads turn. That’s exactly what happened at a local tournament on this section of Lake Michigan last year. In that very same two-day tournament, it took 67.13 pounds to win (an average of almost 34 pounds per day). If you […]
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Steve Fischer, Last of a Varnishing Breed of Boat Craftsmen
Steve Fischer’s business ad reads “Fischer & Daughters Boat Works…Last of a varnishing breed.” But you won’t see Fischer’s daughters, Alex, 24, and Lucy, 19, working alongside him as he sands and varnishes wooden boats for Door County customers. The addition of daughters to his business name was wishful thinking on Fischer’s part. “I pretty […]
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Steve Libert, 60, has been actively searching for Robert de LaSalle’s Le Griffon in Lake Michigan for 30 years, half his life. He spent many years as an intelligence analyst with the Defense Mapping Agency (now the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency), until he retired last year to focus on the search for Le Griffon. LaSalle, […]
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The Holy Grail of the Great Lakes: Le Griffon
Many people believe Steve Libert is chasing a pipe dream by trying to place 17th century French explorer Robert de LaSalle’s Le Griffon, the Holy Grail of ships lost on the Great Lakes, in Lake Michigan. “I get a lot of people who are brighter than me that try to tell me I’m wrong, that […]
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Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds – And done a hundred things you have not dreamed of – Wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting […]
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For those who decide to buy or rent a boat, along with the initial expense you will need to spend plenty more money outfitting your vessel. The Bare Essentials Life jackets, flares, etc.: If you rent a boat this will all be provided. Be sure you have the items you need to show the Coast […]
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Ephraim Yacht Club Prides Itself on Sailing Education
The words “yacht club” connote certain things such as old money and exclusivity, however the Ephraim Yacht Club prides itself on being just the opposite. If it had a motto, it might be “Sailing for everyone!” “Since the early 1980s, there hasn’t been anything exclusive about the club. All you gotta do is walk in […]
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Door County winter fun isn’t restricted to cozy living rooms, quiet cafés or dark movie theaters. Don’t get me wrong – cuddling up inside with a good book, sipping tea and knocking movies off my must-see list are great activities for the chilly season – but when temperatures drop, outdoor fun on the ice is […]
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The Clear Bottom Kayaking Experience
On any given summer’s day in Door County, someone is enjoying a silent sport, and with endless miles of shoreline, inland lakes and rivers, Door County is a fitting home for kayakers. Even without searching for them, kayaks are everywhere – stores, brochures, beachfronts, atop cars, leaning against garages, etc. There is only one place […]
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Lake Levels 101: Where is the Water?
The lake was more than a foot higher in spring 2012 than spring 2013. The long-term average level of the lake is more than two feet higher than it is now. So go to a beach and stand at the point where the water meets the land. Imagine the waves raised by a foot, rolling […]
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Where Underwater Treasures Lie
Mention archeology in Door County and people will likely envision dusty excavations in an Egyptian pyramid. But there’s plenty of action much closer to home – right offshore, in fact, beneath the waters that surround us. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Great Lakes were teeming with sail- and steam-powered ships, and hundreds […]
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Baileys Harbor Water Hold Tales of Sailing Ships
It is ironic that what would become Baileys Harbor was chanced upon in 1848 by a sea captain who found safe shelter from a storm. In the 164 years since that fortuitous event, there have been more boating tragedies off Door County than in any other location on Lake Michigan, and 61 of the wrecks […]