BB25: Wisconsin

September 23, 2026

I chose wisely and stayed an extra night in Northport, Michigan and then woke up at dawn to get moving. The ride across Lake Michigan was magical.

My friends on Sea Grace captured me on my way out.

When I left Michigan, I did not know exactly where I was going in Wisconsin. I was planning to go to Washington Island, but the marina did not have room. I was on the waitlist and had an option at an anchorage nearby. I was also looking at Hedgehog Bay or Sister Bay, but it was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend so the other marinas were booked too. I had Brewers tickets with friends the next weekend, so it was imperative that I start making my way toward Milwaukee! Midway through my voyage, I changed course a little and settled on an anchorage in North Bay on the Lake Michigan side. It meant that I had to skip the whole inside passage which stunk but I had been there before and knew I would have the opportunity to return.

I traveled 85 miles in a little over 10 hours and arrived on a calm, peaceful night. I dinghied to shore to let Kali off for a potty break and immediately felt at home. I lived in Wisconsin as a kid. You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can’t take Wisconsin out of the girl. If you could smell these pictures, you would smell Wisconsin – pine needles, clean air, Lake Michigan water, and brats on a grill at the nearby campground.

I woke up to the sun rising in Michigan and then watched the sunset from my anchorage in Wisconsin. It WAS a lovely day for a Guinness!

I had another early morning cruise the next day to try and make some tracks. I arrived in Kewaunee after about 6 hours to the most Wisconsin experience ever. I was the only looper boat in the marina. The majority of boats were fishing boats with a few sailboats sprinkled in. The dockmaster helped me dock and I asked him if there was anything I needed to know, like bathroom codes or anything. In his Wisconsin accent, he said no, everything is open here, but we have live music today for customer appreciation and free corn. Sure enough, the band was popping, the parking lot was full of Harleys and pickups, and the lawn chairs were lined up. The corn was fire roasted deliciousness. Someone may have driven their Bobcat there too, but I couldn’t be sure.

As I walked back to the dock, I passed the fish cleaning station where the fishermen were pulling out big Rainbow Trout. I later learned it was spawning season and they were running thick in the inlet. Gorgeous!

The town is complete with an old-fashioned gas station, the world’s largest grandfather clock, and a supper club. It was a great place to be stuck for a few days and wait for a calm day to head south.

I try to learn a little something at each stop so one day during lunch, I took a bike ride to the Besadny Fish Facility, a fascinating fish hatchery dedicated to protecting and enhancing the salmon and trout populations in Wisconsin. I learned more than I needed to know about how they milk the sperm and eggs out of fish during spawning season so that they can keep fish populations healthy. They keep track of the fingerlings by clipping their fins based on species and date. Go Science!

A good weather day arrived and I woke up before dawn with plans to make Sheboygan in about 7 hours. Clear and calm! I was talking to some other loopers along the way and decided to pivot. How about trying to go another four hours to Port Washington for an easy ride into Milwaukee in the next day or so. Or…I mean…Milwaukee was only 2 1/2 hours beyond that and I had a perfect weather day with crummy weather expected the next few days. Doing it! I decided to do the full 12 1/2 hours from Kewaunee to Milwaukee. I called the Milwaukee Yacht Club to see if I could get in early and had no problem. I did miss almost the whole coast of Wisconsin but I was happy to be in my second home and excited for a week visiting friends! I buddy boated there with my friend Mick and he captured The ‘Nati Nomad in action.

Brewers games, happy hours, and a birthday weekend at Lake Sinissippi for Julie, my friend since 1st grade. Plus, an impeller change, a new set of fuel filters, steam cleaned cushions, laundry done, and a ton of Amazon deliveries filled with spare boat parts made for a productive week.

We also visited a few antique stores where I advertised my favorite training captain team, C2Bluewater!

The best part of Milwaukee is the people – my old friends and neighbors, the people at the Milwaukee Yacht Club, and especially my friend Julie. Julie took time out of her day to visit me on my boat, drove me around and let me sleep in a real bed while doing free laundry, picked up over $1000 worth of Amazon packages, and our dogs became friends. Thank you, Julie, for being a fabulous host and my forever friend.

I had planned to leave Milwaukee the next Monday to get to Chicago by Thursday but once again…delayed. There was a Small Craft Advisory from Milwaukee to Chicago through Wednesday. Eight-foot waves were hitting the breakwater barrier right outside the marina and there were reports of thirteen-foot waves in Chicago. For reference, my go/no-go limit is one and a half foot waves because that means I will probably still see some two or three footers. Plus, the wind was coming from the east so they would be hitting me from the side. That’s no fun at all! The forecast for Friday is southeast wind less than 10 knots with one and a half foot waves so that’s my current plan. Until then, I will be checking more boat maintenance items off my list and Kali will continue living her best life romping with Clooney.