Leaving Sturgeon Bay then… Big problems

We left Sturgeon Bay at dawn on Thursday September 13, 2018. It was a beautiful morning. Quiet but a bit foggy because the air was cooler than the water. We figured correctly that the fog will burn off as the sun went up. So we did all the morning chores.

Leaving Quarterdeck

We started the generator and the engines. Tom Houser will be thrilled to have seen the diesel fog cloud we let loose! We turned off the electric, stowing the power cord on the bow of the boat then removing the water and stowing that cord on the bow too. We look like a trawler with all that stuff on the bow! It is a darned obstacle course!

Kermit stayed on the dock while I was on the boat. He removed the two clips that secured the ladder then carefully handed me the stairs. I balanced the stairs on a towel covered railing while Kermit used a side vent to climb on the boat. Together we laid the metal stairs on the front of the boat, enhancing that trawler look.

Kermit scampered down the side of the boat to the dock and we took off the lines. There was little wind so the boat didn’t move much. I stowed lines while Kermit climbed back on the boat to the helm and we started backing out. I ran from corner to corner with advice on distance while Kermit made that backward turn then we drove straight of the beautiful Quarterdeck Marina to begin our adventure! 

Don Gulseth will be proud because we turned right then right again to head in the correct direction! We took a big of teasing about that over docktails!

Coast Guard station at mouth of Lake Michigan

We threaded our way through a gazillion little fishing boats on the channel, passed the Coast Guard Station and the lighthouse. The fog cleared as we made the right turn into Lake Michigan to begin our journey south.

Lake Michigan was just lovely, pretty flat and sunny. Kermit set the auto pilot then we resumed our regular normal programming. We could hardly feel the boat moving. If the engines didn’t make noise it would be like being in a house that moved. I cooked breakfast and lunch. I used the power cords for my computer. I talked to clients and did regular work. It was AWESOME!!

It felt amazing to be back on the water. Occasionally the one not running the boat would wander up to the bow to experience that wind-in-the-face feeling that comes with boating. This is why we boat, right?

Our original target was Manitowoc to meet up with Don and Anita Gulseth. Manitowoc is about 60 miles south of Sturgeon Bay. When we got to Manitowoc we decided to keep going, remembering Don and Anita’s advice to never turn down a good day on the lake because bad days are really bad. So we kept going.

Who can identify this marker? We couldn't!

At one point Kermit took a 90 minute nap. I put on my iPod and danced away the time at the helm, adjusting the auto pilot occasionally and marveling at being back on the water. We heard the radio transmission from the Badger car ferry talking to Manitowoc about arriving 45 minutes later. The transmission was clear as a bell, as if the ship was nearby. I did look around because the last thing you want is to have a big ship like the Badger sneak up on you! No sign of her anywhere.

We traveled at about 1900 rpm which translated into about 15 mph. This is the boat’s optimal speed. We won’t travel at that speed all the time but for our first outing the mechanics recommended we travel at this speed to break in the engines.

Entrance marker / lighthouse
at Port Washington WI

Around 3pm we pulled into Port Washington Municipal Marina. We are still not sure how much fuel we burn so we decided to stop at the fuel dock before finding our slip.

My sister Martha says it is so much more interesting to hear about the adventures (problems) than the boring stuff like what we had for dinner so stay tuned. Adventure is about to ensue.

I couldn't resist!

There was another boat, a 40-something foot fancy boat, tied up to the dock. The owners were very nice and caught our lines while the dock hand was fueling their boat. This is the adventure part. The floating dock was low and short and this beast is high and long. We tied up with three lines – bow and the two mid cleats – but the boat kept swinging around. Every few minutes I pushed the boat off from hitting the roof of the gas hut! I was looking down on that room, pushing off from about waist height! Yikes!

We traveled around a corner
behind the gas dock to a channel

Finally Kermit said we would fuel up in the morning. Could we get our dock assignment? We untied and followed the instructions. Go around the gas dock, you will see a channel. Follow that channel around to take a right, following the wall all the way around to a wall on the opposite side of this very large marina. We could literally see over almost everything!

The dock hands scooted around and met us at the wall where we tied off, following the exact same process in reverse that we followed to leave. Kermit docked smoothly, like he had been doing it forever! In a final diesel cloud, we turned off the engines. Finally quiet. The big boat from the gas dock finally tied up on the wall around the corner. The delay was due to mechanical problems. This was a new-to-them boat too and they couldn’t turn it back on! How embarrassing! At least we didn’t have that problem. We were about to have other problems but we didn’t know that yet!

Port Washington is a cute town filled with buildings constructed in the 1850s and remodeled in the 2000s to new uses. There is nice development going on at the waterfront. We walked all over trying to find the ice cream shop (we missed a turn) then had dinner at a cute waterfront restaurant filled with locals watching the Brewers game.

Next morning we left the dock at dawn to try the gas dock again. Off the dock without incident and over to the gas dock where we tied up all by ourselves without dock hands!! Aren’t you proud of us?

The boat took on 115 gallons in one tank and 90 gallons in the other tank before sputtering indicated we were full. We traveled 105 miles on 205 gallons of fuel in about 8 hours. Kermit figures that is a little better than ½ mile per gallon. Not bad.

The dock master untied our lines and bid up farewell at around 7:30am. We wove our way through another gazillion fishing boats to the lake where we turned south. Our target today was Chicago.

The water was unbelievable, completely flat with nary a ripple as far as the eye could see. I could image our wake traveling all the way to Michigan! 

This fisherman has an interesting set up dragging
behind his boat

Pulling into McKinley Marina in Milwaukee

About 9am, about 20 miles south of Port Washington, Kermit started hearing some funny banging in one of the engines. He shut it down to check out the problem, as if we could figure it out. There was a little oil on the floor of the starboard engine room. He wiped it up then tried to get under way again but the starboard engine wouldn’t start again. At all. We were in trouble! We thought about the many things it might or might not be. We weren’t out of fuel. The oil seemed fine in the morning.

Kermit got Steve, the diesel mechanic, on the phone. He recommended Interstate Diesel in Milwaukee. Thank goodness the water was perfect. We limped into Milwaukee McKinley Municipal Marina on the port engine.

Such a gorgeous view!

The view from our boat

Kermit floated into a t-head dock on the far side of this huge marina as if he had done this a million times, even though he only had one engine!! We tied up and waited for the mechanic. Kermit plugged in every fan we have to cool down the engine room because those old diesels get really hot.

Paul from Interstate arrived around 2pm to check things out. He banged and poked. Finally he stuck his head out and gave the dreaded news.

TECH UPDATE: The starboard injector mysteriously came lose (not sure why). A rod caught it and pushed the injector up which broke the fuel lines which then dumped diesel into the crank case. The engine was not getting any fuel. The oil on the floor because the diesel fuel was dumping into the crank case so instead of having 6 gallons of oil in the crankcase we probably have 10 gallons of combo oil and fuel.

So we have to replace the 2 fuel lines that go into that injector, the injector itself and 1 rod. Kermit has to change the oil. Paul has to check the engine to figure out why it happened in the first place.

We are stuck in Milwaukee for a while. So much for visiting Chicago. Not going to happen this weekend.

Paul ordered the parts on Friday. This morning (Monday 9/17) Paul just called. The parts will arrive today. He will install them on Tuesday. We could potentially be back on the road by Wednesday. The new plan is to go directly to Port Hammond and skip Chicago completely. DARN!!

Friday afternoon after Paul left we walked over to the marina office. This is not a small task. We are at least 2/3 miles from the marina office because the marina is so large. Like most boaters, while walking in a marina we point out interesting boats. We always look for Cruisers because they are our favorites, having owned 2 of them before. We saw 2 or 3 Cruiser 4450 aft cabins just like old Good Karma and a few Cruiser 3650s like the boat we took on the Great Loop.

About halfway around the basin we saw a Cruiser 3650 with our old turquoise canvas. And look, it even has one of Kermit’s All American Power Cord Covers in turquoise! Wait! That is our old boat!! It really is! Kermit remembered that the fellow who purchased the boat took it to Wisconsin. We hovered a bit but never saw the folks who own in now. Just as well. It still feels warm to know it is here. I guess you never lose that feeling with an old boat that contains so many memories.

Next: Weekend in Chicago but not with the boat.