Our overnight stay at the dock on Rock Island was, at best, unpleasant. A big wind blew in and was slamming us into the dock creating a racket that made sleep almost impossible for me. Dave slept through the noise but I moved to the bow of the boat and covered my head with extra blankets. In the morning we found Mystic was held tight to the dock by a southwest blow. It was a challenge to get ourselves off and heading out of the cove. We released all of our dock lines except the stern. Dave put Mystic in reverse to release the tension while I grabbed the line and hopped on board. He pushed Mystic in hard forward and made a sharp curve to head away from the shallows.
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| Mystic at Rock Island |
Our short list of options included a stop in Door County on the east side of Green Bay but we'd made the decision to go all the way to our final destination, Marinette Wisconsin. We were very tired from pushing so hard over the last 10 days. Getting to Nestegg Marine would allow us time for a rest which was looking very appealing. We have next summer to explore Door County.
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| Bundled up on our way to Marinette |
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| There always seems to be plenty of big ships to avoid |
It took us about 8 hours to navigate the 47 miles from Rock Island around the tip of Door County then across Green Bay to the Menomonie River. The bascule bridge tender at the mouth of the river didn't answer our radio calls. Dave contacted Nestegg to get the phone number. Finally, we were able to pass under the bridge and slowly work our way up river past an industrial area and a lumber yard that were flooded by high water. We'd learn later that the lake was up two feet above average. We carefully passed Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipbuilding Company which sits just south of Nestegg Marine.
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Menomonie North Pier Light
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| Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipbuilding Company |
As we approached Nestegg a man yelled a greeting to us from a sailboat on the dock. We waved and asked where we could find the gas dock. He directed us toward the interstate bridge ahead. Nestegg Marine is nestled right under the bridge which separates Marinette Wisconsin from Menomonie Michigan. There were two boats already there but yard workers came to help us slip safely in between.
We were so excited to be at our final destination for cruising season 2021. We fueled up then walked to the Ships Store to talk to Aleah who has been working with us to set up winter storage. When we told her we'd begun our season in Rhode Island we learned that she lived in Newport and spent a lot of time at Watch Hill. Our chat about New England brought this year's journey full circle for us. She sent us to slip S13 on a dock near the shipyard that is used for temporary visitors.
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| Nestegg Rowing Club |
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| Park Sculptures at Stephenson Island Park |
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| Fairy Garden |
On the way to our slip we noticed a beautiful, mast-less, Island Packet 35 being moved to the haulout bay. It reminded us of our friends Susan and David and their IP, Veritas. We learned that Soy Amada was getting shipped to new owners in Mystic Connecticut. It no longer surprises us to have close encounters with folks who have shared connections but it always make us smile. Our slip was sandwiched between two sailboats, a Hunter and a Catalina. We'd soon learn that we had a connection to the crew of the Catalina too.
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| Soy Amada being moved to haulout bay |
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| The Blue Heron Nesting Tree on Menomonie River |
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| Mystic at the Nestegg dock |
We walked over the interstate bridge in search of III Bridges Microbrewery which was about a mile away. We toasted the end of our 2021 cruising season with a Belgian Dark Breakfast Stout. It was laced with flavors of coffee and maple. We tried their brown ale too. Both were very good.
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| III Bridges Brew Menu |
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| Belgian Dark Breakfast Stout |
We stopped at Jeff's Market for groceries before returning to Mystic. The folks on the Catalina were on deck. Mike and Donna are married; Tom is Donna's brother. Tom just purchased the sailboat at Nestegg. He plans to rename here MoorSea before departing for the inland waterway and south. They are intermittent Loopers. This section of the journey will take them to Florida. We chatted about our Loop experience and discovered that Tom and Donna were born in Connecticut. They've cruised Long Island Sound and know Mystic and Groton well. We all marvelled at just how small the world really is as we bonded, building a new friendship!
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Dave, Beth, Tom, Mike and Donna
between Mystic and MoorSea at Nestegg Marine |
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| With our new friends from Mystic Connecticut |
We had a couple of days to explore Marinette Michigan, (the happening town) and Menomonie Wisconsin (the quiet, industrial town). We met the marina workers including Mark who is retired but works for Nestegg during the spring and fall migration of boats in and out of the water. Mark has a beautiful Catalina 34 named Pearl. He has done a bit of work on her including adding a custom hardtop dodger and a hydraulic dinghy davit storage system. In addition, he added a stack pack to his main. We were surprised to learn that he took all the teak off the deck and replaced it with maintenance free composite lumber. I have to admit it looked great, but I prefer the beauty of teak.
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| Mark's beautiful catalina Pearl |
Marinette is an industrial town where the main work option is at the local shipbuilding company. We discovered Ironworks restaurant while on a walk through town. It honors the local blue collar community with an iron cast sculpture of workers eating lunch on the roof of the building. We didn't eat there but we enjoyed the art. We found our favorite restaurant at The Brothers Three which boasts the best pizza in town. It is very good pizza however we enjoyed the Friday beer battered ocean whitefish which comes with french fries, beans, coleslaw and rye bread, a steal for only $5.99. In addition, the happy hour beer price is only $2.00 a pint.
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| Lunchtime at Ironworks |
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| Brothers Three Logo |
By the time our daughter arrived to bring us to the airport, we'd settled in nicely. Nestegg was not able to haul Mystic out while we were there but agreed to wait for our return from Connecticut to do so. Mystic would stay at the dock in her slip next to MoorSea. Tom, Mike and Donna would keep an eye on her until they departed. We would drive back to Minnesota to unload our truck then return to Marinette to settle Mystic on the hard for the winter. Aleah and the staff at Nestegg made everything easy for us. We are very happy with our choice of Nestegg Marine for winter storage. We are already looking forward to our next cruising season of 2022.
