Thu, 8/5/10

Wagon Trail RV Resort, Ellison Bay, WI: Not sure what today was going to bring, weatherwise. But we decided to drive down to Sturgeon Bay and go out on the old fireboat. Had breakfast at Sister Bay Café first and headed down the peninsula. Took almost an hour to get there. Stopped at Walgreens first and then headed over to the Sturgeon Bay City Dock and the boat. Signed up for the 12:30 cruise. The fireboat was originally designed as a City of Chicago fireboat, the “Fred A. Busse”, and was built in 1937. We cruised under three drawbridges and then out into Sturgeon Bay, heading for the man-made canal and Lake Michigan. Saw a couple of eagles while cruising the canal. Once out on the lake we turned around and headed back through Sturgeon Bay again—this time heading for the Green Bay side. Passed a couple of boat works. They build those huge, luxurious yachts here in Sturgeon Bay. They also have repair facilities for the huge tankers that ply the Great Lakes. A couple of them were tied up awaiting repairs. After our cruise we toured the tug John Purves. This was a huge tug that towed some of those huge tankers hooked up to giant cables. Very different from what we have on the Mississippi. On the Mississippi the barges are pushed. Some of the “tows” are as big as an aircraft carrier that are pushed along the twisty, unpredictable Mississippi. Got to have nerves of steel. We have a friend who is a towboat captain. After touring the tug we headed back up the peninsula. Had lunch just outside Sturgeon Bay and then caught a movie—“Salt”. Pretty good. Back home and crashed.

Chicago Fire Boat

Tug Boat we toured