Manitowoc, WI

Trip Day:	168	Latitude:	44° 05.79 ' N	Locks Today:	0
Miles Today:	0	Longitude:	087°38.94 ' W	Locks Total:	81
Total Miles:	3,352	Location:	Manitowoc,  WI

The Manitowoc Maritime Museum is the home of the USS Cobia which is a GATO class fleet submarine.  Twenty-eight subs were built by Manitowoc shipbuilders  during WWII.  More than 7,000 men and women worked around the clock, 365 days a year in the shipyards.  Twenty-five of the subs were built in time to see action during the way and together they sank 132 Japanese ships. 

 Early afternoon Anita called offering to give us a ride to the grocery store and within the hour she and Don were at the marina to pick us up.  The first stop was  lunch at Late’s ,a great little burger place.  They dropped us at the supermarket, ran a few    errands, then picked us up and returned us to the marina .  .  . how could ya ask for more!  We spent the afternoon talking about The Loop, boating    stories and adventures.  The best line of the day was from Don, “I have lots of stories, but not all of them are true!”

 

By the time we had talked the day away, we weren’t in the mood to cook, so back in their car to head to Tony’s for pizza.  Halfway through our meal Tony came and sat down at our table with a few stories of his own.  Turns out Tony’s family was from Palermo, just a short distance from where Jean’s grandmother was born. 

We wished Anita and Don well and hope to see them on the rivers in a few weeks. 

 

 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25th  -  MANITOWOC, WI

 

Trip Day:	167	Latitude:	44° 05.79 ' N	Locks Today:	0
Miles Today:	64	Longitude:	087°38.94 ' W	Locks Total:	81
Total Miles:	3,352	Location:	Manitowoc, WI

Awakened by the alarm at 5:30, Ron immediately checked to make sure the weather predictions were still a go for travel.  We were underway by 6 o’clock, passed the Coast Guard  Station  and entered Lake Michigan just in time for sunrise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within 15 minutes the fog had rolled in decreasing visibility dramatically.  Ron noted that the water temperature was  reading 62 degrees! We  expected the fog to lift clear as soon as the sun was a little higher in the sky, but we were wrong –it was almost noon before we could see shore.  We steered a course of 180 directly into the wind and light seas about two miles offshore.  We had planned to go 30 miles to   Kewaunee, but decided to continue another 34 miles to Manitowoc. 

 

 

 The lighthouse at the entrance to the breakwater of Manitowoc Marina was a welcomed sight after an eleven hour day on the water. 

 After checking into the marina and viewing a map we took off on foot to walk into town and ended up going to The Strand Movie Theater to see the comedy Hope Springs—good way to end the day!

 

Returning to the dock we met a couple, Anita and Don, who are in the process of preparing their boat to begin The Loop in a couple of weeks.  After chatting for awhile we promised to see them tomorrow.