Ahoy! Our Door County cruise is fast approaching, so I thought I'd repost with more details on launch dates and places, and a potential cruise itinerary. So far we have six interested parties: a Montgomery 17 from Milwaukee (me), an M-17 from Madison, a Precision 21 from Madison, a Compac 16 from Minneapolis, a West Wight Potter 19 from Michigan, and a WWP-15 from Indiana. In trying to accommodate everyone's schedules, I set dates for a "core" trip of Thursday, Sept. 23 through Sunday, Sept. 26. Of course anyone who wants to start earlier or later -- or finish earlier or later -- can do so, and the abundance of excellent launch/retrieval facilities along our area of focus should make such flexibility easy. Here's my suggested itinerary: Sept. 23, Day 1: Launch at Fish Creek Town Dock ramps and be ready to depart by 10 a.m. The launch fee is $7, and plenty of long-term trailer parking is available a couple of blocks away. (I didn't choose the ramp at Peninsula State Park because the adjacent trailer parking lot has a 48-hour limit.) Sail to Sister Bay (8 miles with no tacking), past the Strawberry Islands, Peninsula State Park, Horseshoe Island (4 mi. lunch stop?) and Eagle Harbor/Ephraim (6 mi.). Stay the night at Sister Bay Marina and enjoy dinner together at any of the nearby restaurants. Slips and showers are available for $20 per night or you can anchor out and dingy in. Sept. 24, Day 2: Depart Sister Bay by 9 a.m. and sail 5 miles north to Ellison Bay, where we can stop for lunch. Then sail 10 miles around the north end of the peninsula to Detroit Harbor -- between Detroit Island and Washington Island -- where we can anchor for the night. Depending on conditions, and because the days are shorter in the fall, we'll want to set alternate places to stop for lunch and overnight shelter before we head out. Sept. 25, Day 3: Sail back down the west side of the peninsula, 18 miles to Ephraim on Eagle Harbor. Slips, anchorages and restaurants are all available here. If everyone would prefer a more natural setting, we can anchor overnight at Horseshoe Island. A second option for those of you who can extend your trip a day or two would be to sail around the west side of Washington Island up to Jackson Harbor, where you can spend the night and perhaps head over to Rock Island for hiking or exploring. Then you could return via the route mentioned above. Sept. 26, Day 4: Return to our Fish Creek launch site, with plenty of time to explore Horseshoe Island, Peninsula State Park's Nicolet Bay (with close proximity to hiking trails, beaches, etc.) and the Strawberry Islands. Trailer our boats and head home with plenty of great sailing memories for the winter months! Obviously, this itinerary is dependent on conditions, and we may alter it as necessary (going farther on good days, shorter on other days, etc.). By all means, if anyone has other ideas or suggestions for our cruise, let me know. Also, please let me know as soon as possible if you'll be joining us or not. Here are a few resources for your planning: Chart of cruising area: NOAA Chart #14909 Fish Creek Town Dockmaster: 920-868-3476 Ephraim Firehouse Marina: 920-421-0128 Sister Bay Marina: 920-854-4457 Egg Harbor Municipal Dock: 920-868-2048 Digital Lake Michigan cruising guide showing Door Co. marinas: lakelandboating.com/cruise_guide_michigan.cfm Feel free to e-mail or call me with questions. I'm looking forward to the adventure! Gordon 952-890-7323