Washington Island, Wisconsin
August 6 through August 8, 2021
For our first Wisconsin stop, we went to Kap’s Marina on
Washington Island. The price per foot
for the marina slip was close to twice what we had been paying for all the
Michigan marinas. Naturally, I expected
to find a pristine, luxurious, beautiful marina. Nothing could be further from the truth! Kap’s Marina has seen better days. Only a few slips, grass (weeds) unkempt, dirt
or gravel walkways. The restrooms were
fine, at least. We were appalled,
frankly! There was a restaurant right at
the marina. Dan stopped in and decided
to buy 2 of their cinnamon buns – price was $9.50!! Yikes, they were pretty proud of their
pastry!
After our initial reaction, we talked to some people from the
Looper Forum to get some perspective.
The Michigan harbors were all largely funded by the State taxes, have mostly
all been redone, with excellent docks, facilities, and the price was about $61
per night. Wisconsin marinas are on
their own to finance their operations.
Paying over $120 per night for a marina that was so lacking was
irksome. But, the people who owned the
marina were very nice. And, once we
looked around the island, we could see the charm of the island.
There are only about 175 people who live on the island year
round. The island’s total industry is
tourism. Ferries come constantly from
nearby Wisconsin ports, at times adding
1,000 people a day! Many just come for
the day, and they enjoy renting jeeps, bikes, kayaks, for exploring the 10 mile long island.
We were docked beside a Coast Guard boat, and the “Coasties”
were housed just across the road. Dan
and one of them had a very involved conversation about Dan’s career with the
SEALs. I enjoyed watching these young
men, young enough to be my grandsons!
We met a couple from another dock (Joy and Larry Wissing), and
hit it off nicely. We enjoyed
conversations with them and had dinner with them at the restaurant. They aren’t “Loopers”, just fellow boaters
with plenty to talk about.
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