Sheboygan → Port Washington
September 17–18, 2026
Distance: ~23 nautical miles
Waterway / State: Lake Michigan — Wisconsin
Locks: 0 | 0 total so far
Notable: A shorter-than-planned run as changing conditions made Port Washington the better stop instead of continuing to Milwaukee.
The Trip
We spent part of the morning seeing a little more of Sheboygan before getting underway. We walked Main Street, looked for some of the buildings on an architectural tour we had found, and made a quick visit to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
Then it was back to the boat for the less interesting but necessary stuff: pumpout, diesel and getting Breaking Awave ready to leave.
This was also Greg’s first time handling the pumpout and fueling from the port side. Two high-school-aged girls working the dock clearly knew what they were doing and helped with the heavy hoses while we worked through it.
We had originally planned to continue all the way to Milwaukee, but by the time we finished everything and got underway, it was later than we had hoped. With the conditions on the lake, Port Washington made more sense.
So we changed the plan.
By then, changing destinations was starting to feel a lot more normal than it had during our first few days. We were getting better about looking at the time, weather and conditions and deciding what made sense instead of feeling like we had to stick with whatever we had planned that morning.
We arrived in Port Washington around 6:30 that evening.
The Experience
Port Washington turned out to be one of those places we were really glad we ended up visiting.
It’s a very nice, quaint little town, and the next morning we took an early walk through the large park and along the beach before wandering back through town. We had heard about the murals scattered around downtown, so finding those became part of the walk, along with some of the historical sites along the way.
We also visited the 1860 Light Station and took a tour from a couple who were serving as the resident lighthouse keepers for the week.
We thought that was a really interesting program. Volunteers are trained to help with tours and stay in the lighthouse during their week as keepers. It seemed like a pretty great way to spend a week in Port Washington.
We had already planned to go home for a few days because we had a friend’s daughter’s wedding to attend, so we knew we would be leaving the boat anyway. Once we saw what the weather was doing, we just decided to head home a little earlier than we otherwise would have.
Before leaving, we walked down to the marina and harbor wall to watch the waves. They were already around 4 feet, which looked pretty massive from shore.
And those were the smaller ones.
After we left, Lake Michigan built to waves of up to about 9 feet.
So leaving Breaking Awave safely tied up in Port Washington was not a difficult decision.
The week at home also gave us a chance to see Jess and Alec and help with a few more things around the house before getting back to the trip.
We returned to Port Washington on September 27, ready to pick up where we had left off.
We really liked Port Washington and were happy that a change in plans gave us the chance to spend some time there.
At the Helm
This leg wasn’t really about a new boat-handling lesson as much as it was about making the better decision before the day got harder than it needed to be.
Milwaukee had been the plan, but with the later departure and the conditions, Port Washington made more sense. Once we saw the forecast that evening—with waves expected to stay up for days—the decision looked even better.
Standing safely on shore the next morning watching four-foot waves roll into the harbor was a pretty good reminder that sometimes the best boating decision is simply knowing when to stop.
Today’s Route
[Nebo route visual]
Today in Pictures
[Sheboygan morning, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, underway to Port Washington, Port Washington beach and park, downtown murals, 1860 Light Station, harbor wall and waves, marina views]