Northport → Sturgeon Bay
September 14–15, 2026
Distance: ~77 nautical miles
Waterway / State: Lake Michigan — Michigan → Wisconsin
Locks: 0 | 0 total so far
Notable: Our longest and roughest passage of the Loop to that point, crossing Lake Michigan and working with following-quartering seas.
The Trip
After being weathered in at Northport, we were trying to figure out our next move.
One of our neighbors there was Glenn Miller aboard Grand Finale, a 42-foot Grand Banks. Glenn had been looking at the same weather we were and gave us some very direct advice: if we stayed on the Michigan side and tried to work our way down through places like Leland, we could end up stuck there for days.
His recommendation was pretty clear:
“Get your ass across the lake.”
That became the plan.
We left early and headed out around the Leelanau Peninsula toward South Fox Island, with Sturgeon Bay on the Wisconsin side as the goal.
The beginning of the crossing was pretty manageable. The waves were around a foot or so and things felt good enough that we were comfortable with the decision we had made.
Then the conditions started changing earlier than we expected.
The waves built, the direction shifted, and the ride became much less comfortable. What had looked like a fairly straightforward crossing turned into a lot more active decision-making about course, speed and how Breaking Awave was handling the seas.
At times, instead of pointing directly toward Sturgeon Bay, we changed course to get a better angle on the waves. That meant occasionally giving up some miles in the “wrong” direction because the boat simply handled better that way.
As we got closer to Wisconsin, we ended up south of the direct line into Sturgeon Bay and then worked our way back northwest and southwest in longer legs rather than trying to hold one uncomfortable course.
The last several hours took a lot more attention at the helm.
With the waves coming in on the port quarter, they would push the stern around and then swing the bow, so steering became much more hands-on. We were both taking turns at the wheel and paying close attention to how speed and angle affected the boat.
By then, we were tired.
And still a few hours from protected water.
So when we finally reached the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, the feeling of relief was pretty immediate.
The water settled down, the steering got easier, and suddenly we could relax a little.
That canal felt very good.
We continued through toward Sturgeon Bay, dealing with the bridges and getting ourselves into Skipper Bud’s Marina for the night.
It had been a long day.
But we were across.
The Experience
The next day was a very different pace.
We had some work to do, then spent time walking along the waterfront and around the area near the Door County Maritime Museum. It was nice to have a day where the biggest decisions involved where to walk instead of what angle to take against the waves.
Later, we met Julie’s cousin Mary at Kitty O’Reilly’s. We had a great time catching up, and afterward Mary came back with us to see Breaking Awave.
We sat in the cockpit having drinks and watching the activity around the harbor. One of the things we remember most was a group of what looked like very young kids learning to sail in the small sailboats nearby, with an instructor following along in a dinghy.
It was one of those simple scenes that was just fun to sit and watch from the boat.
And that evening, Sturgeon Bay gave us an incredible sunset.
After the crossing the day before, it was exactly the kind of day we needed.
At the Helm
This was probably the first passage of the Loop where weather, wave direction, course and boat handling really started to come together for us.
We had already crossed Lake Michigan twice going to and from Escanaba, and while those crossings had been much friendlier, they still gave us some experience and confidence to lean on.
We had also already seen what Breaking Awave could handle during the delivery trip when we brought her home. So when the conditions got rougher and we realized we still had about four hours to go, that helped. We knew the boat had handled rough water before, and we knew we could keep working through it.
The important part wasn’t trying to force the boat to follow the shortest line on the chart. It was figuring out what angle she was happiest with and adjusting as the waves changed.
Sometimes that meant changing course. Sometimes it meant changing speed. And sometimes it meant accepting that we were going to travel a little farther to make the ride more manageable.
The biggest thing we learned was that a route on the chart is really only the starting point. Once you’re out there, the actual route can be shaped just as much by the waves as by where you’re trying to go.
By the time we reached the canal, we were tired, but we also felt like we understood Breaking Awave a little better than we had that morning.Today’s Route
[Nebo route visual]
Today in Pictures
[Northport departure, Lake Michigan crossing, Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, Skipper Bud’s, Door County Maritime Museum area, Mary aboard Breaking Awave, young sailors in the harbor, sunset]