August 4, 2010 - Jean's Birthday... we went to Sturgeon Bay to see what we could see. Decided to visit the Door County Maritime Museum which had an extensive history of the shipbuilding industry in Sturgeon Bay.
We started with a walking tour on the John Purves Tug. Originally designed in 1919 to be an ocean going tug. Served as a floating radio station for 3 years in the Caribbean before being brought to the Great Lakes in 1922. She served in WWII as a LT-145 supplying garrisons in the Aleutians. Converted from a steam engine to diesel in 1957, she served (as a tug boat) on the great Lakes under several ownerships until 2003 when she was donated to the Door County Maritime Museum. Restoration of the tug to its present state - used for walking tours - took volunteers 5 years to complete.
PICS: 4 per row
1-3. The Tug; 4. Engine room; 5. Chart bench; 6. Galley; 7. Fuel tanks (capacity 57,000 gal. of diesel - lasted 2-3 months); 8. Breakaway life raft; 9-10. Bridge; 11. Engine room controls; 12. V-12 diesel engine (there were 2 on board - each ran a separate screw). Amazing tour...one of the previous captains of the tug was present to fill in the "fun" day to day details of life on a tug boat.
The tour of the Maritime Museum was fascinating. History of the ship building industry in Sturgeon Bay following the decline of the lumber industry in that area was extensive with videos and replicas of the vessels built for transport, in general, and PC and PG boats built for WWII. One section of the museum dedicated solely to the history of ghosts and apparitions associated with various lighthouses on Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Perhaps a fun place to visit on Halloween.
Finished the day with Jean's birthday dinner at Donny's Glidden Resort. Looked like a great place for a retreat. View from the dining room overlooked Lake Michigan. Didn't catch that on film.
Located in Whitefish Bay...just a few miles from our RV park.
No comments:
Post a Comment