Sailing through Death's Door

Mornin' to everyone putting copious amounts of ranch on their pizza today. This is the Wiscampsin Weekly - the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.

This week's deadly email:

• Sailing through Death's Door 🛥

• Outdoor access for wheelchair-bound 👍🏻

• Ice Age National Reserves 🧊 

The Legend of Death's Door

The year is 1875.

It's raining, and cold. Water has finally seeped through your boots (Sharon's herculean patch job is finally defunct), and winds kick up as the storm bears down on your ship at sea.

But not just any sea. Wisconsin's sea, the great Lake Michigan, and you're on a voyage to deliver goods to a port in the Bay of Green Bay.

However, in order to do so, you must navigate around the Door Peninsula. Your guts tell you to wait out the storm, but you've had enough of life at sea. Besides, Sharon's grilling brats for dinner...

You decide to take your chances on the passage between the northern tip of the Door Peninsula and southernmost Potawatomi Islands, known as the Porte des Mortes.

Or "Death's Door," as the English call it.

Of course, you've heard the rumors, read the reports, but dang it, you're weary, and those other captains didn't have the cheese curds like you.

With a few hesitations from the crew, you point the bow into the strait, the rocks lingering in the mist, leering at your misplaced confidence...

Death's Door

• Links Lake Michigan and the Bay of Green Bay between Door County and Washington Island

• One of the most heinous stretches of water on all the Great Lakes

• Through the 18th, 19th, and 20th century, over 250 vessels sunk in Death's Door

History of Death's Door

A few weeks back, we covered the alluring Rock Island. To get there, you have to take the Washington Ferry from the tip of Door County -> Washington Island -> Rock Island.

But it's between Door County and Washington Island that you pass over the graveyard known as Death's Door.

Though the exact number is hard to estimate, the passage has claimed the lives of indigenous people, fur trappers, and shipmen and more than 250 vessels in the last ~400 years.

Why is it so deadly? There's a few reasons:

• For old ships without current marine tech, the passage is fairly narrow at one and one-third miles across

• Shoals extend far out from land, further increasing the chance of running foul

• The wind works in strange ways, sometime preventing ships from making headway and forcing them into the jagged shores

• Waves in the strait are known to exceed Lake Michigan and Green Bay's waves by two feet

• Warm water from the Bay flows outward, while cold water from Lake Michigan flow inward, creating currents that challenge ships' heading

Spooky, right?

It was such a pain in the keister that the maritime community found another passage to the Bay: In 1881, a canal was cut through Sturgeon Bay, saving ships from traveling through Death's Door and shaving 100 miles off voyages from the south.

Thankfully, with alternative routes and current technology, Death's Door hasn't claimed any lives since the nineteenth century.

Origins of the Name

How'd the passage get its stellar name?

No one knows for certain, but there are a few theories thrown around, some worthy of the textbooks, some that are the result of a few too many beers in the backyard.

One theory suggests that there was a great battle between the Winnebago and Potawatomi tribes in the 1600's, in which hundreds of warriors were caught in a sudden storm while crossing from Washington Island to the Peninsula.

Brennan Christianson, site manager at the Death's Door Maritime Museum, says that doesn't hold much water.

After pouring over all the resources and experts available, he finally concluded that a trading party with French fur trappers may have perished in a sudden storm while crossing the strait.

But he says even that is inconclusive.

Death's Door Today

The legend is still veiled in mystery, but it's inspired a pretty neat culture in Door County. Beer, festivals, and 'island spirits' have all found a place in the story of Death's Door.

And while you may not be itching to sail a wooden schooner through the strait anytime soon, there's plenty of other ways to dip your toes into this epic tale.

With just a snorkel or a canoe, you can get out to some of the shallow water wrecks like A.P Nichols (1861), Forrest (1857), and J.E Gilmore (1867) at the famed Pilot Island Northwest Site.

For the foodies out there, the Death's Door BBQ on Washington Island brings folks from all over to taste delicious grub and see a winner crowned.

Or, our personal favorite is to plan a trip to Rock Island State Park. On the way, you'll take the Washington Island Ferry across Death's Door, thankful for the powerful motors that the sunken ships below lacked during their own voyages.

Now get out 'der!

The "Holy cripes" Moment of the Week❗️

Check out this footage of one of the most-intact wooden schooners found in Lake Michigan.

Nuts and Seeds 🌰 

👩🏻‍🦽Outdoor access for all: Access Ability Wisconsin is on a mission to provide every Wisconsin county with free-to-rent outdoor wheelchairs (read: absolute tanks), so disabled folks can still get out 'der. Heck ya!

🧊 Preserving the Ice Age: Ten thousand years ago, Wisconsin was covered in massive sheets of ice. As a highway of glaciers moved through the state, unique treasures were left that still mark the landscape today. These 9 places are dedicated to protecting this ~chilly~ history.

🐟 Alewives are dying: A combination of poor winter conditions, temperature changes, and spawn stresses are causing alewives, a preferred source of food for many in Lake Michigan, to die off at rates not seen in years. Scientists believe that it's unrelated to pollution or disease.

See you next week!

A Review from the Trail...

Well, how'd we do this week?

• 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀 Land Ho! This one had me at full-sail

• 🧀🧀🧀 Forgot the plug, so we took on a wee bit of water

• 🧀 Left me shipwrecked