Today, the wife and I took the canoe and checked out North Bay.
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safa ... CBoQ8gEwAA
Interesting body of water, and perhaps the best 5K rowing course in Door County.
In the summers, for over a half century now, I have been living here in Door County within a few miles of this bay, but I had never been there. I now see why.
The bay is about 5K long, running to the west out into Lake Michigan, running to the east into the Door Peninsula, with large points that jut out to the north and south, as wind breaks (etc.). What is so odd about this bay is that the water is only about three feet deep throughout, with a clean sandy bottom. This bottom is entirely free of vegegation, as is the bay itself, until you get near shore, where there are reeds and bullrushes, leading to a tree cover with impressively large pines, cedars, and hardwood. The sun bounces off this sandy bottom, through the crystal clear water, making silvery reflections, in mesmerizingly fractal patterns. The depth of the bay is very regular and is not interrupted by rocks of any sort. You can walk right across this huge sand bar, which stretches about a mile, north to south, and three miles, east to west, out into Lake Michigan.
Strange!
Because of the shallow water, there are no power boats on the bay, or even sailboats. There isn't enough water. And given that the water is not usable for most purposes, there are no cottages on the bay (to speak of), either. It's deserted! This afternoon, a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in the middle of the summer, my wife and I were the only ones there in this _huge_ tract of water, three square miles in area.
On the bay, it is so quiet you can hear a pin drop.
The inner portion of the bay has been bought up by the Door County land trust. This inner part of the bay is fed by two creeks and a series of unusual springs, and being a land preserve, abounds in various sorts of wildlife--blue heron, geese, sandpipers, etc. Out on the point to the north ("Marshall Point"), there is a (one-of-a-kind) private, gated community for millionaires.
If you start at the inner portion of the bay and row straight out into Lake Michigan, you can do 5K of rowing before you get to the point out in the big lake, where you leave the sand bar and enter deeper water.
The bay is a perfect 5K rowing course.
The shallow water keeps out both boat waves and waves from the big lake.
It is like a big river.
There is only one major access on each side to the bay, and on the south, this access is primarily for a couple of cottages that are there.
But the north side of the bay, off North Bay road, there is a nice public access, very friendly to a 1x, where you can just walk your 1x out into the bay.
Of course, you can also just stop and get out of your 1x wherever you are on the bay.
The water is only three feet deep, and the sandy bottom feels very pleasant on your bare feet.
The water is like liquid glass.
ranger
Rich Cureton M 72 5'11" 165 lbs. 2K pbs: 6:27.5 (hwt), 6:28 (lwt)
