WASHINGTON ISLAND, WI (WTAQ) – The arrival of summer is bringing a definite buzz to Door County, in fact, all the way to its very tip where the Washington Island Ferry is ramping up activity.
An early summer drive up Door County seems to go on forever.
Venturing north on Highway 42 you’ll see marinas in Egg Harbor, catch a driver side glance of Peninsula State Park, and maybe even see the goats chewing grass on top of Al Johnson’s in Sister Bay.
But if you ever wondered if there’s an end to the shops, marinas, and restaurants, it turns out, there is.
It comes once you hit Northport Pier, which is quite literally, the end of the road.
While for some Wisconsinites, approximately 700 of them, home is even farther out.
About seven miles to be exact.
That’s because their residence is Washington Island and the only way to get there is by the Washington Island Car Ferry, which is where I happened to find myself on a late June morning.
The fleet consists of four ferries all of which can hold up to 149 passengers and anywhere from 18 to 22 vehicles.
At 10 a.m., sharp, I’m side-stepping cars and climbing onto the fleets namesake, the Washington Ferry.
The half-hour ride has turned into a family-friendly tourist attraction and my ride is littered with kids.
Sensing the verge of boredom, an impromptu game of hide-and-seek develops in the passenger cabin
Quickly everyone onboard has to get their sea legs as the ferry is anything but a smooth sail.
This may be late June in Wisconsin, but the scene is something closer to an episode of The Deadliest Catch.
The ferry rocks back and forth and the waves make standing a near impossibility.
Captain of this Vessel is Joel Russell Gunnlaugsson.
Captain Joel is light-haired and undoubtedly, judged from his surname, has Nordic blood.
Turns out, he’s been at this for a while.
“Once high school ended, I got my license when I was nineteen to operate the ferries,” he explains.
Since their inception in 1940, the ferry line has long had to deal with, let’s say, choppy conditions.
As we get closer to the dock, Captain Joel grabs a firm hold of the wheel and has two onboard dockmen get into position.
In fact, the dock has special importance to the Captain, considering he’s Washington Island born and raised.
“It’s very safe, very secure, you just don’t have to worry about anything,” he says. “That’s the beauty of it to me.”
After unloading passengers and vehicles, I catch the quick ride back with Captain Joel.
Now, vessels make up to 25 round trips a day during their high season and around two round trips per day in the winter.
In the proper historical context, this is no small feat for what has proved to be treacherous waters.
“Between the whole northern tip of the county and Washington Island, in theory, there are over 100 documented shipwrecks in this greater northern tip of the county area,” says Gunnlaugsson.
Encapsulating the high-risk history of the passage is a stretch of waterway along Plum Island known as “Death’s Door.”
When I ask Captain Joel about the significance, I received an unexpected American history lesson.
He says it stems back to an attack that was launched by the Potawatomi tribe, which lived on the mainland, against the Winnebagos, who were on the island.
Unbeknown to the Potawatomi, their attack had been tipped off.
“They were almost wiped out, the Potawatomi were,” he explains.
Decades later, as French voyageurs arrived, the tale was passed down and both Door County and the Door Peninsula got its namesake.
“The Winnebagos told them about this battle that had taken place,” says Gunnlaugsson. “So the French named it Porte des Morts, which is French for “The Door of Death.”
More information on the Washington Island Ferry, including a full schedule, can be found here.
