Other reasons to come to Wisconsin when you do the loop: Sputnikfest in Manitowoc! But first things first: We met the crew of Reunion for Docktails on Wednesday at Sturgeon Bay. They are days away from becoming Gold Loopers! We told them that we would also be heading for Manitowoc on Friday or Saturday depending on the weather.

I called on Friday to see what slip availability was. It was good, and if we were there on Saturday we could come for the Manitowoc Marina Annual Customer Appreciation day, with a FISH BOIL FOR DINNER!!! We were in and with very little coaxing Reunion had a reservation made.

We were off the dock in time to make the 7:30 AM bridge opening (not a real big deal since we haven’t switched our bodies over to Central time. We slid across a calm Lake Michigan, a 6.5 hour run of just over 50 miles. When I checked in at the Marina, I asked the #1 question that I ask, “What is the one thing I should do here?” “Sputnikfest!” was the answer.

On September 5, 1962, Sputnik IV reentered the earths atmosphere and a fragment crashed into downtown Manitowoc. (Corner of Park and 8th!) They have a festival that day to celebrate this event. There are costume contests, “Ms. Space Debris Pageant”, food, games, a push cart race, just a ton of stuff to celebrate 5kg of the finest Russian space materials to hit the US. (read all about it here : http://www.htrnews.com/story/entertainment/2014/09/05/sputnikfest-preview/15136295/)

Every ready for new adventures, the crews of Reunion and Quo Vadimus headed to the scene of the crash. There we found aliens and a replica of the Sputnik IV part. (Being ever so polite Wisconsinites, they had returned the original “lost parts” to the Russians). I got a Sputnikfest Tee Shirt and a can cozy in Alien Green that says Sputnik Fest.

After watching the “Ms. Space Debris Pageant” crown Ms Algae-Luna the winner, we headed back to the marina. “She” really was the best, she had a good costume and really stayed in character. For the talent part she sang a song in her native language, lots of blubs and weird sounds.

At the marina it was a special treat watching two fish boils happen at the same time. (It was our second fish boil in a week!) The food was great, my first sour cherry pie! We met up with the crew of Limelight (They finished the loop on Tuesday!)

After dinner we walked down to the local candy store and then ate ice cream as we watched a container boat and a barge go through the tight corners of the downtown area.

Sunday morning I did some checking on the port side alternator that had failed on the trip. The main 12 V wire had corroded away. I started soaking it in WD40 in hopes that I can get the fastener off. If I can’t the marina’s mechanics start at 7:30. I’m worried about stripping the stud out of the alternator.

I had been able to do laundry Saturday night around the Fish Boil. Susan got up and did hers and then we headed over to the Manitowoc Maritime Museum. There is a WWII submarine there that has been refurbished and is open for tours. One of our tour guides served on a sister ship in the mid-60′s. He knew lots about the ship and was great in answering questions.

Much to our surprise at the ground floor is a huge 15′ wide display about The Great Loop!. Very cool to see a giant map with all the routes and details about the loop. There was a couple that was reading it and said it sounded cool. Susan leaped in saying“We are doing that now” and we had a nice chat with them.

After the museum we walked across the river to check out the End of Summer Street festival held by “The Courthouse Pub” (a place the crew of Reunion recommended). So we sat outside and listened to the great band (full horn section!). It was a very nice, sunny day out, so it made for a great afternoon!

After so much fun, music and food we went back to the boat and crashed. It had been a busy weekend and we were exhausted.