Back in Wisconsin

         We left Escanaba on Monday, August 14th.  We had a following sea but it was still a little lumpy.  Fortunately things settled down as we got more south into Green Bay.  We had set up several plans for destinations, but at the day wore on and the coming week’s weather started to look iffier, we thought we’d get as far as we could when we could, so we ended up in Sturgeon Bay, the cut between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, for the night. 

Sturgeon Bay lighthouse

        It was at this time we realized Tommie had managed to pick up some fleas.  Dan and I are two minds as to the origin - it’s my opinion she’s probably had them for awhile - but she did get off the boat one of the nights we were in Escanaba and Dan thinks she picked them up at that time.  (Dan spotted her sitting on a neighboring sailboat in the marina, watching us.  We’re not sure how long she was off the boat or if she had made it to shore.) Anyway, anyone who’s had to deal with a flea infestation knows what kind of trouble Tommie caused for us.  Dan made two trips into the town of Sturgeon Bay to pick up flea-killing supplies, after he’d given her a bath with his tea-tree shampoo.  Since then we’ve spent a lot of time cleaning.  We took a marina slip in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for Tuesday night, and while I spent hours in the laundry room washing all our bedding, all Tommie’s bedding, the pillow covers, etc, Dan spent hours vacuuming every nook and cranny on the boat.  We treated Tommie with Frontline and she’s been combed almost every fifteen minutes to collect what fleas we can. 

Manitowoc Light

Needless to say, we’re all a little stressed out.  The last time we went through this, we had four cats and a house we were trying to sell, and active fleas jumping all around, biting our ankles.  At least this time we haven’t seen any fleas except in the combings and nobody’s been bitten.  After all the laundry - I ran out of soap! - and vacuuming, we walked to town for a sunset dinner at a marginal restaurant overlooking the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.  The food was nothing to recommend, but the view was nice and to just sit and relax for a little bit was priceless.  

We left Manitowoc in the morning (we’ll have to go back by car to see that museum) because we had a very short weather window before gale forces and storms set in for the next couple of days.  So we’re here in Sheboygan, at a marina that offers hot tub, where we can relax as we plan next week’s logistics.  We’ll be hauling the boat for a little bottom work, and renting a car to drive home for a visit and to attend Dan’s niece’s wedding.  Let’s hope we’ve killed off the fleas before putting Tommie in the car to travel with us.  

 Who would have thought one cat could make so much work?