Travel, History & Culture in America's Dairyland
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It’s hard to imagine now, but for more than a half-century the Washington Island ferry, the C.G. Richter, battled the Inland Sea in true underdog fashion. In winter the little crate-of-a-boat had to pound its way across Death’s Door by stopping, reversing, then ramming forward into ice flows containing all the cushion of concrete.

Spots of open water, even during the most frigid conditions, prevent autos and snowmobiles from attempting the six-mile trip between Door County and Washington Island. It’s unique for Wisconsin, since the state’s only other island community -- Lake Superior’s Madeline Island -- can be reached in winter by official state ice road (marked with discarded Christmas trees).  

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Making the trek blow-by-blow, measure-by-measure, the C.G Richter was the solitary winter lifeline between the mainland and Washington Island. Travel times often varied due the ever-changing conditions, and residents and visitors waited weeks for a reservation on the boat.

Things changed in the winter of 2004 with the Arni J. Richter, a gleaming new icebreaker twice the size of the old boat and four times as powerful. You still need a reservation, but more people can make the crossing, and the ferry breaks ice with workmanlike proficiency. 

The “Arni” is a mixed blessing to Washington Island’s 660 residents. It offers dependable daily trips to the mainland, but returns from Northport with a few more visitors than previously seen during winter -- a time when islanders typically decompress from the summer tourist season. 

“People always ask us: ‘What do you do here in summer,’ and I tell them, ‘We work and make love,’” islander Ken Koyen told the Green Bay Press Gazette last year. What do residents do in winter? Koyen’s response: “We don’t work.”

The new ferry has not delivered dreaded changes to Washington Island, as least not yet, judging by a recent visit. “Island time” still means nobody cares about the clock, the occasional passing motorist will wave without fail, and locals spend days playing cribbage and talking over coffee. 

And what will never change is the winter crossing -- a true getaway, transcendent, as far removed from everyday life as an afternoon jaunt to the Artic. The unsettling feeling of ice rumbling beneath the hull remains, and gulls are the only signs of life amidst the stunning desolation of the frozen Inland Sea.  		   



 
                 
                       
       

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