APPLETON, WI – ( WISS & WGBW) – Babs Smith of Appleton saw a need for information on where to go and what to see when kayaking around Door County. So, She wrote a book on it!

Smith said the journey to write a book started when she retired as an occupational therapist and took up kayaking with her brother. 

“We decided to kayak all around Door County. It’s really hard to find information on where you can land that is public,” said Smith. “I said, ‘Somebody should write a book about this.’” And my brother, who is 6-feet tall patted me on the head and said, ‘Do it!” And I said, ‘I will!’”

Because of Smith’s efforts, Lake Michigan Water Trail added shipwrecks to the trail listing. 

“Because, I kept calling the Wisconsin Archeology Department and saying ‘I need more information about this shipwreck or that shipwreck,’ and she said ‘How are you looking at these?’ I said, ‘By kayak.’ And she said, “Wow, we never thought of that.’”

Smith’s writing process always starts with a kayak trip. Once she gets home she puts it into a story.

“Silly things. Everything dumb that we did. Don’t do it! We put it in there,” said Smith. She adds that there is a third book in the works. “Right now, I am working on circumnavigating all the way around Green Bay. We only have Big Bay to finish and then crossing of all the islands. And then I need to make it into a book. And that’s the hard part.”

Her book Day Tripping: Kayak Wisconsin Door County Peninsula: Bluffs, Beaches, Lighthouses & Shipwrecks can be found online on Amazon and other websites. Her second book, Kayak Wisconsin: Lake Michigan Water Trail from Sturgeon Bay to Chicago is also available online. 

Babs Smith and her husband also plant blooming crabapple trees throughout the Appleton area.