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We left Stockton a little before 0900 and started working our way through some of the other Islands. It was another sunny, warm day; our third in a row. Passing Manitou Island we noticed the dock was open so we pulled in and visited the restored fishing camp. It is hard to imagine how tough things were living in these Islands 80 to 100 years ago. After departing Manitou we went by Raspberry Island to check the dock there and found it occupied so we reverted to our original plan which was to anchor in Raspberry Bay, drop the dinghy and dinghy the 1.5 miles to Raspberry Island. The reason to visit Raspberry was to visit the restored light house keepers station that exists there. We had a very nice visit and enjoyed the private tour the Ranger conducted for us including climbing up to the top of old lighthouse . After that we dinghied back to the boat , had lake trout for dinner and then settled back to watch the clear sky for the Perseid meteor showers which are supposed to be peaking tonight and tomorrow. Well it must be tomorrow night because we only saw a handful.

Since we were lucky enough to get to the dock here and since the ferry whose dock we were occupying does not come until tomorrow, we decided to stay here. To give you a better feel for our luck, there are only 3 sailboats and 5 power boats here. John decided to do a major 10+ mile hike to the Brownstone Quarry at the west end of the Island. I went with Island’s ranger whose name is Tim on a more conservative 3.8 mile hike on the Tombolo Trail. BTW tombolo is the name for a sand spit which develops and eventually joins two Islands together which is how Stockton Island was formed. It was a great hike. We found lots of terrestrial orchids and lots of berries. Tim showed me winterberries. Think wintergreen gum to get an idea of the taste and I showed him Thimbleberries. We also found blackberries, bunchberries, sand cherries, cranberries and lots of both high bush and low bush blueberries. Neither of us was hungry when we returned. I baked a blueberry pie in the afternoon and Tim came over after his evening lecture for a piece. It was a gorgeous sunny and warm day and according to the forecast we can expect the same tomorrow. Let’s hope so.

We left the YC at noon after putting our bikes on deck and the going over to the fuel dock to pump out. It was a beautiful warm, sunny day after an evening that was filled with downpours of rain and thunder. Happily the forecast for the next few days is very benign. We sailed up the length of Madeline Island and continued north to Stockton and the very small dock on its SW side. Believe it or not we found one opening that we could fit in and we were able to go hiking to gorgeous Justin Bay without dropping the dinghy. This evening we will be going ashore at 1930 to a presentation by the resident Park Ranger . What we will do tomorrow is still to be decided.

We stayed here Friday and Saturday to attend the GLCC Lake Superior Rally. We met a lot of nice people and they were exceptionally kind to us. I know why people like to sail these waters. On Friday we had dinner at the Madeline Island Inn with the GLCC group and John and I really enjoyed the sourdough whitefish we had. Saturday we joined the group for a pancake and sausage breakfast and then that night there was a pot luck dinner to which we contributed a cauliflower salad. The gentlemen who manages the Apostle Islands National Park gave a very informative talk after our dinner and then I was presented a placque for the boat who came the furthest to the rally. Beyond the GLCC activities I was able to have my 11 pound propane tank filled and got laundry done. We are now ready to head out to the Islands.

We had another sunny though somewhat cool day and are staying here until Sunday to catch up on things as well as to attend the GLCC Lake Superior Rally which takes place on Friday and Saturday. At 1100 John and I caught the Madeline Island ferry over to Bayfield. We enjoyed the short 15 minute trip especially watching the 15+ sailboats which were in sight. That was quite a contrast to the relatively desolate waters thru which we have been traveling.  We walked the small town and then went to Maggies for lunch which was excellent. Afterwards we bought some lamp oil at the local Ace Hardware, some fresh produce at the IGA and checked out a few shops. We found nothing that tickled our fancy and were soon on the ferry back to Madeline Island. At 1800 the Cory’s, Floyd’s and another couple joined us for margaritas and then we all went down to Red Sky for a pork tenderloin dinner. We provided a lettuce, avocado and capers salad for the affair.  It was another very pleasant evening with our new friends.

After another peaceful, cool night, we left Black River at 0900 under sunny skies. We had light head winds from the W which gradually died to nothing as we powered our way west with Red Sky leading the way. The wind did pick up as we rounded the south end of Madeline and went the final mile into the yacht club. We went to the fuel dock to register and fuel. I took on 18 gallons of diesel and then inquired about having my engine oil changed. the response was we will do it for you right here, right now and they did.

After going to our slip we did some other maintainance on the boat, put the bikes down and while John walked I relaxed. At 1830 we left with Stan and Linda in their car and drove to Joe and Elaine Floyd’s house to celebrate his birthday with him. We enjoyed the locally famous Ed’s ribs and a salad from the Floyd’s garden and washed it all down with red wine. All in all it was a great day .

The wind came up from the NW last night and also brought a few rain showers, but when we got up the skies were clearing. Everyone left at 0800 with Red Sky and Swan planning to head to Madeline Island and John and I to Black River. When we reached the open waters of the lake we found 4-5 foot seas left over from last night’s wind and 12-15 knot winds from the WNW. Since we were headed just a little south of west we could only use the main which did serve to give us some drive and stabilize the boat in the seas. The other boats were having a much rougher time as their course to Madeline put them right into the seas. Several hours later, Red Sky decided it was not worth banging all the way to Madeline and turned south to head to Black River with us. As our day continued down this desolate coast the wind lightened somewhat but kept heading us as we made every course change to slowly head southwest as the shore curved away in that direction. Once again we were fighting an adverse current. We were paralleling the Porcupine Mountains and we first saw a ski resort on the north face and as we neared Black River we saw an enormous ski jump towering above one mountain peak. We subsequently learned this is supposed to be the highest ski jump in North America.
We arrived at Black River just after 1400 to find there was room at the dock for both of us in this tiny little, picturesque harbor. Both crews had eaten lunch while underway so all four us headed out to make the ¾ mile hike to Rainbow Falls. We were docked on the west side of the river so we first had to cross a suspension pedestrian foot bridge to the east side before heading up river to the falls. The day was now sunny and warm and it was a pleasant hike to the falls where we encountered lots of young people swimming in the pool beneath the falls and sunning themselves on the surrounding rocks. We returned to the boat . John left to hike this side of the river and I started making spaghetti sauce for dinner. We had invited Stan and Linda to join us for dinner and cocktails. For cocktails I finally tried the frozen Pina Colada mix that Don and Kerry had brought on board weeks ago. It makes a great drink and we all enjoyed them . After dinner , we sat around drinking red wine and sharing stories before we turned in for the night.

The skies cleared overnight and the wind layed down so it was a calm relatively warm morning when we left the dock to catch the 0900 bridge opening to head north 10 miles to the Upper Entry of the Keweenaw Waterway. Accompanying us were Stan and Linda Cory on a Caliber 40 named Red Sky and Joe and Elaine Floyd on a Hans Christian trawler named Swan. Both boats are out of the Madeline Island YC and they are headed there for the GLCC Rally which we plan to attend next weekend.
Once we got up to the Lake we found a mill pond. It was as calm as I have ever seen Lake Superior. We motored all day in bright sunshine along this rocky fairly desolate, rocky shore. We were fighting an east flowing current of up to 0.6 knots so we did not arrive in Ontonagon until 1615. While I joined everyone on Red Sky for a cocktail, John went hiking , found some fisherman cleaning Lake Trout and talked them out of two fillets. When he returned, the topic became dinner. Do we cook the fish, do we go out for dinner or do we cook something else? We could not find an open restaurant which would transport us and the town which is on the other side of the river is over a mile walk one way. Ultimately Red Sky and Swan decided to cook steaks for us all. We provided two containers of our Golden Grill Hashbrown potatoes and a bottle of Red wine. We ate our great dinner on Red Sky only bothered by the flies which seem to be very prevalent in Ontonagon.
Tomorrow we plan to go to Black River and Red Sky and Swan plan to head directly for Madeline Island which is about 60 miles.

Before I tell you about today let me tell you about yesterday and last night. Things got worse after I posted the blog and it was a really wild ride on the boat as the afternoon progressed and the W wind continued to blow. By dinner time things settled down a bit but by 1100 the wind and waves got worse. I was surprised that none of the boys got seasick. It reminded me of the horrible night we spent on the boat at Beaver Island in Lake Michigan in August 2007. Will and the boys were up and gone by 0430 for their long drive to St. Louis. I went back to bed and was up at 0800 to start laundry and a general cleanup of the boat. Things looked good by the time John Robertson arrived at 1630. We ate dinner on board. I plan to turn in early to enjoy a good night’s sleep now that the winds have dropped. Tomorrow we plan to go up to the Upper Entry and then W about 35 NM to Ontonagon which will put us about 1/3 of the way to the Apostle Islands. The forecast is for E and then S winds so it should be a good day that might allow us to sail. Will will be posting some pictures today or tomorrow so stay tuned!

I cannot believe it is already August. It is just as well we are planned to be here today as it rained over night and several times today already. More importantly the wind is blowing 20-25 knots in the marina and I am sure the predicted 25-30 knots for the lake is a reality. Weather permitting we will do some more cleanup chores and then go out to dinner tonight to The Library. Will and the boys will be leaving early tomorrow morning for their long drive back to St. Louis and John Robertson is due to arrive between 2 -4 pm tomorrow afternoon. The weather is expected to moderate tomorrow and even more so Monday so I am hopeful we can leave for the Apostle Islands.