Lake Superior - eastbound

 

Duluth is the westernmost point on Lake Superior and the turn-around point on our cruise of the lake.  Howling wind and a constant rain kept us at the dock on Thursday – it was a cold day as well, with a wind-chill of 49⁰ on August 3^rd!!!  Wanting to give the waves on the big lake ample time to settle down from that storm, we did not venture out on Friday either. 

Saturday proved to be a great travel day.  It was time to start retracing  our route back to Sault Ste. Marie. As we were ready to exit through  the Superior entry at 6:30AM, we were greeted by the freighter CSL Assinboine making its way to the Superior ore docks.  Good morning, Assinboine!!

 

Nine l-o-o-n-g hours and 75 miles later, we dropped the hook off the beach at Big Bay on Madeline Island.  This was our longest cruising day of the season.  (One big drawback of cruising on Lake Superior is the long distances between safe harbors/anchorages.  In a slow boat like Lazy W it makes us very aware of weather, wind and wave conditions on the lake. We must pick our travel days carefully.)  After dining al fresco, we were rewarded with a sighting of a bald eagle soaring overhead and the call of the loons out on the lake.

We made a return trip to Madeline Island Yacht Club to feed and water Lazy W and then cruised across the channel to a slip at Bayfield’s Apostle Island Marina.  Out on the water there were dozens of sailboats taking advantage of the breezy day and the Madeline Island ferries were busy shuttling funseekers between the docks of La Pointe and Bayfield.

Barfield, Wisconsin

The Chicago Tribune once dubbed Bayfield “Best Little Town in the Midwest.”  It is the smallest incorporated city in the state of Wisconsin with a year-round population of 487 and a total area of just one square mile.  Rittenhouse Avenue is lined with shops selling locally crafted art, jewelry and clothing and on Sunday afternoon there were plenty of tourists perusing the wares and noshing at the restaurants and pubs.

Frank enjoying happy hour at a rooftop bar in Bayfield

Docked next to us in Bayfield was a sailboat belonging to a sailing club from Hamburg, Germany.  A new crew was boarding for a sail along the northern shore of Lake Superior.  From there their plan was to sail south as far as Chicago before heading back north to winter in Toronto.

We left Bayfield early on August 7^th.  The only other activity on the water at that time was the Madeline Island ferry making its first crossing of the day.  Sixty-six miles and eight hours later we arrived at the entrance to Ontonagon and had our first rare boat sighting of the cruise - a small fishing boat!  We saw more loons than boats today!  Lake Superior is a lonely, lonely lake for cruising.

The marina in Ontonagon was even less busy than it had been on our westbound stop.  Then we had shared the dock with Jill and Howie from Minneapolis on their sailboat Liberty.  Now it was just Lazy W amid the small deserted local boats on the muddy Ontonagon River.  Though it was just 4PM when we arrived, the dockmaster had gone home for the day.  Not much happening here.  And yet we wound up staying another day due to swelling waves out on Lake Superior.

We felt obliged to walk into downtown Ontonagon just to see the Ontonagon County Historical Museum on River Street.  I would not call this small blue building a museum.  I wouldn’t even call it an antique shop.  It was more of a mishmash of old stuff scrounged from grandma’s attic and old churches along with display cases filled with polished agates. The historical significance (if any) of these items was not detailed.  The item most associated with Ontonagon history – the replica of a three-ton boulder of pure copper discovered upstream in the river - was tucked unobtrusively in the rear of the museum among old mining implements and snow shoes.  If you want to see the real Ontonagon copper boulder you will have to go to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Replica of the Ontonagon Boulder

We were quite excited to see another cruiser enter the Ontonagon River and dock in the marina near us!  Unfortunately, we did not get to chat with them much since they arrived in a rainstorm and we left for Houghton early the following morning.

We were back in Houghton on August 9^th after an incredibly smooth  5.5- hour cruise.  Again, it was a lonely cruise with just two small fishing boats out near Ontonagon and one out at the entrance to the Keweenaw Waterway. 

Michigan Tech's Ranger III cruises under the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.  Notice how the ship and the bridge are color-
coordinated!

Weather-related delays kept us in Houghton at the city wall for two more days.  Needing to get off the boat, we decided to take a shopping trip to Walmart.  The city of Houghton website listed the schedule for the downtown shuttle which had a conveniently located stop just a few blocks from the dock wall.  We trudged through the rain and waited patiently at the shuttle stop at the Lode Theater Building.  We watched as the long-overdue shuttle passed us by!  A call to the transit office informed us that the shuttle route had changed and there had not been a stop at the Lode for “quite sometime.”  HELLO?  Wouldn’t you think the schedule on the website should reflect that change????  Undaunted, we trudged to the nearest designated stop (according to the transit office) and again waited somewhat patiently for the shuttle that NEVER CAME!  There would be no shopping trip today…

Back at the boat, we hunkered down to wait out the rain.  By late afternoon, the skies started to clear and brighten.  The event calendar on the city of Houghton website listed Bald Squeezebox was to perform at 7PM at the Ray Kestner Waterfront Park as part of the Summer Concert Series.  Who could pass that up, especially if you had been stuck inside all day?  After dinner, we grabbed some beach chairs and strolled down the waterfront looking for some musical entertainment.  Alas, the city of Houghton failed us again – the band stand was deserted, no performers, no spectators.

Don’t get me wrong - Houghton wasn’t all bad.  We enjoyed a nice Italian dinner at the Ambassador, savored the breakfast pasty at Roy’s Bakery and Pasty Shop, and picked up some bargain bottles of wine at Michigan Made (although the Italian and Australian wines we bought were clearly not made in Michigan!)

Passing one of the Huron Islands on the way to Big Bay

 

Saturday was finally a gorgeous day for cruising back to Big Bay where we were warmly greeted by Bob and Pam, the harbor hosts.  They reported that the dock here was filled for the last three days as boaters everywhere on Lake Superior waited out the wind and waves.

Then it was back to Marquette’s Cinder Pond Marina after another perfect cruising day.  We hadn’t had the chance to pedal the lakeshore bike path on our initial stop here, so Sunday afternoon we pedaled off to Presque Isle Park.  It was dry and sunny all the way there – not so all the way back!

Lake Superior from Presque Isle Park

Our reward for spending the day checking off needed boat chores, reprovisioning and doing laundry was dinner at Portside Inn.  I finally got a taste of Lake Superior whitefish and it was good.  Now on to Munising before the weather turns on us again.

The forecast for Tuesday, August 15^th called for light variable winds with waves of less than one foot – a perfect cruising day.  WRONG! SO WRONG!  It was a rockin’ and a rollin’  ride with gusty winds from the north - just the right direction for waves smacking us square on our port side.  After two hours we had cleared Laughing Fish Point and we were definitely not laughing!  After another two hours we had made it to a slip at Munising’s Bayshore Marina.  Eddie greeted us and delivered the package of oil sample testers that Frank ordered last week.  

New docks being installed at Bayshore Marina in Munising.  Eddie is not so sure these new docks will survive the ice flowing into the bay next spring!

Some big changes had occurred at the marina since we were here just one month ago.  The seawall expansion was completed and new floating docks were being installed.  The weather had not changed much though – it was still windy and chilly!

The pavilion in Munising with the Community Bread Oven to the right

Tuesday is Farmer’s Market day in Munising and the tomatoes have finally ripened in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!  The evening Summer Concert featured the band Reality Bites playing music from the 90’s.  Next to the pavilion where the concert was held is a large free-standing stone oven (The Community Bread Oven) and the Cooking Carberrys were doing a lot of business selling wood-fired pizzas as a fundraiser for the local high school girls volleyball team.

Lake Superior just didn’t want to let Lazy W out of its grip.  The weather turned nasty and nastier as the week went by.  Thursday the rain came and on Friday the wind was howling at  over 25 MPH with gusts up to 35 MPH.  The lake was stirred up and the NOAA forecast was calling for waves ranging as high as 12 feet!  We were not going anywhere!

So what does one do when stuck in Munising for four days?  Of course, the Captain always has boat maintenance chores to do, so he did some boat waxing and changed transmission fluid. We watched and critiqued the ongoing work on the $2-million dollar marina expansion; we watched the seemingly never-ending long lines of tourists boarding the excursion boats heading to Pictured Rocks in all but the worst of the weather on Friday; we attempted to have brunch at the nearby Navigator Restaurant before giving up (who knew that an order of pancakes and a grilled cheese sandwich could take more than 40 minutes to arrive? The help wanted sign posted on the entrance door indicated that a cook was needed. Definitely needed!); we perused the books and had ice cream at Falling Rock Café; and we checked and checked and checked the weather forecast for the eastern stretch of Lake Superior.  Saturday was looking like a travel day at last.

 

Don’t get me wrong – Munising is a pretty nice place to hole up in bad weather.  But we needed to get a move on.  Saturday we finally left the dock and turned east toward Grand Marais.  It was a beautiful morning to get underway.

Abandoned lighthouse on Grand Island

Approaching the dunes at Grand Sable

Shortly after 1PM we were tied up at the dock in Grand Marais.  John, the harbormaster, remembered us from our last stop here with Alan and Patti – he had been unsuccessful at collecting our dockage fee from that visit because he came to collect while we were off the boat drinking in one of the two local pubs.  He only charged us for tonight’s dockage. 

 

Located just a short stroll from the docks are two pubs – the Dunes Saloon Lake Superior  Brewing Company  and Grand Marais Tavern.  We stopped at Dunes for a quick drink and then headed over to the tavern for a cudighi sausage pizza.  Neither place disappointed us!  Then back to Lazy W for another relaxing evening onboard.  Unlike our last visit here, there were plenty of late night partiers on the beach and, after much partying, they shot off some fireworks. 

Early Sunday morning we were back on the water headed east for Whitefish Point.  Lake Superior was remarkably calm until we neared our destination.  Much to my dismay, a small craft advisory had been posted for the area beginning at 7 PM.  The lake was already beginning to churn up at noon.  Maneuvering through the entrance to Whitefish Point Harbor is tricky in the best of weather – shallow water across its face forces you first to hug the boulder-strewn northern seawall which then turns to port at a menacingly sharp angle and then turn to starboard to hug that wall before arriving at the barebones wooden slips.  Phew, the Captain kept his cool as we skidded into the harbor and the Admiral snagged a dock cleat on the first attempt!

Whitefish Point Harbor

 

We were not alone on the big lake today – we observed three westbound lakers. Two were way off on the horizon but the third appeared to be perilously close to shore just off Whitefish Point.

 



The Captain on the Whitefish Point seawall – it’s all fun and games NOW!  In a few more hours the wave action was such that the waves were breaking over the seawall.

 

By the time we awoke on the morning of August 21^st Lake Superior was looking serene.  We were on our way by 7AM bound and determined to be secured in a slip at Kemp Marina in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan by noon. There was a partial solar eclipse to be viewed between 1PM and 3:37PM!

Along the St. Mary's River

Smooth sailing the entire cruise through Whitefish Bay!  We surmised that the American locks at Sault Ste. Marie had to be busy this morning as we passed several upbound freighters on the bay and on the St. Marys River.

Entrance to Canadian Soo Lock

We decided to go downbound through the Canadian Lock rather than with the big boys waiting at the American Locks.  As we approached the lock entrance we were informed that we would be sharing the experience with Le Voyageur, one of the Soo Locks Tour Boats.

Lazy W was told to exit the lock before Le Voyageur and the tourists on board got to ooh and aah over our “big, pretty boat.”  The George Kemp Marina sits within a few hundred yards of the Canadian Lock on the Michigan side of the St. Marys River.  We were there in no time.   Nick, the dockhand, fueled us up, pumped us out, and directed us to our assigned slip.  It was just after noon – mission accomplished! 

Now we could get set for watching the solar eclipse.  Frank had crafted a dandy camera obscura for our safe viewing. And he was pretty proud of his contraption until our buddy Jim emailed us pictures of his much classier camera obscura.  Here are the results - four years of engineering studies at SUNY Maritime and this is what the boys made!

 

 

 

As the time for the much anticipated partial solar eclipse approached, we took a moment to toast the completion of our Lake Superior cruise.  (Yes, it was an early start to happy hour!) It was forty days ago that we departed on that adventure from this very slip at George Kemp Marina with Alan and Patti onboard.  The cruise covered 893 nautical miles (1,026 statute miles).  We experienced only three days of weather-related delays westbound but eight on our return trip east.  To another item crossed off the bucket list – CHEERS!

For weeks there was plenty of hype over the North American solar eclipse but here in Sault Ste. Marie it was a pretty disappointing non-event.  Peering intently through our camera obscura, we kinda sorta convinced ourselves that the moon was taking a very tiny nibble out of the upper right portion of the sun.  Oh well, maybe we’ll catch the next one!  J