Summer Family Trip - 2007

Wing on Wing

Lunch under sail.

At anchor at Raspberry Island.

Hiking to the lighthouse.

Beach time.

Dancing natives.

A lived-on boat.

8/5/07 Sunday
Presque Isle Bay to Raspberry

Woke up around 8:00 but lay in bed reading my book.  Everyone slept in and we had a lazy morning and a nice breakfast.  The coffee tasted really good and the granola bars tasted predictable.  We quit doing breakfasts with syrup when no one wanted to wash the dishes.  We actually like oatmeal in the morning but a change would be nice.  Maybe next year we will do cereal and milk.  Something nautical like “Captain Crunch."

We left Presque around 10:45 and made way towards Oak Island and points west.  We tacked briefly then once we rounded the south end of Stockton we were on a broad reach/run.  It was a very relaxing sail.  The sky stayed cloudy which felt good on our sun-baked skin and the temperature was a very nice 75 degrees.  The kids read books on the bow and we watched the world sail by.  All the boats we saw were heading home to Bayfield after a weekend in the islands. 

The winds stayed steady at 8 to 10 knots and we decided to do lunch in the bay on the north side of Oak Island.  As we sailed into the bay the sun came out and lit up the sand on Oak Island.  Oak Island is the tallest of the Apostle Islands and the bay on the north side feels almost tropical with its white sand beach and tall hills coming down to the water.  We sited evidence of the “little people” and soon were anchored in the bay. 

After lunch in the cockpit we started to think about rowing ashore when the wind switched to the NW and we were no longer protected.  So, we raised anchor and made the quick sail to Raspberry Island.  We were the only boat in the bay and had the island to ourselves.  We rowed ashore and decided to hike the .7 mile trail to the lighthouse.  We had never taken the tour and decided this would be a good time to make the visit.

The tour was great.  They have refurbished the lighthouse over the past year and have decorated it to the time of 1924.   The guide tells the story of the keeper’s life on the island during this time period.  The same keeper was stationed on Raspberry during the 20’s and they have a lot of letters and documents from his life.  The guide did a great job of sharing his story.  We then got to go to the top of the light and looked out over the lake.  A nice view.

Back at the beach we were lazy and sunned and swam until dinner time.  We even had a dance from a group of natives on the island.  As we sat there the sailboats began to arrive and soon we had a good-sized boating community.  Had a nice visit with some sailors from Duluth.  Ran into them later in the week at Maggie's in Bayfield.  Our dinner that night was good… whatever it was.  I can't seem to remember.  But every thing we ate during the week tasted so good after a long day in the wind and sun.

Bow time was great.  Good reading, good sunset, good stars.  Read until 12:30 and finished my book.  Around midnight the winds really started to blow from the west. The radio report winds 17 to 20 knots at Devils  Island.  But, we were protected and safe.  Another great day in the Apostle Islands .   

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