Lakeland Boating — July 2017

M

y husband, Mark, and I had just moved from

Chicago to Duluth, bringing with us our 38-

foot Marine Trader trawler, Mazurka. We couldn’t wait

to explore the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, just

off the northern coast of Wisconsin in Lake Superior —

what Mark jokingly calls “the Bahamas of the North.”

Five hours from Duluth, we rounded the gleaming

lighthouse of Sand Island, watching for shoals and the

buoys marking fishing nets. We anchored in the sandy

bottom of Justice Bay, hopped into our Zodiac to explore

the sea caves, and returned to sleep peacefully back onboard,

almost forgetting we were on the water. In the morning,

we watched the sunrise and then took our Zodiac over

to the island. We hiked the mile trail to the lighthouse,

eyes and ears alert; I had heard stories about bears in the

Apostles — they swim between islands. At the lighthouse

I asked the volunteer guide what to do if we met a bear.

“Oh,” he said offhandedly. “Bears have very good

noses and very bad eyesight. If you meet one of them,

just back away and give it space.”

He led us through the restored 1881 lighthouse, and on

the way out recommended we visit the berry patch. A few

minutes back on the trail, I heard a rustling to my right. I

looked over and, sure enough, there was a junior-sized black

bear in the blueberry patch. Mark and I watched, frozen.

Pretty soon a kayaker in a wetsuit came striding up the trail.

“Shhh,” we told him. “There’s a bear!”

He paused, watching, “Where?”

Then a family appeared behind the kayaker, hiking

from the campground. They paused, too, talking with us

and looking for the bear. She had disappeared. I saw her

cross the path just behind them, well out of sight from the

group of gawkers. We left the kayaker and the campers

still looking for the bear and hightailed it back to our boat.

One thing for sure: We weren’t in Chicago anymore.

A wild wonderland

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, an archipelago

of 21 islands and a 12-mile section of protected mainland,

is a wild wonderland for boaters. There are anchorages

to find, islands to hike, sea caves to explore, beaches to

comb, bays to swim, lighthouses to climb and plenty of

fish to catch. It’s easy to meet new boaters in the popular

bays or to seek out a more secluded anchorage. The islands

Story and photos by

FELICIA

SCHNEIDERHAN

Exploring the

21 islands

that form “the

Bahamas of

the North.”

APOSTLE

ISLAND

HOPPING

Watching salboats from the submerged

rocks off the north coast of Sand Island.

LAKELANDBOATING.COM | JULY 2017 51

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