Mark and I sat alone on the flybridge, enjoying the sunset.
Along the beach, small campfires popped up. Further out
on the horizon, small plumes of colored fireworks lit the
sky. It had been three nights since I had a decent night’s
sleep; I was exhausted, sandy and mosquito-bitten, and was
really looking forward to bed.
“Do you hear that?” Mark asked.
I listened; it sounded like rocks grinding beneath us.
“That’s the anchor dragging,” he said. “We’re not hooked.”
For the next hour, we discussed what to do. Wait it out?
Start the engine and try another spot? Could we drift too
far and hit another boat?
Mark sat at the helm in the dark, the instruments red,
like the gibbous moon rising over the birch. The anchor and
chain ground the unseen bottom. Finally, I lay down in the
stateroom to await his decision; his decisions can take a while.
In the meantime, the boat began to rock something
fierce. Mark came down to tell me, “Good news! The
wind shifted and the anchor caught!”
Now we were secure and, as our guidebook warned,
winds out of the north meant rolling like crazy. Thus
began the next hour of discussion: Should we move? Where
would we go? The waves are worse in Justice. I don’t know
if I can sleep in this. We could go to Raspberry. How far
away is it? What are the waves like out there? We’d be
cutting across them. We’d have an hour of misery. So stay
here or try to go somewhere else?
It was after midnight. The fireworks had stopped hours before.
Anchor lights atop our neighbor’s boats swayed in the dark.
“Welcome to boating,” Mark said.
The kids were sleeping. The boat was hooked. I lay down
in the bed, curled up and let go to the rocking. We slept till
morning and awoke to calm winds out of the south. We
could see the bottom; it was sandy, with clumps of rocks
for the chain to gather and pull through, the anchor nearly
buried in sand.Land legs
Trout and salmon abound in the Apostles, and every year
there are reports of huge fish coming out of the islands. Lee
Winters, an experienced Lake Superior fisherman, will often
bring family and friends to camp on an island and fish all
day. It’s possible to fish off a dock or at anchor, but if you’re
feeling adventurous, Lee recommends the Outer Islandreef, which is teeming with trout mid-summer. Trolling
the reef is much more technical, Lee says; it requires the
right equipment, the right speed, the right depth and the
right color for spoons. The reef is perfect, he says, “if you
like working gear, running the technical side and planning
it out.” He says the best way to learn fishing in the Apostles
is to hire a guide who will take you out to the best spots,
then go out on your own.
The Apostles are such a beautiful, wild playground that you
may never want to come back to society. But there’s a galley
to restock, water tanks to fill, and sometimes it’s nice to sit
in a restaurant. Luckily, there are some small towns nearby.
On the mainland, Bayfield has the Apostle Islands Marina
and has plenty of restaurants, galleries and shops. Be sure
to check out the Apostle Islands Bookstore. You can also
listen to terrific music all summer long under the canvas
at the open-air Big Top Chautauqua; its house band, the
Blue Canvas Orchestra, is great.
Bayfield is also home to the Madeline Island Ferry Line,
which takes visitors over to La Pointe — the only town on
an island in the Apostles. La Pointe has a winter population
of 220 and a summer population of more than 2,500. The
Madeline Island Yacht Club welcomes boaters and offers
a place to tie up for a couple hours while you explore the
town. Once you’re there, you may want to stay longer.
You’ll find shops, beaches, restaurants (Grampa Tony’s has
the best ice cream) and the Madeline Island School of the
Arts, ranked as one of the top five arts and crafts schools in
the country. You can rent bicycles and explore the island,
including Big Bay State Park. Madeline is so much fun,
you may just want to bring your boat around to anchor in
the bay, with its wide-open view of the Big Lake.
With so much to explore in the sweet waters of the Apostle
Islands, the worst part of the trip is saying goodbye. ★Visiting the
Apostles
The National Park
Service maintains
an excellent website
with information on
visiting the Apostle
Islands, including
details about each
island, history, fees,
regulations and any
current alerts.
NPS.GOV/APIS.
Bonnie Dahl’s
book “Superior
Way: The Cruising
Guide to Lake
Superior” is crucial
for anyone boating
in the Apostles. She
describes each island
and its anchorages
and includes a
valuable chart,
“When the Wind
Blows,” listing the
best anchorages and
docks depending on
wind direction. Some
anchorages have
sandy bottoms and
some have rock. If
the wind shifts, the
variety of anchorages
within a close
distance can make it
easier to pull anchor
and move to another
location.
As delightful as
the Apostles are on
a balmy day, they’re
still in Lake Superior;
a fierce wind can
whip up a whirlwind
storm. Boaters should
always keep an eye on
the weather and err on
the side of caution.
There are worse fates
than enjoying a
thunderstorm from the
safety of the Madeline
Island Yacht Club.4 5
About the author: Felicia
Schneiderhan lives with her
husband, Mark, and their three
tsunamis on the northern shore
of Lake Superior. She’s the
author of “Newlyweds Afl oat:
Married Bliss and Mechanical Breakdowns
While Living Aboard a Trawler.” To read more
of her work, visit FELICIASCHNEIDERHAN.COM.LAKELANDBOATING.COM | JULY 2017 53ApostleIslandHotspots_JUL17.indd 53 5/25/17 11:46 AM