We planned to cruise the Apostle Islands the first week of August but we just didn't have the time. Lake Superior has so much to offer so we decided to visit the sea caves near Cornucopia, Wisconsin instead. The sail across Lake Superior from Knife River to Meyers Beach is about 35 miles. We headed east under blue skies on a perfect clear morning. It took about five hours to make the crossing. Anchored as close to the caves as we felt safe, we lowered the kayaks and joined dozens of other adventure seekers exploring the caves.
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| Mystic anchored at Meyers Beach, Cornucopia, Wisconsin |
The sea caves are a blast. The red rocks and clear water are beautiful. We were lucky to have great weather and calm seas. This is not a place you would wish to be under rough conditions. We took our time, wandering in and out of all the caves; braving a passage called the Mouse Hole, just big enough for a kayak to fit through. Passage required laying across our kayaks and pulling ourselves through with our hands on the rocks above. We have visited here several times during the winter months, hiking across frozen Lake Superior to view the gorgeous ice formations, stalactites and crystals. The caves are a magical place.
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| Following Dave through the Mouse Hole |
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| Precarious Perch |
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| Lake Superior Diamonds |
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| Sea Cave Colors |
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| Dave inside a cave |
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| Tour boat shows Dave the entrance to the Mouse Hole |
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| Amazing rock formations |
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| Admiring the natural beauty |
After our voyage, we made dinner. It is always lovely to relax at the end of a long day with a good meal and a bottle of wine aboard
Mystic. Dave turned on the weather forecast. The prediction included thunderstorms for the rest of the week. We made the decision to head back to Knife River in the morning.
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| Relaxing aboard Mystic |
We were up early to find an overcast sky and fog on the lake. With a hot cup of coffee in our hands, we motored west about five miles when Dave noticed that the engine oil light was on. This had never happened before. Dave shut the engine down and checked the oil but found nothing wrong. Thinking it was just a quirk, he tried to restart the engine which would turn over but would not start. This was one of those 'uh oh' moments. I looked at Dave and asked, "What are we going to do?" Without hesitating, he replied, "We are in a sailboat so we are going to sail."
It took us five hours to make our way back to Cornucopia, which was closer than Knife River at this point. We moved slowly at 2.4 knots in very light wind. It took all of those five hours for Dave to convince me that we could sail
Mystic into the dock at Siskiwit Bay Marina. Dave brought us to the dock gently, tucking us up to the face with perfection as though he'd done it a million times before.
Ironically, the Siskiwit Bay Marina is owned by a couple named Beth and Dave Tillmans. Dave Tillmans approached us and asked if we needed help from his mechanic Stefan, a small engine repairman from Washburn, Wisconsin. Stefan was quiet and attentive. He listened to our description of losing our engine. He asked us questions and patiently answered ours. He told us that he had never worked on a nani-deisel Kabota engine before but that he'd worked on many tractor engines and they all worked virtually the same. He explained his approach to problem solving, he'd go through all the obvious things then hit the internet to research what he didn't already know. It turned out that a tiny spring had broken in our injector pump and locked the fuel shut off valve in the closed position. Stefan was able to find the exact replacement spring at a friend's farm nearby.
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| Mystic tucked in at Siskiwit Bay Marina |
Later that evening, I published a post about our Lake Superior adventure on my Facebook status. Almost immediately, I saw a private message in my inbox. I was surprised to see it was from a high school friend, Jerri Mitchell. She had read my post and responded with, "Stefan is my husband!"
Jerri and I had not seen each other since our l0th high school reunion in 1988. We were both so excited about this chance encounter. She graciously drove up to Cornucopia to have dinner with us. We couldn't stop grinning at the idea that life is full of wonderful surprises. It is all about timing and people and feelings and moments. When we tell the story of kayaking the sea caves, we will always include the part about meeting Stefan which led to seeing Jerri. It's a great story about bad luck, good luck, friendships and fate; all because of that one tiny little broken spring.
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| Beth & Jerri at Siskiwit Bay Marina |
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| Sunset off Meyers Beach, Cornucopia, WI |
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