It's the little things!

Every adventure has a story. We could not have imagined the great story our adventure to the Sea Caves in Cornucopia, Wisconsin would bring.

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.

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. 

Following Dave through the Mouse Hole

Precarious Perch

Lake Superior Diamonds

Sea Cave Colors

Dave inside a cave

Tour boat shows Dave the entrance to the Mouse Hole

Amazing rock formations

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.

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. 

http://www.siskiwitbay.com/

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.

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.

Beth & Jerri at Siskiwit Bay Marina

Sunset off Meyers Beach, Cornucopia, WI

A Week in the Apostles ~ Day 7 Cornucopia to Knife River

After a beautiful sunset in Cornucopia, we settled in for the night. Saturday we would head back across the big lake to Knife River. The forecast called for thunder storms.

Sunset off of Cornucopia Bay

We rose early, took showers, then readied Mystic for the trip. Cigano headed out before us. We followed right behind, at around 11:30. The crossing would take about 5 hours. As soon as we slipped into the bay, we could feel the wind and see the thunderstorms building west of us. We raised our sails and pointed Mystic westward. The wind was fluky causing us to have trouble keeping the sails full. The lake became choppy. We started motor sailing which turned out to be helpful. It was a relief to see Knife River come into view through the haze. We managed to avoid the thunderstorms but this was a rough crossing!

Cigano heading out to Sand Island

The Minnesota side of Lake Superior is colder than the Wisconsin side.  The chill remained with us aboard Mystic Saturday evening. We drove to Two Harbors for dinner at the Earthwood Inn. We had whitefish, our favorite dish and cold beer. Sunday morning we headed out for a nice 12 mile run along scenic 61. We found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the biking portion of a triathlon and we were in the way. Shortening our run to 6 miles, we returned to the boat and tidied up before heading south to Stillwater; another sailing adventure on the books.

Leaving Siskiwit Bay Marina

Sea Gull Jetty ~ Cornucopia, WI

Earthwood Inn, Two Harbors, MN

Voyageur Pierre

A week in the Apostles ~ Day 6 Madeline Island to Cornucopia

Today's journey was a beautiful 35 mile sail from Madeline Island to Cornucopia, also known as "Corny". We left our anchorage and headed west toward Sand Island. A huge sailboat was floating between us and Sand Island off of Lighthouse point. The crazy captain came within 50 to 75 feet of the rocks at the base of the island. We watched in awe as a dinghy was launched and six people left the sailboat and rowed to shore. The captain pulled away safely but stood with both hands on his iPad taking photos of his friends instead of steering the boat. It looked like, maybe, he'd done this before.

Captain Dave at the helm

Sailboat off of Sand Island Light

We rounded the South side of Sand Island, past Eagle Island and the wind shifted to the northwest. We were still doing 5-6 knots but the waves were building. We furled the jib and motor sailed toward the caves at Corny.

It was too rough to stop at Meyers Beach to anchor. There were many people kayaking the caves but we decided to make our way to the marina. The wind was howling as we approached Cornucopia Bay so we dropped the main before passing the breakwater. We tied up at the gas dock where a line of men were sitting in chairs in the shade, watching the day pass.

Cornucopia Caves

Cornucopia Caves

Mary Beth and Dave run the Siskiwit Bay Marina. It is a quaint little place with a lot of character. Our friends, Yolanda and Scott Moody, stopped here on their adventures. Yolanda asked me to look for a specific long sleeve shirt which she wanted but had not purchased on her visit. We paid for dockage and looked at the store's goods. There were two shirts remaining, a size medium blue and a size large pink. I wasn't sure what size to get so I called Yolanda on the store phone. It was so nice hearing her voice and we giggled and chatted for a moment. For Yolanda, it would be the medium blue.

Siskiwit Bay Marina, Cornucopia, WI

 

Our slip was across from the gas dock. Navigating would be difficult in the northwest wind. As we maneuvered into the tight space, we had to be mindful of the boat on our port side named Cigano. We managed to get Mystic in the slip with just a slight smudge to her starboard topsides. Dave, the owner of Cigano, helped us tie off. He'ss from Minnetonka and has kept his boat at Knife River for many years. He moved to Cornucopia because it was their usual destination. It made sense to make it their home. Minnetonka has a beautiful lake but Dave did not enjoy sailing there due to the abundance of power boating on the lake. Dave asked if he could give us a tip on docking Mystic. He suggested we put a cleat at the center of our jib sheet track. You attach a dock line here. The line handler takes the line to the dock and ties off here, at the center of the boat. The captain steers and keeps the engine in forward. With the line taught, the boat will move into the slip and tuck in to the dock. This eliminates the problem of keeping the bow or stern from drifting away during a windy dockage. It works like a charm.

Cornucopia Sights

Mystic docked next to Cigano ~ Siskiwit Bay Marina

A week in the Apostles ~ Day 5 Bayfield, WI to Stockton Island

It was a beautiful morning in Bayfield. We went on a fabulous 5.5 mile run along the gorgeous Brownstone Trail that goes through the woods over an old train bed. We ran between ravines and over bridges from Bayfield to Pike Bay Marina then back. It was our best run in a long time. A home owner along the trail had built a walking bridge on his property for trail users. His yard was landscaped with lovely gardens. We chatted with a couple who were enjoying the view; acknowledging how lucky we are to be here.

Brownstone Hiking Trail

Bayfield, WI

After our run, we took a quick shower, walked to the store for provisions, filled the water tanks, emptied the head and topped off the fuel. Our plan was to head for Stockton Island. We were leaving the breakwater right as a car ferry was leaving the city dock. We motored behind the ferry then raised our main and sailed along in gentle winds at about 4 knots.

Sailboat under full sail near Bayfield

Dave decided we needed a boost as everyone around us had full sails up, so we raised the jib. The day was perfect with 10-15 mph winds. Mystic heeled at 10 degrees. Dan Branson, at Vinette Boatworks, told us that Mystic's sweet spot is 20 degrees. I'm not sure I would find that so sweet!

As we passed Hermit Island we were opened up to the big lake from the west. The winds became fluky so we trimmed the jib. We had to motor sail to make our way between Hermit and Stockton Islands. We dropped anchor on the Southwest shore of Quarry Bay. The water is incredibly clear and you can see 20 feet or more to the bottom. We lowered the kayaks and headed for Presque Isle Bay but quickly realized the conditions were too rough so we turned back. It was hard to control the kayaks in the wind and rolling waves. We decided to head for the shoreline. It is rocky and not particularly attractive but we thought we might wait out the choppy conditions and go on a hike. As we approached shore, we could see many kayaks in the sand. 

Two young men smoking pipes walked toward us and asked where we came from. We pointed to Mystic. They were kayak guides, college kids working for the summer; leading an experience kayak group. We chatted a bit about our adventures then moved over to the dock. We left the kayaks on shore before setting off to explore the island. We went about two miles deep into the woods before turning back for Quarry Bay. We'd been here years ago aboard our 23 foot sailboat, Keewatin. That trip was a family vacation with the kids. Stockton Island looked pretty much as we remembered it. The paddle back to Mystic was very choppy with a strong south wind.

There was no way we could stay put in this wind so we raised the anchor and headed to the north end of Madeline Island seeking shelter. We anchored in 10 feet of water with a perfect sandy bottom.

Soon after the sun set, the most beautiful orange moon peeked over the horizon. I tried to take photos but the movement of the boat made that difficult. Our day was magnificent from sunrise to sunset, and then to moon rise! We listened to the loons lonely call and watched the glow of a campfire on the beach while a glorious moon rose above us. We are completely at peace. If only, there were stars and northern lights!!!

A week in the Apostles ~ Day 4 Raspberry Island to Bayfield

We lifted anchor soon after sunrise and pulled away from Raspberry Bay Harbor at the same time as two other boats that had been anchored with us. We are off to Bayfield. Dave raised the jib even before we left the harbor. One sailboat motored ahead of us and one tucked in behind us on our port side. We rounded the mainland under sail, on a gentle 4-5 knot run with the wind coming from the southwest. As we rounded the point and headed south down the channel, the second boat, Calipso, passed us. We sailed with Calipso just in front of us, off our port side for some time. It was a straight shot to Bayfield. Calipso's captain trimmed his jib as the wind picked up in a section of the channel that is wide open. Both Calipso and Mystic heeled over dramatically and raced with the wind. Dave tried to trim our jib but something was wrong within the drum of the roller furling. I went forward with my harness on and holding me steady and tried to release the line inside the drum. I couldn't release it, so we switched roles with me steering and Dave on the bow working the drum. He was able to free the jam. Mystic was being shoved around by the wind but settled a bit once the jib was reefed. Dave started the motor and we motor sailed the last three miles to Bayfield. We decided to stay at the marina instead of the town dock. It costs fifty five dollars a night, but we'd have amenities and get a taste of marina life in Bayfield.

Leaving Raspberry Bay Harbor for Bayfield

Calipso sliding up behind Mystic

Apostle Island Marina

Bayfield Maritime Museum

A dog named 'Woody'

Classic example of a Lake Superior Fishing Vessel

Lady Liberty at Black Hawk Marina



Bayfield Garden

Garden Art

Cute Car in Bayfield

 

Salvage

Butterfly on Thistle

We cleaned Mystic then set out to explore Bayfield. We stopped in at Morty's Pub for lunch and a cold beer. We both had whitefish, washed down with Keewanaw Brewing Widow Maker micro brew. While walking around, we found a park with a swimming beach and a rocky shore with a fishing dock nearby.  Folks were swimming off the rocks near the dock, ignoring the signs that said no swimming allowed. We ended up swimming off the rocks as well just to cool off. The water was crispy cold but it was very hot so it felt great. After our refreshing dip, we relaxed on the rocks with our feet in the water.

We returned to Mystic and realized it was too hot to sit on the boat so we went back into town to look for ice cream. The local candy store doubles as an ice cream shop. It is very popular. We walked around, exploring a bit, then took a break on a park bench across from the Village Inn where we could listen to the classic oldies band playing on their patio. Dave walked to the grocery store to grab cold beer for the boat, selecting Mud Puppy Porter by Central Waters Microbrewery out of Amherst, Wisconsin. The six pack of bottles fit perfectly in his backpack. We decided to grab a Summit at the second floor patio bar of the Village Inn. It overlooks the harbor of Bayfield. We meandered back to the marina at sunset after a busy day filled with exploring, enjoying good food and a nice cool dip. We retired early, expecting to go on a run in the morning before leaving Bayfield behind for the islands.

View of Apostle Island Marina from the Village Inn

Apostle Island Marina

Mystic ~ Bayfield, WI

Mystic ~ Apostle Island Marina

Mystic ~ Bayfield WI

Apostle Island Marina Dock

Moon Rise over Bayfield