Bayfield and the Apostle Islands June 15

Sorry my blog is so behind, this is the first WiFi connection since June 15.

In the winter Bayfield is a very quiet little town in northern Wisconsin but it really wakes up in summertime.  Many use this little town as a gate way to the Apostle National Park.  The Chamber of Commerce claims it is known for some of the best sailing in the world due to the shelter offered by the Apostle Islands.  We have spent many summer nights anchored in little bays throughout the island and exploring sea caves. 

The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands in Lake Superior, off the Bayfield Peninsula in northern Wisconsin.  All the islands except for Madeline Island are part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  Excerpt from Wikipedia. 

There are six lighthouses ringing the islands.  The first one  is the 

Sand Island Lighthouse, the second one is the Raspberry Island Lighthouse.  

We met a nice couple who summer in Bayfield and have a winter home in Alabama.  Bill and Maureen of S/V Mocha have over 40 years of sailing experience on Lake Superior. 

We left Bayfield at 0815 with mostly sunny skies, cool temperatures and calm seas.  Bill of `Mocha’ was there to wave us off.  We ended up motor sailing and tacking as the predicted SW winds were more SE and on our nose. 

We decided to alter course from Black River Harbor in MI to Stockton Island in the Apostles and stayed at the dock in Prescott Bay.  We had forgotten how bad the black flies are on Lake Superior this time of year.  Fortunately we got screens with our new bimini.  They were used!

Prisoners in Black River Harbor  June 16

We left for Black River Harbor with sails up and motor off in good SW winds which held until about 5 nautical miles from the Black River.  We stayed at the Marina as there is no room for anchoring in the harbor.  Did I mention the black flies?  The intended hike had to be abandoned as the flies were so vicious they swarmed us every time we tried to get off the boat. We were prisoners restricted to the boat!

Black River Harbor is beautiful and offers great protection from Lake Superior. There are high wooded hills on either side of the river with two spectacular water falls close to the marina.  Because of the flies I didn't take too many pictures but took these from a previous trip.