Presque Isle Bay to Madeline Marina

Day 7, August 6

Beating Down North C

We arose at our usual time, around 6:00 and after breakfast, straightening up the boat, saying our goodbyes, we headed out for Michigan Island where we planned to visit a lighthouse at which you could climb the light tower and see the inner workings of a navigational light.  The wind was blowing from the southwest at 10 to 12 mph and the waves were 1 to 2 feet.  We had a nice ride away from Stockton Island heading basically east.  We were sailing in the wave shadow of Madeline Island and when we moved out of that protected area, we ran into waves 2 to 5 feet and wind blowing 15 to 20 mph.  We reduced sail area in the jib but still the boat was driving hard with the rail always close to the water.  With so much wind, there was no way to reef the main sail to give it less surface area so we drove on to Michigan Island.  When we arrived at the point where the lighthouse stands, the southern end of the island, the wind and waves were driving directly into the dock. We could not safely land so we turned around and backtracked to the wind shadow of Madeline Island and then beat all the way down through the North Channel to near Bayfield , then turned east to Madeline Yacht Club where we spent the night.  The part of the North Channel trip that took the Fighter Pilot and me in his Boston Whaler about 30 minutes took us about 5 hours.  We had to beat up wind all the way with reduced sails so we traveled well over twice as far as we would have had the wind been at our back.  Because we were running a reduced main sail, we were unable to put up our Bimini so we both took on a huge dose of sun.



Bayfield and "Damn Dink"

 

Madeline Island Yacht Club



We pulled into the Yacht Club harbor and moored at our assigned slip, gathered our dirty duds for a trip to the Laundromat.  We walked about ¾ mile to the town of LaPointe and found a neat little washing establishment.  Right next to it was a place that rented Vespa motor scooters and bicycles.  Across the street was an eclectic place that, at first appearance, seemed to be a junk yard.  However, there were folks (mostly young and of the beat generation) wandering in as music played (probably by young unprofessional folk singers).  Janine and I walked over to it and we saw a number of signs that were hand painted professing various philosophical thoughts.  The yard of the place was filled with junk art and junk!  Those entering the place were climbing up onto a large platform, probably 6 feet off of the ground, and disappearing back under the huge tarp/tent that covered the place.  Back at the scooter shop, I asked the girl in charge what that place was and she said, “Oh, that Tom’s Burned Down Bar.”  She said that there had been at least two occasions when the joint burned down so that’s why it is so named and why it looks as it does.  On our way back, we discussed the folks around the center of town and I concluded that this was a “hippy and yuppy enclave!” 

"The Pub"

Back at the boat, we deposited our clean clothes and headed across the street to “The Pub” where we dined in elegance on whitefish and linguini and chicken with a nice white wine for enhancement. We were joined by one of our new boating friends from Stockton Island. It was a fine evening.     

Back to the boat and to bed!