Great Lakes Sailing

7/16/08

Rock Harbor Isle Royal

Well, this was supposed to be a layover day but last night right before the dishes were done we ran out of water. Now with no water, no stove/oven, hand-washed wet laundry that never really dries until it is worn and the prospect of eating only canned beans and rice, the desire of the crew to reach civilization asap boiled to the surface. Honestly, I was a bit emotional as I knew that the true wilderness experience of Lake Superior that I had been planning for so long was about to come to an end.

Before leaving, Deanna set out all of the lunch items that we had left which consisted of peanut butter, some leftover bread, some salami, some crackers and some moldy cheddar cheese. With tongue in cheek, I said, "Yum, peanut butter and salami". Thinking I was serious, the normally picky eating 12 year old proceeds to build himself a sandwich out of just that! Right after lunch we headed out into a beautiful sunny day and we were soon under sail after filling up our water tanks. The wind was up and down, but we were able to sail most of the way until just after Passage Island.

We arrived at the national park dock in Rock Harbor only to find out that none of the docks there would be deep enough for us. Undaunted, Isak went forth in the dinghy with the hand held depthfinder and found a slip with 8' in the center next to the Voyager II. We obtained the captain's permission to tie across to him which kept us from bumping up against the rock pile next to the pier most of the time. Soon we were off to the visitor's center to clear customs which was performed by an employee of the park who was a young woman of college age. I'm certain that this was the easiest clearance that I've ever made and therefore, it would be worth going to Isle Royal simply for the ease in clearing customs.

Thankfully, the process didn't take long as we were made aware that the restaurant at the Rock Harbor Lodge, a concession of the national park and the last remaining lodging of any kind of the island, was closing at 2000. Like rabid animals, we devoured the "fixed price" $120.00 meal with everyone in agreement that despite feeling lighter in the wallet and the fact that the meal would be quite average by any other standard, it was one terrific meal. As we were walking back to the boat, a moose cow and her calf made their way across the walking path. Naturally, this attracted a huge crowd of backpackers, lodge guests and fellow boaters who remained in hot pursuit of the animals for over an hour.