Cruising Isle Royale
 August 2003
Page 3

    When we departed an hour after breakfast, the wind had reversed itself from the previous day, so we motored out of Washington Harbor, just as we had arrived.  There was a fair breeze out beyond Cumberland point and Rainbow Cove, at the extreme south end of Isle Royale, but it didn’t last long.   The mild wind state allowed Gayle an opportunity to take the helm for awhile. By the time we had reached Attwood Beach the wind had waned to a whisper, so we put in for some beach combing.
    The easy manner in which True North's bow can be put onto a beach is my favorite feature of these boats.  Having neither deadrise nor rocker, a bit of momentum will carry her right in till the bow plows a furrow into the beach.  Because it was too shoal for the motor right at the shore, we set our stern anchor, a Danforth that works well in sand (but hardly anywhere else) about thirty yards from shore in something like three feet of water, gave the Yammerhammer a burst of “git-go”, then shut it off and tilted it up as True North headed for the beach.  Jumping down from the bow hatch onto dry, smoky-burgundy-colored sand, first thing we noticed were the moose tracks all along the beach, right above waters’ edge.
    It had been a rather large moose, too, and judging by the crispness of the hoof-prints, appeared to have passed by sometime earlier that morning. As we walked the beach, picking up nicely colored stone ballast and bits of driftwood for mounting bird carvings at home, we wondered whether the moose would appear at some point between True North and her crew.  We noted many trees above the beach for  “moose defense” if needed, but the moose never returned.


True North and the moose tracks in the sand
         The wind never returned, either, so we motored farther along to Siskiwit Bay, and then across that to Hay Bay, an anchorage popular with cruising sailboats. At thirty-one statute miles, this would be our longest passage of the week.     True North has much longer legs than the Dovekie, whose oars simply would not have been sufficient for those days in which the wind proved weaker than we might have hoped.  As for meese, we weren’t disappointed.  At dusk a pair of mature moose waded out to feed on their sedges.  At one point a moose swam to deeper water and submerged entirely.  She cleared her nose with a loud “snort” after each dive. Same thing next morning!  In fact the “slosh–slosh–slosh” of a moose’s deliberate pace through deep water roused us out of the sack just after dawn.  A Ranger at Windigo had told us that moose are one of the few mammals that will wade into and swim across a lake rather than walk around the shore.
         About early afternoon, motoring at a steady seven mph, the wind gradually resumed, so we unfurled the sails and motorsailed at a bit less than half throttle.  Turning north at Lea Cove, the wind freshened, and we were able to shut off the Yammerhammer and sail seven miles up Rock Harbor to the Rock Harbor Marina.  We’d gone roughly thirty-one miles since Hay Bay, not bad passage at all for True North. The Marina at Rock Harbor, and the facilities at Windigo, were important to us primarily for their showers.  We often bathe while swimming, when cruising in fresh water, but Isle Royale won’t tolerate soap of any sort in their water.  Besides, the Lake is far too cold for a dip, anyway.  True North typically has a solar-heated shower water bag secured on the foredeck, but we kept it stowed for this cruise.  We’ve heard that Handiwipes can be used as a substitute, and may try them sometime.


A quiet evening at Hay Bay