Stockton Island Quarry Bay, Madeline Is. Big Bay

The forecasted storms never really materialized last evening, but we still got some rain and wind. Before nightfall, eight small sailboats came in to Presque Isle docks. I believe they are on a cruise put together by the National Catalina Sailboat association, and they operate in the Apostle Islands every two years. They were fortunate to be able to get dock space for all of them. Two of their group in larger sailboats ended up anchoring over in Julian Bay, on the leeward side of Presque Isle. The winds were still blowing this morning and actually picked up some to around 20 kts., so I thought I might stay another night since I was in a protected harbor. The sailboats all took off around noon, as they were heading to Michigan Island to see the lighthouses there. The winds did die down a bit by 1 pm, so I headed over the short distance to Quarry Bay, still on Stockton Island. On the way I did use my windshield wiper a few times for spray. About the third swipe, the positioning arm came loose. That’s the arm that keeps the wiper blade straight up and down while the main arm moves the blade back and forth. The positioning arm just has a little ball socket that fits over a stud near where the main arm attaches to the motor. I was able to fix that positioning arm, but will probably need to tighten it up when I get back home so it doesn’t come off again. The water was pretty calm by the time I tied up at the Quarry dock. (Protected by Stockton Island from the northwesterly winds.) I hiked 1.8 miles to the quarry, spent a little time there looking around and then hiked back. It was 4pm, and 10 miles to Madeline Island’s Big Bay, so I decided to go there to anchor for the evening. I’m planning to do some salmon trolling tomorrow on the south side of Madeline Island. The winds have pretty much calmed down now, and should stay calm the next couple of days. I learned from another local boater that the Bayfield City dock that I planned on docking at Saturday evening, is under construction with all the south side finger slips barricaded. Those were the charter boat slips. So all the charter boats are now reserved on the north face side with only one or two public spaces. So I made reservations at the Bayfield Marina for Saturday. I also have reservations for the Madeline Island Yacht Marina for Friday. The Catalina sailboat group is anchored here in Big Bay this evening also.Read more