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Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, August 2026
  • C-Traveler
  • C-Traveler

Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, August 2026

Enjoying some family time this weekend, then off to cruise around the Apostle Islands Read more
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  • C-TravelerApostle Islands National Lake Shore, August 2026Traveler
    NPS construction is using this part of the parking lot for staging.
    NPS construction is using this part of the parking lot for staging.Leaving just this space for public parking. I got the last spot when I pulled in this afternoon.A fishing boat display near the visitor's center.C-Traveler after launching. You can see the breakwater construction.North breakwater is extended out quite a ways.View of the construction cranes on the outside of the harbor.Yeah, NO! I think I better keep my bear spray with me.

    Launched Boat at Little Sand Bay

    5 hours ago in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    After having some cereal for breakfast, I had some of Deone’s good Carmel Rolls. Streamed my home church (Christ Lutheran Church) and then said my goodbyes and headed for Bayfield and Little Sand Bay. Uneventful drive over some back roads until reaching Hwy 63. Some scenic Wisconsin country. I arrived at Little Sand Bay around 2p, and took the only trailer parking spot left to get C-Traveler ready to launch. I kind of expected to see two spots, since I passed two trailer rigs heading out about a mile or two before LSB. Launched C-Traveler, and then fortunately that last car & trailer parking spot was still open. The NPS is staging out of LSB and has half the parking area fenced off, leaving only about ten spots for public trailer parking. The construction is going on seven days a week, and they were working on the breakwater today. They have extended it out somewhat, and using metal plates now instead of just rock and wood. The harbor is open to the north, and gets some storm damage annually and the wave action brings in a lot of sand. LSB (Little Sand Bay) is shared space with the Town of Russel and the National Park Service. The town has a campground and the boat launch, while the NPS has the parking lot and a small visitor’s center, along with a historic fisheries building. The visitor’s center is currently closed while construction is ongoing. I decided to cruise over to Oak Island first and am tied up to the dock here. Just a light breeze and the water was mostly calm. I used the new dock fee system, by scanning the QR code on the payment dropbox post, bringing up a page to enter my credit card and boat information in. It’s at Recreation.gov and works pretty well. As long as you have enough cell service… I plan to hike one of the trails here tomorrow. While there are warning signs about a bear in the area, I talked to the park volunteers stationed here and they said they have not seen any bears or signs of bears, recently. I’m still taking my bear spray with me when hiking! Oh, tightening the shift rod bracket up was the issue. Shifts into reverse just fine now.Read more

  • C-TravelerApostle Islands National Lake Shore, August 2026Traveler
    Some of the family at one table for lunch.
    Some of the family at one table for lunch.Another lunch table.And some ate outside.The girls (siblings) getting their picture taken.The girls. Rosanne, Rita, Madonna and MaryAnnAll the Kouba siblings. I think they are lined up by age, Rosanne the baby!Just enjoying conversation and the lake view.Me enjoying my kayak.This is my floating chair. Nobody took my picture in it. 😢Mary trying out my kayakI knocked out two layers of large wood chunks from this trailer!And split them into smaller campfire logs and stacked in the shed!Sunset behind the campfire.

    Island Lake Family Day

    Yesterday in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    It was a nice breezy day, great for a family get together at Rosanne’s brother Chuck and wife Deone’s lake cottage! Plenty of good food and conversation. Rosanne’s sister-in- law, Mary, tried out my Hobie peddle kayak and later Chuck took a lot of the family out for a pontoon ride. I went out on my kayak for a short ride then relaxed in my floating chair. I enjoy the campfire and felt obligated to split some more wood! (That and getting into some of Deone’s chocolate candy! lol) And of course I made more s’mores! Rosanne left with her sister, Madonna, around 6:30p as Madonna was giving her a ride back to the Deforest Park in Ride where Rosanne’s car is at. ( I’ll head up to Bayfield and the Apostle Islands tomorrow.) Rita brought my new tires with her today that her son, Cody, mounted for me. I put them on the boat trailer this afternoon,Read more

  • C-TravelerApostle Islands National Lake Shore, August 2026Traveler
    One view of the tire.
    One view of the tire.Wow! This tire really blew out on this end!Meeting up with Bill This fender was bent up quite a bit in the middle. This is after I worked on it some.Just getting the campfire going.Sun setting on Island Lake.

    Drive up to Island Lake

    August 21 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Somewhat of an eventful drive. Hit a serious downpour of rain going thru Madison slowing traffic to 35-40mph. Fortunately it didn’t last much past Madison! Rosanne drove separately as she would meet me at the Deforest Park and Ride as that is near the sister she will catch a ride back with tomorrow. I left about half an hour before she did as I was stopping at the Costco fuel station in Sun Prairie to gas up the truck and top off the boat. Then just before the Wisconsin Dells the right front tire on the boat trailer blew out. These are the Carlisle’s that I’ve ran on my trailers for quite sone time and have been very happy with! I guess my good luck with them is catching up to me as this is the second blowout I’ve had within the month! I carry two spares but stopped at the Farm and Fleet in Eau Claire to purchase two new tires. I just replaced two on the back axle last month, F&F didn’t have time to mount them right away. So a nephew in the area that works at a car dealership will mount them for me and I’ll put them on the trailers front axle tomorrow. Got up to Chuck and Deone’s lake cottage and Deone fixed us a very nice lasagne dinner. I worked on straightening out the trailer fender that was slightly damaged by the blowout. After supper I started a campfire and enjoyed some s’mores! Oh, stopped at the Black River Falls rest stop for lunch and met up with my cruising buddy, Bill with Mystery Girl, from South Carolina. He’s on his way up to Isle Royale. Then a few miles farther stopped in Black River Falls at a restaurant for a few minutes to visit with Rosanne’s best friend, Kelly, and her family, who were headed to the Dells for the weekend.Read more

  • C-TravelerApostle Islands National Lake Shore, August 2026Traveler
    That little bolt circled in red had backed out some.
    That little bolt circled in red had backed out some.And it was a PITA to get to!

    Preview of the weekend and week to come

    August 20 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Tomorrow, Rosanne and I will travel up to Island Lake near Bloomer, WI, to enjoy some family time at her brother and sister-in-law's lake cottage. Then Sunday, I'll take off solo for Bayfield and Little Sand Bay to launch C-Traveler and explore and fish around the Apostle Islands. Due to the lake level at Island Lake, I won't even try to launch C-Traveler with it's full fuel tank on the very shallow ramp there... Leading up to this trip, I had some main outboard issues with shifting into reverse. Replacing shift and throttle cables didn't alleviate the issue, but I did find the shift rod bracket lose, and hoping tightening it up resolved the issue. I'll find out in the Apostles! (This is what I shared on FB in regards to tightening that bracket up: Well that was a PITA! I had been having some issues shifting the main outboard in to reverse on C-Traveler. Replacement of the throttle and shift cables helped some but not completely. I found the shift rod bracket, hidden in the bottom pan beneath the powerhead, was lose. The single bolt that holds it had backed out some. Taking the air intake manifold and silencer off, removing the top flywheel shield, removing the outboard fuel filter and loosening the main electrical panel allowed a little more access to tighten that bolt. But smaller hands and a bent wrench would have also helped! You can see the bolt holding the bracket down in these photos.)Read more

    Trip start
    August 21, 2026