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From the Wreck of Sevona |
LAKE SUPERIOR - APOSTLE ISLANDS NATIONAL LAKESHORE
"Humility is the only certain defence against humiliation" - Know who's the boss! |
THE BOSS
-- -Sometimes at work (or at home) we either wonder or ask the question, "Who's the boss?" Here, on Lake Superior, boaters know. A commercial fisherman, Julian Nelson, answered that question succinctly, "The lake! No matter how big your boat, the lake is still the boss. Nature dictates."
-----The islands give an air of hospitality - low, encircled with beautiful red/tan rock outcrops, mantled by soft trees ... but a boater must be wary. Lake Superior is an inland sea - the largest body of fresh water (by area) on earth. -One eighth of the fresh water on earth is within Lake Superior. Storms can create a fury of water that rivals that on an ocean. And the water is cold - very cold - with an average annual temperature of less than 40 degrees. Hypothermia may kill within a half hour when overboard in the open water.
----The presence of this huge, cold, body of water, surrounded by warm land, has a tremendous effect on the lake's weather. During our summer visit, we followed storm after storm approaching the lake from the west or northwest, only to watch the storm divide with a portion following the north shore and the other part dropping to the south well below the south shore of the lake. Fog banks can appear instantly, golf ball-sized hail is common, and a few years ago a blast of wind descended on the Bayfield Art Show from a clear blue sky and blew many tents and exhibits into the lake.
----One evening, with a forecast of a strong frontal system, we pulled off the lake and moved to a campground. There were tornado alerts and huge bulges below black clouds before the deluge - the wind took down trees around us and the warning sirens blared throughout town.
----The abrupt change in weather has cast many a boat up on the shore or inundated the vessel in 35-foot waves. Squall lines (black clouds scuttling low against the lake and approaching rapidly from the west or sou'west) can sometimes be seen with enough warning time to get off the lake or into a lee shore.
----We requested a courtesy safety exam from a Coast Guard Auxiliary member (who formerly owned a C-Dory) to be certain Halcyon was well-prepared. On the water we monitored the weather radio and CH 16. We also carry a SPOT (emergency reporting device which sends our location to family members and assures them we are OK and, if necessary in emergencies, our GPS location to family and the Coast Guard).
Hazard to Navigation
-------Every body of water has hazards to navigation - some expected and others unique. Here's one of Lake Superior's small boat hazards:
Couple of Sea Stacks? Two Ships Coming Toward Us? At Night, Both Are Lit, Moving in The Same Direction at The Same Speed!
Yes - An Ore Carrier. Beware at Night - Don't think the lights are two boats and try to cruise between them!
Lighthouses
-----To protect the early shipping from collision with the islands, three lighthouses were constructed in the 1850's and 1860's. Three more lights were added between the 1870's and 1890's to guide ships to ports in western Superior. A lighthouse historian, F. Ross Holland, wrote, "Within the boundaries of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is the largest and finest collection of lighthouses in the country."
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(07/10)
