adventure

Visiting the neighbors

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We were recruited to take our trusty bateau, the Trophy, to pick up two CLLS Board members who needed to do some work on our lighthouse neighbor’s dock. Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior is responsible for at least three island lighthouses: Porphyry Island, Trowbridge; and #10.

Most of the energy has been devoted to Porphyry. It has infrastructure, a lovely harbor, docks, mooring, and let’s not forget the sauna. But it was last occupied prior to CLLS’ involvement, in 1989. It had suffered years of vandalism and neglect before hearty crews of volunteers brought it back to where it is today.

Trowbridge was actually occupied during the season until at least 2006 and has not suffered the same degree of abuse but still needs lots of work. There is one floating dock and a cement pier. If I had my druthers, I would have stayed in bed because the seas were not to my liking but the captain said, “Let’s Go!’ I white knuckled the boat ride and at times kept my eyes closed so I couldn’t see what we were bouncing on.

The tower doesn’t have to be tall because the lighthouse is set atop a hill.

The door smiled welcomingly at us while we used the key to step inside. I think there were two ladders and we were greeted by a cozy little room off the lantern room, complete with a bed set to sleep in.

Although there is an auxiliary light, Trowbridge maintains its original Fresnel Lens, always a beauty.

That handle provides access to the bulb inside. One side of the lens is split in two and opens like a door. So clever.

The lighthouse helps mark the entrance to Thunder Bay and we got to see our first Laker ship heading in.

These steps led to a third small harbor, which reminded me of Italy’s Mediterranean grottos.

The keeper’s residence is very sweet, day lilies abound and the rooms are still decorated by the prior occupant. Lots of purple! We found an old stereo cabinet in the whistle house.

We got to tour the island while the workers, worked! Then it was another white knuckle trip back to Silver Islet and then onward to Porphyry, our island home away from home.

Tuned in to weather

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Whenever we’re stationed on an island, we follow the weather, sometimes obsessively. This is especially true when we rely on a small boat to cross a large body of water. And Lake Superior is a large body of water. It is the largest lake in the world by surface area and could cover the entire continents of North and South America with a foot of water! At its deepest, it is 1,333 feet deep!

We gather the apps the local boaters use. For our stay on Porphyry, those included WeatherCan marine forecasts, Windy and weather.com. We looked at projected wind force, direction and wave heights. Normally we would just stay ashore but we had to get Tim to Public Health.

In Australia, we relied on Willy Weather, which provided clear graphics of the wind and waves. In the States, we have relied on NOAA and weather.com but they seem to be a little less reliable these days.

More importantly, we judged the wind at Porphyry Point and listened to and looked at the surf. Especially on days we needed to go ashore. One night, after a very quiet evening, I woke at 0300 to the sound of waves crashing in the east shore. That kept me up for a while because we needed to go ashore. We appreciated the effect wind alone has on creating waves.

Here’s a photo of a Michigan Lighthouse on Lake Superior.

And below are waves breaking at Porphyry Island.

Strong winds tended to come from the northwest. They were cold and played havoc with the propane fridge, which is located on that side of the residence without a windbreak. Tim tried various baffles on the exhaust pipes, but the flame would not light until the wind settled down and shifted. We got ice the next day off island. On a side note, think about this: The fridge needed a flame to stay cold! We wore through a battery on the piezo switch trying to light it. Here is a link to propane refrigerators 101, generally a great appliance for off grid living. If you have a propane fridge and a sauna and you are golden.

I much preferred the calm days to go boating. Here’s the view looking down the west side of the island. You can barely see the tower near the point.

After the storm, Tim did yoga on the helipad to the sunset, Sleeping Giant, and the moon rising.

A gentle end to a windy day.