PIER TO PEERS
Boaters have moments as close to heaven on earth as we will ever get. Waking up at the perfect anchorage after a peaceful night’s sleep, brewing real coffee and watching the sunrise over a calm horizon, fixing a problem on the first try with only one trip to the hardware store, the day we finally“finish” the teak.
And then there are the “oh, shit” moments. They’re fun to tell, later. Much later.
Since it’s later, I’ll tell you about one.
The story starts on a calm summer afternoon as we guide our 38-foot Marine Trader Mazurka toward the dock at Malone Bay. It’s one of the more isolated parts of Isle Royale National Park in northern Lake Superior where the borders of Michigan, Minnesota and Canada converge. The crew of the Bayliner Jaded greeted our crew: my husband, myself and our three kids, ages 7 to 11.
“If I’d known we’d see neighbors out here…” Jaded Capt. Mark Bruzek called to us as we threw him our lines. It was our first time meeting him and his crew of two friends, although we soon realized that Jaded docks just across the channel from us in our home port in Knife River, Minnesota.
It was surprising to run into them at Malone Bay, one of the more isolated spots on an already isolated island. It’s not a main entry
