When the gentle hum of an engine gives way to eerie silence, the vast expanse of Lake Superior transforms from a peaceful oasis into a formidable beast. This is the chilling setting that Mark and Julie Wolak bravely stepped into, and their fight against the capricious whims of nature takes center stage. Vivid storytelling whisks you away to the heart of a raging storm, where they faced not only the lake's infamous waves but also an engine that refused to roar back to life. Their tale is one of nail-biting tension, a true testament to human resilience and the surprising moments of beauty—like a surreal encounter with fireflies—that can emerge in the face of danger.
Sailing isn't just about reading the winds; it's about reading the heart, and our guests reveal just how much courage pulses through their veins. As Mark and Julie detail their desperate tacks against towering seas and a sky devoid of moonlight, you'll feel a kinship with this duo, who not only battled the elements but also the weight of responsibility calling them back to land. The storm they navigated is a stark reminder of the unpredictability of life, and their journey—a dance with uncertainty—will leave you pondering the decisions you'd make when confronted with your own tempest.
Our voyage concludes with soothing melodies, as the music that echoes through life's most gripping chapters gets a spotlight. From the classic harmonies of "Sloop John B" to the soulful lyrics of "Full Force Gale," these tunes serve as the perfect accompaniment to the odyssey. Their experience, interwoven with lyrical nostalgia, creates a symphony of emotion that will surely resonate long after you've listened. So, as we cast off the lines and set sail into the unknown, let the harrowing yet heartwarming saga inspire your own journey through the storms you may face.
When the gentle hum of an engine gives way to eerie silence, the vast expanse of Lake Superior transforms from a peaceful oasis into a formidable beast. This is the chilling setting that Mark and Julie Wolak bravely stepped into, and their fight against the capricious whims of nature takes center stage. Vivid storytelling whisks you away to the heart of a raging storm, where they faced not only the lake's infamous waves but also an engine that refused to roar back to life. Their tale is one of nail-biting tension, a true testament to human resilience and the surprising moments of beauty—like a surreal encounter with fireflies—that can emerge in the face of danger.
Sailing isn't just about reading the winds; it's about reading the heart, and our guests reveal just how much courage pulses through their veins. As Mark and Julie detail their desperate tacks against towering seas and a sky devoid of moonlight, you'll feel a kinship with this duo, who not only battled the elements but also the weight of responsibility calling them back to land. The storm they navigated is a stark reminder of the unpredictability of life, and their journey—a dance with uncertainty—will leave you pondering the decisions you'd make when confronted with your own tempest.
Our voyage concludes with soothing melodies, as the music that echoes through life's most gripping chapters gets a spotlight. From the classic harmonies of "Sloop John B" to the soulful lyrics of "Full Force Gale," these tunes serve as the perfect accompaniment to the odyssey. Their experience, interwoven with lyrical nostalgia, creates a symphony of emotion that will surely resonate long after you've listened. So, as we cast off the lines and set sail into the unknown, let the harrowing yet heartwarming saga inspire your own journey through the storms you may face.
Welcome to Stories in Life. You're on the radio with Mark and Joe. We share stories that affirm your belief in the goodwill, courage, determination, commitment and vision of everyday people.
Mark Wolak:
Our goal is that through another person's story you may find connection. No matter your place in life. The stories we select will be inspiring and maybe help you laugh, cry, think or change your mind about something important in your life.
Joe Boyle :
Join us for this episode of Stories in Life.
Mark Wolak:
It was pitch black. You couldn't see anywhere behind the sailboat. You could hear the boat churning through the waves and the dinghy following. You could hear that following and you and I had a conversation If somebody went over.
Julie Wolak:
I think we were both thinking the same thing at the same time.
Mark Wolak:
Which was.
Julie Wolak:
There's no way either one of us can turn the boat around and attempt a rescue under those conditions.
Mark Wolak:
At Grand Portage we both saw sparkles in the air.
Julie Wolak:
Was that the fireflies? Yes, okay. So I thought I was hallucinating. I was seeing fireflies on the port side of the boat, so between us and Rock of Ages, and I thought because I thought I was hallucinating, I didn't say anything right away and I don't know if you said something or if I said do you see that? Do you remember?
Mark Wolak:
Not really, but I'd like to think I saw them too right away. But I know as soon as we talked about it, we both saw them and it was a very spiritual moment. I remember just being paused by that.
Julie Wolak:
Yeah, I concluded that it was my mother watching over us. She always feared when we took these trips and she had passed away that year and I was sure it was my mom.
Mark Wolak:
It probably was your mother visiting us. She probably was scared for what we had decided to do for fun. But then I remember for the first time, after that 12 hour onslaught, which was probably the worst, most difficult part of that trip, I remember taking a nap for 20 or 30 minutes.
Joe Boyle :
We have a great story for you today. This is a harrowing story about a couple whose sailboat engine gave out on Lake Superior while a storm bore down on them. The subjects are my neighbors and good friends, Mark and Julie Wolak. Welcome friends.
Mark Wolak:
Hey, thanks. Great to be here, Joe, and also fun to tell the story. Good to be here.
Joe Boyle :
Where do you keep your boat? Where do you sail from?
Mark Wolak:
We've sailed out of Port Superior near Bayfield, wisconsin, for probably about 30 years now. Okay, what kind of boat do you have? This is our third boat. It's a Tartan 42. The name of the boat is Suvetar, a Tartan 42, there were only 34 of these boats built in the 1980s. It's a really great blue water, very safe sailing.
Joe Boyle :
When did it take place?
Mark Wolak:
It took place in 2017.
Joe Boyle :
2017. So we're talking a number of years ago already. Give me a set up. Where were you at the time, like the day before this happened?
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, we were at a little island called Thompson Island, which is between the shoreline of Isle Royale and Canadian shoreline. On the lake it would be located near the northwest corner of Lake Superior.
Joe Boyle :
Lake Superior. Okay, so you're talking Michigan, you're talking Canada and you're talking Minnesota. That's right.
Julie Wolak:
It's north of Pigeon Point, Minnesota, outside of Thunder Bay.
Joe Boyle :
Okay, and tell me about the morning of.
Mark Wolak:
Well, we had a really beautiful morning, but it was foggy, and so inside the little atoll that we were moored in it was warm, but outside of it it was foggy and cool. That's real typical on Lake Superior, Like how cool? Oh, I suppose probably fifties, okay, something like that. And this is late August, late August, okay. We decided to wash our boat and have a leisurely morning, which we did, okay. And then what time did you depart? We planned to maybe just go seven or eight miles, so I think we left at about two o'clock in the afternoon.
Joe Boyle :
Okay, and what was the plan for that night?
Mark Wolak:
The plan was to get to a new anchorage that we hadn't tried before. I think it was called Little Trout Bay, which would have been in Ontario and probably about seven to nine miles away from where we currently were.
Julie Wolak:
And we had waves and wind building against us, so we didn't want to have to pound against that and go too far.
Joe Boyle :
But the waves and the weather didn't change your plans. You still planned to get to that spot, right, okay? And then what happened next?
Mark Wolak:
Well, we got out there and the waves were building, so they were four to six footers and you know, we're going towards the straight, directly into the wind, which your boat then begins to lift up and pound down on that wave Right. And as it was doing that, both of us, I think, we're a little concerned because it was a pretty big pound, you know. So the bow would drop really hard and I don't think it was more than about a half an hour and the engine quit, just, and we realized we had didn't stop, restart just out.
Julie Wolak:
It didn't spit, it didn't spotter it, just quit.
Mark Wolak:
And we had had fuel issues a prior year and we had corrected all those. We had put on new fuel, cleaned out, the tank took on, you know, clean the filters, all that. So we didn't anticipate this would happen again, and when it did.
Joe Boyle :
How did you deal with it?
Mark Wolak:
Well, we worked on restarting the engine and then, after about 15 minutes of that, it wouldn't start anymore either.
Julie Wolak:
First we turned around so we weren't pounding into those waves.
Mark Wolak:
That's right.
Julie Wolak:
Then we, because it was much more comfortable, and then we started trying to start the engine, At which point we also had a phone signal. So Mark called into our mechanic back at Port Superior in Bayfield and he directed us through trying a few things. But given how rough the water was, it was very difficult for Mark to work down there around the engine.
Mark Wolak:
What did he advise you to do? Well, we checked to see if there was anything showing up in the fuel line by the fuel filter.
Mark Wolak:
But that was just really not possible. There wasn't anything that accessible and we decided really that between the engine quitting and the fact that we couldn't restart it at the ignition, that we had to just give up, that we weren't going to get it restarted.
Joe Boyle :
And just rely solely on sailing. That's right.
Julie Wolak:
Which at that point we knew then was going to be a rough ride for a while.
Joe Boyle :
Okay, so what time of day was this about?
Mark Wolak:
So, at about 3pm roughly 3.30pm we had made a decision that we had to turn back into the wind and keep sailing in the direction of Pigeon Point, which would have been the border crossing between Canada and the United States. Okay, but also then getting more towards more help, right, Because we were pretty remote.
Joe Boyle :
And how far was the closest major port?
Mark Wolak:
The closest major port would have been Grand Marais, Minnesota, okay, and how far was that? Roughly from there, about 60 miles.
Joe Boyle :
Okay, and how long would it normally have taken you to get there?
Mark Wolak:
Normally 60 hours. It would be probably 10 to 12 hours of sailing.
Julie Wolak:
I mean 60 miles 60 miles.
Mark Wolak:
Yes, okay.
Joe Boyle :
Got that Very good, so what next?
Mark Wolak:
Well, we began to look at each other and have these conversations about what the heck we're going to do Serious conversations.
Julie Wolak:
Part of our dilemma is this was the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, so getting service anywhere was going to be iffy. And so, since we still had a phone signal, I called back to our Boat US tow person in Bayfield to talk through our situation and see if he had any ideas. His suggestion was because he doesn't come that far out from the Apostle Islands was to make our way into Thunder Bay, which I haven't been to. Mark has, but again, dicey, without an engine. He said he knew a tow guy that could come out and help us in, but again, with the holiday weekend approach and we didn't know what we were looking at for a repair or if anybody was going to be able to help us out. So he did say there's a storm coming in through the night which is going to change the wind direction in your favor. So if you just keep at it, there'll be a change coming and you should be able to get back to the islands.
Joe Boyle :
So that was somewhat promising at that point.
Julie Wolak:
It was looking to be our only option.
Joe Boyle :
Not to mention you had to get back to civilization because you had family, work, all that stuff.
Mark Wolak:
Right, we had work commitments and the other thing about going into Thunder Bay we would have to go through customs, and so we would have to get somewhere near the customs location and declare that we were there and then try to get our boat fixed.
Julie Wolak:
Okay.
Mark Wolak:
So it wasn't like an easy thing where you just pull up to a maintenance dock.
Joe Boyle :
So your plan of action at that point was to Keep going, keep going.
Mark Wolak:
But I argued about it a few times because I kept thinking, okay, maybe we could go into this anchorage and anchor here and again, anchoring without an engine. The boat weighs about 12 tons, so to anchor this thing in heavy air conditions or any type of difficulty, you're counting on the wind being in your favor, the depth being in your favor, and we didn't know any of these anchorages at that time, yeah, so that makes it somewhat dangerous. It would have been dangerous and we still had daylight, fortunately, when we were asking about that.
Julie Wolak:
But the biggest reason not to do that is that how are we going to get out Right, how are we going to get the boat back going again under sail and out? And there's some options, but given we didn't know these anchorages or how tough they were going to be to be maneuvering in and out of, I voted against that.
Joe Boyle :
Okay, and there had to be an agreement. That's right.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah Right, each only had a vote, so compromise. I should say Right, we each only had one vote.
Joe Boyle :
Right, and so what kind of time did you make at that point?
Mark Wolak:
Well, I think once we made the commitment to keep going, which meant 122 miles, I think, at a minimum, just to get to the islands the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin Once we made that commitment we didn't know how long it was going to take us, but we were going up against four to six foot seas with a direct wind right on the nose and you can only sail in at about 45 degree angle to that and we did the calculation when we finally made it, but we went 20 miles. It took us 12 hours to go 20 miles, which was 1.66 miles per hour. And this was doing tacking, that's tacking doing what you just described.
Mark Wolak:
Right, tacking into the wind, into the waves, which is exhausting because you're busy the whole time right.
Julie Wolak:
It was about 20 to 40 minutes between each tack. So you kind of just get settled again and you're looking at the shoreline, thinking we got to make a change, we got to head the other direction.
Joe Boyle :
Now is that busy-ness good as far as otherwise you might be thinking dark thoughts.
Mark Wolak:
Yes, it's good it did, you're right, it kept us really focused. But the fatigue sets in, and so you're running on adrenaline because you realize that well, if it took, if it's taking this long, when will it end? You don't know when it's going to end. And so what we were counting on was that at some point that wind would have been a southwestern wind, that that will shift. But then we were hoping for moonlight, because we knew the sun was going to set and it was going to be dark. And then the storm blew in and the rain and wind coming from the northeast was blowing in now, and so it became very stormy. And then we were hoping on moonlight so that we could see where we were, and that only lasted maybe four or five hours of very tiny moonlight.
Joe Boyle :
So you're talking pitch blackness, You're talking violent seas if you will. And you're only going a mile or two an hour. Yes, yes, and you're working hard doing it. Yes, we are. So you still have to have your sustenance, you still have to be on your most alert behavior. Yeah, and it's got to be high stress at that. It was really high stress.
Julie Wolak:
It was really high stress and high adrenaline, which the degree that it was. I think we were both a little nauseated, but you're right, you have to keep sustenance going. All we did was water and I think you did nuts. I had nuts.
Mark Wolak:
I had nuts. Yeah, I might have had a grape or two. It was for hours.
Joe Boyle :
Drank some water. Kept going, yeah, okay, then what?
Mark Wolak:
Well, we made some decisions. Oh, you go ahead.
Julie Wolak:
Then it got dark. When it got dark we realized our compass light was out, which we don't usually sail in the dark. We didn't know that. But the other thing that we started getting worried about was our battery reserve, because the engine is charging the battery as it's running and now we haven't had that for some time. Nor have we been hooked up to dock shore power at a dock. That would really charge everything up to full potential. Yeah.
Mark Wolak:
So our battery's sort of Is there a way to monitor that? We could monitor our battery strength on our chart plotter, which was showing us the location of the boat on the lake which you know, this technology is amazing, and so we were certain how far we were away from land, which, through the night, is really comforting. But we shut as much off as we could. We shut off the refrigeration, we shut off lights we didn't need, just kept our the limited navigation lights on, and then I was watching the battery strength all night because I didn't want to lose that.
Joe Boyle :
But at that point you're like a pilot flying in a storm. Yes, You're going totally off of your instrumentation.
Mark Wolak:
Yes, we are. You could barely see the outline of any shoreline.
Joe Boyle :
And had you had moon, then at least you could kind of see where you're going Exactly. You'd get some perspective you know Perspective yeah, doesn't sound fun at this point. No, no, it was grueling.
Mark Wolak:
But we had made this commitment, we had resolved to get back, and then I think probably the strength was that we listened to each other, and then we were really a good team as we were, you know, navigating back.
Joe Boyle :
Did you try to encourage each other and keep each other calm, or is there no time for that?
Mark Wolak:
I think you can answer it your way. Mine was the silence. That was comforting, the silence of us being together.
Julie Wolak:
Okay, yeah, I think, even in silence, we're working together and we know the seriousness of the situation we're in, not because we've been through it before, but there was a time when we had a conversation about if one of us went over, you can't, if another one cannot, turn around and try to try to rescue them in the dark, in those waves, with no engine to assist you.
Joe Boyle :
So wait, you had this conversation that night.
Mark Wolak:
Yes, we did, wow. Yeah, it was a powerful time in that.
Julie Wolak:
I think we were both thinking it and then one of us spoke it.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah.
Joe Boyle :
And now it's time for Stories in Life. Art from the Heart, Deep Thoughts from the Shallow End. This episode we bring you a poem, a song or a reading, just for you.
Speaker 4:
We come on this. Luke John Bean, my grandfather and me Around NASA time we did roll Drinking all night, got into a fight. Well, I feel so broke, I wanna go home. So, hoist up the John B Seth. See how the name says. Call for the Captain and show him. Let me go home. Let me go home, I wanna go home. Well, I feel so broke up, I wanna go home. First mate, he got drunk, broke in the Captain's drum. The constable had to come and take him away.
Speaker 4:
Sheriff, john Sloan, why don't you leave me alone? Well, I feel so broke up, I wanna go home. Well, hoist up the John B Seth. See how the name says. Call for the Captain and show him. Let me go home. Let me go home, I wanna go home. First up the John B Seth. Feel so broke up, I wanna go home. The boy could pick up the fit threw away on my griff and then he took any aid up all of my corn. Let me go home. Why don't they let me go home? This is the worst trip I've ever been on. Hoist up the John B. Hoist up the John B. See how the name says. See how the name says Call for the Captain and show him. Let me go home. Let me go home, I wanna go home.
Mark Wolak:
It was pitch black. You could hear the water passing by the sailboat and you could hear the dinghy in the back of the sailboat you know flopping in the water.
Joe Boyle :
It was pretty quiet at that time.
Mark Wolak:
It was very quiet and when you look back you know there's. First of all, there's a movie called Dead Calm, I think. Who's in that, Nicole?
Julie Wolak:
Kidman Nicole.
Mark Wolak:
Sam Neil..
Joe Boyle :
And that guy from Titanic, the bad guy from Titanic, Billy BillyZane somebody.
Mark Wolak:
But in there there's a scene where she reaches down and the boat's under sail and she pulls this man up out of the water. He's on a raft or something and she pulls him up with one arm, puts him into the sailboat. That is such a lie. You simply cannot do that. There is no way to lift somebody out of the water with one arm.
Joe Boyle :
That's a mention. Reach down that far Right exactly Underway.
Mark Wolak:
You know you're gonna miss them or kill them, but so we know that there's it's almost impossible to do that and our boat is equipped really well. We figured out ways to get somebody out in calm conditions, but in the conditions we were in, without an engine. It seemed like an honest conversation and of course it was rather.
Julie Wolak:
Sobering.
Mark Wolak:
Sobering.
Julie Wolak:
Yeah, the plan was that happens. You throw everything over, you can, you release the dinghy and hope that whoever's overboard finds it, but also knowing the limited time somebody can be in the waters of Lake Superior without hypothermia setting in.
Joe Boyle :
Right yeah about one hour With a storm bearing down on you Right exactly. Right, so okay, I'm so glad that didn't happen.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, we are too.
Joe Boyle :
But the storm is coming. Is that what?
Mark Wolak:
happens next. So we had about I don't know what would you guess, maybe seven, seven hours of darkness.
Julie Wolak:
Yeah, I think the storm hit sometime between midnight and one or two. The thing about this storm was it swirled above us. We could see it swirling around the mast light and it never truly hit us. Hit us, we had wind, we had some sprinkles, but it was. It was changing around us and that change was going to bring the wind change for us, which was going to be a godsend. But that took time and the time that it took the wind died, the waves were confused and we're just flopping around.
Joe Boyle :
So then it was just like a kind of a boiling cauldron.
Mark Wolak:
Exactly, yeah, and on the, you know that first 12 hours, when we went 20 miles, the waves were breaking off the bow and splashing all the way back to the stern. So if you can imagine, I mean we had heavy seas from that, so you were wet at this point.
Julie Wolak:
We were wet but at least it was warm.
Mark Wolak:
It was the end of August, so it wasn't freezing cold water, so that helped us. But yes, by the time we got to the calm in the Grand Portage area, then we had different worries. Then our worries were about drifting into shore because we had no engine so we'd have to be prepared to stop the boat if we drifted, and we had maybe an hour or so of that worry.
Joe Boyle :
How do you do that?
Mark Wolak:
Drop the anchor? Yeah, you'd have to, you'd have to time everything. Drop the anchor when you're in shallow water, but not too deep of water, so that it doesn't hook. You know, there's a lot of judgment there about where you're going to go, where you're going to drift to, when do you decide to drop it? And all that, and then a little crossing of the fingers.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, but we had a really spiritual moment at Grand Portage. We were flopping around, there was no wind, we had the sails we had up, we dropped. And Julie, tell them what you saw.
Julie Wolak:
I was starting to think the adrenaline and the fatigue had created hallucinations and for a while I was afraid to ask Mark if he was seeing what I was seeing.
Joe Boyle :
What were you seeing?
Julie Wolak:
I was seeing fireflies. I don't know what a lot of fireflies would be a pod, a flock but there was a group of them off the port side of our ship, so between us and Rock of Ages. And I think you said, do you see that? And I thought, oh good, I'm not hallucinating.
Joe Boyle :
So there's pitch black. And you, what color were they? Like Fireflies are just bright little lights yeah, could twinkling lights, that be something real?
Mark Wolak:
Well, I think what it was if I am not a botanist, you know, or scientist like that, but I think what it was is that warm air and the stillness on the lake, and maybe they just came floated out from from land and they were out over the open water, I don't know, but they were real, we definitely saw them. And then that was the first time in many hours probably 15, 16 hours where we both took a little bit of a rest. I know, I know I took a 20 minute nap.
Joe Boyle :
Did you take those fireflies as a sign of anything?
Julie Wolak:
I decided it was my mom.
Joe Boyle :
Really.
Julie Wolak:
My mom was traveling with us and taking care of us.
Mark Wolak:
And your mom had died that year.
Julie Wolak:
Yep, and she always worried about us when we were out on the water and she'd have been freaked out. Yeah, she would have If we'd have been out there and knowing that story, but she died six months before that.
Joe Boyle :
So that had to be a little bit comforting. You know, if that's how you chose to think of it, that's a good thing. I think that's probably. That was probably helpful for you. Yeah, I think of hope. Yeah, I think it was.
Mark Wolak:
Then we put up some sail and we started to move ever so slowly, ever so slowly. I'm talking like 0.5 of a knot, 0. 85 of a knot, frustrating 1.2 of a knot we were celebrating those and we were celebrating, so we decided to have some breakfast and you might have made a call then at that point to the tow guy. I'm not sure I made a call to BoatUS about.
Julie Wolak:
I think it was about between six and 7 am. So the BoatUS guy back in Bayfield and he said see, the wind has changed, it's in your favor now Call me when you're back in the islands. And he was right. And it was a remarkable positive change from what we had been in and having not eaten since lunch the day before.
Mark Wolak:
the day before, yeah, we hadn't eaten for a long time.
Julie Wolak:
We made some soup and opened a really good bottle of wine.
Mark Wolak:
Yes, we did A well deserved yes.
Mark Wolak:
And then right after that it was 9 or 9 30 in the morning and we decided we'd get ready for that northeaster. That was blowing up and we pulled up the spinnaker and for people that don't know what that, that sail is on the front of the sailboat. It's usually bright and colorful and it's like a big kite and that filled up with air and we flew back to the Apostle Islands. We were probably sailing somewhere between seven and eight knots for the rest of the day and we were going to make it to the islands before dark. That that was our goal and we were flying. We went over I don't know how many miles, that is, maybe 60, 70 miles.
Julie Wolak:
And when you think about sailing and we previously talked about tacking this is setting that sail up and not having to adjust the lines or do attack just straight through so this was a big reprieve.
Mark Wolak:
Reprieve from that it was. It was amazing and it actually felt like, OK, we're going to.
Joe Boyle :
But it was still storming at this point.
Mark Wolak:
Well, no, we started to have heavy air from the northeast and the skies began to clear, so that helped a lot. And you could see? Yeah, we could see, and we could see for miles actually.
Julie Wolak:
It was actually a beautiful day for sailing. The storm brought the wind change. Northwest always brings northeast. Northeast always brings cooler air, but blue skies and some sunshine and clouds, so it was a beautiful day for sailing.
Joe Boyle :
It was kind of conversations. Were you having at this point A lot of joy?
Julie Wolak:
Well, we slept.
Mark Wolak:
We did. Each of us got a good nap in, but you know, there was still some we weren't sure, you know. Ok, how close would we get to the islands before the wind shifted? And then what are we going to do?
Joe Boyle :
So did you have people waiting for you Like, did they know you were going to be there at a certain time?
Mark Wolak:
We had. We didn't have anybody. Well, first of all, we didn't tell anybody we were going through this because we didn't want to scare them. Like family, like family.
Julie Wolak:
Yeah, there was a point in the night that I had a phone signal and I thought about texting our daughter, but I didn't because I knew she went sleep and she would just worry. So at this point now, when we did get phone service back, we did let them know we're OK, we're on our way in. This is what's happening.
Joe Boyle :
It was a little hairy for a while.
Julie Wolak:
Right, exactly, we'll tell you all about it when we get home Right, exactly, exactly.
Mark Wolak:
So I think about I don't remember. Maybe mid-afternoon we changed our sail configuration. I had to go up on deck. By the way, we always wore our life jackets through all of this and we were always tethered to the lifelines on the sailboat if we had to move forward.
Joe Boyle :
Tethered meaning if you did get blown off or slipped off or something, you would at least still be attached to Still be attached.
Julie Wolak:
Then you'd have to work it doesn't mean we wouldn't be dragging the person drowning them, but you're still attached, right?
Mark Wolak:
We'd be attached. But anyway, I think maybe mid-afternoon, late afternoon, we started to change our sail configuration because now we could drop the spinnaker, raise the mainsail, pull out the jib and make attack an angle of sail, point of sail towards Devils Island.
Joe Boyle :
And Devils Island is how far from where Bayfield?
Mark Wolak:
Now we're probably. If we get to Devils Island, we're about 15 to 20 miles out from Port Superior, which is our home base. We spent the day basically talking about how glad we were that the winds picked up and that we could get home, because we expected that we might be on the water a day or two. We didn't know if we'd get home the first night. We might not get home for several nights because we'd have no engine. So we've got a sail home, which the distance from Thompson Island to Port roughly 120 some miles, something of that nature and once we got into the islands it was so calm and warm and we thought, oh, this is really easy, it was lovely but we were exhausted.
Julie Wolak:
We were exhausted, and so the next time I called Tucker. I don't know if it was like between five and six, and he said you know, it's still kind of rough up the West Channel. And I said we got to get in. We're exhausted. We've been out here 30 some hours, we need to get into our slip, we need to get to our marina.
Mark Wolak:
And I think that was about six PM, seven PM, I think so too.
Julie Wolak:
So by the time he got to us it was six thirty seven ish.
Mark Wolak:
Right.
Julie Wolak:
We get all our lines on and we're getting towed in and he thinks he's going to run us into our slip and I think it was a little still windier outside of the marina, the winds built up so we were for people listening to this.
Mark Wolak:
We were under tow for almost three hours. He got us at at seven o'clock, seven thirty PM, and it was 10 thirty PM by the time we stepped off that boat onto a dock and it was three hours under tow.
Julie Wolak:
So now it's dark again, we're delirious from no sleep and the experience we've been through and there's flashing lights, because the tow guy has flashing lights, so it's, it's a little bit seizure inducing.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, it is, and then you're running back and forth down to the radio.
Julie Wolak:
And again no moon at this point. I don't know why we can't be in our cell phones, but that's just how they do it. And you've got fenders out on this side. You think you're going to be on and you've got all your lines to get to the dock. And we're just coming into the opening of our marina and Tucker says we got to stop and rethink this. We got to move all your lines and move all your fenders to the other side of the boat.
Mark Wolak:
Right, Because we were going to go into a fuel dock and that one didn't wasn't going to work because of the wind he was going to put us in our slip. Well, that was the second choice.
Julie Wolak:
Then he realized I got to take you to the fuel dock Right Right, which we were grateful for, because then they got to deal with our engine right away.
Mark Wolak:
Right. So we went to the Port Superior fuel dock.
Julie Wolak:
That didn't go so smoothly. But, somebody came down to help.
Mark Wolak:
He has a good strategy of getting midship on your starboard or portside tying off, and then he bumps into the dock and your boat moves forward and you tie off, didn't quite work in the heavy wind, didn't? Fortunately, somebody saw the lights coming Yep and came over and took a line and then we stepped off the dock and we heard some really tragic news.
Julie Wolak:
I think it was Ed came down to the dock one of the Marina staff people and said oh, I saw the flashing lights and thought it was related to the drowning that happened today. Yeah, and we said what?
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, that was so sobering after that journey, it was. To realize that that happened to somebody that we knew.
Julie Wolak:
Somebody in our marina down our dock went out for an afternoon sail with another sailor and the bay around Bayfield was. The waves were confused, they had heavy winds, the waves were all over the place and he went forward to what's the term?
Mark Wolak:
Oh, he had the, the, the jib had caught on the, on the cleat, that's on the front of the mast, and so he went forward to release it. But he walked up on the wrong side of the sail and it blew him right into the lake, blew him right off the boat. He was hanging on to the sheets. Which are these lines that go from the sail back to the cockpit?
Julie Wolak:
He did not swim, he did not have a life jacket on.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah.
Julie Wolak:
He did not have floatables ready to throw. Yeah, there were a lot of issues with it was his boat, so the person that was at the helm didn't have anything to throw to him. She was an experienced sailor called Coast Guard gave coordinates, they were out there in 15 minutes, but he had already drowned.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, it was a sobering thing to hear upon our return from our journey, which was a successful journey of over 120 some miles under sail through the night, in darkness, in storm, in heavy seas, but we made it home safely, well, good, yeah, that's a heck of a story, guys. Thank you very much for sharing that, yeah we wanted to share it with our listeners because it's one of those stories that if you don't tell it, people just assume well, you know your sailor, and nothing bad ever happens, you know.
Mark Wolak:
Yeah, but you have to kind of know that it's gonna happen to you if you're out there.
Joe Boyle :
And I think I met you guys about seven years ago. So had that trip gone differently, I may never meet you, wouldn't even be sitting here with you right now.
Joe Boyle :
Yeah, so okay, well, that was great, thanks. Our first song today was Sloop John B by the Beach Boys off the Pet Sounds album from 1966. The second song was Full Force Gale by Van Morrison off the Into the Music album from 1979. Thanks, joe, we hope you enjoyed this episode. Please join us again next time on Stories in Life on the radio with Mark and Joe and visit our website at storiesandlifebuzzbrowcom or email us at storiesandlifepodcastgmailcom.