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Beaver Island Archipelago - High Island
And again we are the only living souls sailing by night on Lake Michigan. It
seems that golden age of sailing in this area is gone for good. The map is full of "ABAND LT HO" - ABANDONED LIGHTHOUSE marks. Without GPS our navigation would be rather tough. It looks like nowadays people choose motorboats able to go across the whole lake in just a few hours. There is no reason for night sailing. We mess around with our self-steering. The trick is to tie down the rudder and set sails in such a way that the boat maintains her course herself. Not every
sailboat is capable of doing it, but Whisper does a good job, at least while reaching. Soon wind pipes up and we are making 6 knots through pitch-black night surrounded by unlit islands. It's slightly scary to be on a boat that sails on her own. On the other hand, these are the moments when you can feel your boat really has a soul.
High Island is nothing else but treasure island. An interesting story lies behind it. In 1848 a Mormon spiritual leader James Jesse Strang became the king of a settlement on Beaver Island. The settlement was of religious character and was the only kingdom within the USA boundaries ever. Yet, as it often happens in the Wild West, his rule didn’t last for long. In 1856 he was shot by two rebels and died a few days later. Legend has it, that just before the king made his last breadth, he had his royal treasure buried on High Island. No wonder we landed there. Just a glimpse on our cruising kitty and
you can tell that only the treasure of the Beaver King can save us ;) Alas, we didn't find any! However, during our escapade we run into some creepy old houses. We felt as if we were in the middle of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or "Blair Witch Project". The treasure was nowhere to be seen even on the bottom of a turquoise bay circled by a golden
beach, where we spent the whole day on restless underwater excavations (yes, indeed).
And here you can admire Magda's underwater hairstyles :)
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