“Solid citizen” Dave Strzok
has moved from school to sailing ships
to Superior supporter and
knows how to stay alive by staying afloat.

by Hugh Bishop

Photos by Jeff Peters

On first meeting David Strzok of Bayfield and Washburn, Wisconsin, the word that comes to mind is “solid.” From his resolute jawline to the muscular physique, this businessman might serve as the model of the solid citizen, bringing endless energy to whatever he tackles, along with more than a quarter of a century of experience as a school teacher, excursion boat captain, writer, boat renovator, private pilot and inveterate booster of Lake Superior and his beloved Apostle Islands.

But, all of that said, it is his can-do spirit that most strikes you as you talk and get to know him, for there seems to be nothing that catches his fancy that he won’t tackle.

Captain David Strzok has parlayed a multiplicity of talents into several successful ventures.

“I’m working on two books right now and I’m also building a 70 percent scale model P-51 fighter plane,” he drops casually into the conversation. “I want to finish my fictional novel and get the plane assembled this winter. I also just bought a 35-foot hull that we will renovate into a three-masted schooner to join the Zeeto in a couple of years.”

For those unfamiliar with Bayfield, the Zeeto is a classic sailing vessel built from an 1870s design and is a favored mode of transport with summer visitors wishing to tour the Apostles in quiet appreciation. It is the signature vessel of his Apostle Islands Cruise Service, which also runs regular excursions aboard the Island Princess and a shuttle service to Sand, Raspberry and Oak islands on the Eagle Island, as well as a water taxi service to particular islands for hikers and campers. Two years ago, David opened the Keeper of the Light retail store featuring lighthouse and nautical items.

So, how did a school teacher in Mellen, Wisconsin, become this dynamo?

“One of my classes was outdoor education,” David says. “About 25 years ago, I tried to line up some boats for a trip in the Apostles, but the outfitter here didn’t have any available. He had the business for sale, though, so I bought it.”

With Apostle Islands Outfitters as his base, he continued teaching for a couple of years, when he added Apostle Island Cruise Service to the business. At this point, David gave up his classroom duties and became a full-time businessman and cruise captain, although he continued to teach outdoor classes for several years.

“In the beginning, I especially liked the islands and also discovered just how much I like being around boats,” he says. “Since then, I’ve developed a huge appreciation for Lake Superior that continues to grow. It’s probably the most under-appreciated resource around.”

His grin widens and he says, “Now, more than half my life has been tied to the big lake and the Apostle Islands, and it surprises me because it seems like it’s been such a short while.”

When the tourism season heats up during the summer, David turns over seagoing duty to his crews and focuses his attention on the business side of his enterprises. At the beginning and end of that busy season, he’s happy to again take his position at the helm of the Zeeto or one of the other excursion boats.

David’s ability to turn dreams into reality has helped to put the Apostle Islands and Bayfield into a most favorable light.

“One time on a long trip back from taking some hikers to one of the outer islands, I figured out that I’ve put on enough mileage in water taxi service to go around the world twice,” he says. He laughs and adds, “And that’s on Lake Superior, in good and bad weather, daylight or dark ? and it’s still fun.”

Through the years, he has fond memories of the boats he’s owned. His all-time favorite is the Chippewa, which he describes as an excursion boat of classic design and construction. Today, it is in service taking tourists on pleasure rides in Bar Harbor, Maine. Another favorite, perhaps influenced by the fact that he is also a licensed aircraft pilot, was a hydrofoil he operated in 1982 and 1983. That craft was sold to work in Alaska.

“The hydrofoil was really fun,” he enthuses. “It had a top speed of 40 to 45 miles an hour and could go into shallows that you can’t navigate with deeper draft watercraft. But it really fits better into Alaskan service than what we used it for.”

Not surprisingly for one tied so directly to the big lake, David and wife, Claire Duquette, and their daughter, Aimee, make their home on Chequamegon Bay in Washburn, about equidistant between his Bayfield businesses and her job as editor of The Daily Press in Ashland.

And his love for and appreciation of the lake can obviously be handed down, since his son David is also a licensed cruise captain and puts in a good deal of time on the big water and among the Apostles.

Among other items in the Keeper of the Light retail store, the scale model sailing vessel Mary Grant is holding gets a lot of interest from customers.

But simply succeeding in a challenging business and pursuing a wide range of non-business activities does not exhaust his interests. He counts his efforts in marketing the local area and his work in developing and promoting events that will draw visitors to the Bayfield Peninsula as some of his most satisfying civic activities.

“Maybe the best part of our marketing efforts has been increasing the winter business,” David says. “The silent sports like skiing, snowshoeing and sled dog excursions have really taken off. And, of course, the ice caves on the western side of the peninsula get a lot of attention from our visitors once Lake Superior is frozen over.”

With winter introduced into the conversation, David says, “For some people in the hospitality business, winter is a time to slow down, but I have to stay busy. I purposely decided to build the scale P-51 from plans, rather than buy a kit, because that means I make every part that goes into the plane. I like the feeling of knowing how everything works and how it was made.”

Securing the Zeeto after a cruise, the captain’s hand reveals a working relationship with his boats.

This winter, he looks forward to finishing and publishing his historic fictional novel about an Ojibway boy going through the rites of manhood in the 1600s, when whites first entered the Chequamegon area. He will also continue research and work on a manuscript that portrays life in Apostle Islands lighthouses from the viewpoint of a cocker spaniel. He intends to self-publish both books and says they will be a good read for adults and kids.

Then, of course, there is that recently acquired 35-foot hull that needs fitting out as the sister of Zeeto. “We’ll work on that as time and weather dictate,” he says. “We don’t plan to have it in service for a couple of years, but we do need to keep plugging away at the work it needs.”

Looking to the future, David says he has no real plans for major expansion of his business, but remains flexible and will look at opportunities when they come up.

“I like what I have right now,” he says. “I’m making a living, I have time to write and do whatever else I want to do, and I am exactly where I want to live. If something does come along that looks promising, of course I’ll look at it, but it will definitely have to fit into what we already have and that includes our lifestyle here.”

So, it seems that beneath that solid exterior there beats the heart of a romantic who keeps discovering new reasons to love the lake and the Apostle Islands that have given him business success and personal satisfaction.