Sailing season is over

Sailing is over for 2014 on Lake Superior.

Going sailing next week

We will get up to Corny on Friday and plan on sailing and messing around with Beeses for a week or so. We will spend a night or two in the islands .

40th

Anniversary dinner, not fast food.

Ready To Sail

I had some projects to take care of before we could go sailing. First I needed to check the tension on the stays and adjust them if necessary. Then I wanted to get the dingy ready to go. The dingy motor had not been started since cleaning the fuel system and it needed to be started and checked out. I finished these projects with the help of Patrick, Jessica, and Bev so we are ready to sail.

Just Doing "At the Lake" Stuff

Today was a relaxing and fun day. We went to the coffee shop and had scones and coffee (Bev had a Skinny, Sugar Free, Vanilla, Decaf Latte). Then back to Summer Snow for breakfast before going to Bayfield to shop and just mess around. The photos are of little icebergs that just floated in through the harbor with Bev and myself and then Jessica and Patrick. There is lots of ice out on the lake in big chunks just floating around.

Not All Work

Getting ready to sail isn’t all work. We played golf on Thursday and Saturday at Apostle Highlands Golf Course which is a very nice golf course that overlooks Madeline Island. The views are spectacular, particularly with the all the ice floating in the water surrounding the islands.

Putting In

Before having Summer Snow put into the water I had the major task of polishing the “top sides” which is defined as the part of the hull between the waterline and the deck. Last year I had it done by the marina but this year I wanted to do it myself. It’s kind of like washing and polishing your car, that’s when you find all the scratches and dings and that’s what I wanted to do, find the problem spots so I could do the appropriate repairs. I used Turtle Wax and applied it by hand for very satisfying results.

 I decided that the bottom paint was OK for another year. It sure pays to buy good quality bottom paint although the fresh water of Lake Superior is quite friendly to the bottom of any boat. The ablative type bottom paint has to be renewed every few years but the “good stuff” I used before going to the Bahamas has lasted 3 years, going on 4. Boats that stay in the water all summer need bottom protection or they get a thick growth that slows you down although we don’t have the barnacle problem they have in saltwater.

These photos show Summer Snow being transported and then put into the “well”. Then I started the motor and motored over to our traditional slip. It is sweet to be back in the water! Now the interior cleaning begins in earnest. 

The 2014 Sailing Season Is Here

The 2014 sailing season is here so I loaded up my pickup and headed for Cornucopia. My goal is to get the boat livable for Memorial Day. Bev will come up with Patrick and Jessica Friday night. This is what I found on my drive by Lake Superior; ice and lots of it. Many of the bays are full of floating chunks of ice and the ice flows in and out depending on the wind. Well, the marina is clear so I can still get the boat in but sailing is not likely for a while.

Sailing Season Ends

Summer Snow in the Cradle

I was at Corny last Monday and Tuesday (Sept 24 - 25) and put Summer Snow to bed for the winter.
It's pretty much the same as winterizing a RV except you have to crawl up and down a ladder to do everything. I stored the sails down below this year instead of taking them home because they were nice and dry and I think they will keep just as well up there as in my garage.

The tarp on the deck is just to cover the teak from sun damage. I was very pleased with the condition of the bottom paint ( I may get by for another year before re-doing it.)

In Lake Superior

Summer Snow in Siskiwitt Bay Marina

Summer Snow is back in the most beautiful lake in the world. Here are some interesting Lake Superior facts:

1.  Lake Superior is, by surface area, the world's largest freshwater lake.
2.  The surface area of Lake Superior (31,700 square miles or 82,170 square kilometers) is greater than the combined areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.
3.  Lake Superior contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, even throwing in two extra Lake Eries.
4.  Lake Superior contains 10% of all the earth's fresh surface water.
5.  There is enough water in Lake Superior (3,000,000,000,000,000--or 3 quadrillion-- gallons) to flood all of North and South America to a depth of one foot.
6.  The deepest point in Lake Superior (about 40 miles north of Munising, Michigan) is 1,300 feet (400 meters) below the surface.

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Ready to go in

You forget how many details there are to complete before launch.  Getting the mast ready is the main thing. I like to test all the lights and check all the wires for chaffing. Then getting all the shrouds in order and the spreaders on with good boots takes a good hour. But it's ready now and after launch and when the mast is stepped it's time to do the major cleaning.

Back to Corny

I am finally back to Summer Snow. Bev and have been busy with family matters and this is my first chance to come up and get the boat in the water.  I have been working all day and have decided to take a break at Fishlipps Bar.

Summer Snow Done Reached

Summer Snow is safe in her cradle in Siskiwit Bay Marina, Cornucopia Wisconsin. I am very happy to be home in Hayward with family and friends. The trip has been a wonderful adventure with very few unexpected problems. Would I do it again? Sure, but only if Bev could come too.

Ten months is a long time to be away from home and family but I knew that going in. A sailing adventure like this is a life experience that you must do when the opportunity is there. If you hesitate you may miss the adventure completely. I could not have gone on this trip without the encouragement, the help and support I received from Bev and the rest of my family and friends and I thank all (especially Bev) for helping make this trip possible.

Lessons Learned:

1. I don't want to live on a boat. There is a lot to be said for living in a house and living on the boat for a few weeks is OK but after a few months it's good to get back home again.

2. There are wonderful, intelligent, kind, thoughtful, friendly people everywhere. The best part of this adventure was meeting all the wonderful people. I think that boating people and Bahamian people are particularly nice.

3. There are so many beautiful and interesting places to live and the best place is where I already live. I am not very comfortable in very warm climates and I truly love snowy Minnesota. Sail magazine rates the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior as "in the top 10" places to sail but I would go further and rate them as number 1.

4. Your sail plan should always include a plan A, B, and C with plan B and C in case things don't go good in Plan A. Before raising the anchor I reviewed the charts and cruising guides for the days' sailing and carefully noted problem areas. Many shoals and tidal currents are noted on the Internet on Active Captain along with recommended ports and marinas.

5. Sail the boat you got! If you wait until you have the perfect boat with all the technical bells and whistles you may never leave. Cast off your lines because you really don't need all that fancy stuff. All you really need is the support of your family and a good basic sailboat. Some skill and knowledge is helpful but a lack there of is not a deal breaker.

Thank you for reading my blog. I will begin posting again next June as sailing season gets underway on beautiful Lake Superior.

Plan B

We completed our Lake Erie crossing by sailing to Middle Bass Island and after being held there with poor weather, sailing to the Detroit River, through Detroit, and into Lake St. Clair. Patrick and I are moving in "delivery" mode, that is, we are not stopping to see the sights or visit historical places. This is not real fun, in fact, it is more like work.

I have decided to have Summer Snow transported from Detroit to Siskiwit Bay via Michigan Boat Cartage. My long range plans have been to be Home about August 15th and that date remains my ideal target. It has been a long time on the boat and I am anxious to be home with Bev, family, and friends. I talked with Bev and Patrick and told them that I am ready to have the boat shipped home rather than sail Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Those are lakes that I have sailed on previous adventures and I have many people to see and things to do at home.


Having made that decision we can enjoy our last few days in Detroit because, after hauling Summer Snow out of the water, we can stay at Norm and Betty's home (Jessica's aunt and uncle) until we hitch a ride with Norm back to Minnesota. Norm has business to take care of in Minneapolis so this will work out great for us.

Once Summer Snow is home in Cornucopia I will go up to winterize and make some minor repairs so it will be ready for the next sailing season on beautiful Lake Superior.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Our day started out very nice. We had a 0 to 10 knot wind out of the WNW which allowed us to motor sail and make about 5.5 knots. The wind started to pick up as we moved SW along the south coast of Lake Erie and after about 3 hours we were in 10 to 15 knot winds with gusts to 20+ and the wind had switched to SW so we could not use our sails without tacking. The waves were building and we were not going to make our destination (Geneva State Park) before dark. Although we had made over 14 miles I decided to turn around and return to Erie (Presque Isle).

We were monitoring the weather by radio, radar, and visually and could not see any storms but soon we started to hear thunder off to the north. I could see a storm coming into view on the radar and shortly after that we could see the dark clouds off to the NE. Usually thunder storms move pretty fast but this one was very slow and we were closing on it as it moved to the South. I slowed the boat down hoping to let the storm pass in front of us but we were still gaining on it and it was now just 2.5 miles away. Then we saw the first water spout (read TORNADO for you land lubbers) that you can see in the photo. I Turned Summer Snow to run away from the weather and then we saw another water spout form, YIKES! I "put the hammer down" and we were able to move fast enough to let them pass behind us. The wind was really blowing now and we saw multiple funnels hanging out of the clouds as the storm moved over Presque Isle.

We turned again and headed back toward Presque Isle and safe haven. That is when the dinghy broke loose on one side. The violent wave action (and Summer Snow running at max speed) was too much for the towing bridle connections. We managed to pull the dinghy close enough to get another line connected and pulled it up tight so the waves didn't jerk it around and proceeded on. Now we are moving along and should be back in the harbor in a few hours but wait, why is the engine losing RPMs? Well, it seems that the rough conditions has stirred up the fuel tank and we have a restricted fuel filter. The boat looks like the tornado was inside the cabin at this point with everything that wasn't bolted down strewed on the deck. We baby the engine at low speed (the wind was pushing us so we still were hitting 5.5 knots) and make it back to the harbor. It's going to blow for a few days so we are going to STAY PUT and wait for weather.

Rain On Lake Erie

We left Dunkirk, NY this morning at 6:15 in hopes of a NE wind. Instead we have a SW wind with rain chasing us. Maybe this afternoon will be better. Our destination is Erie, PA which is only 40 miles.

Bridges on the Erie Canal

There are many bridges over the Erie Canal . Some are modern like the Interstate 90 bridges but most are old to very old. Sometimes you just see the remains of a bridge that probably was part of the infrastructure of the 1862 canal update. The lowest bridge (second photo) is the E-93 at mile 209.4 (16 feet) which we cleared with a couple of feet to spare.

The canal was updated many times since its initial construction in 1825 (Clinton's Ditch). Major changes happened in 1862 (Enlarged Erie Canal) and in 1918 (Erie Barge Canal). Today it is primarily used for recreation although there is some growing interest in using it commercially again. Moving bulk products by barge is very inexpensive.

The canal follows rivers when it can and other times is a man made ditch and straight as an arrow. Regardless, it is always beautiful as we slide along through small villages and park like rural areas. The small towns cater to the boaters, bikers, and hikers with many cafes and coffee shops and each town has a free dock, often with water and electrical hookups.

There are 15 lift bridges in the western 1/3rd of the canal. The lift bridge in the photo is very unusual because of the odd angle it makes with the river. One side is highter than the other and it crosses the canal at an angle so no two angles in the bridge structure are the same. The lift bridges only lift to about 15 ft so they don't slow you down too much with long waits.

Locking Through

Patrick and I locked through Lock 20 on the Erie Canal.

Erie Canal 1

The Erie Canal is 342 miles long and has 34 locks. We went thru the largest lift today (lock 17) at 40 foot.

The scenery is beautiful and the people are friendly.  We have seen very few boats on this waterway (very few on the Hudson too) and the marina operators have said that very few people have been out on the water due to the high gas prices.

We are in Little Falls, NY tonight tied to their public dock. It is very nice with clean, new bathrooms and showers. They even have a boater's lounge with microwave, coffee maker, and TV. All this for $15/night.

Hudson River to the Erie Canal

We had to say good bye to New York City so we could continue our journey sailing north on the Hudson River toward the Erie Canal. We expected it to take three days to get up to Troy, NY where the Hudson meets the Erie Canal. The Hudson River is very beautiful with high rock cliffs and beautiful homes. We anchored out the first night about a mile north of West Point. Then made very good time all the way to the Catskill River and the town of Catskill. We found a great marina that would un-step our mast so we can get through the Erie Canal (you must be able to get under 15 ft bridges on the Erie).The marina was very helpful and provided free used lumber and a box of screws so we could build racks to put the mast in for traveling. You can see the results in the second picture. We now have a 40 ft motor boat instead of a 30 ft sailboat. It took a half a day to get the mast down and mounted and then we motored north up the Hudson. We made real good time and made it through Lock # 1 north of Troy and spent the night at the Erie Canal Welcome Center in Waterford, NY. Only 342 miles and 35 locks to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes!