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.