Lake Mille Lacs is the second largest lake in a state with 10,000 (it's actually more, but we're humble). The lake is about 23 by 18 miles, is round in shape with few bays or protected areas. It's known as a fishing lake, with plenty of walleye. It's shallow with the deepest point only 42 feet. There are a number of small marinas with protected harbors spread around the lake, but sailboats are rare. My wife and I rented a cabin on the north side of the lake for a week, brought the CP16 with, and rented a slip at Doc's Harbor for the week. Steve Ullrich joined us on Friday and Saturday with his 16 as well.
Doc's Harbor is a well kept little campground and marina/boat launch. There are about 20 large 5th wheel campers that look like they stay for the entire season, and about 25 slips. The docks look pretty new and are aluminum. They just installed some oversized cleats on them while we were there. The picture above shows both my boat and Steve's at the harbor. The owner was very nice, she liked the sailboats, but says they rarely see any around. The harbor and entrance were pretty shallow. While motoring out of the harbor with two people aboard, I had to make sure the other person sat as far forward in the cockpit as possible, or else I would knick a rock with the rudder. The lake is shallow (at least near shore), and I think I knicked bottom with the rudder 4 times during the week (once because I wasn't paying attention, and never knicked after I figured out the proper weight distribution). I liked Doc's (only $15/night), but if you draw any more water than 18", it's not the place for you.
The lake is huge. Raise the sails, set your tack, and relax for the next 2 hours, tack, relax for another 2 hours. I'm pretty used to tacking every 10-20 mins on MN lakes due to their size or other boaters, neither are a problem on Mille Lacs.
Winds were light the first day we were there (Sunday). My wife (Angie) stayed back at the cabin, but I had to get on the water.
I decided to make the big investment in an autopilot. It did pretty well while I went down below and found my camera. Other's have given the Cajun tiller tamer good reviews, and it has my thumbs up as well. Nothing could possibly beat it's simplicity and price.
Winds were light on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday morning we went out midmorning and were able to make 2 mph with the spinnaker. Angie felt like swimming, so she put on a life jacket and I tied a line to her, planning to tow her around the lake. Unfortunately the wind died down, Angie got tired of bobbing around, got back in the boat and we motored the 1.5 miles back to Doc's.
When we told friends and family about our plan to take the boat out to Mille Lacs, they all said, "Are you sure your boat is big enough?". The first 3 days we wondered what the hell they were talking about. Then the wind kicked up Wednesday and Thursday. The wind was out of the south, so the waves had 23 miles to build up before they hit our shore. The shallow bottom helps to kick things up a bit as well.
Angie wanted no part of this trip, so I reefed the main and headed out alone. Later in the day the rolling waves out in the lake built to 3-4 feet, when I went down in them, the waves were higher than the cabin top. Depending on the point of sail, it was either very wet, or very uncomfortable as the waves rolled you or surfed you. But, what the heck, sailboats need wind, and it was windy.
Here's Angie swimming off the dock at the cabin. She was about 150 yards out, and it wasn't up to her waist yet. At least the piece of shoreline we were on was pretty shallow. This is partially offset by the fact that there aren't any shallow spot or sand bars out in the lake. Once you get 200 yards from shore, no worries.
Be prepared for the bugs. We had a large hatch of May Flies on Wednesday/Thursday. Each morning these things blanketed the boat, were all over the cabin deck and all over the cars. They don't bite, but they tend to just die on whatever they land on last, and they sure know how to hold on. Most of them would blow off the car by about 55mph, but we had one little guy that stuck on the windshield until 75mph before he let go.
Steve came out to the cabin Friday. This is his boat, Teacher's Pet with him and his wife out sailing Saturday morning. Winds were strong Saturday, felt like 30 mph gusts a few times, but it had to have been 15-20 mph steady. We got some spray going, and it started to get a bit cold with the water and wind, so we all headed back in.
It was a good trip. The CP16 could more than handle what the lake had to through at it, and the shallow draft was very useful. There was one harbor along highway 169 that had a number of larger (20-30') sailboats, which makes me think their harbor was a bit deeper. I can see why small boat sailing hasn't caught on, when the winds kick up, it can be rough (but exciting). Why there aren't more midsized sailboats out there I can't say. With a little more freeboard you could enjoy those 15-30 mph winds a little more.
Others sailors aren't sure why there aren't more sailboats too. Maybe someday there will be.
I came across this interesting blog post while seeking info about sailing on Lake Mille Lacs. I was doubly excited to recognize that you had a CP16, which is exactly what I now own! I definitely intend to try out the lake come summer. Thanks for the inspiration! Larry
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