Plus Ultra

Perfection on Pepin

2010-08-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Let me just start with this.

A busy work schedule has kept me from sailing as much as I would like, and an even busier schedule through the rest of the summer is going to make it even more difficult. I decided I was going to take one weekend and ignore all work and school obligations and only do what I wanted to do.

I decided to go to Lake Pepin (Sailing N. Pepin, Sailing S. Pepin), launching from Hansen's Harbor on a Saturday morning, and planned to anchor out for the night. Rigging and launching went well. The full main and poled out the genoa were set in a light 3-5 knot north wind and sailed south toward Hok-Si-La Park. There is a nice mile long public sand beach, which I wanted to take a look at as a possible place to anchor later.

From Lake Pepin - July 10

By early afternoon the sun was beating down and the wind had died, so I pulled up to Hok-Si-La beach and set an anchor off the stern and waded to shore.

From Lake Pepin - July 10

I sat in the shade with my little radio, a book, can of diet Coke, and a cigar for a few hours. When I got back on the boat to cook some dinner I noticed a Turkey Vulture perched right above my little spot in the shade. We don't see them much in MN (or at least I don't see them much).

From Lake Pepin - July 10

The next couple shots are just gratuitous eye candy. I sat in the cockpit smoking a cigar and watching the sun go down.

From Lake Pepin - July 10

Then my second surprise. As I was sitting facing West I heard something on the beach behind me. The pattern of foot sounds hitting the sand and small stones seemed odd, but I didn't pay it much attention until it came into my peripheral vision.

From Lake Pepin - July 10

It's hard to see in the picture, but two folks were out on a sunset horse ride on the beach. While we have plenty of horses in MN, I didn't expect to see one in that particular place. After the sun and cigar were extinguished, I went below and tucked myself in for the night. The lake had turned to glass and it was comfortable in my berth. Sometime around mid-night a speed boat buzzed by and set me rocking pretty good, but that was the only disturbance.

From Lake Pepin - July 10

I woke up around 6am to a guy fishing, and a couple of friendlies anchored on the other side of the beach. The Hok-Si-La swimming area is over there, and when we buzzed by early Saturday morning it looked like a busy place. I prefer more solitude and decided to anchor a good ways away.

From Lake Pepin - July 10

The sun came up. Wind was from the south at about 0-3 knots. I set the full main and poled out genoa again, and the wind picked up to about 5 knots steady and pushed me back to Hansen's Harbor where I pulled the boat and went home.

It was perfect.

Lake Superior - Fog and Freighters

2010-06-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

It started at 5:13 am on a Saturday. While I am an early riser, few things in my life have started at 5:13 am on a Saturday. The alarm was actually set for 5:30, but the birds were chirping unusually loud, and we were going to be submitting to the forces of nature for the rest of the day, so why fight it at 5:13 am.

My good buddy Chad and I were planning to launch the boat from the McQuade Access just north of Duluth, MN. The plan was to work our way a mere 8 miles (as the crow flies) north to the Knife River Marina were we would spend the night and sail back to McQuade on Sunday. Chad was up for some adventure and wanted to get out into the open water far enough that we couldn't see land in any direction, so that was on the check list for the day as well.

I pick Chad up at 6:15 and we headed north. Chad complained of bad heart burn the night before, owing to some greasy pizza. So we stopped at a gas station/Burger King to stock up on Rolaids, diet coke, and beef jerky for the trip. Chad also grabbed a couple breakfast burritos and a carton of orange juice. "What about your heart burn man?" "That's what the Rolaids are for!" Fair enough.

We got to Duluth and the heart burn had mysteriously reappeared, even after a full roll of Rolaids, so we looked for a pharmacy. We found a local one that had an open sign on, but the lights didn't look on. Chad hesitantly pulled the door, which opened, but the pharmacy was dark. "Hello?" No answer. Strange. Leaving his finger prints behind, he jumped back into the Jeep and we found a grocery store and got some Pepcid.

From Superior Sail - June-10

The boat launch was exceptional. It opened in July 2008 at a cost of $11 million dollars, providing 3 launch ramps and a separate kayak launch, shore fishing locations, a 3 acre harbor of refuge, and 54 parking spots for vehicles with trailers. We got there around 9am on a Saturday, prime time for fishing, and the parking lot was only about 1/2 to 2/3 full and there was no wait to launch. The only downside for sailboats is that the ramps are separated from the parking area by an underpass with a clearance of 14.5 feet. So we had to step the mast down at the ramp, but there was enough space to do it without getting in the way of two others launching and one retrieving.

From Superior Sail - June-10

While we were preparing to launch we could see a freighter downbound for Duluth harbor. The wind was NE 5-10 knots, and we could see a couple sailboats headed for Duluth under spinnakers as well.

From Superior Sail - June-10

We got the boat prepared, launched, and out onto the lake. It's amazing how much stuff accumulates in the cabin just for 2 days on the water. The working jib (110%) and the full main were raised and we were making about 3.5 mph close hauled. It had been sunny while preparing the boat, but as soon as we got on the water it clouded up and fog started to build.

From Superior Sail - June-10

We were working our way upwind, but making any northerly progress was slow. We found ourselves about 4 miles offshore and visibility had dropped to about 2 miles due to the fog, so Chad was able to check off his "can't see shore" goal for the day. Then we heard a very deep fog horn, and kept our eyes peeled, but couldn't see a thing. Just for fun, Chad jumped on his laptop with cellular access to the internet and checked a live AIS feed for the area. By the time he was able to see the plotted course on his screen, I was able to see this from the cockpit.

From Superior Sail - June-10

A few minutes later, it came into better view.

From Superior Sail - June-10

We were well clear of it and watched as it passed. AIS said it was downbound for Duluth and was currently making 9.6 knots. The VHF crackled with a request for the Duluth lift bridge to open, but the ship requesting it said they were upbound. Huh. Then a second downbound freighter appeared from the fog, again well clear of us. A few minutes later the upbound freighter that we heard on VHF appeared. We were still on a port tack, pushing further into the shipping lane.

From Superior Sail - June-10

A friendly appeared to windward of us, running downwind wing and wing, though he was luffing the jib a bit, we think to slow his speed and let the freighter and us pass.

From Superior Sail - June-10

After that, it was fairly uneventful. We put up the 155% genoa to try and gain a little speed. The wind would come and go (along with the white caps), but we were making anywhere from 2 to 5 mph, tacking back and forth. After five hours we had made 18 miles under sail, but we were still 5.5 miles from Knife River. The swells were getting larger, the sky was getting darker, and the weather radio was assuring us of overnight thunderstorms and was predicting a 180 degree wind shift overnight, which would put the wind on our nose for our return trip on Sunday. I was feeling pretty sick from the waves, Chad's heartburn was kicking up, and the prospect of spending the night on the boat and a predicted hard fight to windward for a second day all argued for giving up. I had already given into nature a couple of times for the day, and figured there was no sense in standing my ground this time either. So we turned to run downwind the 3.5 miles back to McQuade. My homemade whisker pole got it's first use, and it worked perfectly.

From Superior Sail - June-10

But the wind died down, so we dropped sail and fired up the motor.

From Superior Sail - June-10

We did 18 miles under sail, but only made 3.5 miles good toward our destination, leaving us about 5 miles short. The GPS plot shows the boat (and/or the skipper) wasn't able to point very high, which isn't much of a surprise given the boat design (and the skipper). Overall it was a fun trip. We got some good sailing in, McQuade Access was better than expected, and Chad accomplished his goal. We'll be back to McQuade and Minnesota's North Shore in the future.

Apostle Islands - May 2010

2010-05-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

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On our first sail on the St. Croix in 2010 Angie said that I fell overboard, she would have no idea how to get the boat turned around and save me. So we both signed up for the Basic Keelboat certification from the American Sailing Association (ASA), through Northern Breezes Sailing School. We finished the class on May 26, and to try out our new skills, we planned a trip to the Apostle Islands for May 29-31.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

We both left work a little early on Friday. The boat was already in the drive way packed and ready to go. This was going to be the first time Angie had spent a night on the boat, and the first time I had ever had two people sleeping on the boat. Enough gear and food for two people on a wilderness cruise fills up the cabin of a 16' boat pretty quick.

The drive up to Bayfield was uneventful. Traffic was surprisingly light for the Friday before Memorial Day. We stopped at Bella Curella Cheese & Italian Deli in Comstock, WI. Angie got dark cherry ice cream and I got a small bag of cheese curds. The cheese curds were from the Ellsworth Creamery, but they were in a vacuum sealed package with an expiration date 5 months in the future. Anyone who knows cheese curds knows they are best when fresh and they should squeak when you bite them. When we got back in the Jeep I opened them up and took a bite, no squeak. I ate half the bag anyways, and to keep from mindlessly eating the rest I put the bag in the center council.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

We got to Bayfield around 9pm, which was slightly earlier than I had expected thanks to the light traffic. We went straight to the public boat launch and rigged the boat. I pulled the half eaten bag of cheese curds out of the center council to move them to the cooler. The bag felt warm. The center council is right over the transfer case and catalytic converter. I bit into one anyways, and it gave a little squeak. Perfect!

The weather was sunny with a temp in the low 50s. After a warmer than average spring in the Twin Cities, it was easy to forget what 40-50s feels like and we both put on pants and sweatshirts. We went for a walk around town to look for some place to buy another layer of sweatshirts or jackets. There was a little discount screen printing place open and we both got hooded sweatshirts for $5. What a deal.

It was dark and we walked back to the boat and crawled in. We slept on the boat at the launch Friday night. There was room at the marina, but at $36/night we decided there wasn't much difference sleeping on the boat on a trailer, compared to sleeping on the boat in a marina.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

We got up around 5:30am Saturday morning to a beautiful sunrise and a freshening wind from the South. Wind direction was perfect. We wanted to sail North to the light houses on either Devil's Island or Outer Island. We tidied up the boat and launched without trouble. We motored out and raised sail. With the light wind holding from the South we dropped the working jib and put up the spinnaker.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

Angie took the helm first.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

We lit up some cigars and put some Johnny Cash on the Ipod. What could be better than a wife who likes to sail and smoke cigars? The favorable south wind held up for about 5 miles before it started to shift E-NE, and eventually stopped altogether. We put the jib back up as the wind came back, but it had shifted to the NE. When we were East of Oak Island we turned north toward Devil's, and it seemed that the wind shifted toward the North, keeping it right on our nose. We tacked a few times before the wind died again and we started drifting toward the rocky east shore of Oak Island. It was about 2pm and it was clear that we weren't going to make it to Devil's Island that day. We still wanted to explore a light house, and closest one was Raspberry, about 5 miles away. I started the motor and we took down the sails (they weren't doing much with no wind). Earlier in the year I had attempted to make a gasket around the fill cap on top of the motor as a little gas would leak out in rough conditions, but some of the gasket material had fallen into the tank. Before leaving on the trip I had cleaned the fuel filter on the motor and tank tested it, and it seemed to be working perfectly. But now, with a residual swell pushing us against a rocky lee shore with no wind, the motor was sputtering. Luckily the wind kicked up, we raised sail again and cleared Oak Island heading toward Raspberry. The wind died off again and the motor started up and ran OK, though it still didn't sound perfect and it made us both a little nervous.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

The dock was pretty short overall, but plenty of room for a 16' boat. I mentioned it in my post last time I went to the Apostles, but the place is scaled for boats much larger than a Com-Pac 16.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

It made it a little difficult to get on and off the boat at the dock, but we were happy to be on solid land. The light house is fully automated, so there is no need for a light house keeper anymore, but from June-September there are tours of the old lighthouse and the keeper's quarters. It was only May and no one was there, so we went for a hike to check out the sand spit on the east side of the island, then came back to make some dinner.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

Dinner was chicken Alfredo penne and low-fat chocolate pudding. We didn't have room for a large cooler, so we brought canned chicken. It was our first time trying the stuff and the grocery store had two brands, Tyson and Hormel. Not surprisingly, the stuff from Tyson was better than Hormel.

After dinner we had a cigar and watched the sun slowly fade. The wind and light swell was coming from the North, but the forecast called for a shift to the South overnight. Directly across from Raspberry Island is Raspberry Bay, which offers protection from the East, West, and South. There were already 4-5 boats anchored in the bay. We heard a conversation over VHS where one of the boats mentioned a bit of swell still coming in, but 2 hours later none of the boats had moved, so we figured the swell wasn't too bad and the bay would offer good protection from the expected wind shift.

From Apostle Islands - May 2010

We motored the 2-3 miles across from the island to the bay and dropped anchor. There was still a swell coming in and the wind began to pickup. It was already 9:30 and Angie crawled into bed. I stayed in the cockpit to make sure the anchor held and to try to reposition the rode to calm the boat motion. I wasn't able to improve the motion, and it was holding, so I went down below and crawled into bed too. About 30 minutes later the wind picked up enough to howl a bit in the rigging and the boat motion was getting worse. I popped my head outside and there were large white caps and 15mph winds coming directly from the North, the only side we had no protection from. I closed the hatch and crawled back into bed. Both Angie and I were feeling a bit queasy and reviewed our options. All of the other boats were staying put. It was now dark and we weren't familiar with the approaches to any other anchorage. The motor wasn't in the greatest condition and sailing out of the bay would mean fighting the wind and swell. And as far as we could tell from the charts, there wasn't any place nearby that would offer protection from the northern swell and still protect us if the wind shifted south as it was forecast to do. We decided that the safest thing to do was to stay put and hope the wind and swell abated or at least shifted.

Unfortunately it only got worse as the wind built the waves up further. One of the other boats weighed anchor and motored out of the bay in the dark. Angie and I were both feeling like ping pong balls in a washing machine, and it was a waiting game to see which one of us would get sick first. I won't say who it was that lost it first, but it did happen, and it happened inside the cabin. Staying put was no longer an option. We were both sick, one of the sleeping bags was unusable, and neither of us wanted to be in the cabin. We put on a couple layers of clothes and topped it all off with foul weather gear, stocking hats, and winter gloves. We turned on the running lights, started the motor and pulled anchor. It was a rough ride out of the bay and we were setting in for a rough 18 mile motor trip back to Bayfield in the dark, navigating the rocky shores by GPS. Once we got in the lee of Oak Island the wind and swell started to fall, and a few miles later the water was calm to 1 foot waves. A nearly full orange moon started to come up from behind Stockton Island. By the time we rounded the red buoy at Red Cliff we were cruising at 5mph, the motor was sounding good, and the lake was like glass with the moon lighting our way.

We made it back to Bayfield at 2am. We had left only 19 hours before, and had done about 45 miles, about half by sail. As we came into the marina where the boat launch was we could hear a deep throaty engine idling. The marina/launch is poorly lit and as we rounded the dock toward the boat launch the mean engine was getting closer. I throttled down my motor, and it sputtered to a stop. A small cigarette boat was backing away from the launch. I tried like hell to get the motor started again, but it wouldn't start. Angie got up onto the bow to fend off, but he was able to steer around us and we drifted up to the dock. My adrenaline was pumping from the near miss. We don't have boat insurance and I thought we were going to hit the cigarette boat for sure. What were they doing launching at 2am? Then again, what were we doing there at 2am?

We loaded up the boat, unstepped the mast, and headed for St. Paul hoping to find a hotel to stop and sleep at. By 3:30am we had passed a few hotels, but they were all full. We were both exhausted and fatigued and pulled over for a two hour nap. We eventually made it home by 8:30am. We both agreed, in the battle between us and Lake Superior, this round ended in a tie. We had made it to a lighthouse, enjoyed a full day of sailing, a couple cigars, and a good meal. The boat and equipment handled the conditions well (except for the motor), and we were able to navigate the 18 miles back to the launch in the dark. We'll be back to the Apostle Islands, but if we're going to continue cruising Lake Superior, we're gonna need a bigger boat.

Porta Potty Tie Down

2010-05-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

From Misc Boat Stuff

After reading Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race I was thinking about all of the things in the cabin that might come loose in a knock-down or roll. I realized there was nothing stopping the porta potty from making a nasty mess in a knock-down or roll situation. I put four stainless steel eye screws into the bunk supports, then cut down a bungee cord net designed for the cargo rack on a 4-wheeler to fit over the top of the porta potty.

To use the potty, the hooks in the front are hooked onto the companion way and the potty is slid forward for use, then pushed back and re-secured. It fits snugly in place and should have no trouble holding the weight of the potty in roll over.

Book Review: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst

2009-12-17T05:54:00.000-08:00

It's an incredible story. Donald Crowhurst entered the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe race, which was the first organized race for a single handed nonstop circumnavigation. Crowhurst was an amateur sailor with very little or no blue water experience. He was smart and ambitious, but he found success elusive in his life, and would quickly jump from one failing career or project to another. He embarked on the circumnavigation unprepared with an un-seaworthy and largely untested trimaran that he had commissioned. Crowhurst realizes his mistake, possibly even before leaving, but once at sea he knows the boat won't make it through the southern oceans in one piece. He stays in the South Atlantic, planning to fake the circumnavigation. As the fleet rounds the world back to the Atlantic and starts heading North, he rejoins the race and is on pace to set the fastest time. Within a day of landfall, Crowhurst stops. His boat is found drifting, without damage, and the log books set neatly on the settee table. The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst chronicles Crowhurst's early life, and through extensive interviews with family, friends, and business partners a picture of Crowhurst develops that belies his public persona.

The authors do an amazing job deciphering and interpreting the logs that were left behind. There was a movie made in 2006 on the same topic, Deep Water, which was interesting, but failed to put all of the pieces together the way the book did.

A Lifes Work - S/V Restless

2009-10-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Bob Kingsland spent 28 years building Restless, a 50 foot 40,000 lb steel sailboat. One of his his college aged daughters, who was not alive when he started the project, helped put pictures from the build on a website, S/V Restless. I like boats, and I love sailing, but this boat is more than just a sailboat, it's a life's work. The boat, the workmanship, the quality, is astounding. His philosophy for the build was, "One of my primary objectives was to see something that made me smile every place my eye came to rest. As a result, not a square corner exists anywhere in the boat, neither in the metal work nor woodwork." It's no surprise he has a degree in anthropology because this boat will outlast him by a decade, and says more about the builder than it says about design or utility.

Last Sail of 2009

2009-10-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year for us Yankee sailors. You can see the posts on any sailing message board. They usually involve a short sweet sail, some reflections on the season and the impending sailing hiatus. Well, this is not that kind of post because my last sail was not that kind of outing.

After two weeks of wet cold weather in MN, forecasts were calling for a sunny 60 degree day with 10-20mph wind for Sunday. I had considered sailing last week in 35 degrees and snow (with 15mph wind) because I figured it would be the last chance to get out on the water this year. I'm glad I waited for this weekend.

I got to the ramp and rigged without incident. There were a lot of fishermen out on the water, but not many sailboats. I paid my $15 and got the boat wet. While motoring I rigged up my cajun tiller tamer (line wrapped around the tiller a few times). I motored South, directly into the wind, weaving my way through the fishing boats while the whitecaps crashed against the bow, sporadically sending spray back into the cockpit. It was time to raise sails, so I tensioned the tamer, but it wasn't holding well, which was going to make life hard. I tried a couple extra wraps, which helped, but didn't want to hold as well as it used to. I raised the main. My sail doesn't have reef points, so I reef it by wrapping it around the boom. I had reefed it back on shore, but given the wind, I decided to twist it around another turn. I pressed down on the halyard clutch lever and hurried back to the tiller. The halyard slipped a bit, they're too weathered to hold in the clutch in heavy wind, a problem that will be remedied next spring with all new running rigging. So I went forward and cleated off the halyard instead of using the clutch.

It was time to raise the 110 jib (my smallest headsail). I moved forward again and started raising it, got most of it up, but a hank got caught on the thicker portion of forestay where the turnbuckle attaches. Sh*t, I'll have to go forward. Sh*t, I have to go aft quickly first, or I'm gonna gybe. My tiller must be too wild for my tamer today. Then it's up onto the foredeck to free the fouled hank, and back into the cockpit to raise the jib the rest of the way. I got it all the way up, but the sail was flogging loudly. I looked at the sheet, and the jib downhaul was wrapped around it, sh*t. My jib downhaul is short, just enough to cleat it off when the jib is up so that there isn't a bunch of extra line cluttering the deck/cockpit. I got the jib sheet tensioned, unfortunately I rigged the boat wrong and the sheet was caught around the wires for my masthead light and they were trying to rip my through-deck wiring socket out of the deck. Ok tiller tamer, you're in charge again. I got everything routed correctly, with minimal damage to the socket. Back to the cockpit quickly, since were veering off course again.

Ok, main is up and halyard secured. Jib is up and the sheet is routed correctly. Jib downhaul is still flailing in the wind. Well, that's not really a critical item. I tacked back and forth a few times. The wind was strong, two other sailboats were out. One was heavily reefed, the other only had a 130 jib up. Eventually I was going to need to bring the jib down, which would involve going forward to either pull it down, or to get the downhaul rigged again. The downhaul was still attached to the halyard, but it had pulled out of the block at the bow and was just flapping in the wind. So I got as far from a lee shore as I could, which wasn't very far since I was sailing in a river. I hove to, went forward, and re-rigged the downhaul. Back to the cockpit.

The rest of the sail was good, 2-4 foot whitecaps, a few other sailboats found there way out of their slips, and the fishermen headed back to shore. I worked my way to windward. I'm sure I sailed about 12-16 miles, but only made about 3 miles to windward. I dropped the main and sailed downwind with just the jib. Got back to the dock, pulled the boat and went home. I had a rough start, but a good end to my last sail in 2009.

Book Review: Return To The Sea

2009-10-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

After reading Webb Chiles' A Single Wave I was left wondering why he sank his last boat Resurgam. Return To The Sea was his latest book, following A Single Wave, and I thought it might have an explanation as to why he sank Resurgam, unfortunately it did not. Return To The Sea records the completion of his fourth circumnavigation. Chiles is growing old, he admits living much longer than he had expected. He doesn't seem to be in search of challenge and adventure like he used to be. Instead heading out to the open sea is like returning to the comfort of home for him. While I really liked A Single Wave, Return To The Sea was a bit dull. He does make some interesting observations about life and different cultures. It wasn't a bad book, but I felt a little let down after no explanation was given for his intentional sinking of Resurgram.

Sailing Apostle Islands

2009-09-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

I had wanted to sail on Lake Superior this year, but I didn't want to do it alone yet. Luckily a fellow MN sailor, Chad, mentioned on the Com-Pac Yacht Owners Association message board that he and a few other guys with small boats were going to sail around the Apostle Islands toward the end of September. A little bit about the islands. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a national park in Northern Wisconsin on Lake Superior. There are 21 islands spread out over 70,000 acres. Many of the islands have docks and primitive camp sites. It's a popular place to sail and kayak. Chad sent me this link showing pictures from their trip the previous year, and I was hooked.

Plus Ultra

Perfection on Pepin

Lake Superior - Fog and Freighters

Apostle Islands - May 2010

Porta Potty Tie Down

Book Review: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst

A Lifes Work - S/V Restless

Last Sail of 2009

Book Review: Return To The Sea

Sailing Apostle Islands

Reefing the Main Sail

New Companionway Hatch

Book Review: A Single Wave

Lazarette Hatch Upgrade

Reparing Masthead Running Light

Sailing Northern Lake Pepin

Sailing Lake Mille Lacs

Sailing Southern Lake Pepin

First Sail of 2009