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