[Rhodes22-list] Great Lakes Voyage

[Jay Curry]

Anyone planning a trip to or around the great lakes should consider the
Apostle Island National Lake shore on the south western shore of Lake
Superior. There are many launch points and full service marinas. The two
most prominent are Bayfield and Port Superior and both cater to primarily
sail boats. They are about 4 miles apart on the east side of the peninsula.
Isle Royale is 90 miles north. The north Shore on MN is about 22 miles west
of Sand Island. The 22 or so islands are uninhabited, have wonderful sandy
beaches, rivers and many protected anchorages for almost any wind direction
or condition. People come from all over the world to charter boats and sail
this area. The islands feature several light houses, hiking trails, sand
stone caves on some shorelines that are wonderful to Kayak. There is often
no current on some of the beaches letting the sun warm them to swimming
temps. We carried our kayaks on the bow except for excursions to the north
shore of MN. Our routine was to drive up Friday night, sail out to one of
the islands, anchor off and sail back Sunday. I still miss it and we plan to
return to it on vacation with our Rhodes.

I want to echo what others have said about the weather and wave conditions.
Storms can come up with little warning at 60 MPH and push winds ahead of
them at 90 MPH or more. You have to be prepared. Google the damage at Port
Superior in the mid 90's from one of these storms. We got to experience it
on our boat at the dock and did not escape undamaged. Wind driven wave
periods are very short and the waves steep. Waves height of 12 to 15 feet
are often reported out on the lake. I have seen 6 foot waves come up in just
a few minutes. Freighter traffic, some up to 1,000 ft long is heavy. Radar
and a good navigation system are a priority. Excursions out to open water or
trips to Isle Royale for example, need to be treated like off shore ocean
trips. The best reference for the lake was Bonnie Dahl's cruising guide. She
and her husband sailed the lake for many years.

All that said, this area is a staging area for many trips around the lake.
The resources for boat repairs or service are very, very good. Many of the
people here are frequent long distance sailors and can provide a lot of
insight. The Marina management personnel can direct you to them. From our
experience, they are friend and eager to help.

Google the Apostle Islands and Port Superior Marina. It would be a shame to
miss this area if you visit Lake Superior.

Good luck and have safe successful trip.

Jay
Port Angeles, WA


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "butterchurn" <amazingmisterx at gmail.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, March 04, 2013 4:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Great Lakes Voyage


> Graham,
>
> I have only begun to plan.  Not sure how long it would take.  I have much
> planning to do.  The time to complete will depend on where I plan to stop.
> Much thinking to do.
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context:
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> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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