[Rhodes22-list] High Adventure Pictured Rocks Sea Kayaking Trip

Sun Sep 13 15:07:40 EDT 2020

Hi Tom,

What is IR?

In July, 2010, I did a long weekend cruise with my 2 sons and their wives in Door County, WI aboard S/V Dynamic Equilibrium.  On Friday afternoon, we launched from Gill’s Rock on the tip of the Door Peninsula.  We sailed out to Detroit Harbor on Washington Island.  We took a slip for the night at Cap’s Marina, arriving just ahead of a thunderstorm.  In fact, the rain started falling and lightening flashed just as we finished tying up the boat in its slip.  We grabbed our foul weather gear and ran into the marina’s restaurant.  Fortunately, by the time we’d finished dinner, the rain had let up.  We gave Gary & Marie the privacy of the cabin that night and the rest of us camped at Washington Island Campground.  The campground picked us up at the marina, drove the 3 of us to the campground, and drove us back to the boat the next morning.  On Saturday, there were small craft warnings, 15-20 knots out of the northwest and 4-6 ft waves.  Never the less, we suited up in our foul weather gear, PFD’s and safety harnesses and slogged up the west side of Washington Island.  We stayed about ¾ mile offshore as the west side of Washington Island is all shear cliffs, which would have made a very unforgiving lee shore.  Even from ¾ mile away, the waves breaking against the cliffs were an impressive and somewhat scary sight!  We were all pretty wet and tired by the time we cleared Boyer Bluff on the north end of the island.  In order for everyone to have a break and have a civilized lunch, we ducked into Washington Harbor in the wind shadow of Boyer Bluff, and hove to.  After lunch and about an hour’s rest, we continued east along the north shore of Washington Island to Jackson Harbor in the northeast corner.  We would have actually preferred to take a slip in a little marina on Rock Island which is run by the Rock Island State Park.  But, late on a Saturday afternoon in July, they were full up.  Sigh, that’s the reality of small sailboat cruising.  You often arrive late in the day and the powerboats have taken all the slips.  So, we took a slip in the public marina in Jackson Harbor.  Saturday night, we gave Daniel & Heather the boat cabin while Gary, Marie, and I again camped at Washington Island Campground.  Again, the campground offered us pickup and delivery service.  On Sunday morning, the wind had not let up and no boats had left the Rock Island Marina.  I could stand on the breakwater at Jackson Harbor and count boats and slips in Rock Island Marina about 7/8 mile away thru my binoculars.  So, we took the ferry from Jackson Harbor to Rock Island on Sunday morning.  We hiked over to the Pottwatomie light house, toured the restored guest and boat house at the state park marina, and went hiking in Rock Island State Park.  The wind was letting up by the time we took the ferry back to Jackson Harbor.  We decided we would sail back to Gill’s Rock that night.  We motor sailed all the way west along the north shore of Washington Island just to enable S/V Dynamic Equilibrium to sail a little closer to the dying breeze and punch into the left over chop from the morning.  As we rounded Boyer Bluff and headed southwest toward Gill’s Rock, we decided to try flying the triradial spinnaker and mainsail.  After a couple of frustrating miles of trying to keep the spinnaker inflated, we dropped the triradial spinnaker and flew the 150% genoa on a whisker pole and the mainsail.  At least this stopped the collapsing chute. But, after a few more miles we fired up the motor just to get the boat speed up.  I didn’t want to be putting the boat on the trailer and unrigging in the dark.  I left the sails up and maybe they added an extra knot of boat speed.  By the time we reached Gill’s Rock, the wind had gone almost dead calm, which made recovery onto the trailer nice and easy.  In Gill’s Rock, we recovered and unrigged the boat, finishing up just after sunset.  Then, we had a nice fish dinner at the Shoreline Restaurant in Gill’s Rock.  After dinner, we said our goodbyes and all went our separate ways.  I got home early Monday morning and took Monday off work to unpack and recover.

So, that’s my one experience with sailing in Door County and braving the Porte Des Morts Passage (Death’s Door Passage)!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10

From: Tom Van Heule<mailto:tom.vanheule at intrinsicprograms.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2020 4:51 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] High Adventure Pictured Rocks Sea Kayaking Trip

It will be an amazing trip if you get up there.
I did a week of backpacking for my arrow of light on IR.

Ill need more practice on our Rhodes in lake Michigan before I am conifient
try Superior.

Maybe we can do a door county run next year.

On Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:18 AM Stephen Staum <snstaum at gmail.com> wrote:

> Great Pictures Roger.  Thanks for sharing.
>
>
> *Stephen Staum*
> *s/v Carol Lee 2*
> *1983 Rhodes 22*
> *Needham, MA*
>
>
>
> On Sat, Sep 12, 2020 at 10:05 AM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Tom,
> >
> > Originally, the kayak towing harness for S/V Dynamic Equilibrium was to
> > facilitate a Sailing/Kayaking High Adventure Trip wherein we were going
> > circumnavigate Isle Royale in western Lake Superior.  This trip was going
> > to be in the summer of 2002 using S/V Dynamic Equilibrium as a mother
> > ship.  Unfortunately, 9/11 happened and the US economy went into a deep
> > recession.  I got laid off in the spring of 2002 and the trip had to be
> > postponed.  Between going back to school to get another degree in
> > mechanical engineering, searching for a new job, and the boys going off
> to
> > college and starting their own careers; the Isle Royale trip never
> > happened.  Since then, we have started including my brother-in-law, Ken,
> in
> > our High Adventure trips.  There is a story in the R-22 archives about a
> > voyage to Garden Island in northern Lake Michigan aboard S/V Dynamic
> > Equilibrium.  It was Ken’s 1st blue water sailing experience and we kind
> of
> > scared him on the return trip.  I haven’t suggested any sailing High
> > Adventure Trips since then.
> >
> > The word around the campfire on the Pictured Rocks High Adventure Trip
> was
> > everyone was interested in going back to the Apostle Islands in western
> > Lake Superior by sea kayak in the summer of 2021.  We only visited 4
> > islands out of 22 in the archipelago the last time we were there.  I may
> > explore how Ken would feel about using S/V Dynamic Equilibrium as a
> mother
> > ship for the kayaks.  We would definitely be able to cover more water.
> >
> > Roger Pihlaja
> > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > > On Sep 11, 2020, at 8:12 PM, Tom Van Heule <
> > tom.vanheule at intrinsicprograms.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > We're in northwest Waukesha county.
> > > Probably an hour or so from you son.
> > > Absolutely on your way via 94, maybe 10 minutes off course.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > IMG_20200730_204146.jpg
> > > <
> >
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_hhNDm1YrRJA14JZsWkxeDbks_khaZh/view?usp=drivesdk
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >>> On Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 7:04 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
> > wrote:
> > >> Hi Tom,
> > >> My younger son, Gary & family, live in Wyocena, WI, which is a
> northern
> > >> suburb of Madison, WI.  Gary is a police detective on the Madison
> Police
> > >> Dept.  Driving around Chicago, IL, it’s about a 500 mile drive from my
> > >> house.  Where in Wisconsin do you live?
> > >> Roger Pihlaja
> > >> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > >> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> > >> Windows 10
> > >> From: Tom Van Heule<mailto:tom.vanheule at intrinsicprograms.com>
> > >> Sent: Friday, September 11, 2020 7:58 PM
> > >> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] High Adventure Pictured Rocks Sea
> Kayaking
> > >> Trip
> > >> Superb Roger.
> > >> I spent 20 years north of muskegon, west of 131...
> > >> Coming " home" twice a year for the steelhead runs.
> > >> I thought you might be in Wisconsin, but we can surely meet up someday
> > as
> > >> we're only 100 miles apart?!
> > >> All the best everyone,
> > >> TVH
> > >>> On Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 6:46 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
> > wrote:
> > >>> Hi Tom,
> > >>> OK, me & my boat, let’s see … here’s a picture of me moving
> > >> hand-over-hand
> > >>> thru a narrow crack:
> > >>> [cid:image004.jpg at 01D68871.F0D4FAE0]
> > >>> Here’s a picture of me paddling along a shear cliff:
> > >>> [cid:image003.jpg at 01D68874.485C9820]
> > >>> Here’s a picture of the 4 of us at sunset at Mosquito River
> > >>> [cid:image007.jpg at 01D68874.485C9820]
> > >>> If you literally meant you wanted to see a picture of my kayak, here
> it
> > >> is
> > >>> by itself on the beach at Hurricane River:
> > >>> [cid:image010.jpg at 01D68874.485C9820]
> > >>> The kayak is a 2013 Delta 14.5 Expedition.
> > >>> The nearest point on Lake Michigan to me is Ludington, which is ~117
> > >> miles
> > >>> from my house.  If you check the R-22 archives, you will find some
> > >> pictures
> > >>> & stories of the towing rig we use to tow the kayaks behind S/V
> Dynamic
> > >>> Equilibrium.
> > >>> Roger Pihlaja
> > >>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > >>> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> > >>> Windows 10
> > >>> From: Tom Van Heule<mailto:tom.vanheule at intrinsicprograms.com>
> > >>> Sent: Friday, September 11, 2020 6:27 PM
> > >>> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >>> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] High Adventure Pictured Rocks Sea
> Kayaking
> > >>> Trip
> > >>> Rodger, looks like a great time with the family!
> > >>> Surely you didn't take one picture of your boat on the trip?
> > >>> We must not be too far apart, lake michigan will be our home waters
> as
> > >> soon
> > >>> as a slip opens up.
> > >>> At which point I will send the trailer in for a beefier axle and
> other
> > >>> work.
> > >>> Do you tow/stow the kayaks on the r22?
> > >>> Tvh
> > >>> On Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 5:22 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>>> Hi All,
> > >>>> Here are some photos from my Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore sea
> > >>>> kayaking trip with my brother-in-law, and two sons.  We car camped
> at
> > >> Bay
> > >>>> Furnace Campground in Christmas, MI on the night of August 20th,
> > >>> shuttled a
> > >>>> vehicle to our take-out point, and sorted out gear.  The next day,
> we
> > >>>> put-in at Sand Point in Munising, MI and paddled to Mosquito River
> > >>>> Campground, ~8.0 miles.  The 2nd day, we paddled ~8.9 miles to
> Beaver
> > >>> Creek
> > >>>> Campground.  The 3rd day, we paddled ~10.0 miles to Hurricane River
> > >>>> Campground.  We were extremely fortunate with weather as this is a
> > very
> > >>>> exposed coastline.  There were some sea caves, waterfalls, and sea
> > >> stacks
> > >>>> on day 1; but, the best were on day 2.  By day 3, we had paddled
> > beyond
> > >>> the
> > >>>> cliffs of the Pictured Rocks into the Grand Sable Dunes area.  I
> have
> > >>>> included a picture of what the dunes looked like.  These seemingly
> > >>> endless
> > >>>> sand dunes have their own unique beauty.  But, if I had the trip to
> > >> plan
> > >>>> over again, I think I would have moved our take-out
> > >>>> to Twelvemile Beach Campground, and skipped the last 3 miles of
> > >>>> paddling.  The sand dunes all start to look the same after a while.
> > >>>> Roger Pihlaja
> > >>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
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