8. August 2011 by admin.

The Great Adventure is over.  Sailing from Duluth, MN to Thunder Bay Ontario.  That is around 400 miles round trip.  One thing we found the people interested in our trip liked was the SPOT personal locator tracking service. Every 10 minutes it sends a beacon to a satellite which in turn logs it on a web page.  So everyone at home could track us the entire trip.  It also has a ‘check-in’ button which we would use to send an ‘all ok’ message in the morning and at the end of the day.  There are three other buttons which we luckily didn’t need to use, ‘Things are getting challenging’, ‘Notify authorities of a non life threatening issue’, and an SOS.  The later two going directly to authorities along with whoever we setup to receive them. 

Here are some of the totals for supplies used on the trip.  A total of 12 days on the water, 10 nights at marina’s, and 2 at anchor:  55.9 gallons of diesel fuel,  14 1/2 gallons of bottled water,  48 cans of soda, 33 beers, 2 boxes of Capri Suns, 2 loaves of bread, 2 packages hamburger buns, 2 dozen eggs, 1/2 gallon milk, 4 hamburger patties, 4 steaks, 1 box mac and cheese, 2 boxes cereal, 1 home made pizza, 2 frozen pizzas, 12 peaches, 6 apples.  (This was for 4 people).

Favorite marina in general was at Grand Marais, MN.  Has the feel of a New England fishing community, nicely run marina/campground, but not too many open slips for transients, For our 37 foot sailboat there was only a couple options at the dock.  We could have however also used a mooring,  but you have the issue of always having to use the dinghy to get ashore.  Tied for cheapest fuel at $4.05 with Superior’s Barkers Island.  Bathrooms here are a bit more rustic and shared with the campground but clean.  Grand Marais, MN

 Favorite anchorage in the bight of Susie Island is a very snug spot for about 3 to 4 boat’s.  We were the only ones there on the way home.  Nordlyset at anchor on Susie Island

Favorite restaurent, somewhat subjective, everyone had their own, but mine was the Gunflint Tavern in Grand Marais, MN, with second place being Gargoyles in Thunder Bay.

Speaking of Thunder Bay, the marina there is under construction but it appears to me all docks are in place and now they are working on the landscaping around the marina, still probably a year off from being done.  But based on the plans it looks as though it will be a very nice place.  If you are not on the ‘A’ pier though you will be a long ways away from the office, bathrooms, etc.

Silver Bay probably had the nicest marina facilities along the way, but unfortunatly is a couple miles from anything on shore which is a big drawback if you need supplies.

All in all a great trip, motored more then we wanted, but then that is Lake Superior weather.  Only two malfunctions, both occuring after a day of pounding against 5 foot waves, the deck light broke and is hanging by the wires, and the autopilot all of a sudden started asking for a security code to activate it, which we had never set.  So, I guess I will BOAT, (break out another thousand) to get those two things fixed and plan for next years adventure.

Posted in Lake Superior, Sailing, Technology | 1 Comment »

30. July 2011 by admin.

Last Sunday we started what Ann calls the ‘Great Adventure’.  Sailing to Duluth, MN to Thunder Bay Ontario.  The shakedown day was uneventful going from Duluth to Knife River, MN.  Knife River has a nice little marina, swimming beach, but not a lot of ammenities.  It takes about 4-5 hours to make the trip from Duluth.  Second day was Knife River to Silver Bay, MN.  Again not a long trip, but a little longer then day 1.  Again a nice little marina, but a couple miles from anything else.  The first long day was day 3, Silver Bay to Grand Marais, MN.  Now we are starting to get a but more ‘rustic’.  Not a lot of transient spots here but we snagged a spot on the end of ‘A’ dock.  Here we are within walking distance of a number of restaurants which were very good.  Spent two nights here as it was raining.  Day 5 was Grand Marais to Susie Island, just outside of Grand Portage, MN.  Here we have to anchor, and are one of 3 sailboats there.  Day 6, started at 6:00am to insure we get to Thunder Bay in time to find the marina and clear customs.  After pulling into the wrong marina pier we were sent to the correct one by a couple sailors from Michigan.  Cleared customs with a simple phone call using a cell phone provided by the office at Prince Arthur Landing Marina.  So here we are!  Went out for supper and cleaned up the boat a bit, will stay a couple nights and then reverse the whole trip.  One new gadget we tried on this trip is the SPOT personal tracking system.  It’s a very simple and easy way to let everyone back home know all is well, or if needed call for an emergency.  Well worth the $100 it cost.  Anyone with the password can monitor our progress every 10 minutes throughout the entire trip.

Posted in Lake Superior, Sailing | No Comments »

16. June 2011 by admin.

It seems like all winter long we think about the sailing season coming up in Minnesota.  In our case it’s even shorter then many as we sail Lake Superior.  That means our season goes from about June 1 to Sept 30.  The true meaning of boat (break out another thousand) hit home this year.  I decided to add central air and heat to the boat.  It will only work while hooked up to AC at the dock but should make life much more comfortable.  This isn’t a DIY job, at least not for me, so having the people at Barkers Island Marina in Superior, WI do the work.  They have a great crew and do a great job,  but you have to wait your turn and that can be painful.  Want to get it all in tip top shape for a trip to Thuder Bay Ontario at some point this summer.  Of course there are any number of things to try and get done before we go, fix water heater, add a flag halyard to fly a radar reflector, fix electronic problem with auto pilot.  Maybe I better break out a few more thousands….

Posted in Lake Superior, Sailing | 1 Comment »