Getting Side tracked!

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If there is one thing about Doug and Joann, that is they don't like to sit still.  You would think hauling a boat for 8 hours, rigging the boat, putting it the water and taking her out for a test sail would be enough because oh yeah - we still have to drive back to Winnipeg, drop off the truck, get doug's truck and take trailer home.   But no, the decision was, let's drive a little out of our way and hike through a national park.  Well what a great decision!  This park in the interior is called Jay Cooke State Park and taking the opportunity to explore the local flora along the St. Louis River was indeed a treat....Andrew

Superior Bound

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I met Andrew after work on Thursday and we switched my truck for Andy's neighbour's F250 diesel. Then we headed to my place to finish loading and hook up the boat and trailer so we were ready for an early start Friday morning. Andy had arranged all the wide load permits for Manitoba and every State we had to drive through. We left Winnipeg just before 7:00 AM and had a problem -free trip to Superior/Duluth. Hauling a wide load was a little tricky in spots, like going through the Customs booth and the areas of construction along the way. We were a little worried about Customs but all they looked at was the boat registration and sent us merrily on our way. We arrived at Barker's Island Marina by 5:30 PM and, as you might of guessed, had a rum. Saturday we were up early and raised the mast. The Barker's crew picked us up with the biggest travel lift I had ever seen and set us in the water by noon. Easy! Grabbed at burger then went for a sail. I have to say, it was rather cool on the lake. Sunday we took a side trip to Jay Cooke State Park on the St. Louis River and went for hike before heading home. We made it home about midnight. Doug

Lifeline

We have been busy getting to boat ready - loading supplies, bottom painting, waxing, cleaning etc. The most frustrating thing of all has been the intermittent electronic troubles. All the research said we had some wiring issues but finding them is another thing all together. Joann's co-worker, Grant, also thought it might be a wiring issue after running some test on the panel. So after polling the audience and using my lifeline, I called a friend. Frank M. came to my rescue and we shook wire and cleaned contacts until after dark on the 28th. We couldn't really find anything but in the morning everything was working fine. Doug

Sailing partners

We have a great crew lined up. Keith Bruch and Darrell Friesen are joining me on the Superior leg. Keith is the fellow I sailed with to Hawaii in 2010 and to St. Martin in 2014. Joann , Andrew and I are lined up for Lake Huron and the Trent-Severn Waterway. All of us own boats and have lots of experience and took the Safety at Sea course this past winter. We picked Duluth as a starting point over Thunder Bay because the roads are flatter and better. As well, there are more places to stop on the south shore compared to the north shore of Superior. Bozidar Modrcin (Bob) is lined up for part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and is going to help me put the boat to rest somewhere (TBD) on the east coast for the winter. Doug

Trailer Test

We hauled Summer Wine into the city on Friday. It towed wonderful - no problems at all. I'm hoping Darrell and Keith can come over to my place on Thursday to look over the sail plan and discuss the Superior leg of the trip. Andrew has the new radio and is coming over on Saturday to install it . So things are coming together. Our boat is now officially Canadian registered and has a new name " Summer Wine II". Doug

Silver Harbour Plunge

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Andrew and I are going to put the boat in the water at Silver Harbour and I have arranged to have my friend Albert make a trailer modification which will allow the boat to come forward a few inches to increase the tongue weight a bit. He has a welder and can do it at his place just one block north of the Silver Harbour. Andrew is lining up his neighbour Frank 's F250 to haul Summer Wine into Winnipeg on May 8th. We are heading out again Thursday night to get the welding done and see if the alternator wants to work this year. It's been intermittent lately and I want it 100% for the trip. I have asked our friend Stephen if he would have a look at it. He said he would and he asked if we could help him launch his boat Friday. Geoff Penner will help pull out our boat on Friday as well. Doug

Planning Trip

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Joann, Andrew and myself are on a mission to check out harbours in Duluth this weekend. So I am typing this out in the car on our way home. We drove down Friday and met up with Amy and two other sailors, Robin and Ian. Robin & Ian hosted dinner at their home on the shore of Lake Superior where we watched big freighters come and go from the port of Duluth. We had a lovely visit and learned lots of things about Duluth, it's harbours and sailing east. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and stopped in at the bar for a night cap before calling it a day. Now here is the funny part. About 2 A.M. when I got up for a pee, I picked the wrong door and ended up in the hallway in my underwear. When I heard the click of the door I knew I was in trouble. I pounded on the door but Joann was sound asleep. So, I had to go down the stairs, cross the road and get another key from the receptionist in the hotel tower across the street, all in my underwear. I reminded myself of the Travelocity commercial on TV. Good thing I don't sleep in the nude. We had a good laugh about that in the morning. We spent Saturday checking out marinas, going as far as Knife River and enjoying the city. Went down to the Canal Park area for a bite to eat in the evening. Doug

Great Lakes Adventure Blog

Great Lakes Adventure Blog "Wouldn't it be fun to ........." It started the same way many great adventures do - as a little seed of an idea. In our case, it was Doug giving voice to the dream of sailing from Lake Superior to the East Coast. Over the years the dream kept niggling away, becoming more insistent. I must admit I was not quite as enthusiastic about this dream as Doug was. For many years the dream remained just that. The reasons not to go were endless. We didn't have an adequate boat, we had teenagers, we couldn't get that much time off work etc..... In 2013 we purchased "Long Tail Kat", a Beneteau First 285, from our good friend Don Gustafson. We knew the boat had been well-maintained and Doug was quite familiar with it, having raced and sailed with Don on many Lake Winnipeg adventures. So now we had an adequate boat. The teenagers grew up and became independent and Doug became self -employed. The excuses were dwindling. In the summer of 2014 we renamed the boat "Summer Wine" and spent the summer familiarizing ourselves with her idiosyncrasies and doing a little bit of tweaking of our own. Doug had found a kindred spirit named Andrew Meyer who was totally excited about the adventure and quickly became Doug's willing "partner in crime" .... And so it was the Great Lakes Adventure entered into the planning phase..... Joann