After leaving Stockton island Marina

After leaving Stockton Island Marina, we motored about 50 miles to Ontonagon. We had called in ahead and booked a slip at the marina where Tim met us on the dock and pointed us to a slip. Tim told us of the sights and restaurants and tried to call a cab for us to go to town.  The taxi service had finished working for the day, so Tim loaded up our jerrycan in his truck with Darrell and they went and got it filled. That was very nice of him and appreciated, but wait there is more. Tim then went home and got his van so we could all go for a ride. We picked up some food supplies, went out for dinner at Roxey's. He took us to Stubb's bar to see the decorations and have a ale, then back to the marina. The next morning Tim brought us ice at 7:00 AM. What a great in ambassador for the town!

From there another day with little wind, it rained most of the day off and on, mostly on, so we only had one person on deck at a time. We made the first 36 miles then the fog covered us and we navigated to the mouth of the Keweenaw Waterway by inavx. The trip down the waterway to the Houghton/Hancock area was lovely. It was well marked and had lots of cottages on each side. We radioed ahead and the bridge operated raised the bridge to 50 feet so we could pass under it. It was near rush hour and the operator announced over the PA system "Sailboat Lets Go". The marina downtown had a slip waiting for us. 

Turns out that the annual Bridge Days festival was on, so we took in the band and watched the fireworks.

Doug

Thursday June 18th, sailing day 2.

Summer Wine II set sail from Knife River at 8 a.m. The lake was deep blue and fairly smooth with long undulating waves. The lake water is pretty clear and we could see at least 15 feet down into the water and encountered depths of 500 feet or more. The shore areas we passed by on this sunny day were pristine and undisturbed. A tanker lake boat destined for Duluth was the only other traffic we observed. There was very little wind along this 50 mile leg of the journey, but we were able to hoist the sails and turn the motor off for about an hour and a half in mid afternoon. Once we arrived in the Apostle Islands the wind seemed to follow the channels between the islands and was right on the nose so we continued to motor to Stockton Island and moored 10 hours after leaving Knife River. The docks were formed by breakwater piers in this well sheltered marina. Apart from Summer Wine II there only two other boats, a Brady-white fishing boat with 300 horses hanging off its stern and a Hunter 33 sailboat. When we hiked along the shores we met some campers on the trails who arrived from Bayfield on a water taxi. The island had many trails through undisturbed forests and beaches. We returned to the boat and feasted on maple glazed salmon, chocolate rice, onion balsamic veggies, and chocolate pudding. We're not starving on this trip! Keith and I were a little skeptical when Doug suggested the chocolate rice but it turned out great. We turned in later after playing some crib.
Darrell

And we are off

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After a really fun week with family and friends, all wrapped up with Kayla and Spencer's wedding, we had a day to chill and throw our stuff together. Joann and I left our house early Tuesday morning on route to pick up Keith and Darrell with the hope of clearing the city by 7:00.

We made Superior / Duluth by 4:00. I had the guys do a scavenger hunt to find all the safety gear and through- hull locations to familiarize themselves with the boat. We did some last minute boat chores, tightened down the rigging, filled the water tank, and ran the jack lines.

     Then it was off to the restaurant for some wonderful short ribs. Then we grabbed a cab and went to the Anchor Bar, which was a "must see" according to our dinner waitress. The walls of this place were absolutely covered with nautical stuff. Very cool!!! 

Wednesday we picked up the groceries and ice. We left Barker's Marina at 2:00 pm heading to the Knife River Marina about 20 miles to the northeast. This will give us a better sailing angle and make the sail to the Apostle Islands a little shorter for tomorrow. Joann met us there with the truck and spent the night so she would be fresh for the drive home in the morning.     Doug

Ten More Sleeps

           With Summer Wine II in a berth in Duluth/Superior the prep work is winding down. Just a few details to work through and a few things to pick up. Menu planning is nearly completed for the first leg. Personal gear packing will be next. The water temperatures are still hovering around 36 degrees F and we will have to contend with the risk of hypothermia daily. It will be very important to stay warm and dry and have enough clothes for the different conditions. Toques, gloves, rubber boots and foul weather gear are essential on a body of water like Lake Superior. Storage space is at a premium on a 28 footer so everyone must pack smart.
            Next week promises to be a busy one.  With Spencer and Kayla's wedding next Saturday and out of town guests staying with us and lots of activities planned, the week will fly by, yet I'm still counting sleeps.
Doug

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