Adventures of the Jubilee

Final Muskrat Post -- Promise! ... Keeping the critters out

As part of our winter projects the yard found an ingenious guard to keep critters like our muskrat friend out of our exhaust. The guard is amazingly simple, but should do the job.  Let's hope. We'll see.

 

Muskrat Epilogue

As our marina finally got into our exhaust system to understand and start repairing what the Muskrat had done, it became immediately evident that the little guy wasn't simply hanging out in our big rubber wet-exhaust hose, but rather had moved "upstream" and started laying in food supplies and bedding for the long winter soon to come. What he didn't plan on is our discovery of his
intrusion and our ultimately drowning him with hot exhaust water while asphyxiating him with diesel exhaust, Pictures from our last post show the poor drowned deceased guy laying on the tarmac under the boat's exhaust outlet.

In January the marina undertook removal of the old, now chewed through, reinforced rubber wet-exhaust hose for replacement. It turns out that the muskrat had worked its way forward of that exhaust hose to either lay in marsh grass food stores for the winter or create a soft and warm marsh grass bad inside our water-lift muffler! As shown here, our water-lift muffler was stuffed with marsh grass, with handfuls of the stuff being pulled out by the maintenance crew before everything went back together again. I fear seeing how much damage the little guy did as evidenced by the resulting yard bill we've yet to receive. Suffice it to say that part of the yard bill will go toward creating a screen of some sort over the exhaust exit to keep any of this guy's buddies from trying the same stunt next year.

So with that we bid final adieu to our Muskrat. May he rest in eternal peace ... in the marina dumpster. 

2021 Wrap-Up and Year in Review

After our August Isle Royale cruise, we took one last mini cruise in the islands over Labor Day weekend. With Judy having some upcoming medical appointments and surgery scheduled in early October (all came out well), we wrapped up our cruising year about a month or so earlier than usual this year. That said, we did have at least one “interesting” happening in that time.

September 4^th and 5^th – Last Run to Julian Bay

Our last run to the islands on Labor Day weekend couldn’t have been better. Late in the afternoon of Saturday, September 4, we took a quick jaunt out to Stockton island’s Julian Bay. The winds were west to west-northwest, the sky was clear, and Julian was full of boats for the last “official” weekend of the summer. It was a perfect night for binocular star gazing, with easy bino-viewing of our galaxy’s nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, and various constellations during a wonderful peaceful last night on the hook. On Sunday our anchor was raised by 10:00 and we were on our way back to the marina for the last time this season after our relatively short 33 1/3-mile round trip to from Pikes Bay to Julian and now back, a record of sorts (pun intended).

One More thing for Boaters to Worry About!

After our 2-day Labor Day weekend jaunt in the islands we returned to Bayfield one last time to get the boat ready to be pulled. After making several runs to the car with “summer clothes” and other things we weren’t planning to leave on the boat over the winter, we fired up the Diesel for one last trip to the fuel and pump-out dock ... but the bilge alarms started screaming. Not good. We opened the engine compartment access to see water and exhaust streaming through a gap in the large 7-8” diameter wet exhaust hose from the engine to the stern exhaust port!. We immediately shut down the engine. We weren’t in danger of sinking because the exhaust exit is just at the water line and the water was streaming out a hole much higher, but what could have caused that hole? Hose age?

Before driving home we made arrangements with the marina for the hose to be taped after we left so the engine could be run for our end of year oil change, and then for motoring the boat to the travel lift well for our final haul-out. We subsequently learned of the cause of our leaking reinforced exhaust hose ... a muskrat had crawled into the exhaust port, just at the water line, and worked its way up the line and hose. I know from experience of a friend in another marina that mink and muskrats apparently like rubber, sometimes destroying accessible wiring on fly bridges, etc. This muskrat was eating holes in our exhaust hose from the inside-out! The picture to the left shows the drowned muskrat poking out near the exhaust exit, while the picture to the right shows the critter on the pavement after being fished out of the exhaust when the boat was hauled. Mystery solved. Over the winter we’ll be installing some sort of screen guard to keep any of this guy’s sisters and brothers from again climbing in our exhaust system and eating out another large and expensive reinforced exhaust hose. It’s always something.

Getting ready for 2022

On a less gruesome topic, our interest in an electric outboard option for our dingy had been piqued during our Isle Royale travels while talking with two friends about their electrics, and especially while watching their motors perform. In the fall we started researching electric options with a vengeance and decided to purchase an E-Propulsion Spirit Plus outboard for the dingy.

The Spirit has similar specs to the Torqueedo our friends have, but we felt the Spirit might work out a little better for our needs based on battery design and other factors. It can be re-charged off either an AC charging brick when at the dock or via a 12-volt DC charging brick while underway or otherwise on-board (the outboard’s Lithium-Polymer battery, which is actually the detachable head of the motor at right, is 48 volts). By our calculations, the combination of our 300 watts of solar plus our over 600 amps of house batteries as well as our alternator when underway should offer more than enough recharge options when away from a dock. The motor hasn’t seen the water yet, but I did try it out briefly in the garage. Incredibly quiet! We also sold our 8HP Evinrude to a friend from the Apostle Islands Marina who was looking for a trolling or “get home” motor for her pontoon on a Wisconsin lake.  She heard we had bought an electric and contacted us to buy the Evinrude before we had even listed it. Some things do come together well. Both Kim and we are now looking forward to next summer, each with our “new” motors.

And So, This Year’s Edition of our Cruising Chronicles Ends ...

We do apologize for being so slow to post this year, but that reflects on how the year unfolded for us. Our season was shortened for several reasons but was nevertheless good on multiple fronts. In addition to our Isle Royale and other travels, we made good use of our new Sirius XM Weather access when off the internet grid, as well as our new recording barometer. We realize this is NEVER true, but we think Jubilee is now about fully tricked out per our cruising desires at this point. In 2022 we’re looking forward to wider-ranging travels, perhaps off to explore Lake Michigan spots we’ve not visited before ... or more. And of course, we’re looking forward to the freedom and flexibility of our new electric dingy outboard. Stay tuned for next year’s adventures and do have a Happy New Year!

2021 Isle Royale Cruise

Since our “big” trip in 2019 to St Ignace, MI near Mackinac Island, and then back to Bayfield by way of Isle Royale, our cruising options have been somewhat limited because of COVID travel restrictions. Even this year we were unable to get up to the Canadian north and east shores of Superior because of COVID-related travel restrictions. Those have now been somewhat lifted but leave difficult hurdles for Lake Superior cruisers. Luckily, one pristine Lake Superior wilderness destination, Isle Royale, remained an available option for US citizens in 2021. Isle Royale has always been one of our favorite places to cruise and hike, so it was an easy choice to set as our cruising focus for 2021.

Departure for Isle Royale, 8/13/2021

Some would question the wisdom of departing on a cruising trip on Friday the 13^th, but we’re not superstitious and didn’t give it a thought. It turned out to be a very lucky day to start our cruise.

In our sailing days we would typically leave the Bayfield area for Isle Royale or beyond in late afternoon and sail all night, arriving at the island the next morning or, perhaps, simply passing along the island’s north shoreline for the wonderful cruising areas to the east of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Now, with our powerboat and cruising at our typical & comfortable 8+ knots (we can go faster but generally don’t unless we’re in a hurry for weather or something), we can easily make an all-daylight crossing to Isle Royale with time to spare.

For this trip we left our marina at 1:30 for the 18-mile trip to Rocky Island in the northern Apostles and the anchorage there. It was good to see that cruising seemed to have come back with a vengeance, as there were well over 20 boats anchored for the night at Rocky ... just like old times! (plus, there’s no better way to socially isolate than anchoring in these days of COVID)

On the 14^th we got up at 1^st light (actually pre-dawn light), had some breakfast, raised the anchor, and were underway by 5:40am. Conditions were perfect for a powerboat ... a slight NW wind and approximately 1’ waves for our 80-some mile ENE run to Washington Harbor on Isle Royale.

We had hoped to converge on our crossing with friends Jim and Kathy Hatch who staged at Stockton Island aboard their beautiful sailboat, Nokomis, but it turned out they instead crossed over to Grand Marais with plans to jump to Isle Royale the next day. Timing is everything, and that side trip ended up costing them several days as they waited out weather in Grand Marais while we were enjoying Isle Royale. We never did connect with them for this trip but did see them and talk with them on the radio late in our trip as we were about to leave the island.

Isle Royale Overview

For those who may not be aware of its location and history, Isle Royale is a 45-mile long, 12-mile-wide wilderness island in Northern Lake Superior. Lying only about 15-20 miles off the Ontario coastline, one would expect it would be a Canadian Island, however when borders were being decided the US authorities knew that Indian copper mines existed on the island, and somehow successfully negotiated the US-Canadian border to be north of Isle Royale. Copper was never successfully commercially mined on the island, but the die was cast ... Isle Royale was to be within the US border.

Similarly, the island lies close to the Minnesota’s far NE shore but miles away from the Michigan UP. Again, the luck of the draw and some adept mapmanship maneuvers made Isle Royale part of Michigan, not Minnesota.

The chart image to the left displays the island from a visitor’s perspective. Today, Isle Royale is part of the US National Park system. As a wilderness park it has no roads, only 165 miles of hiking trails plus miles of Lake Superior shoreline with numerous bays and islets suitable for anchoring and docking. The island is a hiker’s heaven, but its remote location guarantees a wilderness experience for all visitors. There are two major NPS installations, one near each end of the island. That said, when cruising or hiking Isle Royale you’re pretty much on your own, bringing along whatever food and supplies you’ll need and taking any refuse with you when you depart. Most access to the island is through commercial ferry services from either Grand Portage, MN, Copper Harbor, MI, or Houghton Michigan, although a robust float plane service has developed over the years from both Houghton, MI, and Grand Marais, MN. Finally, the island is the frequent destination of recreationally boaters like us, having boats robust enough to safely handle Lake Superior crossings.

Washington Harbor, 8/15-16

Washington Harbor is a deep fjord at the SW end of the island. In fact, there are three major ridgelines running the length of the island, and the valleys between them often create these fjord-like bays, particularly in the NE section of the island but also this one to the SW. This unique topography left numerous hurricane-hole anchorages around the island, another attraction for Lake Superior boaters. For this trip to the island, we traveled 82 nautical miles from Rocky Island in the Apostles to our anchorage at Windigo. Our anchor was securely down by 4:20pm that afternoon (although Isle Royale is technically on Eastern time, we kept our ships clocks on Central for this trip).

While in Washington Harbor we went over to the Windigo dock and Windigo Ranger Station Sunday morning to check in and do a little local exploring, after which we decided not to stay at the dock because of the strong SW winds blowing against the dock. Our secure anchorage across from Beaver Island within Washington Harbor was much more comfortable.

Washington Harbor to McCargoe Cove, 8/16 with 8/17 & 8/18 Lay Days in McCargoe

Monday the 16^th brought a change of scene as we departed Washington Harbor for one of our favorite spots, McCargoe Cove, a 34-mile trip that took us about 2/3’s the way up the island’s NE shoreline. McCargoe is one of those deep and long fjords that provide “hurricane” hole protection from any possible storm conditions, although luckily the weather outlook was excellent.

We ended up spending two nights at anchor in McCargoe, hiking one day to the historic Minong copper mine and the second day taking the “Chickenbone Lake” trail to the inland Chickenbone Lake. The Minong Mine site includes both a concentration of multiple smaller Indigenous copper mining pits as well as the historic remnants of the Minong Mining Company operation there. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests copper mining activity by native groups started no less than 4500 years ago. Mining continued with the larger and more extensive mine company operation through the 1880s. The Chickenbone Lake trail is less historic, but very pretty, as it follows along the inland lake’s shoreline.

Spicing up our anchoring experience was a moose swimming across the cove just behind us. Unfortunately only its head and back are above the water level, but hopefully you can get a little glimpse of her.

Anchored along with us in McCargo were Pat Noordsij and David Jones aboard their beautiful Pearson 424, the Doris E.  David and Pat had anchored in our favorite little indentation near the end of the cove but before the NPS dock. We anchored a little further down the cove toward the dock, concerned that we wouldn’t have had sufficient swing room had we joined Pat & David near their spot. They motored over to visit on Tuesday afternoon with their dingy and Torqeedo electric outboard ... a visit that would ultimately cost us some money after seeing how effective the electric outboard was on their dingy (more on that later).

Also anchored in the cove on Tuesday night were Apostle Islands Marina residents Dave and Diane on Chinook and Chuck and Mary on the Mighty Quinn, who joined us aboard our Jubilee for appetizers that evening. Chinook’s dingy also had a Torqeedo electric outboard which further impressed us with its silence & speed. The anchor was now well-set in our minds regarding swapping out our Evinrude gas outboard for electric. After more research on return from our cruise we ultimately made the jump to electric, as noted later in the blog.

McCargoe to Tobin Harbor, 8/19

Our original plan was to anchor in Lane Cove, but as we approached we learned over the radio that Chinook and Mighty Quinn were already anchored in that somewhat tight cove. In addition, we had learned from the Doris E. that they had spotted and reported the start of a forest fire deep in Duncan Bay. Smoke from that fire was already drifting to the northeast, so we decided to bypass Duncan as well as Lane and anchor at Tobin on the opposite side of the ridgeline. In doing so we chose to anchor in a new anchorage for us within Tobin, perhaps a quarter mile NE of the Hidden Lake dock and the associated trail access to Lookout Louise on the ridgeline. We took the opportunity to dingy to the dock and follow the trail up to Lookout Louise ... a great but steep hike with tremendous views from the ridgeline (See photo of trail to left and Judy moving a fallen tree for me to the right).

It turned out we were there in the nick of time, as within two days of our leaving Tobin the forest fire had proceeded up the north side of the ridgeline, over the ridge, and down to Tobin Harbor, even igniting some trees on Tobin Harbor islands in the process before burning out. The attached images show the path of the forest fire, but luckily, we had moved on to Chippewa Harbor at that point.

Tobin Harbor to Chippewa Harbor: 8/20 with 8/21 Lay Day

We raised anchor and headed out of Tobin Harbor, around Scoville Point, and down Rock Harbor past Rock Harbor Lodge and its associated ranger station. We then continued SW down the channel past the Park Service Mott Island Ranger Station and maintenance headquarters and exited the Rock Harbor channel at the Middle Island Passage, which is marked by the picturesque abandoned but restored Rock Harbor Lighthouse (see photo). The lighthouse is near Edisen Fisheries interpretive center, a restored fishing camp in operation from 1910 to 1975. We’d visited the camp there many times in the past, so continued out into the lake and SW toward Chippewa Harbor on the southeast shore of Isle Royale.

Chippewa is another incredibly secure spot protected from winds of any direction. Not only secure from storms, it’s also almost hidden, with its entry melting into the shoreline to the point where one almost has to rely solely on their chart plotter to find the opening. Once through the outer entrance there are two equally secure bays that comprise the harbor. We traversed the first bay and then proceeded through the next narrows to the far SW bay to anchor for the upcoming two nights in good holding during sometimes boisterous winds. It was a good spot to spend a lay day.

Others made the same decision. Jerry and Bernie Lengfield, the now-retired boat dealers who started Crows Nest Yachts selling Tartan sailboats and Mainship Powerboats in St. Paul, subsequently anchored their Tartan Agrippina in the inner bay. We had last run across Jerry and Bernie down at the Exuma Land and Sea Park in the Bahamas. Also joining us in the anchorage were Mark and Melinda, owners of the black steel Mason 33 Raven out Grand Marais, MN, with their guests Keith and Elyce. The Chippewa Harbor “gang” met for sundowners aboard Jubilee the evening of the 21^st. It felt like old home week.

Chippewa Harbor to Washington Harbor’s Windigo Ranger Station: 8/22

The winds had laid down to near-calm when we left Chippewa at about 9:30 am for the 39-mile run to Washington Harbor and its Windigo Ranger Station dock. During the easy run we encountered several friends heading the opposite direction. We were clearly out of synch with much of the world 😊.

Along the south shore of Isle Royale we first encountered Dennis and Cam Raedeke from St. Croix Falls, WI, aboard their beautiful 60’ custom-built express trawler Catamaran Wild Wind IV, currently out of our marina. Dennis, with crew, brought the boat across the Pacific from its New Zealand factory to Alaska, then south to the Panama Canal to cruise the Caribbean, and ultimately has been slipping her at Pikes Bay in Bayfield. Dennis and Cam had previously completed 1 ½ circumnavigations aboard their previous two Prout sailing catamarans. It was good chatting with them on VHF.

Subsequently we crossed paths with other long time sailing friends ... Larry Carpenter and Judy Tailor aboard Allegro, their Mason 33, and Jim & Kathy Hatch aboard their 41’ Bristol, Nokomis, out of Madeline Island. We had hoped to hook up with Nokomis at the beginning of our Isle Royale circumnavigation, but they found themselves weathered in at Grand Marais for several days while we were on the island. It was disappointing to not be able to share an anchorage with our friends on these boats, but the timing wasn’t right this year.

We arrived at Windigo early enough to snag a good spot on the lee side of the dock plus get in a little hiking in on a loop that starts and ends near the old ranger station and store. A new ranger station appears to be nearing completion (see photo), but it’s not open as yet. Particularly with the increased traffic from float planes arriving from Houghton, MI, and Grand Marais, MN, plus the normal ferry and pleasure boat traffic, the new ranger station should be a good investment for the future.

Return to the Apostles: 8/23

All good things must come to an end, and so it was for our days at Isle Royale. We cast off from the Windigo dock at 6:20 in the morning for our 86-mile trek to Stockton Island’s Presque Harbor area in the Apostles. Just before departing, two park rangers were readying their Park Service boat for a run to Grand Portage where a team of NPS firefighters was awaiting transport to fight the island’s fires, which by then had advanced to the shores of Tobin Harbor. With the dry conditions they would have their work cut out for them.

Initially we found ourselves heading into almost 20-knot headwinds with significant seas as we rounded the Rock of Ages Lighthouse, on its north side this time. Our Legacy 40, a Maine “lobsterboat” design, was made for conditions like this and took them in stride, although it was nice having the windshield wipers to clear the near-continuous spray off the bow. Subsequently, after about 2 hours the winds settled down to a comfortable 10-15 knots SW with seas reducing accordingly for a comfortable trip across the lake. We had the lake to ourselves – observing no traffic anywhere except distant freighter traffic visible only on our AIS electronics as they were beyond the horizon.

 

The last hour or so to our anchorage brought a “white squall” with high SW winds almost directly on the bow but no rain clouds in sight. We’d heard about “white squalls” before but had never experienced them. Luckily the squall didn’t hit us until we were close enough to Stockton Island to benefit from its lee, so the seas did not build appreciably. Had we been in the open lake we have no doubt the squall would have almost immediately raised 4-6’ short choppy seas. We ended up anchoring in the far westerly portion of Presque in a spot we’ve perhaps anchored only once in our almost 40-years cruising the islands. Our trusty Rocna anchor and heavy 3/8” chain did the job holding us securely on first set, making for a comfortable night at anchor, particularly after the white squall passed late in the afternoon.

Back to the Barn – 8/24:

Tuesday the 24^th brought a light rain with a slight NE breeze later for an easy 14-mile run back to our Pikes Bay slip. In all we covered 307.8 nautical miles (about 354 statute miles) in our 11-day journey to and around Isle Royale.  It wasn’t a long cruise, but it was an excellent trip to one of our favorite destinations and a great way to close out the bulk of our 2021 cruising year.

2021 Local Apostle Islands Cruising

Our 2021 cruising season started out a bit slow, as our June was filled with other commitments that kept us close to the Twin Cities. As a result, our local Apostle Islands cruising looked a lot like our 2020 cruising, although having each received our COVID vaccinations this year we felt a bit more comfortable occasionally dining in local restaurants, something we did not do at all in 2020.

Below is a screen snap of our local Apostles Island tracks this past summer ... lots of short trips to the islands prior to our cruise to and around Isle Royale in August (which is the subject of a separate post).

That said, a couple of our cruising weeks in July are worth highlighting:

July 18-22 -- Time with the Dambrines

Our daughter Jill and family were able to join us for a wonderful five days at the boat. Jill and her husband Thomas, who are both of course working, were only able to be with us for the middle three days, while our two granddaughters, Li An and Kaitelin, were with us on-board for the days preceding and following their parents joining us. Having six adult-sized folks on our boat for overnights was going to be a stretch, so we opted to rent a Port Superior lake-side condo for those three middle days, taking day trips with the entire family to Stockton, Oak and other spots. The weather cooperated and everyone had a great time. With Li An now off to college it’s going to be harder and harder to get everyone together in the future.

July 25-30 – Cruising with Caribbean Sailing Friends Jim and Ellie Watson

We occasionally buddy boated with Jim & Ellie while down in the Caribbean, and both of us stored our boats in Marina del Rey for Hurricane season. Jim & Ellie now live in Colorado & had originally planned a trip to Iceland for the Summer, but COVID travel barriers nixed that plan. As an alternative they noticed some articles in the cruising rags touting Lake Superior cruising, so they decided to give us a call, charter out of Port Superior, and spend some time cruising in company with us on Lake Superior. While there, friends of theirs from the Michigan LP joined them on the charter. It was a wonderful time. It seemed like we picked up right where we left off about 7 years prior in Puerto Rico. We kicked off our days together with a quick motor over to Madeline for dinner at the Pub the day we all arrived. In subsequent days we enjoyed showing them around “our” islands. A great time was had by all.

In our bouncing around the Apostles this summer we put over 245 miles on the log from June through Jim and Ellie’s visit. Jubilee was now well shaken down by this point ... more than ready for a two-week cruise to and around Isle Royale on our next trip north. More on that in our next post. Stay tuned!

2021 Cruising Season Preparations

After an almost lost 2020 cruising season because of COVID, we made it through the winter, got ourselves fully vaccinated, and were ready to start having a more normal cruising year, albeit collectively none of us are out of the COVID woods, particularly with the Delta variant. Plus,for most of the cruising season the Canadian border was closed to US boaters. That said, we Lake Superior cruisers do have Isle Royale ... one of Judy and my favorite spots on the lake. Isle Royale was quickly established as the focal point for our cruising plans this summer.

Our Legacy 40, Jubilee, had been pretty much tricked out to our desires at this point, with one exception. While cruising the Bahamas and Caribbean, we had grown to depend on ready access to internet-based weather sources via our satellite phone tethered to our on-board PC. However, with our new boat we were limited to NOAA weather VHF audio broadcasts if we couldn’t access broadband via our cell phone or wifi. That said, much of our cruising is outside of wifi or broadband access ... even within the Apostles. We had sold our SatPhone plus didn’t need that level of connectivity expense for our needs on the Great Lakes, so we sought an alternate solution.

SiriusXM Marine Weather

We decided on SiriusXM Weather, a satellite-based marine weather subscription service covering all of North America and a roughly 200-mile perimeter beyond those borders. Perfect!

Most people who subscribe to SiriusXM Weather purchase a special Sirius XM Satellite weather radio and link it to their chartplotter which has an embedded SiriusXM weather app. Although we have a Northstar chartplotter, we run it only as a backup to our primary charting system ... Navionics cartography running on our boat laptop under FUGAWI, a navigation app.  We’ve run that system continuously while underway since we left on our sabbatical travels aboard our Tayana Vancouver 42 in 2007, and carried it forward to our Legacy 40 when we bought that. In total we have over 20,000 miles of tracks recorded in the system.

XM weather’s displays are compressed to the point of not being quite as detailed as would be available via the internet, but the system works pretty well nonetheless. For example, here is an example of a WXWorx radar image, in this case even showing an overlay of recent (last 15 minutes) lightning strikes.

One can also get NOAA marine text forecasts as shown here. This is the same information as broadcast on VHF weather channels, but unlike the VHF weather channels it’s immediately available (you don’t have to wait/listen until they broadcast what you’re interested in), and you don’t have to struggle with understanding what the announcer is reading, usually read too fast with poor diction and other noise in the background (a real problem for people like me with less than perfect hearing).

Current conditions at buoys around the area can also be obtained with a click of your cursor as shown here.

Plus one can view current surface pressure maps (see isobar lines on the following image). Note this image also shows wind gribs (gridded binary symbols showing current or forecast wind direction and speed) plus sea surface temperature for fishermen. Wave grib images are also available showing current and forecast wave direction and heights. These forecasts are computer generated and one can look ahead to forecasts in the near future.

One can also call up surface forecast charts showing fronts as shown below. By looking at the charts over forecast time periods one can gain a good picture of what's forecast to be happening in the atmosphere as an aid to making your own forecasts or better understanding other's forecasts.  

Each of these weather graphics can be created and viewed just for specified regions of interest by simply creating a zoom box over the area you're interested in. In the above screen snaps I've chosen image areas that would provide good overall examples for this post, such of the entire United States as shown immediately above, but in most cases I tend to look only at and around the area I'm cruising, for example western Lake Superior.

One caution I might add ... for those planning to sail off to the Bahamas, Caribbean, or beyond ... this solution will not be for you. SiriusXM weather satellites broadcast only to North America and an approximate 200-mile perimeter. Beyond that one would need access to weather products like OCENS with a SatPhone or similar system (e.g. SSB with PACTOR Modem) as we relied on in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

And One More Weather Enhancement for Jubilee This Year

Our Legacy40 came with a recording barometer installed, but the display screen had died rendering it a digital doorstop. I’ve been on the search for a replacement recording barometer ever since ... particularly one that would fit the “hole” in our cabinetry left by the prior broken barometer which was no longer available. This past winter I found that the maker of my prior barometer, NASA, a UK marine instrument manufacturer (nothing to do with the US space agency), now has a new product (MeteoMan) similar but improved from my prior instrument with only a slightly different footprint. I purchased it from the UK and installed it as shown in these images. Now we again have a functioning recording barometer. See images below.

 

Ready to Go

With the above new adds to the boat, plus of course the normal yearly spring maintenance projects, Jubilee was now ready for our 2021 adventures, which follow in subsequent posts.

2020 ... The Cruising Year That Wasn't (almost)

We had special plans for the 2020 cruising year. Over the 2019-20 winter we installed 300 watts of solar panels on the cabin roof ... sized to keep up with all our electrical needs, including our power-hungry refrigerator and freezer, 24-hours a day while at anchor without running the engine. The centerpiece of our cruising plans was to be an extended trip to Isle Royale to explore the island plus attend the 2020 Lake Superior Rally that was being planned for Washington Harbor's Windigo Ranger Station area on the island. We were hoping our granddaughters could cruise with us at least part of the time, with their parents (our daughter Jill and husband Thomas) joining us by ferry from Grand Portage, MN.

It was not to happen. The COVID-19 Pandemic threw a wrench into just about everyone's cruising plans.

In addition, Judy was finally able to proceed with cataract operations on both eyes ... procedures that had been delayed by the COVID situation. So even when we could do a little cruising (cruising is the epitome of social distancing, right?), we needed to stay close to home for her two operations and follow-up appointments (everything went well by the way).

In a word, it was a crazy year. We were able to get a few days cruising in around the Apostle Islands, but put only 192 nautical miles on the boat all season, undoubtedly the fewest miles we've logged under the keel in a season since we boated on day sailers on various inland lakes, which takes us back something like 45 years!

And even when we did get up to the boat a few times, in an abundance of caution we ate all meals on board and even showered on board rather than using the marina facilities. Judy never even made it into Bayfield two miles down the road! Bill made a couple of trips to the hardware store there, plus one visit to Tim Olsen, our canvas person in town who made us two very nice custom canvas and screen doors similar to what we had admired on an acquaintance's boat a couple of years ago (see accompanying photos).

If one were to look at our cruising track for the year they'd think we had no idea where we were going (and we really didn't). We'd have to go back to our first trailer-cruiser trips aboard our Columbia 23 to find a year where we never even left the islands. Following is our 192-mile track for 2020. 

But in the broad scheme of things, no, it wasn't a lost year. We were able to enjoy a few trips to the boat. Bill was able to spend a few days in the islands with long-time cruising friend Ron Hitzemann, something they've done together almost every year for about 50 years now. Our solar panel investment turned out to be everything we hoped, easily keeping our fridge and freezer running plus satisfying all of our other electrical needs without the need for running the engine (the only thing it won't do is supply enough juice to run the electric water heater, but that's an almost impossible task to do while off the grid ... luckily when running the engine while underway we can get the water hot enough using our engine heat exchanger to sustain our showering and other needs for about a day anyway). Our new screens are also everything we had hoped for, providing for better air circulation inside the boat even when the black flies are crazy thick outside. Essentially we now have pretty much everything in place that we wanted to do for our Legacy 40 Jubilee with the exception of a means to access satellite weather when we're cruising remote areas away from WiFi or broadband access. That's our one remaining project at this juncture. With a boat there always has to be something. 

And, no doubt most important, we've both remained healthy during the pandemic so far. We hope that continues for many more years of cruising.

So with that we'll leave our 2020 cruising season with just this one post and a closing picture of cruising on a flat calm day in the Apostles this summer. Now that we have a powerboat, it turns out that days like this are as good as it can get. Stay safe, everyone. We'll see you next year!

Closing out the 2019 Cruising Season

Last Friday was a somewhat sad day for us as we wrapped up our 2019 cruising season on the Jubilee. The prior day we completed a 30-mile circumnavigation of Madeline Island, near our home port of Pike's Bay near Bayfield, WI, and Lakes Superior's Apostle Islands, in near-perfect, July-like, weather conditions to cap over 1000 nautical miles of adventures for the year. It's been a good year, plus our final days of prepping the boat for storage were spent in 87-degree temps, not the all-too-often near-freezing temps and sometime snow flurries that we often find ourselves in at haul-out time.

It's now on to dreaming up plans for the 2020 cruising season! See you next season!

Closing the 2019 Loop: Return Across Superior to Bayfield

Our 0-dark-30 plans translated to a 5:20am pre-dawn light departure from Kemps Marina. In total five boats heading for Lake Superior quickly filed in line to enter the US Lock as soon as the lock doors opened and we were given the green light (the fifth boat was a beautifully restored Morgan 30 out of Knife River who joined us for the early morning locking). Up-locking turned out to be a very gentle lift for everyone, and before we knew it, we were all filing out of the lock heading toward Whitefish Bay and eventually Lake Superior. Shortly after departing the lock we immediately began encountering freighter traffic, both upbound and downbound (see accompanying photo of down and up-bound freighters crossing next to us in the channel -- we went outside the red to give them room). That said, the traffic did not cause anyone any problems as we proceeded westward to Lake Superior.

7/14: On to Grand Marais – 80.0 Miles

Aside from a little 8-10-knot headwind and opposing current while crossing Whitefish Bay, the day settled in to another low-wind smooth boating passage as we powered for Grand Marais, MI. We set our hook in Grand Marais Harbor by 3:30pm, leaving the open municipal dock available for use by the Colemans on Kindred Spirit, as they, being from Lake Erie, had never visited Grand Marais before. A special treat was a chance to visit with Fred and Jennifer Bagley on their Caliber, Catamount. Fred and Jennifer live in Vermont but have spent the better part of their recent cruising years exploring Lake Superior. It was good getting together with them.

7/15: Grand Marais to Munising – 35.8 Miles

With a relatively short day in front of us we didn’t depart Grand Maris until 9:00am but still arrived at our Munising dock by 1:20pm.  Although the weather was perfect again for motoring, it wasn’t a particularly good, clear day for viewing the Pictured Rocks, but luckily we had experienced perfect weather for that during our July 1^st trip in the opposite direction. With plenty of time in Munising we pursued a couple of boat errands and then joined the Baby Grand, Kindred Spirit and Sandpiper crews for dinner in a local restaurant. It would be our last night all together for a while, as we planned to cross to Copper Harbor and subsequently to Isle Royale the next morning, whereas the other three boats planned a 2^nd day in Munising before moving east to Marquette and beyond.

Note photo where Coleen decided on the way back from the restaurant to trade Baby Grand in for a vintage camper. Did she get a good deal???

7/16: Munising to Copper Harbor – 86.3 miles

Talk about powerboat passage heaven, this had to be it as we headed out for yet another light-wind start to the tip of the Michigan UP’s Keweenaw Peninsula and Copper Harbor. The 10+ hour passage played out almost identical to the forecast, and most of the trip went per plan except for a couple of uncomfortable hours with 3-4’ swells about 30 degrees off the port bow plus some light whitecap wind waves. Thank God for windshield wipers 😊. We tried speeding the boat up ... that didn’t work. We then slowed the boat down to displacement trawler speed which was marginally better but not a total solution. However just as the weather app WindyT (www.windy.com) predicted, things began to lay down shortly after noon and we gradually increased to our normal cruising speed by about 12:30.

BTW – for this trip we found Windy to be about the best app for looking at weather across a passage. One can move the time forward while also moving the spot you’re expecting to be at that time forward, to give you a good sense of the wind conditions expected along the entire route. Windy also forecasts wave heights and directions along the way, giving one a pretty good picture of what conditions to expect over the course of a passage. For each of our passages on this trip we found their projections to be right-on. (Accompanying windy.com screen snap was taken at a different time simply as an example)

BTW – we essentially don’t worry about rain along a passage but do use other National Weather Service products to better understand frontal boundaries and possible stormy conditions along our route.

By 4:40 that afternoon we were comfortably in our slip at the Copper Harbor state marina, a relatively new facility with excellent services for our planned two-night stay.

Copper Harbor is always one of our favorite stops, with a beautiful picturesque harbor, great shops to browse, a nice restaurant only a few blocks from the marina for breakfast or lunch (Tamarack Inn), and the wonderful Harbor Haus restaurant, a must-stop for dinner while in the village (see the Harbor Haus lake-side photo courtesy of Trip Adviser).  The Harbor House has a truly amazing menu, with selections, preparation and service at a level one seldom sees now days, much less in a small town at the end of the Keweenaw peninsula. We didn’t’ do the fort or lighthouse tour again this year, as we’d done them before, nor did we catch the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge for dinner while we were there. So many things to do, so little time.

7/18:  Copper Harbor to Isle Royale’s Rock Harbor – 51.5 miles

Thursday 7/18 we headed for Isle Royale, departing shortly after 9:00am.  The seas were again mostly benign, but the fog wasn’t. We traveled in very dense fog (visibility slightly over one boat length!) much of the way to the island. Thank goodness for radar. We also felt a bit more secure having our transmitting AIS installed, but in reality, few recreational boats up this way have transmitting AIS, so radar was our primary set of “eyes”.

 

We’re constantly trying out new devices on our very well-equipped used boat, and during this trip we made good use of the foghorn that blasts automatically every 2 minutes ... a much better solution than using a manual air horn. If you listen closely on the video you'll hear it over the engine in the background,

As can often be the case, the fog lifted as we approached the island, allowing for easy navigation to the set of transient docks which are part of the Rock Harbor Lodge complex, and we were tied up to our floating concrete dock by 3:30pm. We quickly decided to stay two nights to enjoy that end of the island, including a 4-mile round trip hike on the Scoville Point trail to the tip of that little peninsula. The trail to the point is named after Albert Stoll, Jr., the Detroit newspaper editor whose efforts are largely credited for Isle Royale's national park designation. Four miles turned out to be a good “break in” distance for us on the island’s trails, allowing us to get re-acclimated to hiking on the island.

7/20: Rock Harbor to McCargoe Cove – 21.0 miles

Before leaving Rock Harbor we took on 40 gallons of diesel as a safety margin for our travels back to Bayfield. As it turned out we wouldn’t have needed it, but we were just starting to understand our fuel consumption curves, etc., and felt more comfortable with that extra margin of safety. After taking on fuel we left Rock in late morning for one of our favorite spots on the NE side of the island ... McCargoe Cove.

McCargo is shaped like a Fjord, both long and deep, offering total "hurricane hole-like" protection. We always love taking that magical entrance down the center of the channel after transiting the circuitous entry.

The ferry was due to come in shortly after our arrival, so we checked out our favorite anchorage area about ¼ mile NE of the McCargoe dock. However, the Silver Bay-based ~50’ powerboat Blue Yonder was anchored right in the middle of that little bay. We decided to instead drop a hook opposite the park service dock for a short time while we waited for the ferry to arrive and depart, and then took their spot on the dock. It was a good move, allowing us to easily leave the boat to kike to the old McCargoe copper mine site, about a 2-mile round trip.

7/21: McCargoe to Washington Harbor’s Windigo Ranger Station Dock – 32.0 miles

For Bill’s birthday we traveled back to one of our favorite Isle Royale stops ... Washington Harbor. We had heard that the Isle Royale Boater’s Association was holding a major cruising gathering there over the weekend, drawing over 20 boats and roughly a hundred people, but with our arrival at Windigo occurring just after 2:00pm that Sunday we hoped that most of those boats would more than likely have left to return to the UP or perhaps have moved to the SE side of the island for some fishing before returning home. Our hunch was right, and only one pleasure boat remained from the fleet that was there the prior evening. Plus, both ferries departed the dock shortly after we arrived, allowing us to take one of their spots for two nights (the ferries weren’t visiting Washington on Monday). We celebrated with a great steak dinner on board Sunday night for the birthday boy, with plans to hike to the Grace Creek overlook the next day.

Monday was another stellar day ... great for the approximately 4-mile round trip hike to the overlook and back. As it turned out, we had to call the Park Service with our VHF handheld to get directions to the overlook ... the turnoff is marked with a small rock cairn but no indication of what it’s there for.  The view was worth the hike, though.

We had been pleased to see the island drawing numbers of visitors again, whether they be groups of friends, scout troops, or families with small kids camping instead of hiking. Boat traffic seemed to be up from what we remembered, but interestingly we only encountered (or even saw) just one sailboat ... virtually all the boat traffic was power, a significant reversal from our younger years cruising the island. We suspect the reason is the increasingly limited time people have for cruising, with powerboats offering a better solution for schedule-tight cruisers. 

7/23: Windigo to Grand Marais, MN – 49.8 Miles

Our trip to Grand Marais was another perfect powerboat day, but just before leaving the area we were treated to the sight of a cow moose grazing near the store. The moose population is said to be up to about 2000 animals, almost guaranteeing a sighting (two bull moose were said to be grazing in the creek backwaters near the campground also). In addition, the wolf population has been supplemented by bringing in wolves from other Lake Superior locations. That pack now numbers in the teens, thus restoring the wolf-moose balance to that prior to the decimation of the wolf herd to inbreeding and disease.

On our way out of the harbor we purposely went closer to the Rock of Ages Lighthouse marking the shoals outside Washington Harbor. This past spring, we were proud to be part of a grant celebration in Duluth marking the donation of $10,000 from the Great Lakes Foundation to the Rock of Ages Lighthouse Preservation Society (Bill is a member of the Foundation Board) to help support lighthouse restoration efforts. It’s a great cause supported by an energetic group of younger people who love the island as much as many of us old timers do. We wish them the best of success in their restoration endeavors.

After an upwind run in a very light westerly we were met at the Grand Marais Recreation Area docks by park and Harbor Master Dave Torsteeg, where we were lucky enough to get an easy-access outside finger dock for our two-night stay. Grand Marais is always a fun stop ... arguably the most scenic harbor on Lake Superior. The town was buzzing. On Wednesday evening we found a new-to-us great restaurant – the Crooked Spoon – with a mouth-watering menu of creatively prepared, well-presented, and thoroughly enjoyable meals. We will be back.

7/25: Heading “Back to the Barn” from Grand Marais ... Grand Marais to Pikes Bay – 64.4 Miles

Thursday started out with an early morning calm and a quickly closing in dense fog. In fact, as we left the dock at 7:15am we couldn’t even see the harbor breakwater, the moored boats in the harbor, or the two opposing light structures marking the harbor entrance. We of course had our radar on to ensure we didn’t hit any of the moored boats in the harbor on our way out, while at the same time reverting to following our incoming track to reach the open lake (an electronic version of the technique of following dropped kernels of popcorn to find one’s route). We only briefly saw the entrance towers capping the opposing breakwaters before disappearing into the fog along our path to the Apostles. As is usually the case, several early morning fishermen were out trying their luck in the fog, so extra caution was required for the first few miles until we saw no more small boats on our radar. Most of our crossing was again benign, albeit foggy, but as predicted by the Windy app, S-SW winds gradually picked up as we approached the Apostles to the point where we decided to take the boat all the way in to Pikes instead of anchoring out one final night. It was a good decision, as by the time we were approaching Bayfield we found ourselves motoring into about 3’ chop with the wipers on constantly to clear spray from the windshield.  At least the boat would be returning “to the barn” freshly washed and clean. By 3:30 we were safely tied up in our Pike’s Bay slip and ready for our next adventure. Our first serous cruise with our “new to us” Jubilee had been a very good one ... hopefully the precursor for many others to follow.

The next day, Friday the 26^th, we were able to arrange one last dinner at Maggies with the Colemans (who ferried across from their transient slip at Madeline) and the Austins, who berth in the Apostle Islands Marina. Unfortunately, Paul Zadel and the Lundbergs were not available to join us as Paul and Paula were shuttling Paul Z for his long bus ride back to St. Ignace, where he had left his boat two weeks prior.

Epilogue: Our 29-day adventure to St. Ignace and Back

In total over our 29 days on the water we traveled 911.4 nautical miles (1,049 statute miles) with our engine time underway totaling 118.2 hours ... almost the equivalent of five 24-hour days underway.  Even with a powerboat, travel by water is not fast. Our new-to-us Jubilee performed flawlessly, a credit to her outstanding condition for a 24-year-experienced boat when we purchased her plus the additions and maintenance tasks we’ve since undertaken to make her our own.

Luckily we didn’t run into any significant “surprises” during our weeks on board.  Thanks to the long runs, we now have a better sense of our fuel burn rate at various RPMs, and are starting to find our own “sweet spot” for motoring (about 1600 RPM at around 8.5-knots seems to offer a good balance between efficiency and speed, although we did run at about 1800 RPM and 9 ½ to 10 knots for quite a few miles). If need be to seek shelter or meet a schedule, we can run her up to about 15 knots, but at an escalating cost in fuel efficiency,

Judy was especially pleased with her new freezer capability, thanks to the 2^nd compressor we installed just for the freezer. That 2^nd compressor does incur a penalty on our battery capacity, but it’s worth it to have both a proper freezer and refrigerator. In fact, while travelling together we were able to keep frozen foods for one of the other boats in our “flotilla” having a more limited refrigeration capacity. And most important, ice cubes for our evening sundowners were never a problem.

Refrigeration tends to be the biggest amperage draw on a boat, and with our two refrigeration compressors running, along with other current draws, we computed electrical usage at about 100 amp-hours per 24-hour day during the trip. When traveling longer distances with the engine and alternator running, plus staying plugged in at marinas in the evening, that usage level is no problem, but we’d like to be able to remain “off the grid” without running the engine or our portable 2KW Honda gas generator for more extended periods of time. We’re starting to look at adding solar panels mounted on the house roof to help keep our 675-amp house battery bank topped even while anchored ... a good project for installation over the coming winter. Judy is also interested in exploring a canvas “Bimini-like” retractable cover for our cockpit to shield the afternoon sun ... another possible winter project. Plus, our canvas supplier has not yet delivered the cockpit entry screen door we ordered last fall. Projects, projects, projects ... but of course we all know that’s what boats are about.

Following is a snap of our track over these past four weeks:

Our remaining boat trips this summer and fall will most likely be shorter hops in the Apostles during the following weeks before winter storage. Stay tuned.

(Jubilee Photo near Grand Marais Pictured Rock Dunes Light by Coleen Austin)

 

Rendezvous and Immediate Surrounding Travel Days

Sault Saint Marie to Detour – July 6^th, 2019

We start this post out with an apology ... we fully anticipated issuing this post a few days after departing Sault St. Marie, but our packed schedule at the GLCC Rendezvous followed by beginning our trek back to Lake Superior toward a stop in Isle Royale got in the way of our best intentions. Nevertheless, finally, we’re finding time to post again.

Our 39-mile trip down the St. Mary’s river from Lake Superior to Detour on Lake Huron was as uneventful as the preceding days of glorious weather for our Superior Crossing. Plus, as we were heading down the St. Mary’s, we received a sizable current boost throughout most of the passage ... sometimes almost 2 knots of boost. Of course, we’ll pay for that later with opposing currents on our way back to Superior, but we’ll gladly take favorable currents at any time.

So, the real excitement of this day’s passage didn’t start until we docked at Detour. Upon arrival we noticed a lot of people and commotion on a nearby dock. As soon as we were tied up we decided to check out what was up. What was up was actually down. A roughly 25’ powerboat had trailed here the previous afternoon and launched late in the day. The owners topped gas, proceeded to their assigned dock, and then left to join friends for dinner. Unfortunately, when they returned later that evening their boat was GONE! IT turns our it wasn’t stolen, but rather had sunk at the slip while they were away for a few hours. Ouch.

By the time we arrived, the DNR had circled the slip with oil-zorb material, but luckily it didn’t apppear that any fuel or other oil products had entered the water.  That said, a diver had arrived with air floatation bags and a portable compressor for filling them and raising the boat. Over the course of a few hours the boat was righted and raised, at which time the diver determined the source of the sinking ... a lead in the deck washdown pump plumbing. That temporarily repaired the boat, once stabilized and raised with the air bags, could be pumped out and later brought to the haul-out ramp and loaded on its trailer.

In addition to the above accompanying still pictures of the boat being raised, do check out this short video of the airbags raising and righting the boat.

Click for the video: 

The boat was apparently relatively new to the owners, and we heard the main outboard had fewer than 10 hours on it. Luckily the relatively quick recovery from a freshwater sinking should bode well for full restoration of the boat and motors, but returning everything to operating status will definitely take time and money. What a tragedy.

Detour to St. Ignace and the GLCC Rendezvous ... July 7^th, 2019

The 7^th brought another day of glorious passage weather for the final 38.9-mile leg of our travels to Rendezvous. Although the official “arrival” day was July 8^th, Bill and Jim Austin’s Board of Directors and other meetings on the 8^th necessitated our arrival a day sooner, as it did for numerous other Directors and Bridge Officers. That evening we joined a large contingent of other GLCC members for a great dinner at the Village Inn, one of the hot St. Ignace eating spots, and it did not disappoint.

The following Monday through Friday were a whirlwind of business meetings and a packed schedule of Rendezvous activities. To share a taste of Rendezvous activities, following are a number of pictures taken during Rendezvous, including those taken on the day all the members traveled to Mackinac Island for a day of exploring there. A good time was literally had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post-Rendezvous return to Sault St. Marie ... July 12-13

Through the entire Rendezvous we were blessed with great weather.  While our Mackinac Island day threatened rain, overnight rain the prior evening dissipated in the morning for a wonderful day that day too. The long stretch of great weather continued to bless us for our 38.6-mile trip back to Detour. Paul Zadel, whose sister Janis joined him at Rendezvous from her east coast home, planned to leave his boat in St. Ignace while he and Janis drove back to Bayfield for a few days, after which Paul planned to return and sail White Oyster back to Bayfield. Replacing Paul on White Oyster in our returning “Superior flotilla” were Cleveland-area GLCC members Dick and Nancy Coleman aboard their beautiful 45’ Cherubini Independence trawler Kindred Spirit, essentially the same boat and design that some may know as the Hans Christian Independence 45. Dick and Nancy planned to venture into Lake Superior after Rendezvous and joining our buddy boat flotilla worked our for all involved. Great people and a lot of fun to be around.

Saturday night at Detour also brought two other post-Rendezvous boats for an enjoyable gathering that evening at the marina’s picnic tables.

Although the winds picked up a bit on Sunday, our Sunday travel plans took us up the 38.6-mile up-bound St. Mary’s river channel in good protection back to Kemps again at Sault St. Marie, topped by another great whitefish dinner at the Lock View Inn just across from the commercial locks to celebrate.

Our intention in leaving the Sault was to depart at 0-dark-30, lock through the commercial American locks, and then work our way west across part of Lake Superior before departing the “flotilla” for Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw peninsula and jumping over to Isle Royale for some much-overdo Isle Royale island exploration (we hadn’t been there since a couple of years before departing Bayfield for the Bahamas and Caribbean aboard our sailboat “Jubilee” back in 2007). But that blog entry will have to wait ‘til we return from Isle Royale later in our trip, as we don’t anticipate much internet access over the next week or so. That said, please stay tuned.