[Rhodes22-list] Apostle Islands

[Slim]

Thanks Bill.  I appreciate your thoughts and your concerns are not without
warrant.  I'm thankful for good weather. But had we run into fog or heavy
winds or something, we left ourselves an extra day if we had to hunker down
somewhere.  We carried 9 gallons of gas and only used 2. My handheld GPS
failed right off the bat!  It couldn't find a signal, and all I had were my
charts and the compass and that's enough in good weather.  We have no depth
gage and took soundings along the anchorages.  We're pretty bare bones but
the boat performs so well that there was nothing to worry about.

Tell us more about the pelorus?

Slim

On 8/19/05 7:38 AM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:

> Slim,
> 
> I'm so relieved...
> 
> I was lying out on my boat 2 nights ago, looking at the stars, thinking
> that we hadn't heard from you in a while, and hoping that you had not
> sailed off into the sunset, unable to find your way back.
> 
> More navigation next winter.  I am planning to bring my pelorus back to
> the boat and use it to establish fixes for the anchoring project.  I
> think the pelorus (sometimes called a "dumb compass") is a more accurate
> instrument for this purpose than either a magnetic compass or a GPS.  I
> will test it against a fluxgate compass, which I also have on board, but
> if I had to put up money, I'd bet on the pelorus.
> 
> Glad you had a great time.  Glad you got back.
> 
> Bill Effros
> 
> Slim wrote:
> 
>> Hello Todd Z. and welcome to the Rhodes community.  Funny you should mention
>> the Apostle Islands -- I live in Minneapolis and I just got back today from
>> a four day trip there.  Yes, you'd love to sail there in a Rhodes 22!
>> 
>> Earlier this year we planned a trip to the Thunder Bay area, but those plans
>> fell through and so we decided to go to the Apostles for my very first
>> venture on Lake Superior.
>> 
>> I've sailed some big water in the distant past but this is my "rookie year"
>> for sailing the Rhodes on the world's largest lake.  It was awesome!  On our
>> first day out we had winds of 15 - 20 and we broad reached at hull speed or
>> better for several hours, with following seas and waves 3-4 ft.  It was like
>> a carnival ride, and for the first few minutes I wished I was on a bigger
>> boat.  But then I settled in and let the boat do what it does and we rocked
>> and rolled and put nearly 30 miles under the keel in about 5 hours!!!
>> 
>> There were no navigational problems.  All the islands are within sight and,
>> barring fog, we we able to see everything, and were able to do the boy scout
>> thing with just a chart and a baring compass.  Fortunately we had great
>> weather and we didn't get lost.  We met a kind gentleman at the marina who
>> pointed out some common anchorages and docks, etc. but we found our own way
>> just the same.
>> 
>> We found some nice sandy beaches where we beached the boat and let the dog
>> run.  We had a little rain but nothing to stop us.  We swam in the lake
>> which is thought of as hypothermia-city, but this year it's the warmest it's
>> been and we swam in blissfully cool, fresh water several times.   Remarkable
>> since the lake is famous for being ice-cold.
>> 
>> The sailing/camping aboard was exhilarating, challenging and lots of fun!!!
>> Can't wait to do it again.
>> 
>> Slim
>> 
>> 
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>> 
>>  
>> 
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