[Rhodes22-list] Lake Superior Cruise Weather Planning

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Hi Jesse,

You’re right about layering being the key.  But, there are three areas where I have some suggestions; the Head/Face, Hands, and Feet.

Head/Face
If it’s just cold; then, any stocking cap will be fine.  But, for wind, spray, and fog; consider the Seirius Innovation Combo Clava Face Mask, $22.35 at www.Sears.com<http://www.Sears.com>.  This thing will cover your face and stay warm even if it gets wet with the wind blowing.  It will dry quickly.  When I’ve been on delivery crews, I had to beat my fellow crew off with a stick when I came off watch and they wanted to borrow it!

Hands:
Sailing gloves will be better than nothing.  But for standing a cold night watch at the helm, consider the NeopSkin Water Gloves 3 mm-black-kevlar, $40.99 at www.Amazon.com<http://www.Amazon.com>.  These gloves have a Kevlar reinforced nonslip palm & fingers, 3 mm neoprene insulation, and a Velcro wrist closure.  With these gloves, you will be able to grip a stainless steel steering wheel for 4 hours without your fingers freezing.  They will stay warm even wet and will dry quickly.

Feet:
Any slip on boot like a 14” high Muck boot with warm socks (NOT COTTON!) will work as long as your foul weather bibs cover the boot and have a Velcro closure.  I’ve also had good luck with the Neosport 3 mm High Top Zipper Water Boot, $25 - $37 depending on size at www.Amazon.com<http://www.Amazon.com>.  These boots have a hard nonslip sole with good ankle/foot support.  I like them because you can use them as cold water shoes.  They will protect your feet and ankles from rocks and zebra mussels and still keep your feet warm during your (brief!) swims in Lake Superior.  If you should happen to go overboard, these water boots will not fill up with water and drag you under like Muck boots will.  You can actually swim with these water boots on vs. a stiff Muck boot.

Speaking of swimming in Lake Superior, consider a 2-3 mm shorty wet suit.  You can also use it as a base layer when you start layering.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10

From: Jesse Shumaker<mailto:jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2021 9:58 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Lake Superior Cruise Weather Planning

Hi Roger, thanks for the historical weather trend details.  You make a good
point that the unusual cold this winter will probably result in a cooler
than normal summer since the water takes awhile to warm.  This year we will
be better prepared than last year, with foul weather gear and layers to
deal with whatever Lake Superior delivers.  I noticed that from the last
chart that the average wind speed is pretty low over the summer.  On our
trip last June we had some pretty strong sustained winds on several days
which made for exciting sailing.  I went back again in August with a friend
and we had much milder conditions on that trip.  I'll report back with a
recap after the trip this summer and let you know where we end up going.  I
look forward to hearing about your upcoming adventure as well.

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 7:19 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:

> Hi Jesse.
>
> The attached .pdf file has NOAA weather data on the average water & air
> temperatures, rainfall, and wind speed/wind direction for the Apostle
> Islands National Lakeshore.  This sort of data is what I use to plan our
> family High Adventure Trips.  The weather for the Apostle Islands should be
> similar to the weather in western Lake Superior (i.e. any of your proposed
> cruises).
>
> As you look at these graphs, keep in mind these are averages over a long
> period of time; but, the extremes are also plotted.  Over the winter of
> 2020/2021, ~90% of the surface of Lake Superior was ice covered.  This much
> ice cover is a fairly rare event.  It takes a long time to warm up the
> world’s largest lake when it starts from frozen!  Therefore, unless we have
> an early, very warm spring and summer, I am expecting the water and air
> temperatures to be lower than average this coming summer in July and August.
>
> So, expect cool temperatures, light winds, with a possibility of rain ~1
> out of every 4 days.  Of course, Lake Superior will do whatever it wants to
> do on any given day.  You must respect it and be prepared.  Hopefully, this
> will help with your cruise planning.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> Windows 10
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: Apostle Islands Weather.pdf
> Type: application/pdf
> Size: 357606 bytes
> Desc: Apostle Islands Weather.pdf
> URL: <
> http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20210228/ec22a7c8/attachment.pdf
> >
>