Winter in Bayfield

This morning the lake looked magical. The fog hung low around Madeline Island, you can see it in the distance, heavy & clinging to the shore.

The sun was so bright I couldn't see the image on my camera screen. I took lots of photos and got a few decent enough to share.






The birds were taking refuge from the below zero wind chills, though a few were bobbing around on the waves.
















The ice is forming in between the finger piers; it forms in little sheets & chunks and when the swells move them it sounds like tinkling music.



















It's not sailing season but the lake is just as beautiful.

Boats in the Water - part 2

Our new boat, Dragonfly, went in this past week. She was stored on a cradle all winter but the process for putting her in was a bit different than for Egret. They back a trailer up to the boat. The trailer has hydraulic "arms" that lift the boat up off the cradle.

Then they just pull the trailer out with the boat resting on it.

The boat is pulled down to the water.
It's a bizarre experience to be walking down the road with the boat.

The trailer is backed up to the awaiting crane & from here it's just like Egret went in.

The straps are run underneath the boat and attached to the frame the crane is holding.

She's lifted up off the trailer, turned over the water and lowered down.

She's in!

Boats in the Water - part 1

We have three of our boats in the water & ready to sail! Our first boat in was Egret. The boat spent the winter on a cradle. A tractor pulls the cradle over to the loading dock. They run two straps under the boat and hook them onto a frame held by a crane.

The crane operator lifts the frame and boat up off the cradle.

The crane turns the boat around to the other side of the loading area, places her over the water and lowers her in.

The straps stay under the boat while the crew goes below to make sure everything is good to go.

Once she's checked out and the engine is running she's driven over to the City Dock to await your arrival!

Energy Independence Project Update

Our two overnight boats, Egret and Esprit, were upgraded last fall in their electrical systems with the goal of becoming less dependent on using the motor for recharging the batteries during a multiple day sailing trip. The project consisted of LED lighting changes for energy conservation--the anchor light was a big savings—and the addition of solar panels to keep the batteries topped off recharge a little. Our goal was to never have to plug in to shore power when we get home and to never have to run the engine during a trip for the sole purpose of charging the batteries. In the past, the engine needed to be run for about an hour per day while on a trip to keep the batteries charged to provide lighting, electronics and pressurized water for the sinks.


This summer, we sailed in and out of anchorages and even sailed in and out of some docks while out in the Apostle Islands on overnight trips. It never became necessary to use the engine to recharge the batteries. There are, of course, times to use the engine to propel the boat and for coming in and out of the harbor in Bayfield. The conservation measures and small solar panels worked together to cut down and nearly eliminate our need for charging. The lowest I saw the battery voltage was about 12.2 volts (about 2/3 discharged) and usually it was fully charged and barely moved down at all below 12.4 volts by morning. With any sunlight, the panels kept the voltage above 13 volts and fully recharged during the day. On one open water crossing on a sunny day, we were charging enough from just the solar panel to run all navigation electronics, radios and the auto-pilot!

This was a great project. At least half of the days are windy enough to not use the engine at all and in the past we would run it anyway, just to charge the batteries.

All in all it was a great success!

Out in the Apostle Islands

I finally took some picture from some of this year’s trips. The water is warm enough to swim now and the kids have been in much of the day on our youth group overnights.

The day trips are going great and lots of swimming has been done on our Island Landing Excursion, too. The Afternoon Sail has been a fantastic way to cool off this week!

Exploring the rock outcrops.

A beautiful Day in Early June

Chimney Rock near Stockton Island

We had so much rain in late June that it made this great waterfall on Stockton Island. The water looked like root beer pouring over the rocks because of all the tannin in it.



Exploring Basswood Island's shoreline during the Island Landing Excursion



Island Landing Excursion stop at Basswood Island

Night Sky picture

One of our dogsledding guests who brought their family sailing for a three day trip sent me this link for a stunning nighttime picture of Outer Island Light. The link for a short video with a couple pictures and their story is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKiRl7KtOkQ. The night sky from the cockpit a sailboat anchored in the Apostle Islands is extraordinary. The Islands are so far from background light that the stars are much brighter even than on the mainland.

More boats in!

We put Egret in a couple weeks ago and I got some pictures of it. A large crane picks up the boat and gently sets it in the water. It made me nervous the first couple times having all that boat swinging through the air, but now I am used to it and often help guide her into place.

The keel has 7500 lbs of lead in it and you can see it here hanging below the boat. The sole purpose of the weight--called ballast--is to keep you from tipping over when the wind blows hard. The further you lean the more the keel acts to keep you up!

Egret is such a beautiful boat, I couldn't help taking a picture at the dock. The name Egret comes from a friendly Great Egret that watches us in Florida on our yearly March trip to the Panhandle area. Emma and Greta, our daughters names, combined makes Egret!