Trip Day 9

October 1st, woke up about 3 am since I was not sleeping well anticipating the final day and the winds expected. Used the head and checked the mouse trap. He had taken the peanut butter bait and got away again! I think he is too big for the trap and just leans over and licks it off, never has to step on the trap!  Anyway, I reset with P-But and this time spread it all over so if he got greedy he would get whacked. Went back to bed.  

Woke again with the sound of the alarm at 5 am.  No mouse in the trap and it was raining again!  I went through my normal routine but in the process noticed the overhead lights were dimming!  I knew that meant a low battery issue. I was pretty much ready to go so I went immediately to start the engine. But it would not start on BAT 1. I switched to BOTH and it started. Thank goodness!  

I let it run for a good 10 minutes and in the meantime checked the fire from last night to make sure it was out, but with all the rain, that was not an issue. The wind was brisk so I surveyed my exit route since I had rocks just off my port stern and a vertical rock wall on starboard.  I decided I would be okay and the wind should blow me pretty much straight back. 

I untied and quickly hustled aboard pulling the gang plank with me. I slowly backed away and at about 10 to 15 feet from shore the engine died and would not turn over!  I actually considered jumping over with a rope, but decided quickly that futile!  This was not in a good situation with rocks all around and the only thing between me and Canada was open water! 

If anchor does not hold I could drift onto rocks on Canadian shore, bad in itself, but also an illegal entry! I did have my passport and NEXUS pass with me, which helps.

I quick glanced at my chart on the tablet to check the extent of the shelf around the island (see below) because getting the marginal anchor to hold was going to be iffy at best, even in shallow water. 

Skipper Rock Island 
Note the shallow shelf I wanted to grab before drifting into deep water. 

Click to enlarge - Rocks all around!

I quickly got the anchor over the side and put it down just before exiting the shallow area around the island.  The anchor rode was too short to hold in deeper water (see top chart depths).  I got the anchor down but it dragged for awhile before finally catching a rock. See chart and note below indicates the boat drift before the anchor holds.  It looked like I was clear of the rocks but it was swinging occasionally very close to rocks near the starboard, side just south of the boat. About 75 feet! 

Rescue on Skipper Rock Island
(click to enlarge)

Next I got on the radio and starting calling for help, but the radio was giving me a message the battery was low, which of course I already knew!  No one answered after numerous calls.  I then started calling anyone that could hear me but to no avail.  I brought along a handheld VHF radio for just such an emergency and tried calling on it. I could see a boat heading toward the base and thought since they were line of sight they would answer, but they did not!  Evidently they did not have their radio on or were on a different frequency. I had not yet called on emergency channel 16, but that was next.

I continued calling over the next 10 minutes and finally got an answer from base.  I found out later that no one is normally at the desk until 8 am, and it was about 7:30 when I began calling. After quizzing me and trying a few more things to start the engine, they finally dispatched assistance.

By 8:30 a support boat arrived with two crew and a power pack and in short order we had the engine going again but there was no explanation why the batteries were so low. One of them got back in the support boat and the other was going to steer me clear of the rocks.  Didn't trust me I guess! However, it took sometime before we could get the anchor up because it was jammed under a rock.  With some maneuvering we finally got it free and began working around the island toward base.  I soon dropped off the second crew and continued on my way arriving near base to pick up the pilot around 9:30 am to take me in the final leg to the dock.  I was still stressed over the close call!  

Day 9 - Skipper Rock Island to Base

Satellite Track - Skipper Rock Island to Base
(Distance 5 NM, ave. spd 2.7 kts, max. spd. 6.3 kt, I was late for 9 am check in!)

I hustled getting the stuff off the boat and into the car because rain was threatening again.  As soon as I finished and had the kayak tied on the car, it began to rain again, hard this time!  I paid the bill and made some notes for them before I took off. 

The trip was overall successful, in spite of weather, but I had my moments, including this latest exercise which just added to list of problems!  I was glad to be on the road heading to Bemidji where I planned to spend the night with my sister Mary.

If you read this blog to the end you may be interested in my other blogs:

An eight day Shanty Boat Trip on the St. John's River in north central Florida in April 2016.   

Several summer Voyages of S/V Dash starting with my retirement cruise on the upper Great Lakes in 2012 to the final voyage for the new owner in 2014 from Superior to Chesapeake Bay.  These were all aboard the 32' catamaran I owned for seven years and sailed out of Grand Marais, MN.

I hope you enjoyed this adventure!

Trip Day 8

September 30th, got up about 6:45 am, later than usual. Went through making coffee, eating cookies, and reading routine. Checked the weather to see if I could go to the boat site I planned on. Wind will be 10-15 knots, gusts to 25 out of the south, so protection is important. Wind will be similar for the last leg tomorrow, with a chance of showers again. 

I now think I've been through my first 24 hours without rain and mostly sunny. Very little of that on this trip! That is the downside but the upside is I accomplished most of what I wanted to do and enjoyed doing it despite the cloudy, rainy, and cool weather. The cold is no bother but I would have liked more sun!  

Had to ration my cereal to stretch it to two days, since I forgot the pancake mix, Should be okay though. 

Got away about 10 am, a little side breeze but turned out to be no problem getting untied and away. Motored through the narrows and headed across the lake to Skipper Rock Island, the boat site I had in mind. I was ready to bypass it if it did not work out with the winds, but it looked like it should work. No other house boat traffic. 

Day 8-Soldier Pt. to Skipper Rock Island 
(track is in green ink, click to enlarge)

Satellite Track - Soldier Pt to Skipper Rock Island
(Distance 7.5 NM, ave. spd. 4.3 kt, max. spd. 5.1 kt)

Helm station photo showing the navigation setup, controls, and 12 vdc charging arrangement.
(click for larger view)

Good example of some of the narrow passages between buoys.
(Note: Sorry for misspelling "buoys" in several places, including the above pic!)

Arrived at the site about 11:45 now very breezy but got tied up just fine. Turns out the site is a gem and will be an excellent last site with the current sunny period. After I was secure, I immediately went to work getting my top side fire ring, propane tank, protective tile, and chair off the roof and ready to depart tomorrow. Took the chair up to the shore side fire ring which is in a nicely protected wooded glen. I've been saving up firewood along the way when I find it. Along with what I found here, it will make a nice fire.

Unique site, since it sits in a saddle between the two sides of the island. The breeze just blew right through the opening.  Would be great on a hot day.

This glen with shore side fire ring was nicely protected from the cool wind. I set out the wood to dry in the sun for later burning. Note boat in background.

Kind of a rocky and gravelly landing - Canada in the background

For a snack I warmed up pizza left over from last night and had a sparkling water. Then I got to packing up stuff I'm not using to prepare for off loading tomorrow. Did about all I could do. Later, I had a glass of wine and some chocolates and sat out on the fore deck for while. 

Then I went up to get the fire prepared to start by cutting up kindling, stacking wood with some fire starter, etc. Figured I get the dirty work done first and shower afterward. Sat for awhile on a natural chair in the rocks on the other side of the island and contemplated view for awhile, finally I decided I needed to stay on track and went back to work on the boat.

This was my favorite boat site, although the winds would have to be favorable to use the site. Note rocks just behind boat to port.

Showered up and put away more equipment, food, and clothes; just keeping essentials out. For dinner I'll grill a burger accompanied by a beer and chips. Have just a little wine left for desert by the fire. I plan to take my BT speakers and tablet up to the shore fire after dinner to listen to some tunes.

You can't see it in the photo but there was a natural rock chair in this spot. Great place to sit and look out on the lake and the adjacent island.

Finished the burger dinner, did dishes, and went up to start the fire. Used up all the wood, took a few pics, enjoyed some music, and the quiet of the night. Finally came in at 9:15 pm.  I left just some coals burning and will check that it is out in the morning. 

Just saw a mouse run past my feet and found turds on the counter this morning! The owners have a problem. I suppose the mouse trap under the sink was my tell tale! Whatever the case, it did not solve the critter problem! As long as the critters aren't any bigger than I saw I'm sure I will sleep just fine. One more wake up and it is over anyway.

Last fire for the trip, this one the real thing! I had it burning for about 3 hours. BT speakers on either side of me, playing from the tablet in the boat bag.

I will listen to my current audio book to put me to sleep. I have a five am wake up alarm set. Have to start early to be into base by 9 am, especially if I am to do my normal morning routine beforehand. 

Trip Day 7

September 29, woke at 5:10 am and looked at the clock and went back to sleep, too early! Finally, about 5:30 I got up to turn on the heat, since it was cold. Went back to bed and by 6 am I was up for my normal routine. 

After coffee, cookies, and reading I started to dig out ingredients for my pancake breakfast, but it was not to be found! I had broken up a box of mix before leaving home and even labeled the bottles, but evidently they all went on the pantry shelf. So I am short a breakfast! I had cereal and toast and should have enough cereal to get through okay. May just have toast on the last day if I run out?

It is cold out, high 40's and the clouds persist. It was supposed  to be mostly sunny today...just not in my part of the world! I read a book until 10 am to wait for some sun to show but I have the feeling it may never come! I will get my hiking kit ready and maybe leave in about 30 minutes, whether it is sunny or not.

Brown Lake Trail, just south of boat site. This boat site is exposed to NW winds and waves.

Left about 10 am. Used the skiff to motor over to the trail head. Hiked into Oslo Lake, the farthest point at about .9 of a mile. Nice hike but as I turned to go back it started to sprinkle, so much for mostly sunny! 

Brown Lake Trail
(Total distance round trip 1.8 NM, ave. spd 1.2 kt, max spd. 1.5 kt)

Approaching Brown Lake

Brown Lake Launch Site-Voyageurs Park has these pre-placed canoes for rent on inland lakes

Oslo Lake-End of the Trail

By the time I got back to the boat (noon) it was at least partly sunny. I will head to the next spot, Soldier Point West, in the narrows, shortly. 

Brown Lake Trail Head - Boat site in background

Decided to motor through the Kempton Channel again on the way north. A bit out of my way but much better protected from wind and waves. 

Day 7 - Brown's Bay to Soldier Point West (in purple). The destination is just off this map.  You will see it on tomorrow's map. (Sorry satellite tracking failed part way so no complete track today)

Below is a green link to a video of the Kempton Channel, you have to use the link as Blogger does not allow video uploads, even though it shoes the pic below, it will not play.  The link below is to a shared file on Drop Box. It gives you a good idea of the terrain, weather, and the pace. Be patient! Depending on your computer, it may take time to load.

Kempton Channel Video While Underway (20 min)

The landing at the Soldier Point boat site was probably the least attractive I've been to, but it was an interesting tie up and great place for kayaking. Made an early dinner of pizza, with a beer.

Steep tie up, you could walk right off the boat onto shore-but site was not pretty.

My pepperoni, hamburger, and bacon pizza with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. I use parchment paper to ease cleaning of pan.

It was about 4 pm and I decided at the last minute to go kayaking, decided it was just too good to pass up.  (see satellite view of kayaking potential below) 

See excellent kayaking west and northwest of the boat site, shallow and not as likely to be active with boats. Sorry no track for what I explored, phone navigation was left behind by mistake!

The landing was not easy to launch the kayak and I got in too much in a hurry and ended up leaving behind my life jacket (I never do that!), flare kit, camera (navigation) and emergency beacon.  After some difficulty in launching there was no way I was going back. I was determined to be extra careful.

Lots of backwater to explore!

Beautiful quiet evening on the water

Could explore for a couple days and still have plenty to check out

Coming back to the boat for the evening, getting quite chilly at this point in time.

After kayaking, I went up top with my kit for sitting around the fire this eve. There was a half moon coming up so it will be a nice eve, despite being cool.  The fire makes up for it. I hung out until 9 pm and finally came in, though I could have stayed longer. 

Enjoying the evening around the fire ring

Heavy dew was falling with the clear skies and it will be cold tonight, I think they said some freezing around the area. I fired up the heater and will leave it on low tonight. Time for an audio book and sleep, the first quickly leads to the other!

Suitable end to an active day with improved, if not cool, weather.

Trip Day 6

September 28th, got up about 6:15 am and went through the usual routine. Warmed up left over coffee cake to have with my coffee. Just as good as fresh! Later had cereal and toast for breakfast. Got my kit together to go kayaking while the wind was light. 

Sand Bay Kayaking
(Distance 1.6 nm, ave. spd. 2.1 kts, max spd. 2.4 kts)

Departed about 9:15 and got back by 10 am. Wind was coming up a little and it was rocky and rolly coming home. Almost got stuck on a rock in the waves on the way out, so I was gun shy! Scary to be on a rock in waves, very easy to tip over. Overall the jaunt was enjoyable. Partially sunny, cool (low 50's) but nice. Will move on to the Brown Bay boat site and try to do some hiking later today, if it doesn't rain!

Departed Sand Bay around 10:40 am and arrived at the Brown Bay site at 1215. Hustled to get the boat tied up as the wind was rising and I was afraid it would go sideways on me as it had at Sand Bay! 

Trip Day 6 -Sand Bay to Brown Bay
(green dotted line)

Satellite Track - Day 6 - Sand Bay to Brown Bay
(Distance 5.4 nm, ave. spd. 3.4 kts, max spd. 4.8 kts)

Made a quick snack of nuts, jerky, chocolates and some red wine. Looked like rain so decided to take a nap instead of a hike. Tough decision! Got up after an hour or so and the sun was out which warmed everything up. Walked around the boat site and took some photos. Will make an early dinner as usual in the next hour, or so. Took some photos of the interior of the boat and various features for future boat building ideas (see below).

Brown Bay Boat Site

Bow Tie and Gangway Plank

Some boat sites use tie rings, I did not use the one at this site, preferred the trees

The heater needs ventilation to get rid of the interior moisture build up. The boat steering is a nightmare, one of the worst I've ever seen! It will simply not track a straight line and there is so much slack in the steering you simply wander back and forth and back and forth. Wears you out and hour or two is about all I can take at the helm. I'm not sure if it is the fact it uses the out drive for steering or not? I know the shanty boat in Florida had similar poor directional control characteristics, but the steering was at least tight. Steering should be by rudder, not solely by engine, in my opinion.

Helm Station, USB cables connected to a cigarette/USB 12 vdc adapter, with added switch. Recharging both tablet and phone. Binoculars are broken but I still use it as an ocular.

Propane 3 Burner Stove w/Oven

Large Propane Fridge w/Large Freezer

Propane Catalytic Heater

One surprise is that there is a double and single beds in a cramped low cabin area below the living room deck.  This is not shown in the brochure and no one ever mentioned it. Puzzling? Technically, there is also a twin fold out love seat in the living area and the regular double I sleep on, so this boat can sleep six, though a max of four would be best.

Lift out stair cover, double to left, single to right. About 4' height. A bit smelly with mildew down there!

For dinner made spaghetti with rolls and red wine. Chocolates for desert. T-storms approaching from the west, good thing I didn't go hiking! Washed dishes and was enjoying desert when the storm hit. Winds gusting high (20-25 kts) and the boat was moving back and forth. The worst was the skiff though. It was taking water over the stern and filling badly! I quick put on my rain gear and rubber boots and went out to turn the stern toward shore. It was already full of water and will take a long time to bail with no large pails on board! I will wait out the rain and begin that project when it stops. The stern on the skiff is way too low for this lake.

Pulled stern up on shore to minimize water intake during storm. This photo was taken after removing most of the water.

After bailing most of the water out. Tank was full but floating. Water was almost halfway up the seats all the way to the bow.  The transom was flush with the water level.

I searched on board for something more efficient to bail with and found a small basket in the head that will work better than the makeshift thing they have in the skiff. It will help move larger amounts of water. The rain stopped and the wind backed off so I went out and went to work. The full gas tank was floating and there was water in all compartments bow to stern and the transom was almost under water!  I am guessing I moved around 100 gallons of water 1.5 to 2 gallons at a time with the basket. The problem was the skiff was knocking against the boat which, was not good, so I needed to stop that.  However, I did not dare pull the skiff into shore bow first again, could be another T-storm with repeat flooding of the skiff. 

Finally I hit on the idea of using a rolling hitch to tie to the port mooring line to keep the skiff away from the boat but bow into the waves. But after I finished tying it off, I got out of the skiff and thought now how am I going to get the skiff back close enough again to untie and leave! So I got my walking stick out which would reach the boat and used it to pull out one oar which could reach the skiff when it comes time to depart. Whew! What a mess! Now it is 5:15 and I'm ready to go up top to listen to music and sit around the fire ring and maybe sip some wine as a reward for all this hassle!

Not very clean! But it is a rolling hitch with a half hitch for security, tied to port mooring line.

Here was how the skiff laid to the wind and waves after the rolling hitch solution. Worked great!

Got chased in again by rain! So I set up the music and listened inside for awhile. Decided to try the love seat twin tonight to see if it is more comfortable to sleep on. The double was terrible, like sleeping on a board!  Foam is shot.

Went out and tightened all the mooring lines before bed time to ensure everything was secure. Changed the boat's bow line tie because the bow was working to starboard. Hopefully, the new tie off will prevent further movement. The skiff is riding well with the new tie off to the mooring line.

Moved aft to the bed now converted to lounge area which turns out to be very nice! Took some pictures of the sunset and listened to John Gorka, very mellow guitar music and song, while I sipped wine and generally enjoyed the view out the aft windows. Very nice! Too much wind to set up top anyway. Getting dark so may hit the sack early. It it now 7:30 pm but I suspect I will be in bed by 8 or so.

Almost 8 but I'm having too good of a time, watching the dark approach and the light buoys flashing in the northwest, up in the narrows. Very relaxing. The nap I had in the afternoon makes me more awake the usual for this time of day, plus the music is fine. It was starting to get cool as I had turned off the heater earlier. Had to get my fleece throw out to keep warm while I listened to music.

View from stern lounge area.  Good place to relax in stormy conditions.

Batteries on the BT sound system went dead so I guess it is time for bed. 8:15 pm and not really tired. May just put some batteries in the system though and keep going.  

I did put all 16 AA batteries in!  It is now 8:45 pm, so I am really staying up late tonight. Will listen to music a little longer and hit the sack soon. Finally time to go to bed (9:15 pm). I've stayed up later than normal for this trip. 

Dark and cloudy again tonight. Another sprinkle late in the eve. No stars tonight! Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so I hope to hike in the morning. Wind is up and pushing the boat against the shore again. May be a rough night! The weather for this trip has not been good. I have worked with it, but it could have been so much better with more sun and less rain.

Some sign of the sun at sunset, but it didn't last!