WhimSea's Log

Posted by Karen A. Brown

We arrived at the marina on Saturday morning to find out that the battery charger had stopped working at some point in time. Since it’s only two years old, we suspect that it’s related to the power outages that the marina had over the last few weeks. At any rate, our batteries were entirely dead since we had left the refrigerator on all week.

We borrowed a battery charger from Uncle Ron and hooked it up and then set about our chores for the day.

We took a break for dinner and went with Dave and Deb to Valentini’s Vicino Lago. They’d been telling us about this restaurant for a while but because of their odd hours, Troy and I have never been able to go. We’re very happy that we had the opportunity to give it a shot. The food was excellent. I had a stuffed ravioli with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and olives. It was wonderfully seasoned and very very good. I think Troy and Dave both looked at my plate with great envy.

On Sunday we had breakfast at the Vanilla Bean and when we came back had enough of a charge on the batteries to start up the engine and take her out in the lake for a bit of a drive. This helped to charge the batteries even more. We kept working on the Trans to do list, slowly chipping away at the tasks to do before heading home.

Posted by Karen A. Brown

This Independence Day we planned to be in town instead of at the Big Island. The upcoming race and work schedules conflict with our annual trip, so we are foregoing it this year.

We were lucky enough to be invited to go with Dave and Deb on Rain or Shine down to Duluth to watch the fireworks from a dock about a block away from where the fire off the fireworks. We were all very excited about the trip and were even more excited when we learned that there would be four boats in total making the trip! Bruce and Kathy with KCII, Don and Linda with Sanity and John and Marg Hellweg on Reflex Blue would join Rain or Shine on the dock. Though Michael and Kathy on Irish Eyes had planned to come down as well, they had a lot going on that day and ended up driving down to join us for dinner and the show.

We all decided to fish our way down the Lake to Duluth, hoping to add some salmon to the steak already on the menu for the night. Though we had a great day fishing, the catching wasn’t the best for those of us on Rain or Shine. Lucky for us, Don on Sanity had better lucky at the catching part, and we had fish for an appetizer before the steak.

The fireworks were the best I’ve ever seen. They were so close that I kept trying to back my chair up to get away from them. The sound of the fireworks reverberated off of the docks and buildings adjacent to the slip, making them echo much longer then they should have. The colors were bright and brilliant…. Blues, reds, yellows. All the hues were covered. They also had some great shapes, even smiley faces. It was awesome. I’ve never seen the like.

Hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to get invited next year!

Posted by Karen A. Brown

It’s pirates weekend so it is sure to be sunny and hot! The day started with Troy and I finishing up the Pirates preparation before joining the rest of the folks gathered to watch Grandma’s Marathon on Saturday morning. I am truly amazed by the sheer volume of people that attend the race every year. The runners start with the wheeled set, then the elite runners, then people come over the hill in a wave of bodies that fills the road to capacity, pushing the sight seekers into the ditches and shoulders along the way. For long minutes people flow out of Two Harbors on their way to Duluth, a seemingly never ending sea.

Afterward we finished the rest of the preparations for the Pirate event and waiting for the noon bell and the start of the day.

Mark and Michael started with their cannons up on the hill near the beach while Troy and Dave loaded up WhimC with a cannon, potatoes, the captains chest and themselves. They were hoping to be able to put WhimSea on anchor between the mainland and Knife Island but the wind was so variable that Troy didn’t like the idea of leaving her out on the water with no one aboard for that long. So instead they rowed Charlie around through the entrance and over to the beach.

While they were rowing over Mark and Michael began firing on them from the beach. It was an awesome spectacle and really got the kids in the spirit of pirate day. Once they made it ashore, the kids all signed up to go a-pirating and Troy broke the group of kids into four distinct teams; Dave, Troy, Michael and Mark would each lead a team of kids around the marina in search of the clues that would bring them to the big treasure at the end.

The kids all had a great time, even though it was hot and sunny (typical). Eventually all groups had gathered their clues and met back at the Clubhouse to determine the finally clue to the main treasure chest. Once they found the main treasure chest, Troy found that he had lost the key and had to go back to WhimSea for a new one. Eventually he and the kids returned with the key and they got the treasure chest open. The kids all got handfuls of booty to enjoy before the chest was packed away for another year.

After all the excitement (and work), Troy and I laid down for a short nap while Karen R along with Mark and Janet shot candy out of the cannons for the kids.

Later that evening, we had a potluck dinner with ribs provided by the club. Troy and I stayed for the dinner then retreated to the beach for some quiet, as well as some shade. I cannot believe how hot it is every year on pirate day.

The next day found us still relaxing as well as working on WhimSea. There were so many preparations to do for the Race and time feels like it’s running out.

Posted by Karen A. Brown

My folks decided to come to the North Shore for the weekend. They arrived early on Friday and spent the day wandering about Two Harbors and generally playing tourists. Saturday morning we met for breakfast at Judy’s before heading out for a bit of a sail. The weather, being spring was typically iffy. We had some wind to take them towards Two Harbors, enough to bring us into the harbor for a quick turn about and back again.

We were heading back towards the marina when the rain hit. It was not long lasting, but did get us a bit wet while it was there. The sky was black overhead and definitely threatening. Mom and Dad went below until it passed, then joined us topside while we motored the rest of the way back to the marina. As typically happens when rain passes, the wind left us with the clouds.

We returned to the marina and visited a bit in the cockpit before heading to the Lighthouse for dinner where we enjoyed a nice dinner.

Mom and Dad left early on Sunday morning leaving us the day to ourselves.

Posted by Karen A. Brown

Pretty quiet weekend at the marina overall. The day is sunny with a beautiful wind that feels like she’ll push us over to the Apostle’s beautifully. Dave worked on his cabin for much of the day on Saturday, then joined us at the marina for the trip across. We would arrive late on Saturday evening to set the hook on Swallow Bay and enjoy some steak and a very late dinner.

We awoke Sunday to an overcast day threatening rain. Unfortunately, nature delivered on her threat and we spent the entire trip back to the marina on Sunday in and out of the rain. As Dave says, we needed to test out the foul weather gear and test it we did. His passed inspection!

Posted by Karen A. Brown

Memorial weekend and there are a lot of activities planned for the weekend. First and most important is reconnecting with the folks at the marina that we haven’t seen since the Fall Out party in 2008. Memorial weekend is often the first weekend a lot of people come up to the marina for the first time of the season. The week leading up to Memorial is a flurry of activity for the marina and people splash down their boats and load them up with the essentials for a good season on the water.

This is also typically the first Yacht Club event of the season with a membership drive occurring in the morning on Saturday with rolls and coffee as well as pizza in the evening.

We attended both events in between working on WhimSea and preparing her for another Trans Superior training event. The guys are all very excited about the race. It feels so very far away right now, but we know that the time will fly between now and August.

Posted by Karen A. Brown

Troy and I went up to the marina this last weekend for the first time. We drove up Saturday morning to pretty brisk winds and a down right empty marina. (kind of a surprise actually). We had a nice relaxing day, moving into the boat for the season.

On Sunday we got out for a the first sail of the season. There was still some wind left over from Saturday so we fairly flew up the coast to Two Harbors, reaching the lighthouse within an hour and hitting over 7 knots. We came about and headed back to the marina as there was work to do on the boat. Even close hauled we were flying (though the wind was must cooler on the way back).

We're looking forward to an another excellent season!