Where WhimSea Takes Us

Posted by Karen A. Brown

We have decided to share our love of sailing with anyone in the marina who wishes to try it out…. particularly power boaters as it fits into our grand plan of turning them over to the dark side (sailing). On July 30, we convinced Mark and Janet from Royal to come out for a sail with us. Though we had to look a little bit for the wind, initially, we did find some. Mark and Janet tell us that they enjoyed the sail, the fresh breeze and the sunshine.

Our plan is working.

Posted by Karen A. Brown

These weekends’ guests were to be Lisa (Troy’s sister) and her boyfriend, Tito. The plan was to leave on Saturday morning when they arrive and go towards the islands. Though we had great wind, it isn’t conducive to reaching and destination and we ended up turning back to the marina. On our sail out both Troy and Tito lost hats, that’s how fresh the breeze was.

On Sunday morning, Lisa and Tito decided to take advantage of the day and the area and do some sightseeing in Duluth and along the north shore, leaving us with a free afternoon. So we convinced some of our marina-mates to come out for a sail with us. Tim and Diane of Alleluia were among the first people we met while visiting Knife River and as they are fellow sailors who happened to be trapped in the marina doing maintenance, we felt they might enjoy a break from the work-a-day world. And they definitely did. We had a wonderful afternoon sail.

Posted by Karen A. Brown

Luckily, we were able to get our headsail problems resolved prior to Theresa’s planned trip aboard. We intended to show her the Apostle Islands from close up.

We left Saturday morning after loading Theresa’s gear and provisions aboard. Though we made several attempts at sailing there, much of our wind was variable and could not support shutting off the engines.

We eventually made it to Sand Island and Lighthouse Bay where we intended to stay for the evening. The sunset was beautiful and we even caught a glimpse of deer making their way along the shoreline.

We spent part of the next day traveling around the islands and trying to decide where to spend the night. We decided on Oak Island given the winds. We did get an opportunity to touch land and create some fire.

We spent the long weekend sitting back and enjoying beautiful weather and beautiful islands, good food and good company. We were favored with a relatively uneventful return sail on the Fourth of July. The only event that was remarkable was the Coast Guard call for a water hazard around Two Harbors. They were reporting a tree in the water. We kept a look out for it, but didn’t see it.

On our return to the marina we got an additional treat. Those at the marina that were staying overnight organized an informal beach party complete with fireworks and large fire. We had a good time and were all very relaxed at the end.