Port Wing to Frog Bay

Wednesday, August 1

Panache "Wung Out"

After breakfast, I jumped in the ‘Dink” and headed for the marina to get some ice finding that their hours are from 10:00 to 2:00 so back to the boat and some cleanup in preparation to heading for the Apostle Islands.  We got away at about 8:00 and headed out into a nice westerly breeze.  Our destination was again east north east so we were able to put the sails up with the main out to port and the jib out to starboard in a configuration called “wing and wing” or “wung out.”  We had an exhilarating ride with the boat averaging about 6mph.  The weather forecast was for possible thunderstorms in the late afternoon so our 30 plus mile ride to the Apostle Islands would be completed by around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.  At around 10:00 I noticed a large thunder cloud building behind us so I checked the radar app on my phone, found a storm building along the lake boarder with Canada and heading southeast.  I again checked the weather radio and nothing was mentioned of this storm.  Luckily, it moved between us and Duluth and gave us nothing but continual nice winds. 



At about noon, we passed the last safe harbor prior to reaching the Apostles and were making the run in grand style.  Shortly thereafter, the sky behind us began to darken and the radar app showed a line of strong storms passing Duluth and heading east southeast.  This one, the radio said, had the potential of putting out strong winds up to 40 knots and hail.  They were advising all boaters to seek immediate shelter!  I began looking for an island or some point of land to hide behind as the storm passed, however, there were none until we got to Sand Island, the first of the Apostle group.  By now the winds had increased to probably slightly above 20 mph which caused the waves to build 2 to 4 feet and our boat speed to top out at 8mph on numerous occasions.  If and when the storm got to us, we needed to get the sails down and the motor running so as to be able to keep the bow of the boat pointing into the high waves that would accompany it.  We were in somewhat of a dilemma, however, because of the position of the sails.  In order to turn into the wind, one must turn the boat in the opposite direct of the side of the boat that the sails are out.  In the case like ours, where we were running down wind with sails out on both sides of the boat, there was no way to get rid of the sails.  We were able to solve the problem by performing a gibe maneuver in which I physically pulled the main sail around from the starboard side of the boat to the port side.  This then allowed us to take down the spinnaker pole that we were using to hold the jib out and would to douse the sails when the wind got to be too high.  And then, by chance, the storm passed just behind us giving us nothing but strong sailable winds and significant waves. 

Sand Island Lighthouse

We were is desperate need of ice so we sailed around Sand Island and headed for a marina located on the mainland.  The Buffalo Bay Marina, located on the mainland advertised ice so we pulled into their docking facilities.  They were willing for us to be there, however, it turns out that they have no marina office and their main interest is gambling.  It is an Indian owned casino resort with docking facilities to accommodate their gambling patrons.  As for ice, well, they don’t have facilities for that either but the girl at the resort registration desk gave us two large bags and told us to go to each of the three floors of the hotel and get as much as we wanted, but to be careful not empty any one machine or she would have unhappy guests.  And so, we got ice.

Moonlight over Frob Bay Anchorage

We headed back north to a cove that we had seen on our way to Buffalo Bay.  Frog Bay is a beautiful cove that would protect us from the westerly winds that were blowing.  We enjoyed the delightful scenery as we grilled some hamburgers and polished off a bottle of wine.  We headed for a much need rest after a somewhat stress filled day.