Lake Pepin Trip 1.0

Early Friday morning I met up with friends Heidi, Troy, and Bradley at the boat in Afton. After getting the boat launched, Heidi took off and met up later with us that evening in Lake City. My original estimate was an 8 am departure, and 6 pm arrival.  We ended up getting to Lake City by 4:30. There was virtually no wind. We did try to put up sails on the North side of Lake Pepin, but when the wind meter said 0.0, we didn't bother with the sails.

On the way down, everything went well. Bradley made us cinnamon raisin french toast for breakfast, and we cooked up some brats on the grill for lunch. We ended up using only 3.5 gallons of gas all the way down. One of the concerns was the river current on the return trip. After leaving the St. Croix and leaving the Mississippi, we picked up about a knot of speed. Knowing that the river between Prescott and somewhere North of Lock and Dam #3, the currents were going to be the strongest, we decided it would be smart to try heading up-river for a bit to determine if it was realistic to make the return trip in the time allotted. So we turned the boat around and found at half-throttle we could still make up-river at about 2.5 knots.

When we reached Lock #3 at Welch, we radio-ed in, and the lock master allowed us to just float, rather than hang onto a line. He gestured that we'd only be going down about 8-10 inches with his hands. I thought he was kidding, but turns out he wasn't. Normally it's a 6-8 foot transition. I believe we only went down about 8 inches before the gates on the other side opened up. When we arrived at Lake Pepin, we met up with some of the members of the Northern Lights Sailing Club. We pulled up to our slip, met up with Heidi, and got some dinner before Troy, Heidi, and Bradley headed home.

Saturday morning after breakfast and coffee, the club met up at 9 am and figured out who would be sailing on which boat for the day. At first nobody signed up for the morning shift on the Donovan Too, and thought I'd try solo sailing. But one of the organizers had not signed up, so she planned on joining me, and another club member called and was delayed, and ended up joining us too. We had a really nice sail for a couple of hours before lunch.

coming after morning sail

When we returned, Lori and Jane greeted us entering the harbor. After a quick lunch, and a quick swap of a couple of passengers, we headed back out and sailed the rest of the afternoon. Jane spent most of the time nested in blankets and pillows in the v-berth with a movie, while the grown-ups enjoyed the sail and had great conversations. Throughout Friday night and Saturday there was a fair amount of discussion about possible storms coming Saturday night and Sunday, including mention of 40 mph winds. After we had dinner on Saturday, we decided to move the boat to a different slip in the harbor that was more protected from the wind. We also put a tarp up over the cabin to shed some of the rain. We did have some wind and rain over night, but nothing near the predictions.

wind and rain

Sunday morning there was some light rain, and winds were blowing about 20 mph. The club decided not to go out sailing, so most of the boats were loaded up and headed home. Our friend Wilbur arrived in Lake City around 10 am, and transitioned Lori and Jane off the boat, and Wilbur on for the return trip to Afton. After getting Lori and Jane on their way home, Wilbur and I got more fuel. I noticed for some reason the fuel line was disconnected from the fuel tank. I grabbed the line and reconnected it. We motored around to the gas dock and about half-way the motor quit, as if it had run out of fuel. I checked the fuel and we still had a couple of gallons left. I tried many times to get it to start, but didn't. Thinking there was something wrong with the 6-gallon tank, I changed over to the smaller 3-gallon tank. I quickly got the motor re-started, pulled up to the gas dock, and topped off the tank. Wanting to run on the larger 6-gallon tank, I switched back over to that one. We iced up the cooler and were ready for the return trip.

Coffee or Tea ????

So we headed out and when we got just outside the harbor, we were broadside to the wind blowing about 20 mph, the motor quit again. I tried several times to re-start it without luck. We were quickly being blown into the sea wall of the marina, which is essentially a big berm of rocks. It was less than a minute from the time the motor quit to us being against the wall. I switched the line back over to the smaller tank again, and got the motor started about the time the boat was being pushed sideways against the wall. I put the motor in reverse and opened up to full throttle. As we backed out, the motor was coming out of the water because of the waves. Once we got the boat out far enough, we turned it in the right direction and headed North. Both Wilbur and I were fairly sure that we hadn't hit too hard against the rocks, but I did have Wilbur check all over the cabin of the boat for any leaks. One of the things that I knew did happen, was that the rudder had been pushed back and the prop had gotten into the rudder itself, and shaved off about a 1/2" by 6" area on the rudder. After we gained some composure, we threw the sails up and rode the waves to the other end of the lake, doing about 5.5 knots, since the wind was directly at our backs.

some of the boat repairs that need to be done 

We were able to sail until the point where the channel was too narrow for sailing. We motored our way up through Red Wing with a mix of rain and sun, before spending the night at the Treasure Island Marina, which was about 6 hours after we left Lake City. We grilled up some more brats, corn on the cob, before settling in and relaxing. Wilbur broke out his accordion and played for a bit. We left about 8:30 on Monday morning. When we got to the draw bridge and lift bridge in Prescott, Wilbur commented that there were millions of dollars of infrastructure being used just for us, and were stopping traffic too. We made some lunch, and finished up the last 11 miles to the Windmill Marina in Afton at about 2:30 pm on Monday.

After getting the boat back up on the trailer, we started doing damage assessment. We had chipped some paint off the keel, a couple of scrapes down the side from the bow to the keel below the water line, a couple of small chunks of fiberglass taken out of the keel, and some smudges of slime above the water line where we had scraped against the rocks the day before. While there are some repairs that need to be done, they are relatively minor, compared to what could have happened.

The return trip took about 12 hours, and headed down-river took about 8. We've already planned a second trip to Pepin in July, so Lori and Jane can go through the lock and dam. We're all looking forward to that.

It was a great weekend for us. We enjoyed meeting more people in the Northern Lights Sailing Club, and are looking forward to a fun Summer full of sailing.

Leaving early in the morning for 4 days on the boat

Early in the morning I will be sailing the boat from Afton to Lake City on Lake Pepin, which is about 45 miles down river. Then spending 2 days sailing on Lake Pepin, then sailing back to Afton on Sunday and Monday, or that is the plan anyway.  Lori and Jane will join me at Lake City on Saturday morning and will be staying on the boat overnight. I will have a different crew there and back, and each of the 3 to 4 sails we make out of Lake City. The boat is ready as I can make it and I am excited for the weekend. The weather looks ok but not great. I will try and post some over the weekend.

Fifth time out and 6.7 knots

We have been able to get out the last few weekends, one or two times each weekend. This weekend was cool, with it trying to rain most of the time. But on Sunday after being hoisted twice to the top of the mast to fix the mast light, Bradly and I did get out and sailed for a few hours. We ended up sailing up to the bridge up river about 3 miles or so. After getting in to some good wind finally, we were able to sail almost all of the way to the bridge without tacking and kept our speed at about 5 plus knots most of the time. A few times we  sailed at 6 knots, and at one point made it to 6.7 knots.

Over the past few weeks I have been making small changes to the boat and trailer. I found out the old solar panel was not working and got a new one, which I will mount on the front hatch since it can be walked on. I also added a tiller lock. At this point I think I might be able to sail single handed. I hope to try that one of these days soon. Today I built a new cabinet for the electrical  upgrade #2 and a rack to hold charts and log books.

Rack for books, charts, etc.

New electrical cabinet.

For the most part most everything is getting done and working well . In two weeks I will be spending 4 days and 3 night on the boat, and best as I can tell it is ready to go. Jane and Lori will be going with me for 2 days and one night of that trip. I will be sailing about 45 miles down river to Lake City on Lake Pepin, then sail around the lake for the weekend, and then return back to Afton starting Sunday afternoon through Monday. I will have a few different crews from Friday to Monday. I am looking forward to seeing how I do, as well as how the boat performs.

First sail and no fail!!!!!

We got out with the Donovan Too on Sunday with some 15 knot winds with some stronger gusts.  Maybe not the best wind for  first sail.We ended up reefing down the main and jib. We learned a few things that need to be changed, but overall it went well. I did not bring the extension for the trailer this time but will bring it next time to keep all the truck tires out of the water. It looks like the old depth guage and knot meter are a bit off, but do work. I am going to need to add add a genoa lead track for the roller furler. I thought I might, but till we got out, was not 100% sure. I found the one I think I want.

All in all I am very happy with the boat and how it is working I plan to get back out in two weeks to do more sailing, which will be one of many days and weekends we hope to have on the boat this year.

doing some final rigging 

Jane and Wilbur came with too.

Someone needs a hair cut

What is wrong with this photo?

Snow snow snow on April 23 but better weather coming this weekend.

Where the Hell is Spring!!??

On a good year, there was a chance we could be in the water by now. But at the rate Winter is holding on this year, it looks like at least a couple of more weeks before the ice is off the water, which makes for a couple of crabby sailors. There's lots of things to update about since our last post. First off, I squeaked by passing the ASA 105 Coastal Navigation class. I still need to work on a few things, like set drift and a running fix. Some of that I will do in the coming months, or at least before I take the ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising class, a three + day class on Lake Superior.

We've finalized on a location for the boat. In the St. Croix Valley, in Afton, Minnesota, we secured a park and launch space at the Windmill Marina. This will be a little bit further than some parts of Minnetonka for us, but I can leave the boat on the trailer, mast up, and ready to sail. We can be sailing quicker at this location, despite the longer mileage, since we won't have to spend time rigging the mast and sails. We can store the boat there during the Winter, as well. A park and launch space is considerably less cost than a slip directly in the water. And it's a nice location with lots of places to sail up and down the river, near Lake Pepin.

We are planning a number of sailing trips this Summer. The first one will be the second weekend in June on Lake Pepin, with the Northern Lights Sailing Club. I plan to take the Friday off of that week, and sail the boat from Afton to Lake City, about 43 miles, and one lock. I'm hoping to make the trip down the river in about 10 hours. Being that I'll have more than 10 hours of daylight, unlike the trip from Pepin to Mobile, as well as warmer temperatures, it should be easier. Then we plan to sail Saturday and Sunday that weekend on Lake Pepin, then load the boat on the trailer, and bring it back to Afton.

We got a dinghy from West Marine when they had a close out sale at their Bloomington location. It can roll up and be stored on board, or towed behind the boat, and even put a small motor on it if we wanted. Jane has declared it her boat, and is working on names for it. It should be useful for getting to shore when we anchor out, or can even take it to some of the local lakes here in town, and do some fishing.

Jane looks right at home in her dinghy, in the living room.

I've been working on A couple of things on the boat. I came across an inexpensive roller furling that was still new in the box, and found a place that would modify my existing sail very inexpensively. If I had to go out and purchase everything, it would have been thousands of dollars, instead of hundreds. The roller furling will make sailing a lot easier for everyone, and one of the last things I wanted to do, so I am able to single-handedly sail the boat. Before we decided on putting the boat at the Windmill Marina, I had built a trailer extension for easier launching of the boat. It allowed for 7 more feet. My guess is we won't need that because of the ramp available at the marina, but it may be useful at other locations. I've started my final punch list. Even though there's nearly 30 items on the list, most of them are small, and will take very little time to complete. I just need a couple of days above 32 degrees to wrap everything up, not the predicted snow and cold that will hit in the next couple of days.

One of the other things I was able to complete was replacing the decals and striping on the deck. It really cleans up the boat, in its look and feel.

Old Decals

New Deacals

New striping

Donovan Too

After hearing back from the previous boat owners about the story behind the name Donovan Too, we knew we couldn't change it. The story goes that there once was a little dog named Donovan who lived nearby the childhood home of the female-half of the couple who owned the boat. Her younger brother apparently noted on several occasions that he really liked the dog who was named Donovan. Because of this memory, into her adulthood and throughout their marriage, they would commonly refer to things that they liked as Donovans. The couple named their first boat Donovan, and when they sold it and got the Hunter 23, they decided it was a "Donovan Too."

I also have something that I like named Donavan. So I've begun to think of things as Donavans, as well. We really liked the story behind the name, and so Donovan Too it remains. We are grateful to the previous owners that they took the time to share the story with us, and we hope to take care of the boat as well as they did. The sailing community seems to be a friendly group so far.