Chrysler Sailors Forum

Great narrative and fantastic video. Not only do you have a freshwater paradise for sailing big water, but there is also the Valhalla of Canoes nearby as well.

Thank you for sharing, that was a great sailing adventure an with photos too

Craig...that was some Kickass video work....and great pics too. Thank you so much for posting and braving the elements for us mere mortals to aspire to. Wife and I camped for a week in Copper Falls this summer and ferried over to Madelaine Island for a day...we hope to spend some time sailing there in the future on our C22. Thanx

Craig...can you describe your video rig in the last video...I have a GoPro and I really enjoyed the way the last video was shot..I would like to duplicate your technique.

Great write up and pics !!

Glad you enjoyed it.

The camera setup for the last two videos was very simple. I used an Olympus Stylus Tough waterproof camera, though it was away from the water and could have been any small, light digital camera. I mounted it on a small plastic table-top tripod (REI Ultrapod II). I folded in the legs on the tripod, put the tripod against the end of an 8' boathook, and wrapped the tripod Velcro strap around the boathook. For extra stability/insurance, I also wrapped some Gorilla Tape around the the tripod and boathook. Then I loosened the ball/socket end on the tripod and adjusted the orientation so it would be looking back down at me when I held up the boathook. I adjusted the camera tilt so that the boathook was just out of the bottom of the field of view, then tightened the ball/socket. Then I started recording and held the boathook up. It was challenging to steady and aim the camera, because the wind was high and the boat was bouncing around in the waves. Two of my friends brought Gopros on the trip. I've only seen the shots from one so far. The video quality is much higher than the video quality of my camera, but the sound quality is terrible because the Gopro camera was mounted inside a waterproof housing that completely isolates the internal microphone. So my advice, if you are confident you can keep it out of the water, is to use it without the waterproof housing. Or you can do what some other people have done, and drill a hole through the waterproof housing and latch, giving the microphone a chance to hear. The housing will still provide a lot of protection from splashes, and if you want to make it completely waterproof again, you just put heavy tape over the hole.

I added a photo showing the "exploded view" of my setup to my trip pictures.

You should definitely take your C-22 up to the Apostle Islands! We took my friend's C-22 up there several times, and also out to Isle Royale (from Grand Portage) one year. Get Bonnie Dahl's excellent cruising guide "Superior Way", and you can start planning.

Craig...thanx for the info...my GoPro also has an open back for the housing that allows sound to get to the mic so no holes will be needed.

Great read however I can not get the video to play!
Darn!

Scott

Sorry the video won't play. If you have an iPhone, try that. It works best if you install and use the google plus app on the phone.

I've had a little hassle with the video sound when playing them back on my laptop from Google Plus. They all seem to default to mute, and I have to turn it on.

Thanks for the write up and photos/videos! I really enjoyed them. I love the apostles but haven't had the chance to get the c22 up there yet. Maybe next year. Another fun trip on my list would be to tow up to Grand Portage and sail around Isle Royal.

Dan

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

Great trip and pictures. You were up there the best part of the week!
I understand the next weekend (Applefest in Bayfield) was windy out of the NE with rain.

Craig,

I have to agree with everybody else, that is an awsome write up of your adventure. I especially enjoyed reading it because we were also up there in August so I can relate to some of the places you visited. I will definately have to visit Bear Island and check out those sea caves next year. How was the launch at Little Sand Bay? Was it deep enough to launch without using a tongue extension?

Glad you enjoyed it.

Yes. We launched at Little Sand Bay without a tongue extension, and it was actually pretty easy. The Suburban was in the water as far as we wanted to back it, though. I have an EZ Roller trailer. Is that what you have? It would have been more difficult with a bunk-style trailer. Maybe not possible.

When I was up there Labor Day weekend taking a sailing class in Bayfield, I inspected and measured depths at the ramps in Little Sand Bay, Red Cliff, and Bayfield. In order from deepest to shallowest (measured at 24 ft from the edge of the water) were:
Bayfield: 3' 7"
Little Sand Bay: 3" 3"
Red Cliff: 3' 2"

In comparison, the ramp at the Lake City Marina, where I kept my boat this summer, had a depth of 3' 5", measured 24' from the edge of the water.

I talked to a woman who was sitting at the Little Sand Bay launch Labor Day weekend, and she said they dredged the harbor this summer. It fills up with sand regularly, and I think they typically dredge it every couple of few years.

We chose Little Sand Bay because we like the campground there. In the end, we left work early and were able to step the mast and launch the boat Friday night, so we could sleep in the boat at the dock.

We were a little concerned about the depth, and to make sure we wouldn't waste a bunch of time stepping the mast and then find out we couldn't launch, we did a "pre-step launch". We backed the trailer in and verified we could get the boat off, then pulled it back on the trailer, up on land, stepped the mast, and then launched for real.

I noticed your post last week that you had Alpha up in the Apostles in August. Did you ever write up an account or post any pix? I'd be very interested in hearing more.

Have you been to Devils Island or Meyers Beach? Those caves are fantastic, too.

Craig

I do have the EZ Loader roller trailer also. We launched at Red Cliff without any problem but my rear wheels were in the water.

This was our first trip up to the islands so it was a good learning curve for us. It was a lot more challenging with all the wind shifts we encountered than sailing Mille Lacs where we have spent most of our time.

When I have more time on my hands, I will try and put together a video of our trip and post it to Youtube. The trip up to the Apostles was definately the highlight of our summer. Next year I would like to make two trips up there.

Keep us posted on what you find out with the mysterious water intake. I noticed mine had some water in the bilge when I got home. Maybe the four inches of rain we recieved overnight while on Madeline Island had something to do with it.

Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

I have had that exact tripod for years, and though it has been strapped to many things, I never thought of the boat hook. Thanks for a great idea.