A Summer for Sailing On
|
|
The Madeline
Tall ships will visit ports on Lake Superior this year. The schooner Madeline (above) will stop in Munising, Michigan, on its way to Duluth, and will visit Marquette on its return trip. The U.S. Brig Niagara (below) will join the Madeline and Pride of Baltimore II for Duluth’s Maritime Festival August 1-3. Courtesy Maritime Heritage Alliance.
|
If sailing or sailboats are part of your Lake Superior dream, this could be the summer to fulfill that dream. This summer is filled with different options for visitors and residents, whether the aim is to view tall ships reflecting bygone eras of water travel, to experience a cruise on a 30-foot vessel, to charter a sailboat or to enroll in a class to gain new skills and confidence.
In Grand Marais, Minnesota, North House Folk School offers two-hour sailing cruises most days of the week using the 50-foot schooner Hjordis (pronounced “your-dis”).
“We want you to come and discover the grace and beauty of Lake Superior,” says North House Program Director Scott Pollock. “We want people to fall in love with this traditional method of transportation … and experience the sounds of the sails and the lapping of the water.”
 In each issue of Lake Superior Magazine, we
feature full-color beauty and insightful articles about the Greatest of
the Great Lakes. We take you to places that you may never have visited.
We tell you about people who are making a difference. We show you why
this is a unique region of the world, one which will have a profound
influence on all of our futures. It's a magazine that will take your
breath away!Visit the Online Calendar of Events • Updated weekly • Covers the entire Lake Region • Organized by date and location • Submit your events for publication Go To >Calendar of Events
|
Those who yearn to see tall ships up close are in luck.
Three tall ships, each with an interesting story, will visit the Duluth harbor and give tours during the city’s Maritime Festival, August 1-3. The Madeline, the U.S. Brig Niagara and the Pride of Baltimore II are scheduled to arrive July 31 for the festival at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Word is that operators of the three vessels will try to arrive at the same time, creating a great photo opportunity on the horizon that suggests a scene from the Peter Weir/Russell Crowe adventure movie “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
“We’re hoping to be able to coordinate the arrival,” says Walter Rybka, site administrator for U.S. Brig Niagara and the Erie Maritime Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Although there’s no formal agreement for such an arrival, Walter adds, “If it happens, it’s a bonus. It’s more a matter of the ship captains staying in touch.”
 The Niagara
Courtesy Flagship Niagara League
|
Tours will be available daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors to see all three vessels. The event is sponsored by Visit Duluth and the DECC, where advance tickets are available (www.decc.org) and allow fest-goers to avoid waiting in lines in August. Maritime and related exhibitors will be in the DECC during the three days of the festival (August 1-3).
When the Niagara was last in Duluth six years ago, more than 10,000 people paid to see it, event organizers say. With three tall ships moored for tours this summer, “we would expect 30,000 to 40,000 people during the festival,” says Terry Mattson, president and CEO of Visit Duluth.
For those who dream of being on a tall ship, the Niagara plans to offer a day sail August 4, noon to 5:30 p.m., for those who sign on as students. Tuition is $85; sign up with festival organizers and fill out a student application at www.brigniagara.org. Walter Rybka called it “a one-day educational program,” noting that the Niagara is not a passenger vessel; it’s a sailing school vessel.
Another option: Enroll as a trainee and sail with the Niagara crew from Erie to Duluth, basically living in a hammock, at a cost of $1,200 for two weeks (10 to 11 days of actual sailing), according to Walter. “It would be a fairly adventurous, rigorous trip for those who sign up.”
The Niagara is a reproduction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s relief flagship in a key battle of the War of 1812. The two-masted ship is 198 feet long in sparred length (to the tip of the jib booms) and sails with 40 officers and crew (compared with 155 in 1813). It was launched in 1988 in Erie, and since its commissioning on August 18, 1990, it’s made summer cruises on the Great Lakes and eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States as a goodwill ambassador for the state of Pennsylvania.
The schooner Madeline - 92 feet long overall - was built between 1985 and 1990 in Traverse City, Michigan, by volunteers with the nonprofit organization the Maritime Heritage Alliance. A reconstruction of a mid-19th century Great Lakes Schooner and one of Michigan’s official tall ships, Madeline is open to visitors at its home port of Traverse City. It’s made of the same kinds of wood used in the original schooners: rot-resistant white oak, common in Great Lakes forests, was used for the keel, frames and planking; the masts and other spars (bowsprit, booms) are made of white pine especially harvested for Madeline; and red pine, not a wood used a century ago, was used as planking and was pressure-treated with preservatives, according to the alliance.
 The Pride of Baltimore II
The Pride of Baltimore II,
a replica of an 1812-era topsail schooner called a Baltimore schooner,
will be part of the Maritime Festival in Duluth. The festival helps to
celebrate Minnesota’s 150th year as a state. Courtesy Pride of
Baltimore Inc.
|
On its way to Duluth, the Madeline will be stopping in Munising, Michigan, July 12-13, for that city’s Maritime Festival. Called “Sails on the Bay,” the festival at the marina will include an art show, music, food, blacksmith demonstrations, antique boat mooring and kids activities among other things. It’s hoped that the festival will become an annual event, says Gregg Bruff, chief of heritage education at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, one of the festival’s sponsors.
“The history of Munising has always been linked to the lake,” he says. “We have Coast Guard history, lighthouse history … and certainly some life-saving history.”
The role for the Madeline will include brief educational cruises in the bay for kids in Alger County MSU Extension’s Life of Lake Superior Youth Program. Deck tours also will be provided for the general public both days.
The Maritime Heritage Alliance said Madeline also plans to stop in Marquette August 9-10.
The Pride of Baltimore II, which is also 20 years old, was last in Duluth in 1989. Built as a replacement for the original Pride of Baltimore, the Pride II is a reproduction 1812-era Baltimore clipper topsail schooner, 157 feet long in sparred length. It sails with a professional crew of 12, but can accommodate guest crew. This summer it’s offering guest spots for the journey from St. Ignace to Duluth and then from Duluth to Green Bay. Contact Pride of Baltimore Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland, at 888-557-7433, for information.
If you’ve ever wondered what’s it like on a tall ship, one Michigan woman can tell you. Laura Quackenbush of Lake Leelanau, Michigan, has sailed the Great Lakes for more than 30 years. A member of Madeline’s crew since 1992, she describes herself as a mate, crew trainer and administrator.
“Sailing Madeline is about re-creating part of Great Lakes history. It is about teamwork and camaraderie - no work is accomplished on her (or any tall ship) by one’s self. It is about a love of sailing and being on the water - about deep respect for the Great Lakes’ wind and water,” she says.
“It is about being a part of the heritage of Great Lakes watermen (and women). It is about an intimacy with a boat that one has learned from stern to jib boom, keel to top mast, and spent hours taking care of. Maybe not socially redemptive as a pastime, but soul satisfying.
“The highs are a broad reach on a fair day, a night passage under the stars, a nap on a slow passage cradled in the net, a sunrise creeping over the horizon as you sip on a hot cup of rejuvenating joe. Drowsing with the wind howling in the rig and the lap of water on the other side of the hull. The dues, paid willingly, are hours knee deep in the bilge or with a sanding block, and alas hours at the table considering all the details. All is part of sailing Madeline. Lucky am I.”
For more about Madeline, go to www.maritimeheritagealliance.org.
If that whets your desire for a sailing experience, you can check out these options for a sailing excursion or a course in sailing:
 A group enjoys a corporate retreat cruise in Thunder Bay Harbour, provided by Sail Superior.com Yacht Charters & Sleeping Giant Sailing School in Thunder Bay. Courtesy Gregory Heroux/SailSuperior.com Yacht Charters & Sleeping Giant Sailing School |
• In Thunder Bay, Gregory Heroux operates Sail Superior.com Yacht Charters & Sleeping Giant Sailing School. He offers 90-minute harbor cruises departing from Pier 3 in Marina Park, as well as custom excursions. The most popular cruise is a 3 1/2-hour tour to the Welcome Islands for $360 for up to eight guests on the boat. A charter trip to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is also common. Such trips can last six hours, 12 hours, or be set up for three days to a week or more.
When starting in 2001, he intended to bareboat charter (you captain the vessel) his 40-foot boat. But many people asked him to take them on tours and extended cruises, and his business changed into a harbor tour boat for tourists, Gregory says.
“A great many of these passengers loved the lake and sailing so much, that they soon began asking me to instruct them in the art of sailing. I took instructor’s certification and last year opened up the Sleeping Giant Sailing School portion of Sail Superior.com,” he says. “This is now the fastest-growing portion of my business.”
For example, he teaches a 10-hour hands-on introductory sailing course that emphasizes “crew overboard” rescue drills and basic boat handling. Gregory says that 9 out of 10 students return for more advanced instruction that leads to certification.
He says some new excursions are in the works for 2008. For information, call 807-628-3333 or visit www.sailsuperior.com.
• At North House Folk School in Grand Marais, besides the classes, two-hour sailing cruises on the Hjordis run regularly from mid-June to mid-October. The cost is $45 for adults and $35 for kids younger than 12 and include a talk about the local ecology, geology and history.
“A lot of our two-hour sailing traffic is the Grand Marais visitor,” says Scott Pollock. The “Full Moon Sails” also are popular.
North House offers courses such as “Craft of Sail.” That basic course offered annually fills up by March. Another is “Sail Training Trip - Isle Royale Adventure,” which lasts five days. A similar course is called “Sail Training Trip - Apostle Islands Adventure,” is an immersion program for all levels of ability. Limited to six students and lasting four days, it covers navigation, helming, watch rotation, knot tying and rigging, as well as cooking and cleaning. According to the course description, “You will learn to plot a course on Lake Superior given current and forecasted weather conditions. By the end of this adventure you will have a new appreciation for the lake, formed a unique bond with your shipmates and gained some incredible sailing experience.”
For a list of courses or sailing cruises, call 218-387-9762 or visit www.northhousefolkschool.com.
• Sailboats Inc., based in Superior, Wisconsin, can provide vessels ranging from 25 to 41 feet long for bareboat chartering, but also has captains available to take people out on the lake. On Lake Superior, its boats are available in Superior (Barker’s Island), Bayfield, Wisconsin, and Thunder Bay.
Sailboats Inc. offers a “Sailing Charter Certification Course” (though not in Thunder Bay). Most people take the course to charter a sailboat, according to Angie Moen, manager of sailing instruction and charters for Sailboats Inc. Many of the students are couples - one already knows how to sail and the other wants to learn how. Skills taught in the three-day course include engine use, docking, anchoring - fundamentals of chartering along with sailing.
“That’s really where the bareboat charter certification comes in,” Angie says. “Some people may be worried about hitting the dock” or possibly other boats.
For more about the company’s charter policies or its training course, call 800-826-7010 or visit www.sailboats-inc.com.
• Dreamcatcher Sailing in Bayfield offers Apostle Islands sailing, including day trips and overnight adventures. A licensed captain will take guests aboard Dreamcatcher, a 33-foot sailing yacht, or a new boat, Esprit.
Viewing birds and learning about the lake ecosystem are done every trip. Call 800-682-1587 or visit www.dreamcatcher-sailing.com.
Feedback: edit@lakesuperior.comReturn to Table of Contents
|