John, Wonderful story. So glad to see the M's out there and doing well and being so seaworthy. It gives me a lot more confidence about sailing mine. When you said you got some oversized ground tackle, could you be more specific as to what type and size anchor, how much and what size chain rode, etc. Thanks, Joe Seafrog M'17 ----- Original Message ----- From: "John and DesAnne Hippe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 1:14 AM Subject: M_Boats: Isle Royale Trip
> Hello All, > > Well I made it around Isle Royale again. 11 days and about 235 miles! It > was terrific! The solitude was great. > > For those of you unfamiliar with Isle Royale, it is a 45 mile long by 9 > mile > wide island in Lake Superior about 12 or so miles off the Minnesota/Canada > coast. > > I departed from Grand Portage on Saturday August 30th for the 23 mile > crossing over to the Windigo located at the southern end of the island. > Wind was light so I had to motor most of the way but every other day had > plenty of wind. > >>From Windigo the next leg was about 26 miles up to McCargoe Cove. I was >>on > a broad reach almost the entire way...glorious! The next several days > were > spent exploring the various coves and inlets that make up the northern end > of the island. I even went up around Gull Islands which are about 10-15 > miles north of Isle Royale -- kind of spooky getting that far out but it > was > still cool. > > I had a new suit of sails made for me this winter which include a main > with > two reef points, a 130 working jib, a 160 genoa, and a 60 storm jib. With > this combination I was able to keep moving safely through all the > different > weather. I had some very light air days 3-7 kts but still able to keep > moving with the 160; and some 20-25 knot wind in which the reefed main and > storm jib worked admirably. > > Even reefed down I was able to tack through 90 degrees when in calm water. > Out in larger 5-6 foot waves I was getting more around 120 degrees through > the tacks. Still working on this. I think that the wave action just > pushes > me around too much. I was also over canvased that day as I didn't want to > go out on the foredeck to change the jib. I did several times on > subsequent > days however. > > On one day I did get some water over the combings -- kind of scary seeing > 55 > degree water pouring in...yikes! I was just coming out of a cove where I > had been anchored on a close hauled course when a big gust caught me > broadside. Over we went and in came the water. Not a huge amount but > enough to cause me to keep my hand on the main sheet for the rest of the > morning...the winds were very gusty. Usually about 10 knots but gusting > to > 25 or more knots. Had to keep playing the main like a dinghy. I had a > single reef and the storm jib. I finally wised up and put the second reef > in and we were fine after that. > > I felt quite safe with my boat and my gear. I found that the Montgomery > 15 > was equal to all the weather I encountered. Having a good set of sails > was > indespensible. Never again will I suffer through old sails! In addition > to > the new sails I had a good complement of safety gear -- oversized ground > tackle, PFD with harness and tether, VHF radio, inflatable Kayak towed 50 > feet astern, and EPIRB. > > I have posted some videos on youtube -- > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46zhrxeh2CM and > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPLowIibBU > > If the link doesn't work then try looking up "Montgomery 15 coming at you" > (me being silly), and "Rounding Blake Point" > > I will upload more videos and pictures later. > > Cheers, > > John Hippe > M-15 > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
