And we’re keeping this one to ourselves
Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006
In the summer of 2004, the largest U.S. sailing magazine ran a list of the top 10 towns that are perfect for sailors: “Sailville, USA,” they called the collective selections. Bayfield, Wisconsin, our home port, headed the list. The list was alphabetical, to be sure, but how could they? Our unspoken goal has always been to discourage more sailors from discovering what is becoming a very crowded cruising area.
These magazine editors called the Apostle Islands near Bayfield “the Caribbean of the North.” Arrgh! I wanted to write a letter to the editor. It was going to focus on the reasons for NOT sailing on Lake Superior.
“Wait!” I wanted to shout. “You’re wrong! Did you mention the mosquitoes, the biting black flies, or the short (very short) sailing season? Take a look at a U.S. map! Did you notice how far north this lake is? Did you notice how cold the water is (48°F average water temperature in June, according to your article)? Did you see that this water is colder even than the West Coast sailing areas you selected? Did you mention that cold water makes for very cold breezes all summer long? Did you mention that swimming is an activity for the young, foolhardy, or uninformed?”
I fumed. But I didn’t write that letter. Why call further attention to a place I’m trying to protect from discovery?
Two months later the same magazine was back at it again. This time the editors selected the top 15 places to take your trailerable boat. (Ever notice how magazines love to give readers lists of the Top 7 Reasons to Brush Your Teeth and 12 Hot NEW Ways to Make Chocolate More Appealing? But don’t get me started . . . )
This time Bayfield and the Apostle Islands weren’t first (the list wasn’t alphabetical, thank goodness). But they were there again. Arrgh, once more!
Another spot
Well, last spring we discovered another beautiful sailing spot in the U.S. but were sworn to secrecy. Unlike the editors of the other magazine, I will not name this beautiful California/ Nevada lake. It wasn’t in the 2004 lists. Why ruin a good thing just because we were positively delighted by an early spring sail at 6,000 feet surrounded by snow-covered mountains?
Other sailors at the Oakland Strictly Sail show we attended prior to our escape to the mountains told us we were nuts to go sailing in the mountains in April. We questioned our own sanity. We wondered whether we’d need a rental car with four-wheel drive just to get to our sailing destination. (We didn’t, but the roads had not been clear for long!)
As we arrived in town with our life jackets, foul-weather gear, hats, scarves, gloves, and assorted turtleneck pullovers, we saw skiers heading for the slopes dressed in shorts and T-shirts, a real contrast to the ungainly ski boots they were wearing and the skis and poles slung over their shoulders.
This scene reminded Jerry of an early impression of Minneapolis. Soon after moving there he noticed cross-country skiers skiing on the remaining patches of snow on a golf course while golfers chipped bright orange balls in the melted spots in between. “Now I think I understand these people,” was his only comment.
So there we were last April, sailing on a pristine lake on a lovely warm day. Soon we were in shirtsleeves, surrounded by brilliant white mountains with nary a boat in sight. Divine! Stunning! Marvelous!
This must be one of the most beautiful places on earth in April. What’s important is that the folks in Oakland, San Francisco, and Sacramento didn’t know that. To be sure, this lake will be overrun by powerboats in the summer. The mountains funnel unpredictable and powerful wind gusts. We’re told that windstorms can form in minutes. The water there is deep and very cold always.
The California sailors down in the cities know all that. They’ve been there in the summer when this lake is a boating hotspot. But they weren’t there in April when it was perfect. And that’s why it was as near to paradise as one is likely to get.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
