Brisk

by wjw on August 7, 2015

amicus2The weather got a bit brisk this morning as I went for a sail on the good sloop Amicus, out of Knife River.

Half the passengers got seasick, but I was in the other half.  The boat was bounding about so much that half my photos are of the sea, the sky, or the sails.  I couldn’t keep anything in frame long enough to snap a picture.

I did get soaked and very, very cold, but I had a great time anyway.  Thanks to skipper Mark and mate Dan for a good time.

South of us there was a big fogbank stretching over the southern horizon.  I was surprised to see fog with such a strong wind blowing, but apparently one of Superior’s superpowers is to generate fog in high winds.

A few days ago I saw fog mountains drifting along the lake.  They started as a long fogbank, but then parts of the fog began to pile up into big fog castles, with near-empty spaces between them.  These large fantastic objects drifted along quite intact, parallel to the shore, as if scuttling along on many feet hidden by their wispy skirts.

I’d never seen anything quite like it.

Superior is so big that it triggers the wrong reflexes.  When I see a big splash offshore, I always look to see if it’s a whale, or a manta, or a dolphin.  But here on the largest body of fresh water in the world, a splash is just a splash.

I’m letting the wind blow me south tomorrow.

Paul (@princejvstin) August 7, 2015 at 7:30 am

Really enjoying your adventures up there. I visit the North Shore (I live down in the Twin Cities) pretty often.

Susan B August 7, 2015 at 8:22 pm

Hmm, looks like you guys are heeled over quite a bit there. We went out on a friend’s boat on Lake Michigan a few years back and there was absolutely no wind at all, so we had to motor. That’s not nearly as much fun as a nice sail. That’s interesting that there was a fog bank when it was windy; I wonder if it’s due to a shore breeze that’s warmer than the water? I may do some googling to see what I can discover. We get fog on the Chesapeake Bay in the fall, but never in the summer.

Brian Renninger August 9, 2015 at 11:26 pm
wjw August 10, 2015 at 1:11 am

Well that’s a depressing song.

Fortunately on my trip nothing went overboard but some vomit, none of it mine.

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