Cruising Lake Superior

[eerie sailor]

Gonna cruise the big lake for a month this summer. Anybody have any favorite ports, or places to avoid? Going to enter the lake from the East. Planning on checking out Isle Royal. Maybe the Apostle islands if time and weather permits.

 

[madohe]

Bring your woolie underalls.....even in July.

Fairly long passage from Sault Saint Marie to anywhere..

140 miles to Marquette

220 to Houghton

320 to Bayfield

All are from memory and so are approximate.

Try the Library Restaurant in Houghton on Isle Royal Street.

Go in August , if you wait until September you risk getting iced in....

Have fun!

 

[eerie sailor]

Going in late July early August. I will bring all the warm clothes I own. Is the Library the same Library bar I went to back in the 70s at Tech?

 

[madohe]

I believe it is.

I spent many hours "studying" at the Library......

 

[Morello]

If you like seclusion and wilderness the north shore cannot be beat. It  has been 25 years or so since we cruised Lake Superior. Isle Royal at the time seemed to discourage boaters and had more rule than I cared to deal with, so we went to Thunder Bay and sailed the north shore for a month. There were safe anchorages about every ten miles and a few small villages. Highlights for us were Mc Nab Harbor, Rossport, Allouez, White River, Brule Harbor and Cape Gargantua. 

 

[ancientseawolf]

Get to the Slates

 

[madohe]

https://www.transsuperior.com

Here's something to do.....

 

[ancientseawolf]

wait 'till next year for that

 

[eerie sailor]

I believe it is.

I spent many hours "studying" at the Library......

As did I

 

[eerie sailor]

If you like seclusion and wilderness the north shore cannot be beat. It  has been 25 years or so since we cruised Lake Superior. Isle Royal at the time seemed to discourage boaters and had more rule than I cared to deal with, so we went to Thunder Bay and sailed the north shore for a month. There were safe anchorages about every ten miles and a few small villages. Highlights for us were Mc Nab Harbor, Rossport, Allouez, White River, Brule Harbor and Cape Gargantua. 

Hey, thanks for the tips. I've been looking into the North shore for a couple of days now. For the first part of the trip we will be following the Same shore due to some changing crew along the way. But possibly we might be able to check out the North shore along with the Slates, heading back east.

Thanks for the tips! I've been reading Bonnie Dahls cruising guide for the lake to help put some of this together.

 

[eerie sailor]

View attachment 270305

https://www.transsuperior.com

Here's something to do.....

When we first started talking about the trip I checked out the date for the Trans Superior thinking that would be a good way to get the boat west quickly and take even longer returning. But timing doesn't work. This is the year for Superior.

 

[Bugsy]

I can't think about Lake Superior without thinking about this song:

 

[Passport111]

We bare boated the Apostle islands 5-6 years ago.  It was the year that it was like 70 F on March 2nd and never cooled down again.  I remember because I went skiing at Powderhorn in the UP with Friends the last week in Feb. and got a foot of fresh powder,  The next week the snow was gone and it was hot.

The point is, we did the Apostles in late August and from that early Spring and warm Summer, the Lake Superior water was like a nice pool.  The kids swam off the boat all day.  The Apostles were awesome.  There were so many great anchorages and everything is so close together.  It is a nice option if you want to do a lot in a little time.

 

[stephenrjking]

Superior is lovely, of course. The Apostle Islands are spectacular and worth your time. I'm personally biased towards Duluth, and not without reason, as it's a lovely place in the summer with a fair amount to do. 

One suggestion: Wait until the lift bridge is up before entering the canal.

(One note: Not to be pedantic, but perhaps a different year is what you mean, passport? Duluth is pretty close to the Apostles. We got 50" of snow in April in 2012, and the next year the winter was so brutal that there was still ice to play with in the lake on Memorial Day. Subsequent winters have been less intense, and we have indeed had a couple of early springs). 

 

[Passport111]

Maybe I was a bit off on the day and I don't know about Duluth per se but overall the region was warm. This link shows very warm temps that year for Milwaukee in March.  The Mac race that year was brutally hot too.  We swam in the Manitous on the delivery back and it was "warm".

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMKE/2012/3/2/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=Milwaukee&req_state=WI&req_statename=Wisconsin&reqdb.zip=53201&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999

 

[stephenrjking]

Maybe I was a bit off on the day and I don't know about Duluth per se but overall the region was warm. This link shows very warm temps that year for Milwaukee in March.  The Mac race that year was brutally hot too.  We swam in the Manitous on the delivery back and it was "warm".

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMKE/2012/3/2/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=Milwaukee&req_state=WI&req_statename=Wisconsin&reqdb.zip=53201&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999

I'm sure you're right about the summer. I don't recall it being bad, and the previous winter had been mild, so the water was warm-ish, and this was back when people were panicking about low water levels throughout the lakes (heh). The cold stuff that spring really stuck it to us in the Twin Ports area, and I believe the Apostles as well, but things got milder to our south. If you were in Milwaukee it probably didn't register. 

Not trying to pick a fight, just sorting out the seasons. 

 

[Dilligaf0220]

Get to the Slates

+1 on hitting the Slates, possibly the most unique area in all of the Great Lakes.  Be sure to bring carrots for the almost tame Caribou.

The fishing is pretty nuts too.

Next must see place would be the Apostles/Bayfield.  The inner bay is super shallow so over 70 degrees come July/August, which is practically bathwater for Superior.

The bass fishing in Chequamegon Bay is pretty off the hook too.