We left Houghton in the early afternoon of August 3rd, the day after finishing the International.  The intention was to deliver through the evening and night to Munising, on Lake Superior’s south shore, then overnight again to Whitefish Point for a break, then continuing on to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, arriving Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.  And that’s pretty much how it worked out.  No surprises, no difficult weather.  In fact, the nights were clear, and when there was wind it came from our stern, pushing us along and keeping us rather comfortable.

Coasting.

The point of the over-night deliveries was to allow three of our crew who had never done the Trans-Superior race to acclimatize to night sailing.  Night sailing is a different sort of creature in that it requires a lot more ‘feel’ as well as reliance on instruments to keep to your targets, whether course or speed.  As a result, you need to be far more careful and attentive if you wish to make the most of night sailing.  Like with light wind, long-distance races are often won or lost at night, so anything we could do to prepare our crew for it, the better.

I had brought along my laptop in a waterproof/dustproof/crushproof hardcase (which earned it’s keep during the International), so I managed to tick a number of things off of my work list.  The prevalence of internet cafes – even in the veritable ghost town of Munising, where ‘Credit Consultation’ ranks as one the town’s top employments – were extremely helpful, but tethering my phone would have been more useful, I think.  Either way, the trip was not just relaxing, but actually productive.

Pictured Rocks, Munising

The delivery up to Whitefish Point was a quiet, quick, and educational run.  Building weather on the stern made for some good surfing and respectable speeds under the mainsail only, allowing one of our rookie crew to drive the waves and hopefully develop his sense of their motion, mostly to help him walk on deck without hurting himself or the boat and – ideally – prevent further sickness.  Every one gets sick, they say, and the chances worsen if you’re tired, hungry, and cold.  But I have a theory that the more you ‘understand’ waves – and therefore are able to anticipate their movement – the less likely you are to get sick.  My theory is rooted in the completely unsupported supposition that sea-sickness often results from a person’s often-subconscious attempt to maintain or regain control of a seemingly chaotic and uncontrolled movement.  Waves aren’t chaotic, and furthermore a person can’t possibly counteract their movement to regain balance.  The only solution is to anticipate and ‘roll with it’, or as I like to say, “Think with your feet, not your head”.  I have no way to prove this theory, but I like to think that the crew member’s lack of sickness for the rest of the trip may have been attributable to a night of surfing.

We rounded Whitefish at about 07:00 on the Wednesday, so we docked there and had a quick breakfast before hiking up to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  Not an encouraging place to visit a few days before racing across the lake along the shipping lanes.  Still, it was neat to see, and was a welcome little break.  We set off again at around noon, and locked through at Sault Ste. Marie at about 17:00.  Another crossing done, and another one to come.