LAKE SUPERIOR CRUISE - NOTE #8 (FINAL)

Ray Boivin (BOIVINRA@ENE.GOV.ON.CA)
Mon, 24 Aug 1998 10:38:34 -0400


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Greetings Everyone:

Following are some of the items which we took with us on our trip from
Thunder Bay to Rossport and the rationale for carrying the gear. I have
also included some thoughts on what I will do differently for next years
cruise.

1. We carried 45 litres of fuel. I wanted to be careful in this regard
primarily because we had a five year old and a three year old travelling
with us. With this much fuel we figured we could motor about 80 percent
of the ninety mile distance with our 8hp Honda at 1/2 throttle. This would
allow us to make a hasty exit to the closest town should someone
become sick or injured. As it turned out we only used 18 litres of fuel.
My wife and I have discussed this and have agreed that if we did this trip
again we would carry the same amount of fuel for the same reasons.
Also, usually there is wind on Lake Superior but I remember a kayak trip
which I took from Thunder Bay to Rossport a few years ago when we
had five consecutive days of hot, calm weather. I would be nice to push
the Potter under power when conditions are calm.

2. We carried a 13 lb Danforth with 20 feet of chain and 150 feet of
nylon line, an 11 lb Bruce with 10 feet of chain and 100 feet of line, a 100
foot line, three 25 foot docklines and two 15 foot docklines. We actually
used all of these lines and anchors at various times although I found the
100 foot line to be too long. I will probably add a 50 foot line to the
inventory. The long lines are useful for tieing off to shore. All of the lines
are 3/8 inch and we have tried to get different colours so that they can
be picked out of the line locker fairly quickly.

3. We have a vhf radio for listening to weather and calling for help (if
necessary).

4. I brought along a small water filter. Lake Superior water tends to be
fairly clean but I am concerned about giardia and cryptosporidium so for
the sake of our kids we do not drink any surface water without first
filtering or boiling.

5. We used a five gallon solar shower for getting clean. This worked
great.

6. I have a handheld GPS which was bought primarily for navigating in
the fog but proved to be useful for taking some of the guesswork out of
manual fixes.

7. Our sail inventory consisted of the main with two sets of reef points
and the working jib. I would like to add a genoa for those light air days. I
would highly recommend the two sets of reef points for anyone planning
to cruise on Lake Superior. It really helped us to continue sailing when
the winds picked up.

8. We have a collapsible, emergency radar reflector. Lake Superior is
used by some big ships and we thought that this would be useful if we
found ourselves in a shipping lane during foggy conditions.

9. We have harnesses and tethers for everyone. This is particularly
important when going on deck.

10. We have monkey harnesses on both sides of the v-berth. These are
great for storing clothes as the day warms up.

Some things which I will do differently next time:

1. The five gallon water jug burst on us as we were trailing the boat to
the put in site. I am going to try to beef this up with a better jug.

2. Our outboard battery charging system did not keep the battery topped
up so we spent the trip in energy conservation mode. I am going to add a
solar panel.

3. We need to add an access hatch to the area under the v-berth on the
starboard side just forward of the head. This storage area is difficult to
use from the port side.

4. I am thinking about some sort of tender. This may allow us to access
those rocky areas where we do not want to risk the fibreglass.

I hope that you found the summary of our summer trip interesting. I look
forward to continuing to read your posts and learning how other
Potterers manage their boats.

Ray
P-19 #953 "Water Wings"
Thunder Bay, Lake Superior