Tampa Bay to Apostle Islands August 2026

[SailTow]

Hello Trailer-Sailor's,

I'm a trailer sailor from Tampa Bay Florida and a member of Tampa Sailing Squadron in Apollo Beach where I keep my boat. My boat is a Spindrift 22 named Gasconade, which I've owned for 18 years. I've trailered within Florida for almost as many years. I'm now embarking on an epic road trip to the Apostle Islands for a week of sailing 23-29 August. I noticed some members here have done this event in the past.

I'm reaching out to ask for guidance on all things! Route, places to stop and visit, where to trailer camp, boat and trailer packing, meal planning, safety checklists, did you think of, and what do you think abouts. Even though I've put a few miles on here in Florida, and I did one 2000-mile round trip to Maryland and back towing a friend's boat, this adventure is quite different.

The trailer is custom built, aluminum, with torsion suspension, 3-years old now.
The tow vehicle is a 2023 Honda Ridgeline.

My boat is my lodging. I'd like to camp out in inexpensive places.

And I am in no hurry. I will leave Florida sometime around early to mid-August and return sometime mid to late September.

My first destination is my friends place in Bottineau North Dakota. From there we will travel together to the Apostle Islands.

After our week of sailing and adventure, I will make my way back to Florida at a leisurely pace. I might visit friends in Chicago, Arkansas, or even eastern Pennsylvania.

I'd love your input on -
Route Options: Keep off major interstates! Well, except for I29. I'm assured that is actually a very nice drive.
Where to stop and visit: not major tourist attractions.
Where to trailer camp: This can be primitive or swanky.
Packing: I've created a spreadsheet
Meals: sigh, I need help here. Healthy eating is the objective!
Safety: Let's compare lists.

Anything else, let's chat. Thanks!

[Timm R Oday25]

Welcome ,sounds like a grand adventure.We are about 20 miles east of Madison Wisconsin . Bayfield is where most folks launch from .
Most people have very little idea of what Lake Superior is really like .
The waves can build quickly and with little warning .
As someone who dove there for almost 20 years , the water never warms up .
The cold can be felt through the bottom of the boat .
The Islands themselves are breathtaking . The lighthouses and the seacaves are my favorite parts .
Madeline Island is the most popular and touristy .Still pretty nice place .
Take plenty of layers of clothes . Anchoring is mostly in sand and smaller rocky bottoms . Lots of places to tuck into when the brisj winds come through .
Raspberry Island is one of my favorites .

[SailTow]

Thanks for the tips. I've been studying up on the weather. It is not tropical patterns for sure.

Speaking of bottom conditions - it's been suggested my fluke anchor will not hold. I'm curious though as to how different is the sandy bottom of the Apostle Islands vs the sandy muddy bottom of Tampa Bay. Do I need a different anchor, a heavier anchor?

[Wolverine]

The Apostles have been on my bucket list for years. I planned trips, but something always came up. It was an easier trip when we lived in northern Illinois. Now living in NC, it's a much farther drive.

I would like to return to the north channel too, so maybe if I combine the two.

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Oh Charrrrrles, anchor questions....^^^

[Spot]

SailTow, welcome.

I am hoping to attend this year.

https://catalina22.org/index.php/events/eventdetail/411/-/apostle-islands-cruise

In years past, there have been online meetings and group chats to connect the participants.

Is the Fluke anchor in question some sort of lighter weight unit like a Danforth or something with some mass?  Typical guidance would be a boat's length of chain between the anchor and rode.

[Charles Brennan]

SailTow, People up North, refer to sweetened carbonated beverages as "pop", whereas in the South, they are called either "soda" or "coke" (no matter the flavor).  So when you say "fluke" anchor are you referring to the kinds of anchors you see on sailor's tattoos, or are you referring to the Danforth anchor developed by Richard Danforth, in 1939?

The Danforth is a popular anchor for the southern half of Florida because of all the sand.  You could think of the lower half of Florida, as a sandbar made of Sand, Oolite and Coral rock, that ran aground against North America's continental bedrock, which starts well above Orlando.  I sailed in Biscayne Bay all my life and used to be impressed at how well sailors from up north sailed around so effortlessly, in the  ICW channels.  I took my own sailboat to Wisconsin once and learned why.  Down here, when you go out of the channel, you run aground on sand; up north when you run aground, it's on GRANITE.  That stuff we only see in Miami, on the sides of banks, is laying around all over everywhere in huge jagged chunks, just below the water's surface.

Everybody down here thinks you use a Danforth anchor on a sandy bottom, you're bullet-proof.
Not so.
There are places in the Bahamas, where there is sand, but it is only two inches deep above a hard coral rock floor.  Tidal currents scour the bottom, into a hard coral rock, featureless floor. There are places in the Keys the same way and in both places, there are areas where it has a sandy bottom but there is also Eel grass and Turtle grass that clogs up the Danforth flukes and renders the anchor useless.

The problem is just as bad up north, in places like the North Channel.
There, glaciers running over all that Granite for tens of thousands of years, have smoothed out all the rocky floors to the point, where there is nothing for the fluke of a Danforth to dig in and catch, on all those smooth rocky floors.  And places where there IS a sandy bottom, you have the same problems as the Keys/Bahamas.  You'd be GRATEFUL to have only Eel and Turtle grass, in a place where you're dealing with Hydrilla, Milfoil, Muskgrass, Coontail and Sago Pondgrass.  Try to drop a Danforth in there and you'll likely pull up a bushel basket's worth of vegetation on the flukes and with no hope of the anchor flukes  digging in and catching in the sand.

While I have no quarrel with the advocates of CQR, Manta and Rocna anchors, for the waters I sail in, my own anchor selection is sufficient.
You cannot view this attachment.
On my 12 foot Dinghy, I have 6 different anchors, for different tasks:
1) Beach stake with 100' rode.
2) 4.4 lb Lewmar Claw with 100' rode and 10' of chain.
3) 4 lb Danforth with 100' rode and 10' of chain and a second 4 lb Danforth (not shown) with 25' of rode, that I use like a "parking brake".
4) 10 lb folding rock anchor with 100' rode and 10' of chain.  (Not kept aboard, until I travel to an area, that requires it.)
5) A Sea anchor/drift anchor (not shown).

On the beach I use the sand stake, in clear sandy areas I use the Danforth, in weedy areas I use the Claw and in rocky areas or tidal-scoured bottoms, I use the folding rock anchor.
The Claw is actually, my go-to anchor, in that the end can easily dig into sand, can catch on moderately rocky bottoms and can penetrate weeds enough for the flukes at the sides, to dig in underneath the vegetation, before the anchor gets clogged up.

In the pic below, you can see the beach stake lower left and the "parking brake" Danforth at the port stern.
(Keeps the boat from slewing sideways onto the beach in the tidal currents.)
You cannot view this attachment.
 
An additional challenge anchoring up north, is the large amount of underwater trees, limbs, and branches, that can snag an anchor's flukes and make it difficult to retrieve.  If I ever went up there again, I would bring a float and a trip line to attach to my anchors, to un-snag them, if necessary.
Right Anchor for the Right Bottom, My Man.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[Wolverine]

If you pass through or close by Chicago, a deep dish pizza and/or an Italian beef is a required stop. When you go behind the cheddar curtain, a brat and a local brew is a must. Don't forget the cheese curds. No one does them better than cheddarheads.

If you get the chance, a nort woods fish boil is a special treat. Whitefish straight out of Superior is heavenly.

edit: don't forget to wear a Bears jersey.

[Timm R Oday25]

Wearing a Bears jersey will eventually get you service in a restaurant or bar .
We like taking money from tourist and seeing them head south.
The bottoms you will be anchoring most likely be small rocks .
The plus Lake Superior is cold enough that algae doesn't grow .
Water clarity is usually very clear down to 15 to 20 feet .
 Lot's of small bays to hide out in . The islands are close
enough that you can see the next .

[SailTow]

SailTow, welcome.

I am hoping to attend this year.

https://catalina22.org/index.php/events/eventdetail/411/-/apostle-islands-cruise

In years past, there have been online meetings and group chats to connect the participants.

Is the Fluke anchor in question some sort of lighter weight unit like a Danforth or something with some mass?  Typical guidance would be a boat's length of chain between the anchor and rode.

Hello @Spot! This is so cool. I look forward to sailing with you.

[SailTow]

My current fluke/Danforth anchor is not the right anchor for the Apostle Islands.
It's been suggested I get a navy anchor, probably 20 pounds or heavier if I can handle it.

[Charles Brennan]

SailTow, Firstly, I disagree with some of the advice you were given:

It's been suggested I get a navy anchor, probably 20 pounds or heavier if I can handle it.

While a Navy style anchor would undoubtedly work up there, it would be useless for your Florida sailing grounds, the rest of the year and IMHO, would be a False Economy.

The weight part of the quote, I am in general agreement with. 
For many years, I advocated  the proper anchor weight as being 5 pounds less, than the maximum weight you can heave over the side! 
In my declining and aging years, I have had to back-track on that firmly held belief a bit, after having to retrieve an anchor I had used for over 35 years, by using one of the jib winches to crank it back aboard!!   

Many North Channel Cruisers swear by the more popular plow anchors such as CQR, Rocna, Manta, Spade, etc.  but something that frequently makes the same lists, is the far more affordable Bruce anchor. For your size boat, I'd recommend the 16½ lb size.  You'll find it would be equally useful in Florida waters, after you get back from your cruise.
Only the very short-sighted, would sail over differing terrains and topographies with only one type of bottom tackle.
Some of the islands up there have sand on one side of the island, from currents washing around to the back of the island and leaving exposed rocks on the up-current side of the island.  Depending on which side of the island you end up anchoring on, you would need either a Danforth, OR a Bruce.  Also, a lot of anchorages are very muddy and both a Navy anchor and a Danforth would slowly drag through the mud. 
But a Bruce, wouldn't.

I became a Big Believer in the Bruce anchors after my Danforth anchor, Rock anchor and Mushroom anchor had all slowly dragged through the muck of a Bayou, all night in some moderate winds.
(Threw everything I owned, in the water and STILL dragged!) 
I was forced to join a raft of boats (in this pic) that are all hanging from a single Bruce anchor.  (The middle boat, Necessity.)
You cannot view this attachment.
It dug in so well, the following morning I snorkeled down to the anchor, to help free it.
After that trip, I went right out and bought my own Bruce anchor and have used it ever since, without issues.

No matter which anchor you use, I would strongly recommend some form of trip line.  Usually, this is simply a float with a line attached to the crown of the anchor, so that when (not if) it gets jammed in rocks, the anchor can be pulled up backwards by the crown, using the trip line.  Apparently, up north, using floats and trip lines in crowded anchorages is considered gauche    and proof that you're a Tourist. 
A popular work-around is to attach the very end of the chain to the crown with a D-shackle, then run the chain along the stock and where you would normally shackle the chain to the end of the stock, you affix it with a hefty Ty-Rap.  Then, when your anchor becomes snagged, enough upward force will break the Ty-Rap from the stock end and permit retrieving the anchor from the crown end.

What size Ty-Rap? 
Depends. 
Too light and they'll break every time you bring the anchor up; too hefty and you might not be able to break the Ty-Rap loose. As a general rule, something a little smaller than the TY-Rap sizes used for handcuffing "Rowdies" at Spring Break, should be sufficient.
You might have to use your hull's length for leverage, for problematic Ty-Rap sizes.
This is where you go up to the bow and pull the anchor rode as tight as you possibly can, cleat it off, then run to the stern and hobby-horse the hull, until the Ty-Rap breaks free.  For stubborn Ty-Raps, it might take two or three trips back and forth. 
That will be your indication, to use the next smaller size of Ty-Rap. 

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[noelH]

One thing to consider if launching from the Bayfield City marina ramp (aka BlackHawk) has posted signs note max of 3 days parking.  Not a large parking lot, but limited to trailer and their tow vehicles only to keep the day tourist out.   Unsure about any limits anywhere else in town or at the marina.  Assuming if you use any of the lift service at any of the marinas  longer times permitted. Roy's Pt, Port Superior, Pikes Bay, Madeline Is. marinas give you direct access to the islands.  If you launch at the Washburn or Ashland City Marina it's a bit of a run to get out of the Bay.  The mainland marinas noted with lifts outside of the Bayfield's BlackHawk do not have ramps.  Unsure if Madeline Is marina has a ramp.  And it's relatively expensive to ferry a vehicle plus boat across the channel to Madeline.

One more maybe "ramp".  Red Cliff has or had a ramp located by the Casino.  Last time I looked it was in sad shape.  No parking and not much space to step a mast.  You park across the highway in ga general parking area. 

[Spot]

The 'cruise director' texted me tonight and will be organizing more communication/coordination as the event draws nearer.

Paraphrased from the texts: for most of the overnights are over sand, a Danforth would be fine. Some of the day stops are rocky. Some people bring an additional anchor for off the stern or walking to shore.

There is also an arrangement for launching, parking, and the first overnight to get the fleet in the water and ready to shove off the next day.