Late season start and "weird" winds.

[noelH]

Earliest I've ever sailed Lake Superior was April 30th. This year set the record for latest 1st sail. May 22nd.  Overall we had a mild winter with 90's average snowfall. Basically no ice on L. Superior.  Thinking maybe another April early season start?  Nope. Our schizo weather pattern.  Either 10-20F warmer than "normal" or 10-20F colder than normal this past Spring. Ended up with an average Spring with the exception of lower than normal rainfall. Problem was the extreme colder days prevented the ice in the Bay from melting. 

Now outside of occasional weird hazy sky days and nights from western and eastern fires we are experiencing different winds.  Instead of calmer mornings and building.  The opposite.  A couple weeks ago was a typical day this season.  Started out with one reef in.  Had to heave to after a few miles to set the 2nd reef. All is fine for ~couple hours. Pulling out of the Bay.  Wind is dropping. Fast. Come about and head home under full sail. Down to a drifter. Struggling to keep above 2.2kts. Long slog home.Beat having to work .  Need to set sail at sunrise and get back to the marina by early afternoon.  Add the number of calm days. Limits the opportunities. So far, only 5 days of sailing. June is typically decent winds (mid F4 and stronger) for windsurfing.  One day so far. 

Wondering if the western and eastern Canadian forest fires are creating weird wind patterns and intensity in this region.  Happy that so far our AQI have only exceeded 50 on couple days.  Those images from NYC, DC looked real bad.

[Spot]

Nice to see you back on the forum Noel!

My season is starting late too, had to wait for weather to be warm enough for a big epoxy job.
Smokey south of the Cities last night, better today.
Hoping to make it up to the Bay sometime this season.

[Riley Smith]

Summer, with all it's humidity, has set in down in the Southland. The wind has been up also, none of those glassy, scorcher days yet, but I'm sure they're coming. That wind has portended severe cells up and down the state, and adjoining, although nothing catastrophic that I've heard. And finally, in between severe threats, I stepped the mast the other evening. Yay!
(But yeah, the weather has been a little looney.)
...Still to go is some hardware and fixtures, and a little line here and there. Hope, barring that severe stuff we talked about, it'll get done in the next couple of days. I'm really not interested in drive-way sailing in a tornado  ;I

Riley

[Riley Smith]

PS....you can't imagine how much room in my shop I have now!!! With all the components as a whole instead of individual, it's like Yankee stadium!!!

[noelH]

Actually sort of warm today.  At least onshore.  Headed into town around noon.  Mostly glassy surface viewed from the house.  More or less the same in the channel between Bayfield and Madeline Is.  Flags occasionally flutter, then droop. Still a few boats adrift.  Sails getting dope slapped occasionally. Up at the house there is ~5kt breeze.  Elevation and maybe thermo uplifting. Still glassy streaks.  At least there is some texture on the surface.  Bit hazy, but the AQI is below 50. I guess a great day for E-foilers and kayakers. Vela is staying on the trailer.

[rfrance0718]

I got my Lake Erie boat (Oday) in 3 weeks earlier that normal. I don't know if it was colder than normal, or not. None the less, it was pretty cold and I only sailed once over that period, and it was a short out and back.

I hope it warms up in Bayfield. I'll be picking up my Thistle Nationals crew there in mid July. I hope to have a couple of days to sail on his Creelick 37 before we head on out to Montana. I keep my eyes open for you.

[noelH]

Water temperature in the Bay is "warm". Surface water temp has warmed to upper 50's to mid 60's couple miles offshore on this side of the peninsula.  Normal early season dressing. Add on the layers as you sail further offshore.  At least the floatation coat, wool hat, and gloves are no longer needed for nearshore sailing.  Neighbor who is a charter captain noted it is still on the cold side offshore.  Start at the dock in shorts and sunguard. Hour later everyone is dressed for winter.

[Riley Smith]

We were down in Panama City one summer enjoying the beach scene and decided to take a sunset cruise on a schooner that was in port and selling trips. Everyone was in shorts and tees and about an hour before sunset the temp dropped and everyone got chilled to the bone. In the summer. In Florida. You can never tell. We've finally had TWO whole days without rain or tornadoes and the humidity is just bad instead of overwhelming. The rain has kept the heat down some but it's coming. That schooner trip was a blast and I paid close attention to the workings of the gaff and crew because that was right before the catboat was complete. Lessons as it were 

[noelH]

Last week of June.  So far only 3 days sailing, 1 day windsurfing, 1 day marginal wind foiling. June is usually a windy month.  If I wasn't retired it would have been 0,0,0 days.

Today, again no wind and no rain.  Two days of sprinkles that added up to less than 0.1".  Yesterday's isobar map showed a large stationary high pressure over most of western L. Superior.  What little rain systems move into the region have been splitting N and S of the Lake. At least today there are a few cumulus clouds developing inland.  Hopefully the forecast is correct. Rainy weekend!

[noelH]

4 days logged in June.  Good start to the holiday weekend.  Bit inconsistent wind velocity.  F1 to F4.  Hour of lighter air sandwiched between 30-60 minutes of stronger wind.  SOG was bouncing from greater than hull speed to just over 2kts. Clear partly cloudy sky. Blue water vs. flat ugly grey.  No smoke haze!  Overall, the nicest day sailing to date this season. Not too hot, not too cold.  Enough wind to move vs. drift.

Based on the road traffic and all the transitional slips reserved it looks to be another crowded holiday weekend. Forecast looks bleak for the weekend. F2 today, F1 Sunday, F2 Monday.  At least it will be sunny and mild with high temps in the 70Fs.