Jump to content

Sail Camping in Rainy Lake, MN


Paul356

Recommended Posts

My CS 17 and I joined a Scamp and two sailing kayaks on Rainy Lake along the US/Minnesota border for a week of sail camping in mid-September.  It was a great time, tho often brisk.  Some might say chilly.  The wind was usually on the nose, but we had some good sails, both traveling to our campsites and and just out day sailing.  One of my favorites shots is this video, from John Hippe aboard his Scamp.  New:  I replaced the MOV. file that needed to be downloaded.  Enjoy.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Now some stills.  I slept on the boat several nights, using either the dodger or the dodger and tarp tent.  I cooked most of my meals on the boat as well.  I used an anchor buddy to pull out into the cove and back to shore.  The campsites, which must be reserved, had sandy beaches and decent holding ground for an anchor.

IMG_4681.JPG

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a sample day's sail.  The track is in two parts, because that's the way it fit my screen ( :) ).  I Logged 21.3 statute miles on my GPS.  You'll notice some backtracking and side trips as the group formed and dispersed.  We had to short-tack through the buoyed channel.  At one point in the channel, US red nuns are on the right and Canadian green "cans" with spindle tops are on the left.

 

 

Trip Monday, 9.14.20 pt 1.png

Trip Monday, 9.14.20 pt 2.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, rattus said:

Fall just hit us with a vengeance - best leaf peeping weekend, and now dropping like, well, leaves.

 

Nice sail - can you comment on wind vs. boat speed/angle?

I was close on the wind, and if memory serves, making about 4.5 or 4.7 mph (statute mph, not knots) in wind of about 10mph.  Flat water.

The boat was pretty heavy with gear, so this would be roughly equivalent to two people day sailing, I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Steve W said:

Love to hear your assessment of the Scamp. I have a friend that wants to build a boat and I'm trying to talk him into building a CS15 (his garage is small) instead.

The Scamp is, um, seaworthy.  There is no comparison in speed to the CS.  If I was going 4.5 that day, he was going 3.5. It actually points ok, tho CS still has the edge.  It is also small in the cockpit, tho it has a lot of storage.  But 1 person sailing,  or 2 people at most.  I must admit that on a rough and wavy day, he was able to move upwind double reefed where I was not, but in talking to Graham later, I think it was operator error on my part.  Finally, i think the hull is pretty complicated to build vs the 15.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Steve W said:

Love to hear your assessment of the Scamp. I have a friend that wants to build a boat and I'm trying to talk him into building a CS15 (his garage is small) instead.

A few years ago I shared shop space with a fellow building aScamp from a kit. He started the boat at a Scamp Camp, which is common. After a couple of years he was trying to finish it. Paul is right in that it is a complicated build compared to a CS15. The builder told me there are a lot of half done Scamps out there that never progressed beyond the Scamp Camp stage.

 

I can’t comment on Scamp sailing characteristics. But I would strongly suggest that a potential builder should see one, talk to the builder, sail one, and look at the reality of using the boat. In my opinion the CS15 is a better first build and more likely to be completed and sailed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have sailed with a couple boats that were similar in length to the CS 20.3.  They could both point a little bit higher, but they were significantly slower (in one comparison the CS 20.3 was literally twice as fast as my 21 ft "competitor", this was on a beam reach in strong winds, and I did have the ballast in).  In all fairness, the other boats were designed with a different design goal as they had heavy keels.

 

Thanks for the trip report Paul.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there is something about exploring along or across an international boundary that makes a trip an adventure.

18 hours ago, Paul356 said:

I must admit that on a rough and wavy day, he was able to move upwind double reefed where I was not, but in talking to Graham later, I think it was operator error on my part. 

Paul I know you are a very experienced and highly competent sailor, are you also a writer. How can you leave a tease like that?  Would you be willing to share this bit of advise on how to make better upwind progress when sailing double reefed in a remote area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good point, Joe.

 

Here was Graham's advice for sailing the CS 17 upwind on a sporty day.  I had the winds that day at 20, maybe 25 mph.  They were also gusty with variable direction and waves in the 0 to 2- or 3-foot range.  So there was plenty of opportunity to play the gusts, the puffs and the waves.

 

1.  Tighten the snotters to flatten and depower the sails. (I had done this).

2.  Lower the sails as much as you can get away with, to reduce the heeling force.  (I had double-reefed both main and mizzen, but see below).

3.  Raise the centerboard so that it rakes to about 45 degrees aft, to raise the center of lateral resistance, and also reduce the heeling force.  [Graham then notes: "You do need to keep up some speed to make up for the smaller centerboard area."]  (I had never even given this a thought.  I understand now what he's saying, since I was heeling a lot, probably often 40 degrees.  I say that I try to sail the boat flat, but I wasn't managing to do so that day (see also below).  I think part of what Graham is saying is that you're going to trade some leeway for progress.  I'm eager to try this tweak.)

4.  The worst thing you can do is try to pinch, because the waves will stop you.  (I'm sure I was often pinching, and I know the waves were stopping me.  Later in the day, in a different part of the lake, the wind was the same but the water was flat and I scooted upwind, tho on broader tacks than 45 degrees, just as Graham's envisions.)

5.  To avoid pinching, sheet a little further out than normal but not too much and try to hold her flat and full.  [Graham doesn't specify, but I suspect he foresees a fair amount of hiking here.]  (I played with the sheet and tried keeping the boat flat, but I suspect I didn't do enough of this and was -- ironically enough -- underpowered.  See next.

6.  Graham's first reef is just the main.  If he still cannot hold her up he will reef the mizzen. "I [i.e., Graham] like a fair amount of weather helm in these conditions.  If you take away too much power, you will be slow in the lulls.  Rather than feather too much in the puffs you are better to ease the main for a few seconds and bring it back on quickly.  If you have speed you can come up for the bigger waves as long as you fall back on course right away."  (As I mentioned, I tried playing the sheet some, but I more often was holding the sheet and trying to head up in puffs.  I'm eager to try it the other way around:  hold course and ease. And I'm also now convinced I should have left the mizzen at one reef, rather than double reefed at that point.  Although it was blowing, it wasn't survival.)

 

As Graham notes, all of this can be tiring, especially solo.  But he adds that "the CS 17 has a high angle of positive stability, which means that she is forgiving in gusty conditions, but sailing at large angles of heel is slow." 

 

A couple more notes:  The Scamp has water ballast, which adds 300 (500?) pounds to her weight and certainly helps her carry on through chop.  And, when I finally got frustrated with my sailing ability and turned on the 2.5 hp Suzuki, the CS just drove straight to wind like nobody's business, at 5 mph or even more (vs flat calm top end of 6.5 mph).  So I was very impressed with that.  And I stayed dry, too.

 

And that's my report.

 

--pb

 

 

 

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the detailed tips on how to make progress up wind when it is blowing. I almost felt like I was riding along with you. I am not really sure what I do when the wind is piping up, mostly just try not to crash. I look forward to trying to be more aware of what is going on with the boat and trying some of these strategies.

 

At some point I think someone on the forum suggested compiling the tips on sailing a CS in one file somewhere. This would make a nice addition.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.