In this SV Freelance episode Vicki and I spent an early August day with friends at Windigo, Isle Royale National Park, where we saw a truly dazzling sunset; arrived the next day at Grand Marais on the scenic Minnesota North Shore, just ahead of some heavy thunderstorms; and in the morning slipped the mooring lines for a great sail across Lake Superior to the beautiful Julian Bay in the Apostle Islands.

In this segment, Vicki and I spent several fine summer days exploring Isle Royale's beautiful Chippewa Harbor in our dinghy, before we headed Freelance back to Windigo at the southern end of the national park. We were again buddy-boating with our friends Duane and Mar of the MV Inisfree — and we were all careful to limit our contact with other boaters in this plague year of COVID-19. It should be mentioned that we saw normal levels of boat traffic during our time in the impressive national park. Park services were reduced due to the pandemic, but it didn't cause any hardships for us. Cruising boats are intended to be self-sufficient for extended periods of time, so our 2020 Isle Royale experience was quite similar to being off the grid along the North Shore on the Canadian side of Lake Superior..

SV Freelance returned to the wilderness of Isle Royale in 2020. This remote National Park, which is close to the Canadian border, is always a wonderful Lake Superior destination — and in this plague year of 2020 its natural social distancing was greatly valued by Vicki and I. We spent several days at the Windigo dock and also at our favorite anchorage in Chippewa Harbor.

In the middle of the summer, we had a fun 3-day mini-cruise to Lake Superior's North Shore and back, anchoring overnight at Raspberry Bay in the Apostle Islands and staying another night at the Silver Bay Marina. The weather was changeable, so — besides some great sailing — we had thunderstorms, beam seas, and fog, before we returned at Bayfield. On this trip, we were sailing with two buddy boats, the Hitra and Annie B. Stone.

From our all-time favorite wilderness anchorage at Lake Superior’s famed Isle Royale, we made a quick daytrip to Rock Harbor, before eventually heading Freelance back to the popular NPS pier at Windigo. We later sailed in the company of the S/V Mirage from the National Park’s western end to the charming city of Grand Marais on Minnesota’s scenic North Shore.

We spent several days at the western end of Lake Superior’s Isle Royale National Park with our friends Duane and Mar of the M/V Inisfree. Together, we then moved on to Hay Bay and Chippewa Harbor, which are two of our favorite wilderness anchorages in the Park.

We left Superior-Duluth from under the Areal Lift Bridge, and sailed our Pearson 36 Cutter up Lake Superior’s North Shore to the boreal wilderness at Isle Royale National Park. Along the way, we passed by the scenic Split Rock, tall Palisade Head, and solitary Rock of Ages Lighthouse, and stayed overnight at Silver Bay Marina and Taconite Harbor of Refuge.

The winds gusted to 25 knots, when we crossed Lake Superior from the North Shore to the Apostle Islands. They started out light, but when a squall passed over the lake, the sailing conditions for our Pearson 36 Cutter greatly improved. It was a really fun passage with plenty of sailing time..

With Gregg and and Quincy the Golden Doodle, Vicki and I went to the beautiful Useppa Island in the Charlotte Harbor/Pine Island Sound area on Florida's Gulf Coast. The boat was a Glacier Bay 2740 Dual Console, named Witchcraft.

Our Pearson 36 Cutter, did a 2-day passage from Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands to Superior-Duluth in light air. With Tim and Chuck along as my crew, we anchored overnight at Sand Island’s Lighthouse Bay, passed through debris fields from recent, heavy rainstorms, enjoyed a pleasant light-air sail, and were passed by the 1,000-footer Stewart J. Cort before arriving at Barkers Island Marina.

Recently, I again had Chuck along as crew on Freelance, my Pearson 36 Cutter (Pearson 367). We were tacking up the Apostle Islands' North Channel in a fresh breeze (15-25 knots apparently wind), flying along at hull speed.(about 7.5 knots) We both took two-hour tricks on the wheel. It was fun beat to windward.

A pleasant light-air weekend sail in Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, visiting Stockton and Michigan Islands. We expected trouble with our dinghy motor, and predictably had to row for a while until we got a tow back to the National Park Service's harbor in Presque Isle Bay. At the western side of Michigan Island, we visited the mysterious and hard-to-find "Little People's Village." A larger village can be seen on Madeline Island. Music courtesy of Larry Carpenter. See https://www.youtube.com/user/allegrosails

In mid-August, we sailed our Pearson 36 cutter Freelance across Lake Superior from the Apostle Islands, Wisconsin, to Silver Bay, Minnesota, to attend the Great Lakes Cruising Club's rally. The club's activities included a scenic dinner cruise on the M/V Winonah, which used to ferry passengers to Isle Royale