Fog & Fresh Air Along Superior's Shipwreck Coast — Sailing SV Freelance Ep. 34

After going up in the Soo’s American Lock, Freelance headed into Lake Superior’s huge Whitefish Bay. We had a weak following wind, but the wind improved after we rounded Whitefish Point and went west along Lake Superior’s infamous Shipwreck Coast. This 80-mile/129 km. section of the Lake has more than 200 shipwrecks. Fortunately, none of them happened during the last few decades. The wind freshened to about 25 knots, but unexpectedly shifted from southerly to westerly,. That meant it blew right against us. Neither Vicki nor I wanted to tack against the wind, knowing we would then have a very late arrival at Grand Marais, Michigan. So, we instead chose to motor-sail into the waves towards our destination. It was a lumpy ride, but the right call. We arrived at Grand Marais just before sunset, where we spent the next two days enjoying the pleasant port. When we left Grand Marais for Marquette, the forecast was for patchy fog. I dislike dense fog. It always means you have to be super vigilant, because you never know what’s moving around out there in the mist. Fortunately, the fog lifted after about four hours, and late afternoon Freelance arrived at the City of Marquette in clear weather. Satellite images by Google Earth