Shades and Blinds Project - Grand Marais, MN

I have been working on a variety of projects here in GM since arrival at the beginning of the month.  Weather has been cool, and even cold.  This morning was typical with 45 degrees F, at 0700, with heavy fog and rain on the way.  Offshore water temperature is still about 39 degrees F!

The fog has been thick for the past couple of days, sometimes obscuring even the closest boats on the moorings.   I've been using my portable propane heater to stay warm.

Closest Boat, Harbor Shore Beyond

Light House Obscured Behind Boat, To Left

Closest Shore

Not much wind either and virtually no sun so I am having to use the back up generator (2 kw Honda) to keep batteries charged.

Solar Panel Output Indicated!
WiFi Antenna To Left, In Use

Generator At Work



Generator Charging Via On Board Charger Allowing Use Of All 110 VAC Circuits.

My big project was to finish up installation of shades for my forward windows.  During spring launch prep I installed some blinds on the sides of the boat, but the skylight shades in the bow were more expensive and complex to do.  See photos of the installation and operation below:

 Forward Windows - Double Cell Skylight Shades Open

Skylight Shades Closed

Using Pole To Close Or Adjust Shades From Salon

 Pole Makes It Easy, No Going Forward To Close Blinds

Pulling Them Up Is Just As Easy

Starboard Blinds Over Galley Looking Forward

 Starboard Blinds Looking Aft

Port Blinds At Step Down - Cut To Fit

The shades and blinds are all Home Depot products.  The blinds are very cheap, about $8 each and may be cut to fit if needed.  The bow double cell skylight shades are made by Bali and expensive but work wonderfully.  They run about $125 each.  Installation for the side bow windows took extra work due to the curvature of the boat. I made some special shims with select pine, a miter saw, and painted them to match the stock shims.  See below:

Note the shim under the bracket to match curvature of boat.

Crossing - 1st Trip 2013

The weather in Ontonagon, MI was quite warm on departure (60 degrees) with the sun peaking through and a nice sun rise. Some rain showers had passed and skies had the T-storm look.  I departed at 0530 central time.  Two fishing boats went out ahead of me.

The crossing was the fastest I've ever made, about 10.5 hours for 66 nm (75 statute miles), sailed all but the first 14 miles.  Usually it is calm most of the way for spring crossings and the forecast seemed to indicate that was what I could expect, except for an occasional rain shower.  However, I was in fog almost the whole way, 1/16 to 1/2 mile visibility.  

My Sirius radio and weather went down about half way across so I lost the Classic Radio station I was listening to.  More importantly, I lost my weather display so I could not track T-storms, wind, etc.  Had to go to the old fashioned VHF. 

Five ships showed up on AIS but I never saw them due to the fog.  Closest was 7 nm.  Forecast was off, winds instead of 10-15 knots were up to 25-26 knots in gusts, seas instead of 1-2 feet were up to 4-5 feet, and boat speeds instead of motoring along at 5 knots were up to 9.5 knots under sail, and often a steady 8 knots.  Quite a fun ride! 

It was a solo crossing while a driver went around the Lake to pick me up in Grand Marais (GM).  Observed water temperatures were as low as 37 degrees, so falling overboard would be fatal!  Arrival in GM was in wind, rain, and fog with air temperature around 53…so quite chilly!  I had to bring my driver home right away so I’m in White Bear Lake now but will return to GM on Thursday.  

I noticed that my satellite position report went out on arrival in Grand Marais, Thursday, but the text message was not attached as it should have been.  It should have said I arrived safely and was on the mooring!

No long trips in June, but will do some cruising over the 4^th of July for about 10 days.  A longer trip along the Ontario coastline is scheduled for mid-July and August.  My web site  is not up to date with this information but I hope to do that this week.  You can look at the SPOT track  online for the next three days or so, if interested.