TOPIC: Lake Superior trip

Spent the weekend out on the Apostle Islands. Stopped at Raspberry Island, Devil's Island, camped on South Twin Island then headed to Presque Isle harbor before heading back. Ran The Shell Lake about 70 miles.

Beautiful scenery Jim, thanks for sharing! Bet you enjoyed the vacation, looks like a great trip.

fun fun! It's been two years since I have boated and camped in the Apostles. Great place! I always have used a classic boat too while there.

Andreas

Looks beautiful. Wish we had that kind of scenery out here.

thompsonboat wrote:

fun fun! It's been two years since I have boated and camped in the Apostles. Great place! I always have used a classic boat too while there.

Andreas

It was a toss up between the Shell Lake and the SeaRay. Shell Lake has more interior room for hauling the supplies so it got to go. It was by far the oldest boat I saw out there!

MarkS wrote:

Beautiful scenery Jim, thanks for sharing! Bet you enjoyed the vacation, looks like a great trip.

Just two days off but depending on where I launch it's 2 1/2 hours plus or minus each way. I'll bet your GA water is a bit warmer.

Hey der Jim. Betcha had a good time up nort. So close to the yewpers too.
I have a cousin who has a palace in Bayfield on Superior not far from there.
Thanks for sharing.
Questions about your Shell Lake. What year is it, how long? I have a '67 17' Shell Sunliner that I rebuilt and it's wide and deep and comfy with oodles of interior room. Seems to have the same lines that yours does and that thing is a dream on the water, takes a rough chop easy and the hull design is so good that there is little if any spray. Running a 100hp '67 Johnson vs your I/O. Maxes out about 31/32 mph GPS.
Cal

'69 Balboa 17'. That was the I/O version of yours. I run a 20" P prop which is as high a pitch as they made. May be a bit over propped, could use an 18P when heavy. Tops out upper 30S. I'd bet my fuel mileage is better.

Ever wonder why your boat is so deep? It's because they had the 19' deep V and because the constant section was the same for much of its length, they chopped 2 feet off and built the 17' models.

I'm looking at heading to Gill's Landing tomorrow, launching and running down to Butte Des Morts, up to Berlin and back. Want to check out the updated RR bridge at Gill's landing, and the new highway bridge at Eureka as well as the rebuilt lock. Haven't been there in 10 years.

Oh my! You still have the Shell Lake Jim! I remember my sister and I riding in that at the Rockton show back in 04 I think.
JAG

Haven't gotten my money's worth out of it yet. I remember, that was '03 when I had just bought it.

I love the deep hull. The boats are definitely a keepers. Sounds like you have the rest of the week planned. Weather is really cooperating. I go over the Butte Des Morts bridge at least two or three times a week. I was on the lower bay last evening soaking a worm. Can't really say much about gas "mileage" of the fat four but it is a good runner.

Just to clarify, the following post is Fri Aug 8, a reply of sorts to Cal (63 Sabre). He lives in the area and so can relate with the story. Really nothing to do with my L Superior trip last week. I boated the Winnebago pool (subject of this post) in east central WI from 1974 until 2004 when personal circumstances changed my available free time.

It (the Winnebago pool) is a huge shallow lake system that allows for navigation from New London on the Wolf river south to lakes Poygan, Winneconne, Butte Des Morts & Winnebago, navigation upstream on the Fox river from L Butte Des Morts southwesterly to Berlin (including a lockage at Eureka). I had a bit of free time and now live closer so I made a day of it.

Left at 6AM, picking William up in Phelps. After breakfast & gas stops we were in the water at Gill's Landing just shy of 10:30. Took the SeaRay because the MerCruiser can be ran tilted in the shallows (vs the Shell Lake/OMC drive). Anyone familiar with the Winnebago pool understands this issue.

I've had some idle problems this season. Had fuel seeping out carb bowl gasket last outing. Got home & removed the cover. Found inlet seat was loose allowing fuel to seep past the threads and overfill the carb. Tightened the seat and today was the trial run.

Idled upstream to view revamped RR bridge, then turned around and headed downstream, entering Poygan at the old river mouth. Stopped at Hidden Harbor just to idle in and be nosey. Idle issue was back now. OK up to now even with he no wake areas I'd idled thru. No fuel seepage, so that problem is solved but??????? Try adjusting idle mixture to see if that helps.

Then continued on the way, thru Winneconne and across Butte Des Morts then upstream on the Fox. A bit touch and go at the mouth (I didn't touch) but saw in the 2' range on the depth finder. Idling thru Omro I've got a rough idle but I live with it. Leaving the no wake area, I bit of a misfire on acceleration but clears out.

Stop at Eureka to get some soda & snacks. Boat dies as we dock. Go to leave and it will start but keeps dying when shifting into gear (no it is not a shift cable binding/shift interrupter problem). Finally get going again but idle is poor at the next no wake area. Make it thru and go again. Dies as I slow down at the no wake just below the lock. Start it again and play with the idle mixture again. This time I richen it out about 1 full turn past smoothest/fastest idle. Amazingly it runs and we idle into the lock. We are the 1st passage of the day & it's now about 1:00 on Berlin Boat Club annual corn roast weekend. We arrive at Riverside park at 1:30.

Meet up with a boat club buddy & he brings me 5 gallons of fuel just to be safe. Leave Berlin at 3:30 and we head back. Stop in Winneconne and eat at the Other Place. Make our way back to the trailer and are on the road home at 8:20. No further idle issues all day. Don't have GPS but do have old mileage charts plotted 35 years ago. Best guess is 110 to 120 miles round trip. No crisis/damage. Never hit bottom and never needed to run tilted. But there were a few thin areas. Weather was perfect.

Kurt Blakemore, was that your boat on the trailer in Hidden Harbor?

My mind is running through the tour with you. Glad everything ironed out. Weather around this area has been fantastic, a little breezy on the bay but not bad.

I enjoyed the write up.
I wish we had someplace to run like that. I have to make a 2 hundred mile drive to get to the Sacremento river. Other wise it is small lakes only. The local lke is down to about 1 mile in length and 1300 ft across. Fishing is bad because the water is too shallow but I still make it out every weekend just to make a splash.

I live on channel on the north side of Poygan. Friday I took the '60 Dorsett for a ride up to Fremont and back. I use up 5 gallons just barely making it home on that short trip. I couldn't imagine running over 100 miles. I think I need to stash more fuel tanks.

59Hustler wrote:

I enjoyed the write up.
I wish we had someplace to run like that. I have to make a 2 hundred mile drive to get to the Sacremento river. Other wise it is small lakes only. The local lke is down to about 1 mile in length and 1300 ft across. Fishing is bad because the water is too shallow but I still make it out every weekend just to make a splash.

I live in Vilas County now and we have something like 1300 lakes. Admittedly, most are was too small for my interest but I'm 7 minutes from the ramp at N Twin Lake and that is something like 2500 acres, crystal clear and reasonably deep (40 or 50 feet). Also, I'm about 15 minutes to the Eagle River/Three Lakes chain of 28 lakes and over 10,000 acres that includes a travel lift to take you over the dam from on pool to the other. Lake Superior is maybe 1 hr and 15 minutes to the nearest access to nearly 3 hours where I launched last week.

firepinto wrote:

I live on channel on the north side of Poygan. Friday I took the '60 Dorsett for a ride up to Fremont and back. I use up 5 gallons just barely making it home on that short trip. I couldn't imagine running over 100 miles. I think I need to stash more fuel tanks.

Tustin side or Norwegian Bay side of Monsted's point? I assume the Norwegian Bay side but I don't know why. The Poygan Party People had their spot all set up in Berlin at Riverside Park by the time I arrived Fri.

I'm on the other side of the river by Boom Bay. Coming through the Boom Bay Cut from the Wolf river, make a hard left just past the red bouy out by the old A frame house boat. That would be about where the channel entrance is.

Geesh, all I have is the bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan

Back in the day (70s & 80s before they riprapped & dredged Boom Bay cut) there were no red buoys marking the cut, only the 5 greens bringing you in. The houseboat has been there as long as I've been boating there and that is 40 year now. It looks like it is sitting on the bottom now.

Getting back to Boom Bay Heights or Vaughn's was a seat of the pants experience. Then after the dredging, they started marking the diagonal cut in with red & greens. I see now they are just using a center channel buoy. I thought about going into the Heights from Boom Bay and exiting out into the Wolf at the other end but I wanted to get back to Gill's Landing before dark.

What is that palace where the Duck Inn was? Do you remember Sauer's Resort prior to the Duck Inn?

I know there is Boom Bay Heights & Vaughn's but those channels are further into the bay. Are you in the channel near the south tip of that shoreline?