Pumped on Pepin

[Randy]

Pumped on Pepin

I think most would agree, Pepin’s one of the prettiest sailing locations we have. Yesterday, I arrived a little after noon. The rest stop attendant said it had been blowing much stronger earlier in the day. There were still caps here and there, and it looked like 6.5M wind. Given the tendency for the wind to bounce off the water this time of year, I rigged my 7.4M and the Techno 273. I hit the water with marginal planning and then slogged down the shoreline with an Easterly wind direction. The sun was shining, the scenery was spectacular, it felt like 60 degrees and while I wasn’t planning, I was far from complaining. I gave thanks for the gift of the day and the freedom to engage the elements and just then a large bald eagle came over to check me out.


They say we all have a spirit animal, and for me, it’s the eagle. Knowing the capacity of their eyesight, there’s something very spiritual about an eagle flying within fifty feet of you. It’s like they’re looking right through me, seeing things I don’t even know about myself. Consistently, over my twenty years of sailing experience, when I get a fly by from an eagle, either the wind starts or stops. You won’t find this phenomenon on the Internet maps. I don’t think anywhere on the forecast maps a SE wind was forecast. Yet, as soon as the eagle passed, the wind kicked up to 6M strength. Several baby eagles came out to check this new contraption on the water. Their playfulness in the air, with the grace of hundreds of soaring seagulls, vultures and master eagles gave me a compete sense of “arrival” as I knew this was where I should be and this is what I should be doing.

From 12:30 to 1:30 the wind gave a new meaning to the word “gusty”, but from 1:30 to 2:30 it clocked solid SE and filled in solid whitecap with beautiful rolling swell in the middle. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I looked down river and saw a barge working it’s way toward St. Paul. I sailed out to it and gave it my respect, much like I suspect all the soaring birds had given one another on this spectacular day.

I sailed an hour longer in more gusty conditions as the wind once again clocked more east. I derigged, packed up and drove upstream to Frontinac State Park only to see the wind had fully clocked NE by 4:30pm. By the time I got home, the wind was raging NE and the temp had dropped thirty degrees. I felt totally worked and crashed out by 9pm. God I love spring sailing!!

[Eric S]

Hey RJ,

You must have been at one of the other launches I checked out. We missed your company. We also had a flock of Bald Eagles and a few buzzards circling overhead. I thought I was the one that attracted them by my imitation of a flopping, dying fish near the shore under my rig. :-)

It was amazing how many eagles I was seeing down there! I'm glad you had so much fun, wasn't that barge collosal? 3 wide and 4 long, much bigger than the ones you see in the Gorge.

[Randy]

Hey Eric,
Yea, I'm sorry I missed you guys. I was sailing from the Rest Area. Did you launch from the point?

[Eric S]

I'm not sure what it's called but it's right out of downtown. You see lots of boats in drydock and keep taking little roads out to the water as far as you can. There was a nice gravel area at the end of the peninsula at water level. A fantasitic place to leave your rig when you take a break.

It looked like there were many areas where you could launch north and south of Lake City; Rest Areas, Parks and Public accesses. It seems like a great place to spend some time even off the water.