Lake Superior

Tim Traynor: “The most spectacular routes finish in Duluth, surfing through the shipping canal and under the iconic lift bridge into the inner harbor. This requires a cautious approach as the entrance to the canal is between two long jetties and it is easy to miss the opening. Point to point downwinding on the north shore requires a NE or SW wind. Between Two Harbors and Duluth the coastline is rocky with some cliffs that get pounded by swell, and there are only a few safe launch points. Stoney Point is between Two Harbors and McQuade Harbor - 9.5 miles from Two Harbors and 6 miles from McQuade.”

Zach Handler: “Today waves are supposed to be 13’ on that run with 30mph winds all day…. I do it (this run) just a couple times a year as the 3.5 hr drive makes for a long day. When conditions are good enough to make it worth the drive it is usually fog and rain, and as soon as the waves kick up the water is 42 degrees. And there are only a few safe spots to land in the 16 mile run (Ed.: there are only a few good landings on the whole stretch between Two Harbors and the Duluth Lift Bridge); otherwise its all cliffs and boulders. When I am out there on big cold days I feel so isolated that I might as well be on the back side of the moon. It is really fun run but kind of sketch. When I finally get through the canal under the lift bridge at the end it kind of feels like I cheated death. I bet Tim (Traynor) does not get that feeling any more.”

Tim Traynor: (describing a gale warning Knife River to McQuade 2022 downwinder (video)) “The first limitation on the North Shore of Lake Superior is the limited launch and landing sites. Rocks and break walls are not forgiving. Add to this the fact that the the head of the Lake at Duluth gets highly confused and haystacky, especially entering and within the ship canal. The second consideration is of course conditions in open water, but at least you won’t be crashed on rocks or walls out there. By far the best place of launching and landing is Two Harbors but there are limited launch and landing sites up or down shore from there. I elected not to go into Duluth yesterday as I knew it would be getting very large. One of my main concerns there is getting dumped with people watching that may not understand and call a rescue, this has happened to me before elsewhere up the shore. So the bottom line is being able to get in and out reasonably. Launching at Knife River was still manageable but McQuade was starting to get sketchy when we finished. Yesterday was surprisingly messy, possibly due to a more northerly local wind and more easterly up the Lake? We had large waves coming from 2 directions which caused all sorts of havoc.”

• Two Harbors
  • Two Harbors - McQuade Small Craft Harbor 15.5 miles
    • Recognizing McQuade Take-out - Tim Traynor: “…McQuade can be very hard to see until you’re only a couple kilometers away. However, there are landmarks along the way such as the old Nokomis restaurant, French River, and the new, easy to spot retaining wall about a kilometer up the shore from McQuade. Also, after passing Stoney we can see a notch in the ridge in the distance beyond McQ that lines up fairly well. Of course on low visibility days there is always GPS ”
    • Downwindable.com, Downwindfun
    • Video 6/7/2020
    • Reverse Run 2/25/2024 somewhat challenging with SSW onshore wind & waves
  • Two Harbors - Stoney Point 9.5 miles video 4/2/2020
• Knife River
  • Knife River - McQuade Small Craft Harbor 8.5 miles video 4/30/2022
  • Knife River - Knife Island laps video don't have someone to help with a shuttle? As long as the wind isn't blowing too hard and/or too much off shore, you can always do laps…
• McQuade Small Craft Harbor - Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge 11 miles
  • Downwindable.com, Downwindfun
  • video 4/28/2022
• Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge Takeout - stay out of canal until free of ship traffic video
• …

entrance_to_liftbridge.png	knife river marina, beach and island	lift_bridge_takeout.png
mcquade_safe_harbor.png	stoney_point.png