Minnesota Slips Rules and Recommendations

[AKA-None]

Nope pepin is a horrible place to sail crowded, rock sandbars just horrible. Stay away. Yeap that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

[aj911501]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Nope pepin is a horrible place to sail crowded, rock sandbars just horrible. Stay away. Yeap that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Right... Rocks and sandbars. Good to know

Awesome, thank you all for the recommendations! We keep looking north of the cities, but it sounds like I need to look further south.

When you say "sailing oriented", what exactly do you mean? Cranes for lifting the masts?

Thank you again!

[Jammer]

Sailing-oriented marina


Dockage suitable for boats of reasonable size (up to at least 26'). Many fishing-oriented resorts and marinas have a limit around 18'-20'



Dockage that is: not covered, with sufficient depth, with dockside power, and with potable water within reasonable distance.



Fuel dock, launch, haulout, and maintenance facilities capable of handling sailboats with typical draft.


Mast service availability. This may be a crane on site, availability of mobile crane service familiar with the marina and with mast work, or six strong dock workers comfortable with muscling a mast into place.

[Jammer]

So to take an example familiar to me there are places like Bowstring Lake. Large enough and open enough that it would be fun to sail, though the shoreline isn't especially interesting.


The first problem with lining up a trip is that the DNR ramps end at roughly 48" deep at typical lowish water levels or 60" at average levels. I can get my H26 launched in that but for many boats that isn't enough. On this lake, the DNR ramps are better than any of the private ramps.


The next problem is that there's no mast service, to the point where there is no marina comfortable assisting you even if you have a gin pole and just need an extra body or two.


The final problem is that there are few protected harbors and those that exist are shallow. People use boat lifts, or haul their boat out when the weather looks iffy, or beach it on shore.


The upshot of all this is that even to use a typical-sized trailer sailor on this lake you have to be self-reliant and the boat and trailer have to be designed for ease of launch, meaning centerboard, water ballast, drop axles, and a well designed mast raising system. And then once you're in the water you're still on your own and will have to anchor out even if it's rolley.