Sailors' Secret Revealed

If you've been on the Apostle Island Sail trip, you know one of camp's best kept secrets.  Yes, the Canadians are exceptional trips, but every once and while, a diversion might be good.  In this case, it's aboard a 30 foot sloop or 40 foot cat.

Now, Yahoo Travel has posted one of the secrets. It's one of their top 10 "secret" islands to explore.

Take a look, then make sure to sneak away to the Apostles in the next year or two!

Come Sail Away

The Chippewa Regatta

Our friends from Camp Kamaji are joining us today for a friendly regatta. Sailing, archery and tennis are on the schedule. It's a beautiful day for some friendly competition! (The Chippewa teams are listed below the photos.)

Sailing Team : Spencer D., Spencer O, Henry M., Will M., Jondall N., James W., Alex K., Carter O.

Tennis Team : Lars F., Magnus F., Miles A., Paul M., Paul R., Jake E.

Archery Team : Channing C., Joe H.W., Max T., Zylon A., Christian M., Byron A., Bryer T., Ben K.

Isle Royale Sail Trip Photos

Isle Royale Sail Trip

As part of our special 75th Anniversary summer, five sailors (Byron A. Jesse O, Patrick H. Calvin W. and Sing Lok W.) have been sailing Lake Superior from the Apostle Islands to Isle Royale. This is sailing! You can watch their journey unfold by clicking the link below. Fair winds!

Isle Royale Sail Trip Navigation

Tall Ship Tales

It looks like the guys headed out on the 8-day Isle Royale Sail Trip with Captain Crabb have stumbled into a bit of luck. The Great Lakes Tall Ship Challenge will be sailing through Lake Superior to the city of Duluth on the same dates that our guys will be crossing Lake Superior.

A quick stop in Duluth on the way out will certainly be in order, but check the horizon during your sail. How great it will be to see those giant masts growing taller.

Take a look at the Duluth Tall Ship page.

New Fleet for Sailors and the CCYC

The Camp Chippewa Yacht Club will be adding four new boats to the fleet. Check out the Open Bic Sports in the video below.

These new boats are a thrill and will provide a chance for any camper, regardless of rank, to begin to learn to skipper their own boat. So jump aboard...it's going to be a blast!

Sailors Rejoice!

Chippewa sailors will be charting a new course for camp next summer. As part of our 75th Anniversary celebration, several special canoe and fish trips are in the works...now you can add an amazing 8-day sail trip.

Skipper John Crabb and five Chippewa sailors will make a crossing of Lake Superior from the Apostle Islands to Isle Royale. For eight days, they'll explore the spectacular beauty of Lake Superior, crossing the width of Lake Superior. Included in the journey will be several days spent "at sea" and even a night crossing. This is a sailor's dream and an experience that can't be missed.

The trip will weigh anchor during the second session, so make plans to chart your course on this unbelievable trip. It is said that skippers who can sail Lake Superior can sail anywhere in the world. My hope is that the Chippewa skippers accept the challenge of Lake Superior.

CCYC Sets Sail

Not only do the sailors have two new sailboats to be excited about, but 2009 marks the inaugural year for the Camp Chippewa Yacht Club. What's this mean for the sailors? More sail races, more sailing day trips and, of course, a cool new flag and burgee!

If you currently sail with another club in your hometown, we're looking to outfit the sail shanty with sail burgees from other clubs. Let's trade!

(The new CCYC Flag)

Sailing Fleet Grows

Two new additions are coming this summer for the Chippewa sailors. On order are two Hobie Waves, made possible through gifts from alumni with a love for sailing. These 13' catamarans are a blast. The large sail on these nimble boats make them a fast, fun and wet addition to the Chippewa fleet. Best of all, they are quick to rig. A quick pull on the main halyard, push off of the Cass Lake beach and you'll be underway.

Maybe Jolson will finally have his day of sailing.

(sorry guys, the girls aren't included.)

2nd Session News

What a wonderful session! Heck, what a wonderful summer! From the moment the campers arrived on the bus this session, the adventures have been memorable.

The weather this session has been outstanding. With warm days and cool nights, the boys found dip time a welcome part of the day and lights out at bed time a chance to regenerate for the next day's adventures. Camp was healthy and happy. I am certain that tonight's final campfire will reveal highlights of a remarkable summer.

Trips to Hook Island, Sanford Lake, Apostle Islands, the Quetico, Mississippi River and all around Minnesota returned with happy memories and pride of accomplishment. The wilderness challenges of the trail helped build the character of each trip and revealed the excitement of camping in the northwoods. Whether sailing for five days on Lake Superior or shooting whitewater in northern Ontario or even paddling six miles across Cass Lake to camp on Star Island, the adventures came alive.

Special activities around camp were a blast. Even Batman and Forest Gump made visits to camp this session with the creation of Batman and Forest Gump days to complement the traditional Pirate Day. Perhaps a highlight for the summer was during Waterfront Day when a dunk tank was created on Buck Lake to sink your favorite counselor, or even the director. It was fun and creative, if not a bit wet!

It was just a couple of days ago that we hosted neighboring Camp Kamaji for Girls, Camp Thunderbird for Boys and Camp Thunderbird for Girls in a regatta at Chippewa. We had a ball! Chippewa sailors found their way around the marks in light winds, crossing the line in first and second place. On both the archery and riflery range, the results were the same with the Chippewa campers demonstrating great sportsmanship while competing. The new Bearpaw tennis courts hosted the tennis players under a cloudless sky, with the all of the camps sharing success on the courts. While the friendly competition was a joy, the fun of the day was in hosting neighboring camps to our summer home.

I look back at the last eight weeks with a smile on my face. Many of the same traditions were strengthened, complemented by new ones. Unique trip pins for local canoe trips, a new Chippewa sailing manual, the new Knutson Hall and Bear Paw tennis court and fencing strip, and Black Tie Dinner were exciting additions to an already full and varied program.

In just a few hours, the final banquet will signal the conclusion of camp's 73rd year. As we creep closer to our 75th anniversary, I couldn't be more pleased with the summer of 2008. Thanks again for sharing in the adventures! See you next summer.

New Sailing Manual Coming

Sailors, you'll have a great new tool as you sail through the ranks this summer...no pun intended. Working with Phil, CJ and a couple of other dedicated sailors, I've been spending the last week creating a new Chippewa sailing manual for 2008. With the addition of the new sailboat last summer and the number of guys headed to the Apostle Islands each year to sail, it seems that the time is right to create a new manual.

Yet another exciting addition to the Chippewa program this summer...I can't wait!

The Chippewa fleet in port on Cass

America's Cup Sets Sail

Without much fanfare in the US, the 32nd America's Cup is underway in Valencia, Spain with the commencement of the Challenger series. A quick check of the leader board finds the US team, BMW Oracle, leading all challengers. Most predict this to be one of the closest America's Cup in history, so it will be fun to watch the progress over the next several weeks. So far, the races have been plagued by little wind, and several races have yet to set sail. We'll keep an eye on BMW Oracle as the racing unfolds. In the meantime, we'll look forward to racing our new sailboat in the Kamaji regatta this summer!

Coolest Places I’ve Been With Camp. Part 1: Northern Most Point of Wisconsin

As you all know the three tenets of Camp Chippewa are: Adventure, Tradition, and Character. While tradition and character are great, adventure is what stirs the soul. In my guest blog I will highlight some of the many cool places I have been lucky enough to go to with camp. My apologies to those who have had to endure the many pit stops and long-cuts to see some of the Northwoods finest roadside, lakeside, and riverside attractions.

On a hiking trail just below the Devils Island lighthouse in the Apostle Islands is a true one of a kind landmark: The Northern Most Point of Wisconsin. Nowhere else in the world can you find the northern most point of Wisconsin, not even in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From this vantage point, looking north, you realize that Lake Superior really lives up to its name, more so than any of the other Great Lakes (especially Huron). It’s freakin’ huge.

The Northern Most Point of Wisconsin isn’t the only thing to see on Devil’s Island. There is also Devil’s Island Lighthouse which was built in 1898. The lighthouse contains a rare Fresnel (pronounced fre-NELL) lens which was some kind of great advancement in lighthouse lanterns. Back in the woods behind the lighthouse there is an old tractor that along with the car that can be found on the portage into McCrea Lake on the Savant and the car on the portage out of Beaverhouse Lake on the Quetico fits in the “how in the heck did that thing get there” category.

The only downside to the Northern Most Point of Wisconsin is that you can’t actually stand there. Because of the precariousness of the ground, if you stand there you will fall 20 feet down into Lake Superior, making you the The Northern Most Wettest Person in Wisconsin.