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| - | Safety is a constant concern on Lake Superior. Be prepared for water temps in the 40s F (4-10 degrees Celsius)([[:cold_water_paddling|cold water safety]]). In the summer an onshore breeze can push 65° F (18° C) surface water up to the shore and make swimming pleasant, but the next day if the wind changes the water will be 42° F (5.5° C) again. In the winter water temps get close to freezing. Always check [[:the_great_lakes#lake_superior|your conditions]] | + | Safety is a constant concern on Lake Superior. Be prepared for water temps in the 40s F (4-10 degrees Celsius)([[:cold_water_paddling|cold water safety]]). In the summer an onshore breeze can push 65° F (18° C) surface water up to the shore and make swimming pleasant, but the next day if the wind changes the water will be 42° F (5.5° C) again. In the winter water temps get close to freezing. Always check [[:lake_superior#conditions|your conditions]] |
| On stormy days fog and rain can destroy visibility, and GPS navigation may be needed to get in safely. There is Coast Guard support on the lake and on at least one occasion they have rescued a surfskier. [[https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/lswt/safety.html|DNR trip planning advice]] somewhat slanted toward sea kayaks but much of the advice is applicable for surfski trips. | On stormy days fog and rain can destroy visibility, and GPS navigation may be needed to get in safely. There is Coast Guard support on the lake and on at least one occasion they have rescued a surfskier. [[https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/lswt/safety.html|DNR trip planning advice]] somewhat slanted toward sea kayaks but much of the advice is applicable for surfski trips. | ||
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| **2024 Tim Traynor Downwinder** ([[https://youtu.be/iIIGBLOMUE0|video]]) "The forecast was for SE winds turning S. This was correct around the area except, as it turned out, for the Lake where we typically do our runs. Looking out the window from work at midday I could see there was a light NE wind on the Lake, although not quite useable. By midafternoon it built up quite nicely so Andy and I organized an impromptu run with my son driving the shuttle. We ended up having an excellent, unexpected 18k run with a 15+ knot NE wind. The Lake Superior microclimate surprises yet again! …!" | **2024 Tim Traynor Downwinder** ([[https://youtu.be/iIIGBLOMUE0|video]]) "The forecast was for SE winds turning S. This was correct around the area except, as it turned out, for the Lake where we typically do our runs. Looking out the window from work at midday I could see there was a light NE wind on the Lake, although not quite useable. By midafternoon it built up quite nicely so Andy and I organized an impromptu run with my son driving the shuttle. We ended up having an excellent, unexpected 18k run with a 15+ knot NE wind. The Lake Superior microclimate surprises yet again! …!" | ||
| - | **Another Tim Traynor Comment Specific to Lake Superior Conditions**: "It's best to do a downwind in the building phase of a blow as once it has been going some hours the fast, long-fetch swells become too hard to catch…rounded swell being so frustrating and the remaining wind waves seem to even be blocked from the wind in the troughs, yuk." Note! in many places the back-end of blows passing through is considered to generally be safer because the ultimate strength of a passing/building storm is not known or predicted with perfect accuracy on the front end. If you employ Tim's advice about front-end storm downwinding on Lake Superior, maybe you will want to be extra cautious? particularly when you do not have extensive local experience under your belt yet? \\ | + | **Another Tim Traynor Comment Specific to Lake Superior Conditions**: "It's best to do a downwind in the building phase of a blow as once it has been going some hours the fast, long-fetch swells become too hard to catch…rounded swell being so frustrating and the remaining wind waves seem to even be blocked from the wind in the troughs, yuk." //Ed. Note:!// in many places the back-end of blows passing through is considered to generally be safer because the ultimate strength of a passing/building storm is not known or predicted with perfect accuracy on the front end. If you employ Tim's advice about front-end storm downwinding on Lake Superior, maybe you will want to be extra cautious? particularly when you do not have extensive local experience both paddling and watching lake storm behavior under your belt yet? \\ |
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