Voyageur II opening trips delayed

[Capt Don]

As many who follow this forum or live in this part of the world know, we are experiencing a rare winter. The ice cover on Lake Superior, while vast, is also much thicker than expected for this date. As a result of this we have decided to delay our opening trip until May 14, 2014. We make this change at this time to hopefully give anyone who may have been going on one of the cancelled trips enough time to rearrange their schedules and not lose vacation time etc. We are trying to be proactive and avoid a repeat of situations that occurred last May when, due to lack of information sharing by several agencies, visitors had their trips cancelled at the last minute and in some cases were already on the road and forced to turn back. All who have current reservations for dates prior to May 14 will be cancelled and the charges to their cards reversed. If any of those people have questions or would like to reschedule you can do so online or email us at reservations@isleroyaleboats.com .
I took some pictures of the dock area on April 3rd and will post them here if someone could give me some tips on how to do so, (remember, I drive boats), there is quite a contrast from what most are familiar with.

[Kevinl]

Thanks for the update Captain Don. I'm looking forward to that May 14 boat. Good luck getting everything ready for the season.

[treeplanter]

.......I took some pictures of the dock area on April 3rd and will post them here if someone could give me some tips on how to do so, (remember, I drive boats), there is quite a contrast from what most are familiar with.

As for attaching pictures, you first have to put your pictures someplace (on a photo website, not on your hard drive). Some folks use Flickr, etc. Once you do that, you have to find the URL for the picture you want to show us. In most cases, you right-click on the picture you want to put on this forum, and a “save image URL” will pop up. Click that. Then go back to the Isle Royale forum. When you want to include a picture to a posting, look up in the toolbar of the note you’re writing. Find the “IMG” box (for image) and press that. You then paste the saved picture URL in that space. Then when you post your note, the pic will be attached too.

In lieu of all this, post your pictures on a photo website and then include the link with your posting. Folks can then click on that and go to the photo hosting site.

[Tom]

Here are the photos from Capt Don showing the current state of the marina in Grand Portage. I particularly like how the snow is up to the level of the dock...

[picasaimage]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vZs4 ... arina1.jpg[/picasaimage]

[picasaimage]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DHNT ... arina2.jpg[/picasaimage]

[statsman4]

Thanks for the update Captain Don. I hope to see you on May 17th.

[fonixmunkee]

Thanks for sharing, Capt Don. That's a lot of snow.

[Capt Don]

Thanks for posting the pictures Tom. While lots of snow is nothing new, that much ice on the bay is. The bay has been had consistent ice cover for over a month now and is over two feet thick. It has been at over twenty years since anything close to that has occurred. It will be interesting to see how long before it goes.

[Tightlines01]

Wow lots of winter left up there! Thanks for posting the pics, any clue why they don't show up if you are using Tapatalk to access the forum? If I log onto the website by Internet page I see them, but they don't show up on Tapatalk.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[fonixmunkee]

It has been at over twenty years since anything close to that has occurred..

Wow! 20 years! Incredible. Now I'm very curious when the boats are going to get going. What happened 20 years ago when it was like this?

[Capt Don]

The boats never started running that early in those days. If. I recall correctly, when Earthwatch was involved with the Moose/Wolf project they wanted to get to the island earlier, even April. They settled for early May as it was unlikely the boat could be ready any earlier. Having to face weather delays in 2013 & 2014 I am beginning to wonder if our run of luck starting this early is fading.

[Midwest Ed]

The boats never started running that early in those days. If. I recall correctly, when Earthwatch was involved with the Moose/Wolf project they wanted to get to the island earlier, even April. They settled for early May as it was unlikely the boat could be ready any earlier. Having to face weather delays in 2013 & 2014 I am beginning to wonder if our run of luck starting this early is fading.

If I remember correctly, back in the 70's the first scheduled boats open to the public were not until Memorial Day. I once took the IR Queen II on a mid May weekend trip but it was a special charter.

[Midwest Ed]

Isle Royale transportation is not the only Great Lakes traffic in peril and jeopardy in the upcoming weeks. The ice and long winter are putting a variety of economic situations in trouble.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... inter.html

[Capt Don]

There is some good news in this winter that won't end. Despite over a foot of fresh snow Thursday, the ice on Grand Portage Bay went out. Warmer temps are forecast in addition to another winter storm warning next week. The sun has taken a big toll on the snow cover and until yesterday bare ground was showing all over, it will again soon I think. The ice around the island is beginning to break off and move into the ever expanding open water areas. Now if the east wind can go away and the ice in front of the Duluth entry will move out things will be looking up for something other than icebreakers.

[treeplanter]

Finally. Now we just have to get Washington Harbor to thaw out.

[Redbad]

Does anyone know if the Ranger III has been able to transit from dry dock in Wisconsin to park HQ in Houghton?. I saw reports (not recent) of significant ice in the Portage Canal.