This is another catch-up post to fully document our boating journeys. When people ask us where we started our Loop, the answer isn’t always the same. Sometimes we say Lake City, MN, where we raised our AGLCA burgee and departed from on Labor Day of 2023 (after our fantastic send-off party). Other times we respond with St. Paul, our home and homeport, where we launched Dragonfly for the first time in 2019. We bought the boat in July of that year and kept it at Watergate Marina, about six miles from home, using it as a power boat on the Mississippi River for the rest of that season. Map link: Watergate Marina
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| “Anticipation,” the boat’s previous name, is still on the hull |
In late May of 2020, we raised the mast for the first time, launched the boat at Watergate and parked it in a slip. We made the one-hour drive to Lake City to drop off a car at our destination, then spent the night at home. The next morning we set off from Watergate Marina into an unsettled forecast and encountered some driving rain north of Lock 2 in Hastings, MN. It cleared up by the time we got to Point St. Croix Marina in Prescott, WI, a voyage of 34 miles. There are several marinas in Prescott, we were the only sailboat in town and our arrival attracted quite an audience. There was a strong current running and we had to turn broadside to it to get into our slip, with plenty of locals around to observe, advise and protect their boats. We did just fine, and were told later that most sailboat dockings there are pretty ugly, hence all the attention.
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| Ready to launch. New name, old engine. |
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| Ready to go. Watergate Marina, St. Paul, MN |
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| Hastings, MN |
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| Point St. Croix Marina, Prescott, WI |
Prescott, population 4,300, is at the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers and is a popular and attractive river town that we have enjoyed before by car. The town’s namesake, Philander Prescott, and his Dakota wife, Na-he-no-Wenah (Spirit of the Moon) set up a trading post here in 1839. Prescott was also a government interpreter for the Dakota language and was killed at the initial engagement of the Dakota War of 1862.
Our visit in 2020 was during COVID restrictions, but all the bars and restaurants were open, with only mild attempts at masking and social distancing. We ate dinner on the water at the marina’s restaurant, stuffing ourselves with their locally famous jumbo shrimp, then had a chat with Bill, the marina’s owner, learning that our server was his granddaughter. After dinner, we walked over the Prescott Lift Bridge back into Minnesota and Point Douglas Park, then returned to Dragonfly to relax and play cribbage. The trains run right through town (about 400 feet from our slip) and we were awoken at least four times during the night. Map link: Prescott, WI
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| Water snake, Prescott, WI |
The next morning we ate breakfast in the cabin, waited out some approaching rain at the dock and prepared to leave Prescott for the 36-mile run to Lake City. Our 20-year-old Honda 50 HP outboard was hard to start and I noticed a small gas leak that seemed to be coming from the fuel pump. Then the high-temperature alarm came on while exiting Lock 3 near Red Wing, MN, but cleared, and we babied the engine for the final 15 miles to Hansen’s Harbor in Lake City, raising our sails upon entering Lake Pepin. As we made the final turn from the marina fairway into our slip, the outboard died—fortunately we were close enough and had enough speed to coast into the slip without incident. We had run out of gas—there were two six-gallon fuel tanks aboard and I thought that we could make it all the way on one (and technically we did). After tying up, we got takeout from Railhouse Grill in Lake City and ate it in Roschen Park on the lake. Reading, cribbage and more reading rounded out a very peaceful and comfortable evening. The next morning was Memorial Day and we woke up to a passing thunderstorm after sunrise. We had considered daysailing, but there wasn’t any wind, and more rain in the forecast, so we packed up and went home. The next day I called Hansen’s Harbor to get the outboard issues addressed, and they quickly diagnosed a bad fuel pump and water pump impeller, which were both replaced. Map link: Hansen’s Harbor, Lake City, MN
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| Safe and sound at Hansen’s Harbor |
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| Lake Pepin |
At the end of the 2020 season, we hauled the boat out and trailered it back to Watergate Marina for the off-season, keeping it closer to home for fall and spring maintenance and upgrades. One downside to keeping it there was an early spring break-in and theft of about $500 worth of gear from inside our locked cabin (handheld VHF radio, binoculars, battery charger and a couple of other things).
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| Thieves forced open our locked cabin hatch |
In early May of 2021, we launched the boat at Watergate, shuttled a car down to Lake City, then headed downriver again the next morning. We encountered heavy barge traffic in downtown St. Paul, which was a little stressful, but otherwise had an easy run on a beautiful day, with temperatures going from the upper 50s to the low 80s, and we eventually put up the bimini to keep the sun off of us. We cruised at 8-9 mph with a favorable current and decided to make the 70-mile trip to Lake City in one shot, arriving at Hansen’s Harbor just after 6:00 PM in calm weather. Dinner was takeout pizza from Papa Tronnio’s, then we spent a quiet night aboard before heading back home the next morning.
At the end of the 2021 season our trailer bent when we hauled the boat out of Lake Pepin, and we opted not to tow Dragonfly back to St. Paul. After launching again in the spring of 2022, we got the trailer straightened, and kept everything in Lake City until we left in 2023 for the start of the Loop.
Bonus Content: Palindromes!
A Toyota’s a Toyota
Do geese see God
Yo, banana boy
No X in Nixon
Senile felines
Never odd or even
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo
Was it a car or a cat I saw
No lemons no melon
Pa’s a sap
Ma is as selfless as I am
May a moody baby doom a yam
Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog
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