Category: Digital Media

Lake Sakakawea Boating Trip Log, Berthold Bay Trip, May 30-31st, 2020

Day 1 — May 30, 2020

Lake Sakakawea stretches 180 miles from the dam near Pick City in central North Dakota to Williston on the border with Montana. The lake is the second largest reservoir by surface area in the US after Lake Oahe. It averages between 3-4 miles in width and has 1320 miles of shoreline. That’s longer than California’s coastline. This article in the New York Times provides excellent descriptions of the lake and its shoreline.

It’s a big, remote, and effectively a locals-only lake that sees a busy day trade from local fisherman, but only the rare, occasional sailboat or powerboat cruises the lake on multi-day, multi-overnight trips.

As a result, it’s possible to get a remote expedition experience with a wilderness feel, if you have the right boat and skills.

The lake’s shoreline is North Dakota’s in-back, the physical inverse of Australia’s outback but similar in its remote, unsettled nature. The outback is found in Australia’s vast remote interior, fringed by a thin strip of civilization on the coast; conversely, Lake Sakakawea’s shoreline is a narrow, undeveloped, isolated fringe surrounded by North Dakota’s civilization: farms and ranches.

Sakakawea’s shoreline is rough country and mostly uninhabited, especially further west, and a lot of it is used for pasture. State and county parks and land dedicated to wildlife are common. In many places, steep, dusty hills and buttes plunge into the lake. The boating season is short, a mere 4 months, and most of the lakeshore is owned by the Corp of Engineers. This limits human development. But for those willing to learn its secrets, the lake offers many rewards. If you know how to boat safely and have some camping game, there are 100’s of scenic, remote, and very private bays you can stay in.

The Trip

I had moved my 22-foot Zodiac 650 RIB (rigid inflatable boat) from Minnesota to North Dakota in mid-May 2020 while I stayed in North Dakota for a month. (My current home base is in Minnesota.) The 650 is trailered so it’s mobile, and yet it is also rated for the open ocean and sea states up to 15 feet. Given Sakakawea’s huge size, both features are useful, and are precisely why I purchased this boat. I can move the boat to Lake Superior (where its open water rating is very handy) or any of 100’s of lakes within 1 or 2 days drive.

I had done a couple of day trips when I first arrived, but I was looking for an interesting overnight trip. Conveniently, when I’m in North Dakota I stay at my home on Lake Audabon, which I share with my two brothers. Together, we bought it from our siblings after my mother passed in 2015. The home had been in the family since 1983, and it felt right to team up with my brothers to keep it in the family.

Lake Audabon is connected to Lake Sakakawea so it’s easy to strategically position this boat on whatever portion of Lake Sakakawea is my expedition target.

The Sakakawea Sailing Fleet

Humans are social, and sailors are especially social. Several years earlier, I had connected with sailors on the east end of the lake and started cruising with them. The boats were mostly 28- to 34-foot cruising sailboats with sleeping quarters, a small galley, and a head. We would sail and explore the lake together, then at night I would set up a camp while the sailors stayed on their boats. This particular group has sailors who have been on the lake for almost 4 decades, and they very generously shared their knowledge of the lake and it’s best anchorages.

The sailors were heading out May 30th to Berthold Bay, a beautiful bay on the north shore about 12 nautical miles west from the marina near the dam at Lake Sakakawea State Park. I put the Zodiac in late in the day about 5 miles north, across the lake, at Ft. Stevenson State Park.

I got on the water around 5:30pm and headed west. Winds were 5-7 knots from the southeast. The trip was a pleasant 30-minute ride. The Sakakawea sailors overnight anchoring practice is to go as far back into a bay as possible, then put the bow on shore and tie lines from the port and starboard stern cleats to shore. This gives easy access to shore and isolates the boats from any big waves on the main lake. You can also tie stern lines together so a group of boats can raft together on shore. I tied into the group of four sailboats already rafted together then set up my tent.

With the sun setting I took some iPhone shots from the hill above the small bay the boats had tied up in, with pretty good results.

I then had dinner with my pals Dan and Roxanne Vondrachek on their 33-foot Ranger sailboat Czechmate II. Getting onto their boat I had a nasty cramp in my pec from pulling on the forestay to get on board, but my ankle (which I had severely sprained a week ago) felt much better. It was a lovely evening with perfect temps around 65-70 and a late sunset, around 10pm. After dinner I prepped for my camera shoot the next day, and set my alarm for 5:20am. 

Day 2 — May 31, 2020

Rising at 5:20am, it was cold (upper 40’s) and windy (10-12 knots). Golden hour started around 6am and would last until about 7:30am. I should have brought my wool clothing, wasn’t it supposed to be spring? I went back up on the hill overlooking the anchorage, and proceeded to take photos with the sun slowly rising, with my Sony A7III, iPhone, and GoPro cameras.

It was surprising how easy my iPhone 11 Pro was to use, with 3 lenses built in and its own automated color correction and editing. I lacked a wide angle lens for the Sony, a fail. I also realized a prime lens would be useful for better quality on my regular shots. I then got the drone out and put it to work. The drone performed very well even in the moderate to high winds.

The Trip Back

After the photo shoot, I prepped for the trip back. There were heavy winds from the southeast; I needed to head due east. I worked the three nautical miles through Berthold Bay to the main lake, prepping my boat gear and clothing along the way. I enabled my SPOT device that remotely tracks my location. SPOT helps others locate me if I get into trouble, and I can text messages indicating my status.

Given the 6- to 8-mile fetch and 20-25 knot winds from the southeast, I anticipated chaotic (from the lake’s irregular bathymetry) 3- to 5-foot waves coming into the north shore, and that’s exactly what I encountered where Berthold Bay enters the main lake. The plan was to journey 4 miles south across the lake so that I could get some protection on the south shore from the big waves and wind.

Attempting a southeast course beating directly into the waves, the boat heaved and shook pretty violently. I changed course to south-southwest to quarter into the heavy seas. The sea state gradually became smaller as I made my way south across the lake and the fetch gradually reduced. The boat speed plus heavy winds created severe wind noise to the point of auditory pain. Earplugs would have been really helpful. Once I got to the south side, I radioed the Vondrachek’s (who had left several hours earlier) to check their position; they were about an hour from the Pick City marina near the dam, hence about 8 miles east of me at that time.

The Zodiac can do 40 knots in a flat calm, but as the sea state grows, I have to reduce speed. For a sailboat, this is reversed. They get faster as the wind speed and waves pick up. I proceeded west to east about 100-200 yards out from the south shore, starting from roughly Expansion Bay, traveling at 10 knots. It was much easier going than on the south shore. Waves were small, but the high wind made the cruise uncomfortable since the Zodiac cockpit is open and exposed. A helmet and earplugs would easily solve this problem.

I met up with the Vondrachek’s in their boat Czechmate II, and as they were turning into the marina, I took a some video, chatted with them, then headed off to Ft. Stevenson.

I surfed some 3-foot waves coming into Garrison Bay, then headed to the dock. While docking I kept my stern into the wind and drifted onto the edge of the dock, catching the stern cleat on the end cleat of the dock. This makes it easy to catch the dock, and then I can push the bow onto the dock with the engine. I then walked the boat onto the trailer using the bow and stern lines, kind of like lining a canoe. There were no problems trailering, and I headed home.

Conclusions

This trip reminded me it’s important to get out there even if it’s just a 1.5 day trip. I had a great golden hour photo shoot, much better than I expected, and learned quite a bit about shooting photos with my drone and Sony A7III. Both cameras were still pretty new to me. I also took good GoPro footage while cruising to the rendezvous with the sailors, and back to Ft. Stevenson. And as always it’s great to connect with my Sakakawea sailors friends.

Lake Sakakawea Boating Trip Log, June 12-14, 2020

In this post I describe a 3-day, 2-night trip in the North Dakota badlands via Lake Sakakawea. I traveled by RIB (rigid inflatable boat) to the camp site. In a previous post I provided more background on Lake Sakakawea; feel free to read it if you want to understand the context of this trip. This article in the New York Times provides excellent descriptions of the lake and its shoreline.

Day 1: June 12

My plan was to cruise in my 22-foot RIB, a Zodiac 650, to a remote, scenic bay I call “O’Keefe Bay” on Lake Sakakawea and stay two nights. I put the boat in at Indian Hills Resort in Good Bear Bay. The Zodiac has a rigid bottom, an inflatable U-shaped collar around this bottom, plus two 70 horsepower Yamaha outboard engines yielding a maximum boat speed of 40 mph.

The prep work for this trip seemed excessive, two hours on Thursday, three hours on Friday so I started late again.  I arrived at Indian Hills resort from my lake home near Coleharbor around 1600 but did not head out onto the lake until 1730, arrived at O’Keefe Bay at 1900. On the 14-mile trip from Indian Hills to O’Keefe Bay the winds were from southeast, on my back, around 15 mph.  I cruised along on the south shore. There was a golden glow off the high cliffs to port. Wind from the south east at 130° so easy cruising with it at my back. The sun was gorgeous, I was cruising directly towards it and felt like I was chasing it.

It took 1.5 hours to set up camp and secure the boat. I used the Danforth anchor for the bow and the two grappling anchors plus chain and rode for the port and starboard side anchors. My Eureka tent was set up quickly. I really love the hard work to set up camp and the exhaustion it creates, but I’m getting muscle cramps from dehydration. So I need to stay hydrated and I need more training strength and stretching to continue with these rigorous trips.

It’s hard to decompress on such short trips but they’re still awesome. My goal is finding beauty on each trip and record and share it. I’m surprised how nervous I still am when I start out, but my confidence is building each trip. Sakakawea is a big lake and there is almost no settlement on the shoreline, especially where I was going. When I first got out on the lake, no one else was on the water in the large, open portion of the lake where the Little Missouri Arm meets the bend as the river turns towards the east, and it was a bit spooky. I was not feeling strong, but that changed on the second day.

I set up camp in the same exact spot the last time I was at O’Keefe Bay over Labor Day weekend in 2019. The logs I had left last year were still there. I’m certain almost no one hikes or stays here because this bay is surrounded by very steep, rough, high hills. I’ve also never seen signs of cattle here, whereas cattle are quite common to see on Sakakawea’s shoreline. Thus O’Keefe Bay provides solitude except for the occasional curious fishing boat that stops by briefly for the view. On the second day I realized where I set up my tent is exposed to potentially falling rocks from the cliffs above me, so next time I’ll place my camp on the hill pointing into the bay that is not exposed to falling mud or rocks.

While checking the tent, I found extra tent guidelines to secure all parts of the tent. Noticed I can stake in the bottom of the tent as well, at the doors. Did not cook dinner, too exhausted and not hungry. Noticed this the whole trip, exhaustion and heat reduced my appetite. I also noticed I can go a full day, or even two days, eating very little while doing a massive amount of work. I assume this is good.

Day two: June 13, 2020

On day two I rose at 0700, spent an hour on golden hour photography and then did some video sequences.

I thought about my mindset when I’ve encountered Badlands before, being too logical and material, trying to use science to understand everything and put it in a box. Instead the right way is to not overthink it. Assume it was created this way for reasons I don’t really need to know, but I need to appreciate the beauty, like appreciating art in an impressionistic way. Just exist in it and flow into it.

At the end of the day I made the following notes: was very windy all day, excellent morning readings on the historical problems of modernity. Reviewed books on Kindle. Saw a bluebird that seemed incredibly out of place in this brown and yellow badlands hellscape. The bird lived in the cliff, disappeared before I got a good photo (I did get a not-so-great photo, see above).

Evolution can’t tell me why that bird is here, or why it’s blue, or frankly much of anything else. Later I learned it was probably an Indigo Bunting. My camp gear, including the tent, did well in the high winds that came up on this day. The shore anchoring rig for the Zodiac also worked well. The rig includes a Danforth bow anchor forward and rode plus chain from both the port and starboard stern cleats to shore. This keeps the boat perpendicular to shore so that the engines are in the deepest water possible while keeping the boat secure.

Day 3: June 14th

I woke up after a windy night during which the tent held up quite well.  But the tent was noisy as it was jostled by the wind. I can see the advantage of a tunnel tent for the tundra here, where it’s more compact and less exposed to the wind. Having the tarp is essential for rain protection and comfort around camp if I switch to a tunnel tent.

The SE wind was shaped by the surrounding hills so that it was bent and came around from the north when it hit my campsite. Interesting how the wind speed rose and fell. Woke up around 1900. Slow start, made coffee eventually, then read. Around 9am packed up and prepared for the return trip. Checked weather by VHF radio, winds from SE through the afternoon then from south later in the day, potential rain/storms throughout the day. It turned out to be fairly accurate; no storms but  light rain, then later in the afternoon the sun finally came up. 

During this trip I was shocked at how inaccurate the Navionics tool is, and I encountered several large submerged islands that were not marked anywhere on the Navionics map. I wonder if there is a “chart datum” setting for the lake level. It needs one.

On the return trip I passed through the Little Missouri Arm out onto the main lake, stayed on the south coast of the lake to get some  protection from the strong (20 knot) SE wind, but as it was  more easterly than southerly, there was a 2-3 foot chop  on the big lake. I stopped in a couple bays to explore,  including one that likely has a sand beach as it was surrounded by sandstone cliffs. I recorded this spot on the Navionics app.

On the trip east I drove at low speeds to keep the boat under control, for comfort, and to lower fuel use. I also shot video and took photos.

I discovered a Cove just across the lake from Good Bear Bay, where Indian Hills resort is located, that has exactly the same kind of beach as  those found on Lake Superior . Basically a gradual change from coarse sand to pebbles to small rocks, then larger rocks, all layered vertically. It turns out this bay has a northwest exposure with a long 15+ mile fetch, so the prevailing northwest winds create consistent, fairly large wave action. There is a beach filled with this gravel and rock that’s  4 to 5 feet high. It’s amazing how similar it is to the beaches on Lake Superior. I believe there should be holding ground for  anchoring, although it’s only tenable for east or south east winds.  However if the winds shift, you can re-anchor in adjacent waters which have protection from north, northwest, and west winds.

I tried to swim on this beach but the main lake water was too cold for me. After lunch and a couple of hours exploring this beach, I headed across the lake and  into Good Bear Bay and Indian Hill Resort, pulled out my boat and gear, and was able to get home uneventfully.

Observations

• The iPhone’s small size, convenience, versatility (multiple lens), and automation makes its camera especially useful on expeditions. Of course it cannot take long-range zoom photos of wildlife, and can’t handle corner cases (like very low light or high dynamic range) that my Sony can, but I get many photos that would otherwise not happen.
• With a deeper knowledge of the lake (it’s history, geology, and people) I could tell its story better. I’m going to work on that.
• Once again, I am surprised at how much solitude you can achieve with an outdoor skills stack that combines multiple skills, including camping, boating, navigation and weather.