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.