434 
FOREST « AND STREAM. 
[Junk 6, 1903. 
Annual Cruise of the Goodenough. 
Story Submitted in "Forest and Stream" Cruising 
Competition. 
BY FRANK F. FRISBEE, DETROIT, MICH. 
"On the clear and luminous water 
Launched his birch canoe for sailing; 
From the pebbles of tlie margin 
Shoved it forth into the water; 
Whispered to it, 'Westward! Westward!' 
And with speed it darted forward, 
And the evening sun descending, 
Set the clouds on fire with redness, 
Burned the broad sky like a pra#ie. 
Left upon the level water 
One long track and trail of splendor, 
Down whose stream, as down a river, 
W^estward, westward, Hiawatha 
Sailed into the purple vapors, 
Sailed into the dusk of evening." 
— Longfellow. 
"Tug ahoy!" 
"On board the schooner." . 
"Cast off our tow line, please; we can make it now. 
"Aye! Aye! sir!" 
"Haul in your line and stand by to get the canvas 
on her." 
Thus spoke the Skipper of the schooner yacht 
Goodenough, as the tug Pioneer was towing her up 
Ste. Marie's River, just at the entrance of Waisky 
Bay, after we had passed Mosquito Bay and were 
nearing Round Island, and while the crew are getting 
sail on here the man at the wheel will introduce the 
dramatis personse. 
First, our good ship, for without a ship we could 
not cruise, the crew is easy to get. 
The Goodenough is a pole-masted centerboard 
schooner, of a gross tonnage of 16; length, 45-9ftM 
beam, i6ft.; depth, 5ft.; she is on the sharpie order; her 
bilge is sharp and her bottom nearly flat, though the 
angle from bilge to keel is something of an obtuse. Bow, 
straight; stern with little overhang; she has a good 
side out and considerable sheer; solid bulwarks a few 
inches high; she is cut away considerably aft, and has 
a clean run; with board up she draws about 3ft. 6in. 
at her skag; steers with a wheel; staysail, foresail, 
mainsail, spars and rigging heavy and strong; fore- 
sail larger than main, she being canvassed like the 
fishing boats of the upper lakes. Her board is small 
for a craft of her size and hardly comes 3 feet above 
her cabin floor, allowing her table to be flush— more 
board would be better. 
SCHOONER YACHT GOODENOUGH. 
Foremast stepped well forward and mainmast just 
aft of cabin house. Alleys nearly 3 feet, and very 
large cockpit, with seats on three sides. Very broad 
at stern, about 12ft., so there is lots of room on "fan- 
tail." Small windlass for hoisting anchor, well for- 
ward, right at end of bowsprit, and force pump in 
cockpit alongside of mainmast. Three boats are car- 
ried, one at davits on stern, one in either alley along- 
side of cabin; on cabin roof are coiled all lines, and 
here are laid oars, pike poles and twenty feet sweeps. 
On fan-tail is ice box and coal box, with room for 
odds and ends. Under alleys, opening from cockpit, 
are lockers, likewise under deck of fan-tail. Here are 
stored paints, oils, extra lines, green vegetables, etc. 
A companionway with sliding cover opens up into 
cabin a-^d oak (movable) steps lead down into main 
cabin— on one side a wine locker, two bunks and a 
closet, or small room, in which is a yacht water 
closet, and shelves for storing tools and certam sup- 
plies. This room makes a fair bath room, as the heat 
from the galley stove is felt through the bulkhead. 
On the opposite side of cabin are three full-sized 
bunks— making five in all— but by lowering the leaves 
of the centerboard table, two swmgmg Nantucket 
hammocks take care of two more of the crew, while 
aft of centerboard trunk is room for two folding cf)ts. 
or shake downs, if needed. So nine or ten persons can 
be taken care of comfortably. Just forward of center- 
board trunk a bulkhead, with door, cuts off the kitchen 
or galley. Here is a coal (or wood) yacht stove, lock- 
ers for supplies, a small pantry or closet with table 
top, for use of cook; a small bunk for cook, which is 
generally used for storage purposes. In her eyes is 
the chain locker. Under all bunks are large lockers 
for stowing extra clothing, and these are kept well 
aired by lattice-work fronts. Each berth is fitted with 
hair mattresses, which serve as cushions, being covered 
with blue denim. The cabin is lighted by three good- 
sized windows on each side, and one in stern, two in 
galley, with two dead lights forward, one window m 
bath room. There being no bulkheads, except for- 
ward, the cabin is always kept well ventilated, and 
there is never that stuffy odor often prevailing about 
ginall yacht cabins. There is good storage room in 
the lazarette. Height under cushions in center of 
cabin 6ft. lin. The crown of cabin deck cuts this down 
at sides some inches. 
CABIN OF YACHT GOODENOUGH, LOOKING AFT. 
The table over the centerboard trunk will seat eight, 
and at a pinch, ten can "feed" nicely. A swinging 
lamp over the table gives good light at night, and with 
hatchway and windows closed the galley stove heats 
the cabin very well. In the fall for duck shooting, a 
small heating stove is placed aft of centerboard trunk. 
There is nothing fancy about the yacht. She is solid 
and strong, as she must face heavy seas and rough 
weather at times. Her finish is Georgia pine, oiled, 
with oak table and oak trimmings about centerboard 
trunk; planked with pine, her frames are dak — masts 
fir. She is not a natty yacht, but it is the verdict of 
all who see her or have the good fortune to sail on 
her, that she is Goodenough. Of course, no craft is 
perfect and we who sail the Goodenough, think we can 
improve on her next time, but like Mercutio's Mound, it 
will serve. With the above description and reference to 
the diagrams and photographs, a fair idea can be had 
of our craft, even if it would not serve for one to build 
with. Having described the ship, now comes the hardest 
part of my task — to give an idea of the crew — and as 
the cook is one of the most important, if not the real 
thing, aboard a pleasure yacht, we will commence with 
Percy, cook, and at times assistant sailor. He has sailed 
five voyages on the Goodenough and is a good cook, a 
fair sailor and quite a pilot for the north shore, and if he 
had not that failing, which is expressed regularly as be- 
ing too fresh, would be a jewel on a cruise, but as our 
sailing is all done on fresh water mayhap that accounts 
for the freshness. 
Next comes our skipper and managing owner, who we 
first christened Commodore, but as he is a very rnodest 
man, would have none of it. So it had to be Skipper. 
He is a man who knows the lakes, knows a boat, and 
as the saying is on the lakes. Can run either end of 
a ship, the pilot house or the engine. Having prac- 
tically retired from business, our Skipper has a good 
time by giving his friends a good time, each year. 
Next on the regular crew is the man with many 
aliases. Each year sees him rejoicing in a new cog- 
nomen, and he in himself makes a numerous crew. 
For when the Professor, the Major of the Bun De- 
partment, the Inspector of Bilge Water, the First Mate, 
Nick of the Woods and Foxy Grandpa are all aboard 
you might say there are numerous folks about. Then 
he is keeper of the log and photographer in ordinary. 
The rest of the crew come and go, for it is hard for 
the average business man to leave his cares for a full 
month, so our friends come, stay a week, two weeks, 
or while they may, and then say farewell, and the 
Skipper, Cook and the M. of M. A., or for short, the 
Professor, sail the blooming ship. 
We started out this year with one friend, from De- 
troit — Ed, for short. In the meantime our sails are 
hoisted, halyards all coiled, sheets well hauled in, and 
with a nice, fresh, summer breeze, we stand away on 
the port tack, slowly working up into Waiska Bay (pro- 
nounced locally Whiskey Bay). The Professor is at 
the wheel, and as the tug leaves us, bound back for 
the "Soo," the Skipper salutes her with his bugle, and 
she toots us Godspeed. 
It was the 4th of August, a beautiful, bright sun- 
shine made the blue waters sparkle and gleam, as the 
light breeze made it dance into little wavelets. Oft' to 
our left the dark wooded shores of Michigan loomed 
up dense and somber; while on our starboard was 
the rougher and more mountainous shore of Ontario. 
The breeze, though fairly fresh, was ahead, and we 
had to beat out of the bay. We made one good leg over 
toward Bay Mills and then came about and were able to 
point toward Gros Cap. The Goodenough handles 
well in a light wind and when there is no sea on, and 
she came about without easing her stay sail or fore- 
sail sheets, though she does not do as well in a sea, 
as that is apt to knock her off. It was easy sailing, 
and the man at the wheel did not have hard work, but 
the Skipper recalled one experience of the year be- 
fore, when we had to beat out with a wind north by 
west and nearly a gale of it, when our bowsprit would 
dip into solid blue water and spray would dash half- 
mast high. We had to reef down that day, but now it 
was a summer sea. As we gradually worked our way 
out we got over toward the Canadian shore and late 
in the afternoon neared Gros Cap. the first bold and 
really typical north shore coast, with hills from 600 to 
700 feet above the lake. Now one wind shifts and we 
get it fair, so we can wing her out. 
When the Goodenough is winged out, even if the 
wind is light, she fairly slides over the water. So we 
made good time, and leaving Goulais Bay by eight 
P. M., were abreast of Maple Island. Our lights were 
now gotten out, and as the evening air was cool, heavy 
coats donned. The wind shifted drawing out of Gou- 
lais Bay, and we had to put oyr booms to port with 
sheets just started. The Goodenough crept on silent- 
ly into the gloom, her sharp prow cutting the inky 
black water with just a faint ripple, but we could see 
the dim outlines of Rudderhead getting nearer quite 
rapidly. Off on our port bow, dimly seen like banks 
of low-lying clouds, the Sandies could just be picked 
up with the glass, and about nine o'clock the light 
on Corbay Point was over our port bow. The Sandy 
Islands were between us and the open lake, for we had 
now passed out of the great Whitefish Bay and were 
fairly afloat on Great Lake Superior — The Brother of 
the Sea — the largest body of fresh water in the world, 
a veritable inland ocean, with its 1,500 miles of coast 
line, its 32,000 square miles of area, its 1,008 feet of 
depth, that is, 408 feet of water below sea level, and 
600 feet above. It is 450 miles long, 170 miles wide 
(extreme), average nearly 100. It has great bays with 
numerous rivers flowing into them. It has large isl- 
ands, about the coasts of which one could cruise all 
summer, and let not our Eastern yachtsmen think 
THE COMING SQUALL ON LAKE SUPERIOR. 
that the oceans, either Atlantic or Pacific, will give 
them better cruising water than will this inland sea. 
Hundreds of miles of interesting shore, comparatively 
virgin and uninhabited, lie before us, and while this 
cruise will deal with only an infinitesimal amount, as 
the Goodenough, in 1902, did not go far north, on her 
former voyages she has visited distant sections, so 
that the writer can say that "Yea, verily, the land is 
good and pleasant to look upon." 
It might- not be out of place at this point to give 
some more explicit sailing directions for the benefit of 
any yachtsman who may care to make this cruise than 
has been given in the account of our sail. 
First, let me say that the charts accompanying this 
are only approximately correct, and not intended for 
use in sailing. There is not in existence to-day any de- 
tail chart of Batchewana Bay, and I am informed by the 
Canadian officials that it will be two years at least be- 
fore one will be out. The U. S. Government has a 
chart of Lake Superior, which shows the north shore 
and the sailing courses for steamers. There is a de- 
tail chart of St. Mary's River, from the Soo to White- 
fish Bay. These charts can be had at any Government 
survey office at the slight cost of fifteen cents each. 
From the Government Ship Canal to Point Iroquois, 
the channel is buoyed, and there are ranges and lights. 
Up the river as far and even beyond Point Aux Pins, 
the current would be an important factor with a sailing 
craft, and without a fair wind it would be best to tow 
that far. From that point good sailing water can be 
found, but to any one going for a first cruise, I would 
advise the procuring of a local pilot. These can be 
had at either the American or Canadian Soo. From 
Gros Cap up, the chart would suffice, until the bay 
was reached, and here one must have personal knowl- 
edge. There is plenty of water in the bay for any. 
sized pleasure craft, but there are also lots of reefs, 
shallows and rocks. The bay is not so large, or is 
the navigation so difficult that any one cannot soon 
learn enough about it, to be enabled to escape disaster. 
Of course, the Goodenough being so light draft, makes 
her able to pass through waters that a keel boat or 
a deep-draft craft would have to steer clear of. We 
have seen deep-draft boats in the bay, and also seen 
them aground. Another advantage in having a local 
pilot is, if one wants to sail north of Bay there are 
many small harbors not charted, and you sometimes 
need one badly. 
About Lake Superior hovers the romance of the 
past. The red man deified this great body of water. 
It has been long the theme for poets, pen and artist's 
pencil, and now the age of commerce has come, and 
on its mighty bosom float great fleets of steamers that 
have come to take the place of the red man's birch 
bark; truly as Whittier wrote in 1846: 
"Behind the scared squaw's birch canoe 
The steamer smokes and raves, •» 
And city lots are staked for sale 
Above old Indian graves." 
There is a charm about the north shore of Lake 
Superior that holds and enthrals one, and once visited, 
each year brings a longing to return. Six years has 
the Goodenough been steered out of Saint Marie's 
River by the Scribe, and even now a longing to again 
sail over the crystal waters of this unsalted sea is 
strong within. Chapters and books can be written 
about Lake Superior and its enchanted shores, but an 
account of a yachting cruise is hardly in keeping with 
statistical information, or enthusiastic accounts of a 
whole section. 
Overhead the dark dome of heaven is glittering with 
millions of stars, which seem to be much nearer us 
than in oqr home to the south. The air is so pure 
