Best of days; worst of days.

[Jackdaw]

After spending day being up in Bayfield to launch Kestrel, yesterday we had had an amazing 6 hour sail on BlueJ. With friends and crew aboard, we ran thought every spinnaker we had on board (and that's saying A LOT) in the 14 knots breeze. We had a great lunch on the water, drank some good beer. Laughed and learned as a team. It was a freaking magical time.

Then I got home and found out that a dear friend and ace bowman on a competitors boat (an International 50) had died. An awesome guy and sailor, doing bow on a I50 is pure rock-star stuff. But literally hours after we left town, while walking back to his boat that evening somehow he ended up in the waters of Lake Superior. They found him in the morning. We're all stunned and shaken to the core.

The water isn't kind. The water isn't cruel. Its just water. Be careful out there always.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Jack, so sorry to hear. We lost a friend a few years ago here, too. Walking back to his boat, too. Usually with no one around, no one will ever know.

 

[JohnVTX]

Sorry to hear Jack. Lake superior is truly unforgivingly cold.

 

[agprice22]

Wow. I am sorrowful for your loss. So much emptiness, and only pain to fill it when we lose someone close to us.

 

[sail_MN]

Very sad news indeed. Hits way too close to home. I tried to find more info online but came up empty. Was his boat at Pikes?

 

[Jackdaw]

Very sad news indeed. Hits way too close to home. I tried to find more info online but came up empty. Was his boat at Pikes?

Apostile Island Marina, right downtown. Might be in Duluth news now, the local paper in Bayfield is a weekly.

 

[Dan_Y]

My sincere condolences. Reminds me to never take tomorrow for granted and enjoy every day.

 

[marke14]

A marina neighbor of my brother's died a couple of years ago in the summertime, in the relatively warm waters in one of the the San Pedro, CA marinas. They think this particular fellow had been drinking and fell between his boat and the finger and couldn't figure out how to get out.

RIP for your friend Jack.

 

[DannyS]

I didn't know him but I knew who he was. That's sad for the Bayfield sailing community.

 

[kimelmore]

So Sorry for your loss. Life is precious.

 

[Jackdaw]

Very sad news indeed. Hits way too close to home. I tried to find more info online but came up empty. Was his boat at Pikes?

now in the press.

http://www.apg-wi.com/ashland_daily...cle_ab68c6e0-0b24-11e6-b834-3302d69e523f.html

 

[sail_MN]

T

now in the press.

http://www.apg-wi.com/ashland_daily...cle_ab68c6e0-0b24-11e6-b834-3302d69e523f.html

Thanks JD. I did happen to see it in the Duluth tribune yesterday. I didn't know him personally, but I have seen the boat he raced on many times while combing the docks.

 

[Bad Obsession]

That is really tough news. Racing can be a really dangerous sport at times also.

We had a guy fall into the water this winter at my dock and almost die. Another person, some year back, did fall into the water and die. Getting on and off a boat, especially in cold water, is quite dangerous.

Be careful out there and watch out for each other.

 

[Gunni]

Condolences to all Mr. Rappath's family and friends, A terrible thing. I have always considered cold freshwater to be exceptionally lethal. Most reasonably fit men are not naturally buoyant in freshwater, and you may only get a few minutes before your ability to move your hands and legs is stopped by the body's hypothermic reaction stopping blood flow to the muscles in the extremities. If you can't swim, and you can't float you sink...and die. And the odd thing is that some people are extremely sensitive to this process, it happens near-instantly, they lose the ability to move the diaphragm and breathe. I have literally pulled people off the bottom in a state of hypothermia paralysis - alive but unable to float or swim. And this is the very reason that I pull our boat to the hard every winter.