By Scott Shephard
Today, I am posting maps from my DeLorme Explore web site (click here if you have absolutely nothing else to do). This is a screen capture of the "tracks" I made over the course of two days earlier this week. In all, I covered just over 50 miles - at an average speed of about 5 miles an hour. If you want a larger version of the map, click on the map.
And, for the sake of reference, I've put two inset maps that are roughly the same scale. One shows the distance from my home "port" of Spring Creek Marina to my destination of Mission Creek, which is about 16 miles.
The other inset shows the British Virgin Islands, where we were sailing in late May. To me, the striking thing about the BVIs is that from one end to the other (not counting Anagada) the distance is about 20 miles, which is only 4 miles more than my recent sail at Oahe. Incidentally, if you want to see our tracks in the BVIs, click here.
Of course none of this has any meaning unless you've sailed the BVIs but haven't sailed Lake Oahe. Meaning? Lake Oahe is HUGE given that what you see on the map I've posted is just a tiny stretch of the reservoir, which is the 4th largest in the US.
The other thing I would say is that if you are a trailer sailor and live within a few hundred miles of central South Dakota, you should get here. I, and any number of my marina friends, would love to play host to you.
One caveat: Sailing the BVIs is a breeze (pardon the pun) compared to sailing Oahe. We don't have trade winds, but we do have very strong SE and NW winds from time to time. We don't have mooring balls in any of the protected bays. And,sadly, there isn't a bar or restaurant every few miles.
But I love sailing Lake Oahe.