UNTIL RECENTLY, THE MAJORITY OF my sailing experience took place between the ages of nine and 16 aboard my father’s 17-foot Siren, Running Free. Our family of five, plus our 35-pound terrier-mix, spent many wonderful afternoons aboard that boat sailing the small lakes of central Minnesota.  Download the PDF

FEW CITIES CAN COMPARE WITH DULUTH, MINNESOTA, when it comes to sheer paradox. Located in the far reaches of the Upper Midwest, where Wisconsin’s and Minnesota’s deep, dense North Woods kiss the shores of mighty Lake Superior, this community of nearly 90,000 people still conjures images of a remote, hardscrabble world. After all, this is a land of arctic winters and a frigid, temperamental inland sea. It’s a land of Dakota and Ojibwe legends, prospecting iron men and tough lumber camps. Download the PDF