Embrace Winter

Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2018
By: Ken Quant

It’s here! Winter has once again brought a halt to our boating fun in the Great Lakes. For many of my friends, this can be a depressing time of year because they can no longer play with their nautical toy. Compounded by short days and cold grey skies, they sink into an off season funk not knowing what to do with themselves with their boat on the hard.

Photo Credit: ©American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation/Bob Pearl

Unable to find an escape from their personal gloom, many of my sailing friends are left to either complain about the weather, work on boat projects in the cold, or they have actually decided to move to warmer climes, leaving their lifetime friends and family behind. Ironically, once they move south, these migrant boaters often end up sailing far less because they have lost their seasonal sense of urgency.

Personally, I love winter. It’s a perfect reboot to my system after a hectic sailing season. As any Great Lakes boater knows, the short summer is a freight train of activity because we are forced into utilizing our boats in a very compressed fashion. From Memorial Day to the middle of October, the boat relentlessly calls us in to play like a lonely child who just found a friend.

As much as I love sailing, winter offers me a chance to step away from the shore without worrying about the boat. Like flipping a switch, as soon as the weather turns cool my efforts turn towards all those house projects that were completely ignored during the summer. Like the bushes in our yard, I focus on trimming the overgrown honey-do list down to a manageable size, knowing that my second recreational season of winter will soon once again divert my domestic attention.

As an avid skier, I look forward to the first real days of winter. Just the thought of the first flakes of snow conjure up the same seasonal anticipation as the first warm days of spring. Knowing how easy it is to fall into hibernation during the long dark days of winter, I force myself outdoors each winter by signing up for a cross country ski marathon in far northern Wisconsin.

A true celebration of winter, the American Birkebeiner attracts nearly 10,000 winter enthusiasts to test their metal over the hilly terrain. The largest event of its kind in the US, it includes several different types of cross country ski races including sprints, kids, dogs, and some shorter distance races over three fun-filled winter days. The headliner event is the 32 mile “Birkie” marathon race. A distance that is too long to fake, it forces all participants to train hard throughout the winter months. Similar to sailboat racing, having this event on my schedule coaxes me outdoors, in less than perfect conditions, to tackle and enjoy the elements. It’s not always easy to motivate on a 10-degree morning, but somehow it is always worth the effort once you start breathing in that clean, fresh air of winter.

The Birkie also offers the same comradery as boating with like-minded people gathering for a common interest. The few precious winter weekends before the late February race are usually filled with group road trips to find the best training snow, followed by some well-deserved après-ski beers and meals. After 16 years of doing this race, we’ve gotten to know a whole bunch of great people from all over the country, and there is nothing better than cheering on your friends as they accomplish one of the hardest fought goals of their lives.

Although there is probably no better way to enjoy winter in my book, I realize that signing up for a ski marathon is not everyone’s idea of fun. My point is not necessarily the skiing, but more the fact that there are plenty of things to do during the long Great Lakes winters besides dreaming of the next boating season. Outdoors or indoors, do yourself a favor and find something seasonal to enjoy this winter. That way, next fall you can look forward to the off season instead of dreading its onset.