L’etoile du Nord, Caledonia Yawl, 20’, built in 2021. Rigged as a Gunter main and gaff mizzen. Sails on Lake Superior as well as inland. First sailboat I’ve built. I’ve built around 20 canoes and kayaks.

I fell in love with this boat after watching Jeff Kerr’s video series on building the Caledonia. I’ve had the plans for years, and after retiring to northern Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior, I finally had the time to devote to this.
When we built our house near Grand Marais, I needed a shop. My previous shop was 32×48 feet, and I used it to build over a dozen strip canoes. This new shop, while smaller at 30×28, was sized to build the yawl. I made sure to put large enough (barely) doors to get the boat out.

I sold my latest canoe, and used the money to buy the plywood needed for the hull. I started in September and spent the long winter building the boat. Searching the web, I found other builders and connected with one who used a gaff sail on the mizzen. Talking with sailrite, I ordered it and the Gunter and jib. I have an industrial sewing machine and made the sails.

The local folk school in Grand Marais has a 50’ schooner Hjordis that has tanbark sails, so I ordered tanbark for my boat to make them similar. Also the maroon color of my boat matches the Hjordis.

The folk school has a wooden boat show in June, and I was able to launch the L’Etoile for the show and moor it next to the Hjordis. The pictures below of the yawl sailing were taken on Lake Superior by the Hjordis crew during on of their sails. I crew the Hjordis as a deck hand, and am still learning how to sail.

My sailing friends and I are impressed by how well the L’Etoile du Nord handles the waves and swells of the big lake. Of course, we use discretion when sailing out of the harbor!