Let's set Sail!
tales
from the
iowa great
lakes
Ahoy! Just kidding - that's more of an ocean sailing thing.
We've got our own sailing culture here, as we discussed in our sailing episode this week. The history of sailboats in The Iowa Great Lakes is captivating because it hits on extraordinary changes in transportation, leisure, and sport across the U.S.
For our blog this week, we wanted to collect photos from as many moments in Okoboji's sailing history as possible by looking at postcards.
The first several photos are from The History of Dickinson County, and you can see several pictures of historic vessels that we highlight in our episode, like The Foam and The Golden Rule. But you can also see how many options tourists had to see the lake by sailboat!
As we move into photos from the 20th century, you can see how boats change from all looking quite different to being more uniform. There are several photos from West Lake, where sailing has been centered for the past 140 years. But there are also a lot of sailing shots on Big Spirit and East Lake. You can also check out the piece about sailing in Okoboji (or, tipping over in Okoboji) from the Time Magazine article.
Even though the boats on this lake have changed over the decades, you can see how deep our rich sailing history is.
These postcards are courtesy of Charlene Thomsen. We'd also love to hear your sailing tales, so email us at hello@okobojiproject.com!
episode info
Ahoy! Just kidding - that's more of an ocean sailing thing.
We've got our own sailing culture here, as we discussed in our sailing episode this week. The history of sailboats in The Iowa Great Lakes is captivating because it hits on extraordinary changes in transportation, leisure, and sport across the U.S.
For our blog this week, we wanted to collect photos from as many moments in Okoboji's sailing history as possible by looking at postcards.
The first several photos are from The History of Dickinson County, and you can see several pictures of historic vessels that we highlight in our episode, like The Foam and The Golden Rule. But you can also see how many options tourists had to see the lake by sailboat!
As we move into photos from the 20th century, you can see how boats change from all looking quite different to being more uniform. There are several photos from West Lake, where sailing has been centered for the past 140 years. But there are also a lot of sailing shots on Big Spirit and East Lake. You can also check out the piece about sailing in Okoboji (or, tipping over in Okoboji) from the Time Magazine article.
Even though the boats on this lake have changed over the decades, you can see how deep our rich sailing history is.
These postcards are courtesy of Charlene Thomson. We'd also love to hear your sailing tales, so email us at hello@okobojiproject.com!
episode info
episode info
- Interviews with Steve Avery
- A History of Dickinson County, Iowa by R.A. Smith, 1902
- Smoke Over the Waters of the Iowa Great Lakes - Steamboats that Plied the Iowa Great Lakes 1883 - 1972 by R. Aubrey LaFoy
- Reminiscing about the Iowa Great Lakes Book 3 by R. Aubrey LaFoy
- Down Memory Lane of the Iowa Great lakes by R. Aubrey LaFoy
- The Iowa Great Lakes Revisited by R. Aubrey LaFoy
- Okoboji Yacht Club History
- Dickinson County Museum
- Explore classes at The Okoboji Yacht Club for all ages.
- Stay at Fillenwarth Beach Resort and sign up to sail on their E Scow.
- Explore opportunities to sail at Camp Foster.
- Watch the Iowa PBS feature about The Okoboji Yacht Club from 2015.
- See Steve Avery and C Scows in action with this drone footage.
- Check out this highlight reel of MC Scows, another popular racing boat on Okoboji.
