Cruising Lake Harriet - A Sailing Resource

First lake Harriet. Because Lake Harriet only has mooring buoys, you have to choose how to get to and from your boat. The city maintains several aluminum tenders at the dock at the north end of the buoy-field. From here you can row to your boat, rig for sailing, and sail back to the dock to return the tender. You CAN NOT leave the tender at your buoy. When you are finished sailing, you have to reverse the process. This adds a lot of overhead to your sailing. Your alternative is to bring an inflatable dinghy with you to the lake, and launch it off the seawall close to your boat. While sailing, you leave the dinghy tied to your buoy. This has the advantage of not having to deal with the logistics of the city tenders, but getting in and out of the inflatable from the wall and your boat can be a bit of a challenge. How far away from the lake you live will determine if you can bring the dinghy to the lake inflated, or if you have to inflate it there. If you do chose to inflate the boat at t...

Unless you want to trailer-sail, the only way to maintain your boat on Lake Harriet is on a city-managed buoy. The costs in 2009 were $400 for Minneapolis residents and an extra $100 for non-residents. There is a dock, but it is for boat handling only, and has no slips. Competition for one of the 170+ buoys is tough, and it helps to be a resident of Minneapolis. A lottery is held every spring  (mid April) to pick buoys. You have to pre-register. In general, once you have one, you can't loose it. Also, it helps to attend the lottery. If you choose to have your buoy picked via proxy, you typically get whatever is left over. See this link . The bigger boats tend to favor the outside (4th) row, as it makes getting away from the buoy easier. With the prevailing Northwest winds, you get pushed from the buoy and other boats at launch, and coming home you are heading into the breeze. Perfect. The buoy-only system has some limitations as well, most notably the lack of typical marina servic...