'Foul, I may have missed the ramp you are speaking of. But all the others I have mentioned weren't adaquate for a 30 footer or longer boat except Elk Rapids. The launch at Sutton's Bay also didn't have adaquate parking available that I could see unless you parked somewhere in the little town it was next to. And the Northport launch ramp was the worst---my guess is that it would only take a 24 footer at best plus it had some washout at the end of the ramp. The Elk Rapids ramp is VERY nice and has lots of parking for loooooong trailers. Elk Rapids is one very cool little town too---very nice. I can hardly believe how quickly and deep the water drops off. You see lots of sandy areas at first and then BOOM---all the sudden it turns into a deep dark blue color because of the immediate drop off. I can see a lot of spots where a boater could pull his boat up to the shallower sandy spots and just anchor off in knee to waist deep water before it suddenly drops off. What a neat way to relax and go swimming and just chill out. Those kind of spots are just ALL OVER THE PLACE. I'm looking forward to pulling my hog up there this summer for sure! :)

Hi Guys
Well..I see the Mich boating season is getting back into full swing. Still a little cool tho for my tastes. The last time I was up there we launched in Boyne City and went thru Lk Charlovoix out to Mich and down the coast. One of my fav runs. Beautiful run and not real far from TC. Great ramps, food and lodging. Besides its more time on the water.
Hope you all have a great and safe boating summer, and when the water starts to get hard your always welcome in Ft Myers.

Dan
F1-83 Screamin Eagle

The Launch that Mike is referring to is called Grelickville nice marina too! all new floating docks stayed there last season when Elk was full! They are probably full of seasonals now.

You are going to want to stay out of those bays this summer. The West bay is probably 3 feet deep and the East bay has some OK spots but many sand bars. The Grelickville launch is the best there and can handle anything plus the parking is great.

Mitch you Smokin Crack? 3 feet my a$$ you going to give Kaama a heart attack!

I think he meant 3 feet down. If not, he was reffering to our Chain of Lakes.

yeah the boating up there is nice

yzbert you got my stomach growling..... Pearls Rules!

Yes, it was Grelickville that we must have missed. I will definately check it out for possibly launching my boat. Yes, I would say that where you see the shallow sandy areas that you can't miss them because the water is so dang clear and when it gets deep, it gets deep like RIGHT NOW! Mitch said three (3) feet and he looks to be right, but---did I not say the sandy areas are "knee to waist deep water" in my previous post? Anyway, with the water as beautiful tourquoise blue as it is, you can't miss the shallow spots from the deep spots!

Also, I saw the entrance what was once called "Timber Shores"---it was a very nice camp site a few miles south of Northport. The entrance had a locked gate so we couldn't drive in. But from various spots along the road that followed along the shoreline I could see "Gull Island" which is up by Northport and straight out about a mile or so off shore from the old Timber Shores camp grounds. The Timber Shores camp grounds has been closed down for many years now and is owned by some resort of some sort but is still not operational. When I was 15 years old some friends of our family used to camp there and would take me along. I remember renting a small aluminum row boat with a 20hp outboard and 4 of us kids boated out to Gull Island and it was LOADED with Sea Gulls and their nests. We walked around a bit on the island which is maybe 125 yards or so from one end to the other. At the time it had several trees and bushes with an old abandoned, partially torn down house with a chimney still left errect. I also remember looking down into the water and seeing the rocks below and seeing a couple of HUGE lake trout as we approached the shore of the island. Well, I haven't gotten a glimpse of that island until now---some 30 years later and the island from what I could see has hardly any trees or bushes anymore, but through my binoculars I could still see that chimney still there after all these years.