What was your favorite boat trip.
01-28-2012, 08:30 AM
#51
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Boating up North......
I grew up on my parents cruiser in the Summers during the 60's and 70's. Our vacation for the entire time was a 3 wk trip through the Great Lakes. Leave Sandusky on Eries South shore, north to Detroit River, up it (as already posted that is a gorgeous area!) , cross Lake Saint Claire, up the Saint Claire River and into Lake Huron.
From there we would alternate going up the Michigan/U.S. Western side one year to Mackinaw Island on Michigans West coast and the next year up the East side (Canadian) of Lake Huron and into Georgian Bay. That was 30 and 40 yrs ago and is still THE most beautiful scenery I've ever seen!
Cool too that this was in the era that was pre affordable electronics and was all by plotted courses on paper charts.
I remember one of our first trips was in a 26' Chris Craft Cavalier w/a single motor and we hit pea soup thick fog in Lake Huron. We were headed for Goderich Ontario (7 to 9hrs depending) for the first time. It was a mostly commercial shipping port w/a a harbor entrance lined w/boulders the size of small cars.
The old man had me on the stern watching for ships and my sister on the bow! The fog would play games with you and you'd swear you saw one that would end up nothing.
We kept hearing a horn and couldn't figure out if it was a light house or ship.(of course the charts told us that) So the old man is signaling back w/our boats hand pump, air horn which was mounted too close to the bulkhead and I remember it destroying his knuckles and blood flying everywhere.
Came in right through the middle of the harbor entrance after several hrs w/zero visibility on compass course! The old man was/is a stud!
Most of the town and people from the boats in the harbor were out on the break wall giving us a standing ovation when we made it in.
Many, many similar stories from those trips.
I grew up on my parents cruiser in the Summers during the 60's and 70's. Our vacation for the entire time was a 3 wk trip through the Great Lakes. Leave Sandusky on Eries South shore, north to Detroit River, up it (as already posted that is a gorgeous area!) , cross Lake Saint Claire, up the Saint Claire River and into Lake Huron.
From there we would alternate going up the Michigan/U.S. Western side one year to Mackinaw Island on Michigans West coast and the next year up the East side (Canadian) of Lake Huron and into Georgian Bay. That was 30 and 40 yrs ago and is still THE most beautiful scenery I've ever seen!
Cool too that this was in the era that was pre affordable electronics and was all by plotted courses on paper charts.
I remember one of our first trips was in a 26' Chris Craft Cavalier w/a single motor and we hit pea soup thick fog in Lake Huron. We were headed for Goderich Ontario (7 to 9hrs depending) for the first time. It was a mostly commercial shipping port w/a a harbor entrance lined w/boulders the size of small cars.
The old man had me on the stern watching for ships and my sister on the bow! The fog would play games with you and you'd swear you saw one that would end up nothing.
We kept hearing a horn and couldn't figure out if it was a light house or ship.(of course the charts told us that) So the old man is signaling back w/our boats hand pump, air horn which was mounted too close to the bulkhead and I remember it destroying his knuckles and blood flying everywhere.
Came in right through the middle of the harbor entrance after several hrs w/zero visibility on compass course! The old man was/is a stud!
Most of the town and people from the boats in the harbor were out on the break wall giving us a standing ovation when we made it in.
Many, many similar stories from those trips.
Dd
01-28-2012, 09:49 AM
#52
Registered
Thank You Sir.
I am smart enough to know how lucky I was to grow up the way I did.
We did that trip enough times too that I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. Helped me to understand the difference between "buying" a boat and "owning" a boat as an adult.
I remember one stay at the same harbor in a different boat and having engine trouble. Boat was a 1957 39' Richardson (all teak and mahogany and absolutely stunning) w/twin flat heads
One motor needed either and alternator or starter and someone in Goderich figured out it was the same thing used on a Massey Ferguson tractor
The old man paid a guy to drive from Goderich Ontario to Detroit to pick one up.
He and the other gentleman that used to cruise w/us were both very good at dealing w/those issues when they came up which is key in a trip like that.
Pretty sure their Martinis became much stronger
We did that trip enough times too that I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. Helped me to understand the difference between "buying" a boat and "owning" a boat as an adult.
I remember one stay at the same harbor in a different boat and having engine trouble. Boat was a 1957 39' Richardson (all teak and mahogany and absolutely stunning) w/twin flat heads
One motor needed either and alternator or starter and someone in Goderich figured out it was the same thing used on a Massey Ferguson tractor
The old man paid a guy to drive from Goderich Ontario to Detroit to pick one up.He and the other gentleman that used to cruise w/us were both very good at dealing w/those issues when they came up which is key in a trip like that.
Pretty sure their Martinis became much stronger
01-29-2012, 08:52 AM
#57
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I was looking farward to reading more great storys this morning. Well it has been really fun reading about all the trips. Thanks so much. Have a great day. Artie 
01-29-2012, 09:18 AM
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Thats a great trip. I did it 6 times in My old 21' Stryker. An 1 time in My deck boat thats in this post. Love that run. Well I ran from Freds on the Amite river or My house up river from Freds. The rivers high today. 6.8 feet. Allmost in My yard. 
01-29-2012, 11:42 AM
#60
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OK, one more for you bored guys at work......
When I bought my first twin O/B 24' Sonic 10 yrs ago I planned to re-rig + repower from day one. I wanted to put enough time on the old 2.4 Mercs (both R.H. bu the way) to be comfortable in selling them for seed money though. Had about 8 or 10 hrs on them w/no issues so decided a Lake Erie trip was in order.
I had heard about this boat party that a large trailer mfg (can't remember which one) put on in the mouth of the Detroit River. Rumor was of a gin clear, spring fed inlet in the middle of the river that this guy would set up a huge holiday (I think 4th of July) boat party there and this guy bank rolled everything himself.
So my partner in crime and I decide it's a good idea and we go for it. As told above, I've been to/through the Detroit River a bazillion times but never as skipper/navigator
I had a good Richardsons chart book of the lake from my cruiser I sold to buy the Sonic so we headed out from West harbor where I still had a dock from that cruiser I'd just sold.
Weather was great and I drove while my buddy used the chart book to navigate. Only problem was that I was driving fast enough that the wind would catch the page of chart book, peel it off and sail over top of the motors! We basically lost everything that covered our trip I let my buddy drive a bit and warned him not to turn his head or he'd lose his sun glasses. Was kind of a smart ass and explained to me that they were $250. Ray Ban shooting glasses and they'd be fine. About 30 seconds later I watched them bounce off the front of one of the motors
So we finally fumble our way there Friday night after seeing smoke stacks on the horizon and figuring that had to be Detroit
and we pull in to see maybe 5 or 10 boats! Not good.
The place was amazing though and was gin clear water in the middle of the Detroit River! We end up rafting off a beater, wood cruiser that had plastic sheet duct taped to the bow, just above the water line from where they hit somebody the night before
We got up the next morning and there had to be 200 boats there with probably another 100 pulling in through out the day!
This was Canadian water so the guy had a barge anchored in the cove and had drive through Customs service!
The boats all rafted off each other and formed a huge horse shoe with opposing rows backed in to have swim platform to swim platform.
They had another huge barge there w/a giant generator to power the amps for the rock band he hired! 1/2 was the band and the other 1/2 was a dance floor!
This went on for 3 days straight! Like a giant block part w/hundreds of people crossing your swim platform w/coolers. About every other one would stop for a beer.
We had planned to head back Sunday and hang at the pool at the marina for our last day but had too much fun to leave! There was a 39' Sea Ray on one side of of us that made us breakfast and coffee every morning and delivered it to us!
We get up Monday morning and see we screwed ourselves staying that last night though. Where we were in the river the weather was perfect. The mouth of the river where it dumps into Lake Erie was pitch black !
We were screwed no matter what we did. I decided to give it a try even though everyone tried to convince us otherwise. Was I think about 35 mls each way. It was rolling 6' to 8's and raining!
As soon as we pulled away from the raft I lost the port motor. Ended up being a pin hole in the fuel primer bulb and not allowing the pump to pull a vacuum. I found a Bic pin in the glove box, pulled out the ink filler and used it as a splint and off we went
Some of the nastiest water I've ever been in and a following sea to boot. The boat would hit the trough of one wave and try to stuff in the next! God or someone was watching our dumb asses though because at about 10 mls out a 45' Sea Ray intersected our course and we followed them all the way home!!!
Punch line of the story is when I was doing the re-rig just after this trip I pulled the floor up to replace the rest of the fuel line and nearly died w/what I saw. Called the buddy that made the trip w/me and told him he had to see this.
The fuel line had completely broken down and de-laminated! The only thing left was the fiber mesh and the inner liner!
We were really lucky, really stupid people. One of the reasons why I like to re-rig every boat I won.
Every time I see that guy he reminds of that trip.
When I bought my first twin O/B 24' Sonic 10 yrs ago I planned to re-rig + repower from day one. I wanted to put enough time on the old 2.4 Mercs (both R.H. bu the way) to be comfortable in selling them for seed money though. Had about 8 or 10 hrs on them w/no issues so decided a Lake Erie trip was in order.
I had heard about this boat party that a large trailer mfg (can't remember which one) put on in the mouth of the Detroit River. Rumor was of a gin clear, spring fed inlet in the middle of the river that this guy would set up a huge holiday (I think 4th of July) boat party there and this guy bank rolled everything himself.
So my partner in crime and I decide it's a good idea and we go for it. As told above, I've been to/through the Detroit River a bazillion times but never as skipper/navigator
I had a good Richardsons chart book of the lake from my cruiser I sold to buy the Sonic so we headed out from West harbor where I still had a dock from that cruiser I'd just sold.
Weather was great and I drove while my buddy used the chart book to navigate. Only problem was that I was driving fast enough that the wind would catch the page of chart book, peel it off and sail over top of the motors! We basically lost everything that covered our trip
I let my buddy drive a bit and warned him not to turn his head or he'd lose his sun glasses. Was kind of a smart ass and explained to me that they were $250. Ray Ban shooting glasses and they'd be fine. About 30 seconds later I watched them bounce off the front of one of the motors So we finally fumble our way there Friday night after seeing smoke stacks on the horizon and figuring that had to be Detroit
and we pull in to see maybe 5 or 10 boats! Not good.The place was amazing though and was gin clear water in the middle of the Detroit River! We end up rafting off a beater, wood cruiser that had plastic sheet duct taped to the bow, just above the water line from where they hit somebody the night before
We got up the next morning and there had to be 200 boats there with probably another 100 pulling in through out the day!
This was Canadian water so the guy had a barge anchored in the cove and had drive through Customs service!
The boats all rafted off each other and formed a huge horse shoe with opposing rows backed in to have swim platform to swim platform.
They had another huge barge there w/a giant generator to power the amps for the rock band he hired! 1/2 was the band and the other 1/2 was a dance floor!
This went on for 3 days straight! Like a giant block part w/hundreds of people crossing your swim platform w/coolers. About every other one would stop for a beer.
We had planned to head back Sunday and hang at the pool at the marina for our last day but had too much fun to leave! There was a 39' Sea Ray on one side of of us that made us breakfast and coffee every morning and delivered it to us!
We get up Monday morning and see we screwed ourselves staying that last night though. Where we were in the river the weather was perfect. The mouth of the river where it dumps into Lake Erie was pitch black !
We were screwed no matter what we did. I decided to give it a try even though everyone tried to convince us otherwise. Was I think about 35 mls each way. It was rolling 6' to 8's and raining!
As soon as we pulled away from the raft I lost the port motor. Ended up being a pin hole in the fuel primer bulb and not allowing the pump to pull a vacuum. I found a Bic pin in the glove box, pulled out the ink filler and used it as a splint and off we went
Some of the nastiest water I've ever been in and a following sea to boot. The boat would hit the trough of one wave and try to stuff in the next! God or someone was watching our dumb asses though because at about 10 mls out a 45' Sea Ray intersected our course and we followed them all the way home!!!
Punch line of the story is when I was doing the re-rig just after this trip I pulled the floor up to replace the rest of the fuel line and nearly died w/what I saw. Called the buddy that made the trip w/me and told him he had to see this.
The fuel line had completely broken down and de-laminated! The only thing left was the fiber mesh and the inner liner!
We were really lucky, really stupid people. One of the reasons why I like to re-rig every boat I won.
Every time I see that guy he reminds of that trip.
