Launch ramp in St. Joseph, MI???
 

Any recomendations for launching in St. Joseph, MI? Also any sites to see in that area and the best place to swim off the boat?

Thanks,
FM

There are 2 you can use to get to the lake. One is in St Joe by Brian's Marina on the "island' near Pier 33. The other is off Riverview drive in Benton Harbor. I call that one the ghetto drop, but it's the one I use. Sites to see.....hmmmmmmmm... Uh, er, uh....LOL! There is a lot to do, you can go to Barney's, tie to teh wall and walk up to town and a good place to anchor is Grand Mere beach. It's South of the piers (don't recall how far), but it's before the Nuclear plant and you'll see all the boats and the dunes from the water. Or you can hang out at Silver Beach which is just south of the piers. Tiscornia is the beach North.

South Haven is a 20 minute ride (at 55 or so) and New Buffalo is about the same. KAAAMA likes to hit Warren Dunes area and hang out on the sand bar:) That is south from Grand Mere beach as well. Grand Mere has a nice tall dune to climb that will whip you right into shape. Or kill you. LOL!

Mark

The states DNR ramp is a nice place to launch, it's in Benton Harbor off Main St. on Riverview Dr. The other ramp is on the island in St. Joe, off Anchors Way, a little quiter but the current can be a little tricky if you have a 30' plus boat. Places to swim, theres so many, Silver Beach is just South of the pier heads, also 4-5 miles South of pier heads is Grand Mere usually tons of boats. When are you coming down, Sat we have a wedding but we'll be out Sunday we have a 32' Active Thunder, white with purple, blue and red on it, stop by and say hi. Steve

Thanks for the info, we're planning for next Sat. 8/24. Looking forward to run on Lk MI! I know the DNR sites on Erie (near my marina) are nice, I try the one you recomended...

FM

LOL! Steve. You must be on some really slow internet connection over there. Or maybe they knocked out phone lines with the construction. LOL! gotta love these Stevensville screamin' fast 28k connections.

We'll see ya Sunday. I think we're leaving the boat at WB Sat night.

big block,
We have a 32 Fountain that's dark blue, purple,magenta. It's the only half sunk go-fast boat in St Joe. Looks like we'll be out all weekend. Steve's got a point on the currents at the St Joe Ramp. They can be tricky, especially if it's windy.

FM,
Are you staying the night? Or just for the day?
Mark

32 fever,

Looks like we will just spend the day on the water. I have a 29 Powerquest named 'Sea you later'.

How is KAAMA's boat running? I spoke with him some time ago as he got my old drive showers. Haven't heard how it runs on the water, it should scream.

Frank

Well, a little birdy told me he had one motor in and the other one not in, so it should be pretty soon. So, he MAY be in that weekend, cause he was buying more parts a couple days ago. Before he "redid" it the most recent time, it WAS screaming, and sounded awesome.

Looks like we won't run into you. We won't be out that Sat the 24th. Chadd from the board is getting married and we're going to that during the day. He just HAD to ruin a day of boating;). LOL! Then my wife's class reunion is that night and she's the one planning it. Care to switch places with me? If wifey has enough wine, she'll never know I'm not there. LOL!

ROCKETMAN should be out though.

Hey Frank,
I haven't had my boat in the water all summer yet! Been putting it back together all this time. Actually, my boat just might be done by the weekend you plan to visit---but I wouldn't hold my breath. Engines are ready to drop in, just need to finish up rigging in the new Keith Eickert coalesant fuel filters, mount engine hatch actuator, mount oil coolers, and mount ignition boxes. I would say another 12 man hours or so and she should be ready to rock. Anyway, if it is ready I will probably bring it down to St. Joe. Can't really miss my boat---it's an all white 32' Active Thunder with yellow on the sides, checkerd flag graphics on the faring/wind screen, air scoops on the engine hatch, and the name "KAAMA" in big blue letters on the sides and a real sweet rumble from my Stellings. :)

BTW, what brings you down this way?----and what does your boat look like so we know what to look for?

Shoot---missed the discription of your boat :rolleyes: ----I guess it's getting late and I'm falling asleep at the computer (:rolleyes: again) anyway, I gotch ya covered on the discription of your boat. Hopefully I will be in the water by that time (:rolleyes: and one more time)

Frank/Bigblock,

If you use the DNR launch (Riverview Dr.) be sure to use one of the last two launch slips---they're a little deeper and closer to the mainstream of the river. I usually try and use the one that is FARTHEST OUT (along the wall) from the little DNR check in hut. Also, once your boat is in the water, bring your drives up a bit and avoid doing all kinds of turning around within that launch area. Do your best to get the butt end of the boat out into the main stream of the river and do your turning there if you can. The river is marked with bouys, also I'm sure you'll be able to see/follow other boating traffic. Not trying to scare you, just trying to give give you some precautions. Perhaps we'll see you there.

Mark/KAAMA

As usual,KAAMA is faster than I am:D ,Was going to advise you what pier to use,and river problems,but Mark covered it all.....

Mark get that boat going,I need to hear that sweet cackle from those 540's again:) :)
Steve

Well, a few nights a week for about the past 6 weeks me and a friend of mine have been re-rigging my boat. We had to modify and re-weld my engine hatch actuator---that is now finished. My engine hatch is also finished-----we had the Harwood scoops moved back by 10 inches on my engine hatch. We will install the hatch actuator tomorrow and bleed the drive and K-plane lines. At this point, we really can't do much else other than install the engines -------will someone pinch me? I mean, it this really happening? That means my boat could--FOR REAL--be running by next weekend! Woah----could this be REALITY? I CAN'T HANDLE IT! Almost too good to be true! Maybe I ought to let it merinate in my brain for a while so that it catches up with me. WHEW!

Mark,
WOW, at this point I'm sure your dreaming of the wind and G-forces as you hit WOT! "What brings me to your area?" I will be visiting my brother/family which lives in Portage so decided to bring the boat on Fri PM, let the kids camp out in it (in the driveway), then head to the lake on Sat. Sounds like your launch areas are also fun docking w/ the current.

My PQ boat is white w/ red and grey stripes, red trailer. If all goes well with your boat, what time do plan to hit the water on that Sat?

Frank

DNR launch no current...
 

The St. Joe launch ramp on the island (you can't really tell it's an island) is the launch ramp that you have to deal with the current at. The DNR launch ramp on Riverview Drive (the one we told you that you should use) has NO CURRENT to deal with for the most part. It's hard to say what time on Saturday I'll be there. Probably around noonish. I'll keep an eye out for you.

Just an update on the progress of my boat. I won't have the boat ready for the water by this weekend---we're just not there yet. We did a final check/inspection of all the correct bolt sizes needed to install the engines. Sunday will be the next time we will be able to work on the project. At that time we will be bolting on the rest of the external stuff----headers, fly wheels, driveshaft/flywheel couplers, bell housings, wire harness brackets, etc. What can I say? It just takes time and I can only work on it twice per week and only for a couple hours at a time at that! But it's coming....it's coming along!

KAAMA,

Glad to hear your making progress, best to do it right the first time! Good luck, keep us posted...

FM