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I think it was in 2000 that Buffalo hosted a 2 day APBA sanctioned Off Shore race at the Buffalo Outer Harbor on the location of the old Shooters/Pier Resturant and Bar. I worked that event in a safety boat. Thank goodness the posted us at the south entrance to the break wall.
Saturday was Factory 1 and all the P Class boats and some testing of the F-2 and Modified and up classes. Saturday was rough enough to break some boats and bruise some egos but Sunday came and wind was high enough the waves over the Break Wall were incredible. I remember driving across the Peace Bridge at 7am saying to myself "there is no way the Coast Guard is going to allow this race to continue today" and by 10am we had our official answer. Western Lake Erie can be a ***** when she wants to be. |
Originally Posted by ICDEDPPL
(Post 4464892)
Why do they call it a lake when it it`s a River?
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Originally Posted by MILD THUNDER
(Post 4464883)
Anyone who thinks they are going to go out on the lake here today, and run their 32ft vee bottom at 80mph in this water, is dreaming.
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Originally Posted by Sydwayz
(Post 4464796)
Worst water I've ever been in was the 2006 Chicago Poker Run on Lake Michigan; with 30+ mph winds straight out of the North.
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Boating on Erie (live here), Michigan (family from Holland) and LOTO (brother has a place there), they are tough to compare. Erie has the closest sets of all of them, Michigan gets much bigger but you can navigate bigger waves at moderate speeds and LOTO, has a ton of inconsiderate cruisers driving around 1/2 on plane (I will still never understand why this is even in the comparison).
IMO, Erie can bite you the fastest with it's shallow waters and close sets, can make it hard to get on plane in the right weather without beating the hell out of you. Michigan in the right conditions can be a monster and have ocean size swells that are damn intimidating with smaller sets mixed in the big swells which is a recipe for boating torture. It's tough to compare any lake to the ocean, but these big lakes come close, no doubt. |
I'll give a racing perspective on both. And not a roundy round circle racing perspective. Real offshore.
I have raced on Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and the Atlantic Ocean. Lake Michigan can be absolutely brutal. The Grand Haven races in particular beat the crap out of me. I don't know if it was bad luck or just racing but I never finished a race in Grand Haven. The only major accident I had was at Grand Haven and it was due to the wave frequency not the wave height. It always seemed to be more of a pounding on Lake Michigan that just beat you up bad. Now as for wave heights, the ocean wins. I was in the NJ race made famous by the Warpath footage. We have all seen it and I can tell you even though Bob Saccenti made it look smaller with his skill, it was huge out there. What most of you probably haven't seen is the footage that day of the south turn at Seaside Heights. The 2 boats in the footage that come to mind are Panasonic and Maxon. When they made the turn you would swear that the waves are taller than the boats are long. Heading north to south wasn't too bad with a quartering sea, but as soon as you turned into it BAM! Like hitting a rock wall. So, my take is that they both can be really nasty and brutal, but in the end they both left me with some great memories. |
Dude told me last week he can do 80 in his 24 footer in 3-5's lol
Originally Posted by MILD THUNDER
(Post 4464883)
I have only been on the ocean once, so can't comment on that.
As far as Lake Michigan goes, my experience is that basically, anything over 1-3Ft water, the average high performance boat, isn't going to be doing any high speed running. I'm not talking about "guestimated" 1-3's. I mean NOAA observations. They make the rules, not some guy in a pleasure boat. How you or I interpret NOAA's wave reports, is much different. 3-5 footers , is getting big. I always hear how " I lost sight of my buddys boat in the troughs, had to be 8ft'er". The average go fast boat, is probably 4-5ft from the water line to the top of the windscreen. NORTHERLY ISLAND TO CALUMET HARBOR-CALUMET HARBOR TO GARY- GARY TO BURNS HARBOR- 320 AM CDT FRI JUL 29 2016 TODAY NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING NORTHEAST EARLY THIS MORNING THEN INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 2 TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT OCCASIONALLY TO 7 FT BY EARLY AFTERNOON. TONIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 KT BECOMING EAST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FT OCCASIONALLY TO 7 FT. SATURDAY NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FT OCCASIONALLY TO 7 FT. SATURDAY NIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 KT DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 15 KT LATE IN THE EVENING. MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. Anyone who thinks they are going to go out on the lake here today, and run their 32ft vee bottom at 80mph in this water, is dreaming. |
Spent 15 years boating in the Great Lakes before moving to the Gulf of Mexico. This place is a millpond compared to the Lakes.
Even our violent summer storms do not produce anywhere near the waves that I have seen resulting from sudden storms on the Lakes. Biggest danger of the Lakes is your not going to last long in that 50 degree water. |
Originally Posted by MILD THUNDER
(Post 4464883)
I have only been on the ocean once, so can't comment on that.
As far as Lake Michigan goes, my experience is that basically, anything over 1-3Ft water, the average high performance boat, isn't going to be doing any high speed running. I'm not talking about "guestimated" 1-3's. I mean NOAA observations. They make the rules, not some guy in a pleasure boat. How you or I interpret NOAA's wave reports, is much different. 3-5 footers , is getting big. I always hear how " I lost sight of my buddys boat in the troughs, had to be 8ft'er". The average go fast boat, is probably 4-5ft from the water line to the top of the windscreen. NORTHERLY ISLAND TO CALUMET HARBOR-CALUMET HARBOR TO GARY- GARY TO BURNS HARBOR- 320 AM CDT FRI JUL 29 2016 TODAY NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING NORTHEAST EARLY THIS MORNING THEN INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 2 TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT OCCASIONALLY TO 7 FT BY EARLY AFTERNOON. TONIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 KT BECOMING EAST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FT OCCASIONALLY TO 7 FT. SATURDAY NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FT OCCASIONALLY TO 7 FT. SATURDAY NIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 KT DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 15 KT LATE IN THE EVENING. MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. Anyone who thinks they are going to go out on the lake here today, and run their 32ft vee bottom at 80mph in this water, is dreaming. I don't have lots of experience on lake Michigan - but I have lived close to it all my life Chicago and now Indiana/Michigan. I have seen this lake from the shore go from DEAD CALM to 6-10' waves in the matter of minutes - What really drives me crazy is we have watched boats leave St. Joe (Michigan) some of them are legit 30+ foot boats get to the mouth of the harbor and turn around -- Right next to them is grandpa in a 14' SeaKing Aluminum with 10hp Evinrude and goes out-- death wish is all I can think of. We have gone out with our Cobalt 226 a number of times (much less than I would like) and if there is one common thread - You must respect water - but more especially lake Michigan. The current, the swell and waves change constantly-- when it's calm you can't beat it for a very enjoyable day-- but let it change and you will watch your life flash in front of your eyes. Please - I know most of the folks on this site have some pretty robust boats that can handle a LOT of big water- let's all be safe out there and enjoy God's creation 3pointstar |
Originally Posted by Full Force
(Post 4464907)
Dude told me last week he can do 80 in his 24 footer in 3-5's lol
I've been aboard a 24 Laguna (30-35mph) in the Gulf with 2-3 footers, response from myself and other passengers was mostly "Weeee!" I've ran Lake Huron/Saginaw Bay in multiple 23-24ft boats, and been aboard same in Lake Michigan, passenger response above 3ft wave height is generally summarized by the words "Oww", "Phuk", and "Look out!" |
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