I think l would have to have another boat along. Too dangerous for me. But i m going to try to do that trip next summer.

good points....I never put pen to paper on the time to get to one shore or the other if one engine goes down. I probably spend almost that much time in slow no wakes through Oshkosh, Winneconnie and up the Wolf on a weekend.

You're on the right track for weather forecasts - check out these other NOAA websites and dig into them a little bit for the open lake forecast.

Great Lakes Forecasts by Zone - Green Bay, WI

Great Lakes Forecasts by Zone - Gaylord, MI

Based on the weather and you're availability, cherry pick the days you make this trip and you'll have a blast.

Here is a link for the open lake forecast by zone:

Lake Michigan Open Lake Forecasts by Zone - Chicago, IL

You sound prepared - don't let fear or the negative keep you from doing it. It's worth it and that area of Lake Michigan is a great place to cross. Have fun.

The funny thing is the day we came across the lake was almost perfect. one footers on the Wisconsin side, dead calm in the center of the lake and two footers on the Michigan side.
Hit the lake on Labor day weekend ( Friday ) after having ridden across the lake on the Badger ferry, Went to the bank and finalized the deal, Went to the marina and they dropped the boat in the water, One hour drive north to the channel that goes to lake MI. Filled the fuel tank ( one of only a few times the tank was ever full ) Hit lake MI at 7:00 PM.
Hit the MI shore line and into the slip we rented at Pentwater at 10:00 PM.
The next day there were 8 foot waves on the lake. We spent the day at Pentwater per my wife.
With a twin engine well maintained boat I would have no worries of crossing the lake at any point.

The Manitous are great to visit but can be problematic if the weather turns or gets foggy. Also, there are no public docks on the Manitous, only nation park service docks for their boats. North Manitou is wilderness, south Manitou has a visitors center. Leland is another nice harbor in the area.

How much fuel does your boat hold, my friends awesome cat only has 2 60 gallon tanks, procharged, his range is fairly short if hes in it at all, Smitty

I was told 80 gallon/side from the previous owner. For winter storage I plan on sucking all the fuel out and filling up in the spring to check my usable capacity. I have run on a 80 mile round trip on less then half a tank on the gauges (filled ~30 gal/side)....but we all know how accurate fuel gauges are...lol

I am comfortable with my range one way.....I would never attempt it round trip on one fill up.

Thought of another thing I need to carry......a sharp knife/wire cutters to cut fishing nets.....I almost ran into a couple near Sturgeon Bay last week.

If you are crossing by yourself get a sea anchor and a PLB. It is also not a bad idea to have some big float toys on board. Remember cell phones are useless around 10 miles out and your VHF probably doesn't have a tall enough antenna to reach much farther.
July is usually the best month to cross the lake