Before you say we are crazy, we are! Anyone ever go from Bay City to Mackinac with a pontoon? Yes, in the water not by road. We are very experienced boaters who grew up on Lake Huron. We want to do week-long or so boating trip up the Lake Huron coast but right now we are inland lake people with a 27 ft Bennington, elliptical toons, 150hp motor. Just need one of those big canvas pontoon enclosures. We will launch the pontoon at Bay City and cruise on up. Ha! If we wait for the weather when needed, this is doable...right? There are quite a few harbors/marinas along the way. Can anyone suggest the best route stops? Usually we trailer up to Torch for a week and do all that but we need a new adventure.

Keep a close eye on weather ! ! !
Be safe

Very doable if you follow the weather reports. Plenty of safe harbor along the route.

My favorite pontoon story comes from Ludington. Guy bought a old work pontoon and built a cabin on it. Left Ludington and went down the Mississippi with his dog. He kept a blog on Facebook. Had some great pics and stories. He took down the posts. There was a youtube video left with a little info.

Not sure how many stops you'll need, But I'd Stop in Tawas and Alpena. Both have nice Marinas and are a very short walk to shopping and restaurants. Tawas is our home port.

It can get windy, hot, cold, rain, fog, etc. For that boat on that long of a run, I'd do Traverse City instead, it still can get plenty sporty, but then explore/camp/anchor at Power island and move around it as the wind blows to the leeward side, then run out to sleeping bear dunes, fish town or charlevoix/boyne if want to run somewhere, or the Manitou islands out in the middle of the lake.

I have a place on Huron and it can be like glass for a week or like a storm in the North Sea the next. I've been in 10'-12' waves on a 16' Larson Senza. I recommend stopping at Rogers City as well. I am exactly 2 miles Northwest of the Hammond Bay Refuge Harbor. If you see a Velocity with a checkered flag motif, stop by our beach is beautiful.

I'm about a mile south of the harbor... fridge is always stocked... and if you need anything in the area, try to message me. If I'm in the area, I'll do my best to help! Good luck on your trip if you haven't made it yet!