Great Lakes questions.......
 

Just watched a show on Nat Geo about great lakes shipwrecks, and a few questions came to mind. Do you Michiganders et al, actually boat on these waters? Damn, they made it sound like they're just waiting to gobble you up! Do y'all dare these, or stick to inland lakes?? They said they're so frickin big, they create their own weather. Water can go from 1' to 8' in less than an hour, and can get worse than the oceans! (35' feet or so):eek:
Keep in mind I'm a Southern Boy and have limited experience with BIG water. Once 6-8' in a 36' SeaRay cruiser from Boca Grande to Key West.......wasn't too bad, but I wouldn't have wanted to be in my Enticer!!
Anyway, 3 quick questions:
1) Do ya stay close to shore?
2) Does it ever get warm enough to swim in?
3) Any interesting stories?
Hell, I don't think I have more than 40' of anchor line:ernaehrung004:

We do our boating on Lake Michigan. Yes the lake can turn in pretty darn quick. We usually dont shoot across the lake. Most times always have shore in eye sight. Been out a few times and help rescue stranded people. Once there was a sailboat that was tipped on its side in about a 6-8 foot chop and it was heading toward the breakwall. We tied a rope to the sail boat and strapped on ours to upright the boat. scarred the poop out of me when it uprighted and the mast started tipping towards us. Was out another time where fog rolled in within minutes to the point where you could not see the front of your boat. Had to just stop and wait for it to clear and hope you were not in anyones path. when the fog cleared, we found ourselfs only sitting a couple hundred feet from shore.

The safest bet is usually never try to out run a storm you see coming in unless you are super close to a harbor. stay put and ride it out. They are usually fairly quick for the nasty stuff to pass thru, then you can try to get home.

1. Mostly, but I have been across a couple times, and out of sight quite a bit. I live on the east side though, not quite as tempermental as Michigan, Superior, or Erie.
2. Yes, but never warm like southern waters.
3. There are always good stories! I have been out in 6-8's in my 28. When I was younger I was out fishing in Lake Michigan with my uncle in BIG water, breaking over the breakwall kind. I was so seasick I thought I was going to die.

Guy at work runs his 25' velocity across to lake Milwaukee all the time. Lake Michigan is great to swim in mid summertime. You tube Sunsation lake Michigan and Ull see a 288 in some nasty waters!

about 8yrs ago we tried to beat a storm, we were on our way to muskegon from grand haven in my buddies 216 checkmate convincer in about 2ft rollers. when we were about half way there we could see a storm rolling in fast and turned around to head back and before we knew it we were in pry 8-10 footers. would lose sight of land everytime we dropped down in a wave. we were pretty much ****ting our pants. haha. that storm came out of nowhere

The main reason that we live in Holland, MI is to boat on Lake Michigan. We always try to get out on the big water but stay inland on Lake Macatawa if its too windy (a.k.a. waves). The beaches on Lake MI are second to none and there's no sharks or nasty creatures to get 'cha.
When the lake is calm, screaming along the shore line is a fantasic way to enjoy boating.
She can turn on you when you're not paying attention (and even when you are). The day can start out as a calm as can be, you're sitting on the beach with your boat anchored just off the sand and the next thing you know, you're scrambling to get loaded up and back to safe harbor because the calm turned to 6 foot waves.

Here are some pics to illustrate the variation in waves on Lake Michigan.
By the way, last summer we have over a month of 75 deg water which was record breaking in duration.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...nel9-18-05.jpg

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...l11-13-05g.jpg

I take my 22' Donzi Classic on the Great Lakes all the time. You do have to be very careful of changing conditions. Western Lake Erie scares the hell out of me. I never can be sure what I'm going to run into on the way home from Put-in-Bay and the weather radio is not very accurate. The waves on these lakes are not evenly spaced rollers that you can ride on top of in a small boat. It is more like being in a washing machine and the going is slow and tedious when you run into heavy weather. I would like to have a wireless internet device connected to a monitor on the dash and I could have live streaming weather radar. Mostly I run not to far from shore but I do like quick runs that take me out of sight of land. On a good day I doubt there is any better boating in the world and these lakes are all that is keeping me in Michigan. Funny how the Great Lakes docks make my boat look so tiny!! And, yes, the swimming is awesome on a hot day and there is nothing in the water that might eat you!
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...s194Medium.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCbFrcW54dM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hBkc9TaaAo

Spent alot of time on Lake Michigan, you have to respect it and keep your eye's open. Many stories, about 12 years ago ran to Northport on a calm sunny day. Got caught in 5 to 6ft rollers in a 19ft Regal. My buddy had a 22ft Bayliner, we cracked the fuel tank and it started to dump fuel in his bilge. Thank god we where within 2 miles of Charlevoix by then. That day started with the Lake smooth as ice, it had turned in a hour.

The lesson today, don't take a Bayliner out in Lake Michigan!

Best boating imo. Water can kick up fast. Pulled into a bay in my 25 Sunsation for about an hour once, 1-1.5 when we stopped 4-5 when we left. Fun ride. Been out in 6-8 too. Absolutely no fun.

L. Huron and L. Michigan
 

Anyway, 3 quick questions:
1) Do ya stay close to shore?
2) Does it ever get warm enough to swim in?
3) Any interesting stories?

Wife and I usually boat L. Huron between Port Sanilac and Detroit. And L. Michigan from Charlevoix to Harbor Springs and Grand Traverse Bay.

1). Usually stay within 10 miles of shore. (:evilb: 'Cept when da wife wants to get frisky out on the sunpad, then out to 15! :party-smiley-004:)

2). We jump-in at about 68F. (:drink: 'Specially after heated sunpad events :cool-smiley-026:.)

3). Headed out on L. Huron to a sandy state park beach 20 miles away. Was a clear calm sunny day. After several hours, the on-shore waves suddenly increased in magnitude. Was a ***** pulling in 80 feet of anchor rope in 4-footers. :hitfan: 20 knot crosswinds, 3 foot chop mixed with 10 foot rollers... not a pleasant ride home.

Based on my experience, the best way to stay safe is to check weather trends from several sources. Especially during the time you are returning home.

My three sources are; 1). NOAA marine forecast, 2). Three local coastline marina forecasts, and 3). Local NOAA buoy data.

How do you get the data from the second two sources? Sun pad fun! Yay! Don't try that on Lake St. Clair. They have super border cams!!!!

NOAA data
 

:party-smiley-004: SUPER border cams???? Sheesh, and I thought the perverts with binoculars on freighters were bad! :eek:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zo...akes/dtxmz.htm

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=45149

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=ftgm4

And depending on wind velocity, I often just check hourly accuweather for Port Sanilac (MI), Lexington (MI), Port Huron (MI), and Grand Bend (ON).

I mainly track trending winds, and NNE wave magnitude (emanating from Canada).

Lake Michigan can be some of the best boating around but as said before, it can turn on you just like any other big water and make you have to change your pants when its all over.

A few years ago we took my buddies 25 Sea Ray from Michigan City to Chicago. It is only 38 miles but it is deceiving because you can see the city in the skyline as soon as you get out onto the lake. We pointed right at the skyline and headed out in 2-3 footers. Once we got into the middle of the lake we ran into 8 foot rollers so we headed towards shore and creaped our way to chicago with life jackets in hand. What was supposed to be a 1.5 hour trip took us 8 hours and LOTS of gas. We were all so scared that at the end of the trip he caught a ride back to Michigan City to pick up the truck and trailer and then drove back and got us and the boat. Nobody wanted to experience that again....
Since then we bought our 270 Powerquest and my wife refuses to cross in any direction.... She wants to be near the shore. I would do it but I would be much more careful since that experience.

Thanks for the info. Yup, super cams! One is for night vision and they have super zoom. Keep your pecker in your pants. Big Brother is watching you!
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...s208Medium.jpg
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...s204Medium.jpg

+1 for border cams
 

:coolcowboy: Yeah, next time I had better hide it in something ASAP! :lolhit:

Anyway, I'm glad the borders are watched. :flag:

I am too. I've never had any problems with the many law enforcement agencies on the border waters. I just try to pee off the Canadian side if not too far from shore :).

Did you see Lazlo's post?

I have been caught a mile or so off south bass by a storm at night, came out of nowhere like hitting a light switch. Winds clocked on the island at 78 mph. Was out on erie once, stopped to pee, standing up I had to look up to see the tops of the waves. The old nova got a tad bit of air that day.

Laz's post.. (oops) http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...ugh-water.html

Thanks Phragle :kiss: