Best of Great Lakes?

[Dave the Canuck]

[IMG]file:///F:/Pictures/Boat%20Trip%202005/L1020637.JPG[/IMG]
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This is the anchorage at the Benjamin Islands in the North Channel of Lake Huron.

[Dave the Canuck]

Sorry.

Here's the picture (I hope)

[freetime]

Looks very nice/Thanks.

[Palarran]

If your looking for wild life, I have to agree with Gord, Lake Superior is the place you want to be. If you search "Isle Royale wolf moose" you will find info on one of the best documented prey/preditor relationships in the world. The fishing is also Superior. As far as facilities, we have more registered boats in the State of Michigan then any other in this country (now, a whole lot of them are 14' fishing boats, but what the hey, its a statistic). Come on over and visit. You should be able to find a great deal on a boat in my State to since were about to go bankrupt

(actually, thats no joke, unfortunately)

[Pblais]

Sounds little like Great Lakes have everything im looking for.

Don't pretend that it is easy sailing. Summer storms can be serious. Shallow waters on Erie and Ontraio can stand up very tall. Cold waters of Superior can kill. These are big waters that act more like oceans than lakes. All sailing skills can be tested there. There is a lot there to like though. I spent the better portion of my life near Ontario and Superior they are magical places if you can spend the time to look. I spent more than 40 years and there is more left to see than I ever saw.

[tomdidit]

You have been given some good advice. Bottom line: You could spend the rest of your life, from May to early October, sailing the Great Lakes. Everything from giant metropolitan areas ( Chicago and Toronto rank as my favorite cities in North America), to wilderness in the North. Both have animal life, the animals are just different!

I have spoken to people that have sailed the North Channel for 40 summers and still not seen everything. Their bug collection alone keeps them busy! Coupled with Lake Superior, some of the most pristine sailing in the world ( late June to early September unless you like it very chilly).

Based on what you have questioned, you should not be disapointed. DO NOT under estimate them however. Respect them for what they are, fresh water SEAS!

[Steve Rust]

The wide beam of the trimarans you are looking at may be a problem in some marinas but not all. I do know that the marina in Washburn Wisconsin near the Apostle Islands has a 150 ton travel lift that is 30 feet wide. The multihull club in Toronto would also have the ability to deal with haulout. I am sure there are others but these are the two I know of.

[freetime]

I understund that it´s more like oceans than lakes... And if you can sail in the same "lake" in 40 years and havent seen everything its BIG.
About my boat...I like the trimarans very much, but everything depends on how much money i can spend on the boat. If it´s easy to sell a big trimaran in europe it can be a very fun idea to sail 1-2 summers in Great Lakes and then take "her" to Europe, but is it hard it´s not a good idea. Long and narrow boat for the rest of my life is maybe not what i want.....maybe a monohull. Yesterday i looked in a multihullmagazine and you understund...hmmm.
So right now i don´t know about the boat.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Don't pretend that it is easy sailing. Summer storms can be serious. Shallow waters on Erie and Ontraio can stand up very tall. Cold waters of Superior can kill. These are big waters that act more like oceans than lakes. All sailing skills can be tested there. There is a lot there to like though. I spent the better portion of my life near Ontario and Superior they are magical places if you can spend the time to look. I spent more than 40 years and there is more left to see than I ever saw.

In my experience, if you end up buying a large mono in the Great Lakes (as you mentioned in a different thread), you will have to watch out for shallows. As Paul mentions above, the lakes are shallow.

We went into several fuel docks with a 5'5" draft on a 45' mono. We were told, "sure! come on in! plenty of water!" by the marina staff only to ground 50-100ft from the fuel dock with no way to get in for fuel. Very frustrating!

This happened on 3 occasions transiting from Sturgeon Bay, WI to the Erie Canal.

[Joli]

Nothing quite like 8 footers with a 4 second period to test your rigging and fillings.

Originally Posted by Pblais

Don't pretend that it is easy sailing. Summer storms can be serious. Shallow waters on Erie and Ontraio can stand up very tall. Cold waters of Superior can kill. These are big waters that act more like oceans than lakes. All sailing skills can be tested there. There is a lot there to like though. I spent the better portion of my life near Ontario and Superior they are magical places if you can spend the time to look. I spent more than 40 years and there is more left to see than I ever saw.

[freetime]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

In my experience, if you end up buying a large mono in the Great Lakes (as you mentioned in a different thread), you will have to watch out for shallows. As Paul mentions above, the lakes are shallow.

We went into several fuel docks with a 5'5" draft on a 45' mono. We were told, "sure! come on in! plenty of water!" by the marina staff only to ground 50-100ft from the fuel dock with no way to get in for fuel. Very frustrating!

This happened on 3 occasions transiting from Sturgeon Bay, WI to the Erie Canal.

I had to look at one of these... Feeling 39 or 44

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

In my experience, if you end up buying a large mono in the Great Lakes (as you mentioned in a different thread), you will have to watch out for shallows. As Paul mentions above, the lakes are shallow...

Some of the lakes, but not all, are shallow.
Superior, for instance, mostly isn't (except at the very margins).

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Some of the lakes, but not all, are shallow.
Superior, for instance, mostly isn't (except at the very margins).

Of course... there is ample water.

I suppose I was trying to convey that many of the marinas (in my experience there) didn't even know their approach depths. I tried to convey this without coming out and saying it.

Erie was my favorite, but only because of the conditions - we did it in (IIRC) one single overnight and a day or something like that. 8 knots all the way down from Put In Bay to the Erie Canal. The sailing was some of the best I've ever had because the sea state (lake state?) was very calm, but the wind was howling! Fun!

Only negative was that I was nervous about these "net stakes" and "natural gas heads" labeled in a very general way on the charts. You couldn't really avoid these "net stakes", and my imagination pictured a 4x6 post sticking up, ready to breech the hull. ha ha

Of course, the locals told me those are similar to lobster pots and I was then quite relieved. Still was pretty nervous about the Canadian gas well heads though. Never saw one, but sailing through the night, I imagined some might have been unlit.

[knottybuoyz]

Navigating Georgian Bay is relatively easy & painless if you stick to the established small craft channels. They're well marked on all CHS charts. Just keep in mind that you're traversing a lake that covers the exposed parts of the Canadian Shield (some of the oldest rocks on earth) and are comprised of mostly granite and other metamorphic rocks. I've attached two images, a Google Earth screencap and a ENC screencap of one area just north of Parry Sound. I think this'll illustrate why you don't stray to far from the small craft routes.

Needless to say Georgian Bay is one of the best (IMHO) cruising areas in Canadian waters. I can't wait to get back there someday!

[ssullivan]

Ha ha ha! Where did you find a picture of me at the fuel dock???

Originally Posted by freetime

I had to look at one of these... Feeling 39 or 44