lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

Semper Fi people,

I'm planning my spring break trip right now and im planning on taking my small boat up the western coast of michigan to the U.P where i have a cabin to do a little backpacking. I ride the crap out of Lake Erie almost every other day, i can ride 5 footers comfortably, im looking for tips, some scenic sights, precautions, any advice at all will be awesome, i have alot of the details planned out so far but info can never hurt.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

Sounds like fun to me, I've had my 12' AeroCraft out on Lake Huron hundreds of times. Just make sure to bring proper safety gear as I'm sure you do already.

One issue you might find challenging is crossing the straits to get to the upper peninsula. Those waters are known to be choppy on all but the calmest of days.

As long as you stay close to shore that will be a safe and fun trip up the coast. There are tons of neat little harbor towns all up and down the state to check out on the way.

Traverse City/Charlevoix/Petoskey area offers lots to explore. Are you going to be camping during the trip? Plenty of places to camp also.

What make/hp of outboard are you running?

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

I think you should check the water temp of Lake Michigan during your spring break. It's going to be in the low 40's. I have a place about 50 miles south of the bridge and would not go near the water during spring break.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

I plan on runnin 1-2 miles from shore, maybe closer depending on waves and the view, and to get around any breakers. i plan on spending a night at one of the many campgrounds, probably around manistee. that way i have plenty of time to complete the short leg to the u.p. my cabin is about 1/4 mile up gould city road which dead ends at patterson point where i will be beaching my boat. ill backpack on our 80 acres for a few days, as far as water temperature, even swimming there in the summer brings on a brain freeze once u dive in. im running a 15 h.p mercury 4 stroke with a piranha prop and extra blades, and a stabilizer fin from bass pro, she kicks butt on the water, i can pull tubes and kneeboards, usually tops out at around a little over 19 mph with racing fuel addeed to the gas.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

i did some work in petoskey a number of years back, restoring a historic police station, what a beautiful place to sit and watch the waves hitting the breakwall. think it was on grand traverse bay but could have been little traverse bay. either way it was majestic

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

grunt said:

i did some work in petoskey a number of years back, restoring a historic police station, what a beautiful place to sit and watch the waves hitting the breakwall. think it was on grand traverse bay but could have been little traverse bay. either way it was majestic

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Yeah that's Little Traverse bay in Petoskey. Check out the east end of it if you want to camp, there's a state park right on the bay there.

Are you going to cross near the bridge and head up the southern shore of the UP?

I grew up in Petoskey, nice little town. By the way thanks for serving

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

grunt said:

Semper Fi people,

I'm planning my spring break trip right now and im planning on taking my small boat up the western coast of michigan to the U.P where i have a cabin to do a little backpacking. I ride the crap out of Lake Erie almost every other day, i can ride 5 footers comfortably, im looking for tips, some scenic sights, precautions, any advice at all will be awesome, i have alot of the details planned out so far but info can never hurt.

Click to expand...

also, the boat is from the 1950s and has a partially covered bow and is way deeper in the front than the back, i think its a speedyqueen but not positive, its sturdy as hell, built well, thick aluminum. i put in a bilge pump with float switch that does 600g.p.m. and a small solar panel that is a trickle charger to keep the battery fresh. as far as navigating the straights sir, any recomendations?

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

Huron Angler said:

Yeah that's Little Traverse bay in Petoskey. Check out the east end of it if you want to camp, there's a state park right on the bay there.

Are you going to cross near the bridge and head up the southern shore of the UP?

I grew up in Petoskey, nice little town. By the way thanks for serving

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thank you,
ill be turning northwest once i hit charlevoix, tuck behind beaver island betwwen garden island and stay on the eastern shore till i hit open water and then make a run for the beach at patterson point. ill be starting this trip from west basin municipal marina, its near new buffalo. we always drive over the bridge and take route 2 west but this seemed like more fun. and im pretty sure theres an old light house on them islands cause i always see it from shore but its private property

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

grunt said:

also, the boat is from the 1950s and has a partially covered bow and is way deeper in the front than the back, i think its a speedyqueen but not positive, its sturdy as hell, built well, thick aluminum. i put in a bilge pump with float switch that does 600g.p.m. and a small solar panel that is a trickle charger to keep the battery fresh. as far as navigating the straights sir, any recomendations?

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that you already have an auto-float bilge pump and a closed bow, both of those features are going to help you out in case the wind picks up.

My advice would be to hug the shoreline just outside of the breakers for most of the trip, unless it's dead calm. You will want to cross the straits right near the bridge, as that is the closest route at about 4 miles.

The big deal with the straits is that it's a narrow area that is shallow. This means that winds whip thru and the water has no where to go but up, resulting in some intense waves depending on conditions.

Watch the weather closely, a handheld VHF should have a weather band where you can get reports from the Coast Guard.

The wind can shift very quickly and gain a larger fetch from the north and west, turning 1-3' waves into 3-5' or larger before you know it.

Here's an article that will give you an idea what the seas can turn into in that area. I think it's fair to give you an idea of a worst-case scenario.

It sounds like your outboard is a reliable one, maybe bring a little minn kota as a backup since you already have a battery on board.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

i get what your sayin about the shallows and wind, i was just hopin to cut a few miles off the trip but better safe than sorry. im getting a cobra marine radio/hand held, im really good with a compass and map plus i have a gps. i have 45 lb thrust bow mounted minn kota that i put on when needed. i love how clear the water is out there and might stop to do a little trolling. i plan on having my gear ready to go at a moments notice depending on weather and i can always get to shore in a hurry, if the breakers arent to bad, id hate to surf it in towrds the shore like that. i have i.r. strobes night/day, and all that stuff. if i have to go towards the bridge ill have to stop and get some of gustufsons smoked fish

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

grunt said:

thank you,
ill be turning northwest once i hit charlevoix, tuck behind beaver island betwwen garden island and stay on the eastern shore till i hit open water and then make a run for the beach at patterson point. ill be starting this trip from west basin municipal marina, its near new buffalo. we always drive over the bridge and take route 2 west but this seemed like more fun. and im pretty sure theres an old light house on them islands cause i always see it from shore but its private property

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I wouldn't venture out into that type of open water in a 12 footer. It will take you longer to cross by the bridge but much better chance of making it safely.

I wouldn't try that type of crossing in my 16' Starcraft or my 12' rig. Let's say you end up seeing some 3-5' swells. That's going to slow you down and expose you to the possibility of even bigger waves rolling in.

It sounds fun, but that boat is too small for an open crossing on Lake Michigan. Hug the shoreline and you'll be fine if the weather is decent.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

i read the article, holy crap

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

well thank you very much. ill now be returning to my map for some adjustments, you may have saved my life. if your on facebook look me up. its under barney rowe.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

Well, I'm not typically one that would discourage an adventure such as this. However, I think you may be just a bit overly ambitious with this.

The trip you are talking about is 330 miles. (just plotted it out)

So, lets assume you ran it WOT the entire way. 330miles/19mph = 17.4 hours

Lets ASSume your burn rate is 1.5 gallons/hour. You will need a minimum of 26.1 gallons of fuel. You should plan for at least 1/3 of your fuel load in reserve. So you will need at least 35 gallons of fuel.

I'm not sure what you have for fuel tank(s). I'll assume you have 2 six gallon tanks for a total fuel load of 12 gallons.

A conservative range would be 100 miles per fill up.

By the time you get into ports with fuel docks you add a minimum of 1 hour per fuel stop.

Total travel time is no less than 20 hours. In reality you will probably only spend 10% or less of the time at WOT. So, total travel time is probably more like 30 hours conservatively.

Weather is such a huge factor with anything like this. Lake Michigan can be dead calm in the evening and by day break you have 6' waves with random periods and whitecaps interspersed. Conditions that are unsafe in anything less than a 25-30' boat designed to take the abuse. You can have several days straight with heavy waves that keep 30'+ boats in port.

Again, I typically think that adventures like this are worth it. I personally have taken an 11' Zodiac accross the straits from Cedarville to Mackinaw City.

In reality I have a bit of envy for someone that is "free" enough to embark on something like this. I would plan on no less than 5 days one way. File a float plan, and have someone on shore that you check in with regularly...twice a day minimum.

Safety gear is a must. You might plan on wearing a wet suit the whole time. A "survival" suit should be considered.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

grunt said:

i read the article, holy crap

Click to expand...

grunt said:

well thank you very much. ill now be returning to my map for some adjustments, you may have saved my life. if your on facebook look me up. its under barney rowe.

Click to expand...

Glad to help out, we don't want to see anyone venture out unaware.

I've been in some waves in my day, and I know how far away shore is when you're 10 miles from shore in waves bigger than the boat you are in is designed to handle. Not fun.

We used to fish in a 20' open-bow Sea Nymph and it was great in any waves up to about 5-7'

We ventured out into 10-12 footers one time near Rogers City and got a taste of some real fury from mother nature. Didn't get much further than the breakwall that morning.

Much of what was in that article rings true for me from that day.

I've always wanted to cross over to Canada from near Alpena where we have property, but I will not attempt it in anything under 25' at least, and with redundant motor and fuel systems.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=393196

That is a link to jserb's thread about crossing Lake Michigan to Chicago. It's got some good info on open water crossings. He's also planning a similar trip across Lake Erie for next year.

Good luck and have fun. Let us know how your trip goes, some photos and advice go a long way.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

Looks like you are looking for a Darwin award.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

we used to call it a "medal of honor run" lol

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

once i get up to the point there at grand haven what should i do? according to google earth it looks like a danger zone

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

In the size boat that you are planning to use the entire route is a danger zone.

As far as water depth and possible obstructions are concerned, you really shouldn't have a problem with that. Get the nautical charts and study them. Even if you just get on the NOAA website and study the ones you can on the web for free you will be much better off than using Google as your sole map source.

Re: lake michigan in a 12' starcraft

http://www.activecaptain.com/X.php

Check out this web site. It has the NOAA charts and will tell you important depth info. It also has buoys and other important stuff.

I wouldn't worry about Grand Haven as much as getting around Waugoshance point near Wilderness state park at the NW corner of the lower peninsula.

Native Americans used the inland waterway, from Cheboygan to Black Lake, Burt Lake, Crooked Lake, etc rather than risk swamping canoes in the big water.

Waugoshance Point sticks out way out the the west, but with a 12' tinny you should be able to cut thru in between some of the island chain. Be careful though, lots of limestone boulders around that like to dent aluminum.