Re: Carver owners....
Hi all,
New to the forum. Just purchased an 88' 3607 Carver Aft Cabin. Stored it at a marina on the Illinois River.Will be motoring it home(Catawba,Ohio) in July. Can't wait. Going up the eastern coast of Wisconsin thru Door County then over to Beaver Island & Charlavoix area. From there thru the North Channel and down to Tobermoray into Lake Huron thru Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River to Catawba area.
Any sugestions on sights and dockage/moorings?
Welcome to the world of Carver. I'm sure you will enjoy your 3607, a great boat! We have a 3207 and love it.
A lot of this depends on how much time you have: will you be on the forced march, a leisurly cruise, or something in between? I moved my boat from Saugatuck, MI to Lake St. Clair in 2010 and it was a bit too much of a forced march. For some silly reason, my crew wanted to get back to his boat, so we moved as quickly as weather would allow. Of course, a lot depends on how much cruising experience and how much education you have. I have to say we were tired when we got to Port Huron, where we had a crew change. I wish I had spent more time to see more sites and do a better job of recording the trip.
I haven't done the west coast of Lake Michigan, but have been up and down the full length of the eastern shore 3 plus times. There are great ports of call on the Michigan side as I'm sure there are on the Wisconsin side. As you'll be hitting Michigan at the northern end, Traverse City might be out of the way, but great ports in your range are Leland, Charlevoix, and Petosky, then Mackinaw City. Each of these are great stays with great towns, great eating, and a good rest from a push. From then on, you might look into the Great Lakes Cruising Club to get the best info for cruising in Canadian Waters. They have a huge member cruise database, including the best anchorages in the North Channel area. Charlevoix and Leland have the newest marina facilities and are really super!! I haven't done the east Lake Huron Shore in many decades, so I'm no help there, but Tobermory is a must stop. As this is the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812, you can find some interesting commemorative events in Detroit and elsewhere. About the closest marina to Downtown Detroit is Keans, a nice, full service marina with its own restaurant/bar and a shuttle to take you anywhere - a Tigers game might be fun.
Up-to-date charts and chartplotter software are essential, but as I'm a member of the United States Power Squadrons, that is just how I do it. NOAA had a great new chart offering that allows you to print your own color charts in sections of 8 1/2 x 11 from
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/BookletChart.html, which are the most up-to-date you can get - and they are FREE!! These can supplement your paper charts or your Richardsons Chart Books, if they are not the most current. That in itself can save some cash. One nice thing is that while you select a whole chart, you can print only the pages you need.
Also depending on your experience, the Power Squadron offers a great class in "Cruise Planning". You can check at
www.usps.org. The Power Squadron and Great Lakes Cruising Club have a "Port Captain" program to their members that provide local information and help if needed.
www.usps.org will define the offered classes, including Cruise Planning.
Make sure all of your safety equipment is up to date (of course) as the Coast Guard is known to board boats. They have a habit of separating the crew from the Skipper and will ask the same questions: "where are the life jackets, the flares, MOBs, fire extinguishers, the oil and trash placards, so make sure you educate your crew so they are comfortable answering these questions. Of course, if you are experienced, you know all this stuff and I apologize for bringing it up. We Power Squadron cruisers just can't help ourselves - teaching all the time. In any case, I hope I?ve helped.
You are about to begin a super adventure!! I know you will enjoy it. Keep us posted.
Ron
Other great cruising resources:
https://activecaptain.com/
http://www.waterwayguide.com/
