Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

[florinv1]

Hi everybody!
I recently purchased a 18 ft open bow and so far i only took it on some small inland lakes. I live in Michigan and i was wondering if the boat is too small for the
Great Lakes. Never been so far on any of them but i have an friend who said that the boat is too small for them. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[zibzer]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

i have a 17.5ft Peterbourough runabout that goes on lake erie all the time. With the open bow you will get wet.. make sure you check the weather forecasts before you go out, it can pick up in a hurry.

Best thing to do is go out on a fairly calm day and judge how well your boat handles. Its a good idea to Bring a friend.

Have any pictures of your boat? sometimes its easier to judge whether a boat can handle big water by looking at it rather than by giving a length. There is too many factors other than length.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I have taken my 16 footer out on the lakes on a calm day, but alas i didnt take it taht far out. I maintained a 30 minute trip to shore just in case the weather picked up. I wasnt scared at all but just be careful and pay attention to what your doing. Chicago looks gorgeous from the lake.

 

[sidechoke67]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I have a 17' openbow that I plan to take into Lake Ontario on calm days. Luckily my launch is in a bay though - so if Lake O is too rough, I will stick to fishing in the bay.

If you were only going to fish in the great lakes, 18' might be small, but I would think you will be fine venturing into the big lakes as long as you are willing to pick reasonably calm days.

I have a friend who does a lot of deep trolling in Lake Ontario in a 19' boat. He goes out every week religiously, and only a couple of times last summer did he cancel a fishing trip because it was too rough for his boat.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

have a bow cover, with a center support pole, made for your boat, comes in real handy when the weather turns.

 

[JAL51974]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

My Bayliner was used exclusively on Lake Ontario for years, main lake and bays just be sensible about the weather as advised here. I plan on using it on Erie this summer...a little trickier because I will use Ashtabula which doesn't have much of a bay.

safe boating!

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

>>>

 

[aerospot]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I will use Ashtabula which doesn't have much of a bay.

safe boating!

Hey JAL51974, Ashtabula is just a jaunt down the road from me. I'm in Lake City just across the PA line.
I have an 18' bow rider that is new to me. I plan to use it in Lake Erie this summer to ski, tube and some fishing. I have a cover for the bow seats and will leave it on for all but the calmest days. We have the Erie Bay just to the east of us and can use it on days the lake is rough.
I wish the weather would cooperate as she's ready to put in.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

The smaller the boat, the more you have to watch the weather, not take chances, and make sure your maintenance has been done.

The great lakes are big enough to sink any boat if it's mishandled, in the wrong conditions, or someone does something risky or stupid.

The Fitzgerald was 729 feet long and it sank in a storm in 530 feet of water.

I'm planning on spending a lot of time this summer on Superior in a 21 footer, with a spare engine, paper charts, a GPS, and no more than a few miles from shore.

Erik

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I've never piloted a boat onto the Great Lakes. I did grow up in Milwaukee and know that they always issued "small craft advisories" over the radio stations. Along with everything else mentioned, I wouldn't go out there without a weater radio and a marine band radio in case something bad happened.

 

[florinv1]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

Have any pictures of your boat? sometimes its easier to judge whether a boat can handle big water by looking at it rather than by giving a length. There is too many factors other than length.

These are some pictures of my boat. Thanks to everybody for their thoughts!

 

[dodgeramsst2003]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I have spent many hours fishing lake erie in my first boat which was an 18ft sea ray cuddy. only a couple of times was i uncomfortable ( passengers were sea sick for a day or two) but never was I actually scared. I had that boat on erie, michigan and huron without too many concerns as long as I watched the weather. I consider 18ft the minimum for the lakes on reasonable days. My only concern would be the open bow. I won't take one out on the lakes, but I see a lot of them out there, just get a bow cover and monitor the weather.

Chris

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

Many thoughts about boat size versus water size.

I would think more about the boat and water conditions.
We learn the feel of our boat when wind and waves pick up, and how
it reacts and provokes responsive reaction from us. And the result.

Bigger water tends to also provoke us with greater winds and waves than
smaller waters, and with less notice. A weather radio can be helpful.

 

[cbavier]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

florinv1
Where you at?

I have a Horizon 190 and like the others I would be very, very careful about going out on the Great Lakes. First get your Boat Coast Guard ready and then Inspected. I would not go out on the Great Lakes without a VHF Radio. Like TD suggested, I have the bow cover with the Center pole and It might be a real necessity. Watch the weather very carefully and don't go out too far. I too am from Michigan. Roscommon to be precise. Even Higgins and Houghton Lakes, 20,000 acre lakes and they can get very Violent in a hurry. I've been on Higgins when a storm came up suddenly and was battling three foot swells from South Shore back to North Shore boat launch. I think a 25 ft would be better on the Big Lakes and even then your still "Small Craft".

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I use to go on Lake Erie all the time out of Port Clinton. If the marine forecast called for 1 to 3 foot waves, It usually was okay to go out. Now when the forecast went to 2 to 4 foot waves, I stayed in. Just too big of a pain to try to fish IMO. While out by Put-In-Bay and the Bass islands, I saw many small open bow boats.

One thing I did do for extra safety reasons was add another bilge pump with a high output. A few waves over the bow can dump lots of water quickly which means added weight and harder control. At that time I had a 20' deep V and at times I felt it was too small for some of the conditions I got into. You just got to watch and listen to the weather as well as watching the skies. Good Luck and be safe always........SS

 

[Zamboni]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I got in trouble last year on Ontario, 16.5 open bow. Calm day, I was salmon fishing alone btw Whitby-Oshawa(N shore) Saw the threatening skies moving in from the west, everyone heads in and I hook into a huge salmon.

Foolish, my boat-actually endangered my life for a fish. Ended up with consecutive waves coming over the bow. I was terrified, if not for a second bilge installed 2 weeks earlier on floor drain my soap dish style boat would have been swamped.

Your boats fine in good weather, but when Great lakes turn nasty far larger boats aren't safe.

 

[cmcpherson]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I got in trouble last year on Ontario, 16.5 open bow. Calm day, I was salmon fishing alone btw Whitby-Oshawa(N shore) Saw the threatening skies moving in from the west, everyone heads in and I hook into a huge salmon.

Foolish, my boat-actually endangered my life for a fish. Ended up with consecutive waves coming over the bow. I was terrified, if not for a second bilge installed 2 weeks earlier on floor drain my soap dish style boat would have been swamped.

Your boats fine in good weather, but when Great lakes turn nasty far larger boats aren't safe.

So it was your boat that endagered your life???? Everyone else was headed in but you stayed for a fish???? HMMMMMM...

 

[dingbat]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

My Fisher SV-18GT with 90 HP Merc was used extensively on Lakes Erie, Huron and Ontario for almost 10 years. It is a cross between a bass and walleye type boat and I have had it out in seas 12 to 15 feet during an east blow on Lake Ontario (out of Port Credit) and it handled fine. If you have confidence in your rig and ability there is no reason that you can't go out in waves to 6 feet. You will barely even notice 3 footers in your boat.
I have guided in the Arctic for the past 15 years and have been out in 16 and 17 foot Lunds with 30 HP 2 and 4 strokes in waves to 10 feet numerous times and never felt in peril, but that's me. If you go out when the waves are 1-2 feet a couple of times to get used to it slowly work up to rougher water to find out what you're comfortable with. In my early years I used to take a 12 foot aluminum with Johnson 5.5 up to 4 miles off shore in Lake Ontario. (seas 2 feet or less).
Make sure you have a VHF radio and watch the skies and follow the weather closely and you'll be fine.

The sure must make 12-15 ft. waves a lot smaller up there they they do down here. Even the 50' SportFisherman's don't venture out in seas that size around here.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

I've been fishing Lake Erie for 30 yrs in my 16' MFG 60HP outboard, only once was I ever nervous about being out there and it was a day that the forcast called for 1-3 footers, about a mile out the winds changed and waves kicked up to at least 4' and maybe even a 5' here and there, since then I never rely on lake forecast when skies are changing. with that said, there are days and even weeks on end when you could go out there in a 12 jon boat waves 2' & less, heck they rent tiller boats right there at the marina, I will continue to fish erie in my 16 footer the perch fishin gets hot in late august into sept and there are days when the lake is calm, although I prefer a little wind to keep bugs away but anything over 1-3 footers is a no-go.

 

[cbavier]

Re: Is 18 ft Too Small For The Great Lakes???

The sure must make 12-15 ft. waves a lot smaller up there they they do down here. Even the 50' SportFisherman's don't venture out in seas that size around here.

Well I'm here in Northern Michigan and I don't mind telling you I don't like waves even three feet. His 12-15 ft waves (he a70eliminator must have meant inches). There's no way even in a 25 foot boat would be safe in waves that high let alone in a little 18ft boat. And no experienced boater would even be out there (caught) in waves 12-15ft barring an emergency.

Small craft are boats under 25 ft and Small Craft Advisory' s are issued when winds are 21-33 knots and waves are 1-3 ft.

Just my 2 cents which isn't worth much but free.