After 2019 Great Lakes Area Summer Rendezvous

A

Aadudley

Active member
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
44
Fluid Motion Model
C-26
Hull Identification Number
FMLR2506F516
Vessel Name
True Blue
Afternoon everyone!
My wife and I are going to be taking some time after the GL summer Rendezvous to explore more of upper Michigan by trailering to several other areas. Our first stop is going to be the Mackina area where we want to spend several days. Any suggestions for the marinas in that area? (Pros and Cons) of Mackinac Island state harbor (understand harbor is choppy), Mackinac city harbor, St.Ignac public marina and lastly Cheboygan ?

How about the Upper Peninsula? We have a several weeks to explore the area and then back to Lake Erie.

How about Saginaw Bay on our way back to Ohio, anything of boating interest there?

If anyone is planning a side trip after the rendezvous and would like another boat for company ..... we are open to that also.

Looking forward to everyone's insights and opinions (good or bad .... all are welcome)
Thanks
Al
Ranger 25SC
"True Blue"
 
Pictured Rocks Nat Lakeshore on Lk Superior is a should not be missed destination🙂
 
We are probably going to spend a few weeks in the area before the Rendezvous. We will most likely launch at Elk Rapids because it has the best ramp I have found anywhere. All the marina towns in the area are worth spending time in. Suttons Bay is artsy. Northport has the best bakery in the area. Leland is nice if you go that far south. Beaver Island is where we spend more time than anywhere. Petosky is very nice with a selection of restaurants. The bike trails in the area are great! We enjoy staying on Mackinac Island and have not found the ferry waves a problem. Things quite down at night and waking up to the horses clopping down the street puts you in a different world. Biking around the Island is a must do. The marina in St. Ignace is very nice but the traffic down the highway is not the same atmosphere as on the Islands. Mackinaw City is also worth spending some time in. See some history of the bridge while in town (My grandfather was an engineer on the project when it was built. (There is a new marina with numerous slips and a very peaceful atmosphere there in town next to the older one.) Is has been a while since we were in Cheboygan (maybe almost 30 years) but the time we were there is snowed in June so we did some of the inside passage to stay a little warmer. UP is worth seeing and going to but you can spend two weeks in the Apostle Islands and not even get to pictured rocks and Isle Royale so it depends on how much time you want to spend on the trailer and how much time you want to spend on the water. Todd
 
We are in the planning stages of a pre-rendezvous trip. It will be our 2019 Loop segment. We are hoping to spend 3 weeks cruising. I'm not sure of the starting point yet but we plan on ending at Charlevoix. I have just started route planning. If we take this trip we should have some information to help you with destinations. Our goal is to do as much of the Canadian portion Of the great Loop as possible.
 
I’ll be launching in June from The rendezvous area then to west side of Lake Michigan then to picture Rocks back to Rendezvous then to North Channel then back to launching site. What’s the weather on Lake Michigan in mid June/July?
 
We keep our boat in Racine Wis. The June, July weather is usually cool. Because of lake temperature. June water temperature high 50's low 60's the air temperature on or near the lake is 10 to 15 degrees cooler then inland. July is a bit warmer and August is what we consider summer. We start swimming in the lake for more then a minute in late July beginning of August water temperature low 70's. Water conditions are favorable on the Wisconsin side with wind out of the W, SW,NW even with 15 to 20 mph winds in these directions. The lake is not bad to travel on if cruising near shore. Anything out of the NE ,E ( very rare) SE, or S the lake can get churned up. July and August are the best cruising months for us.

I am planning a trip that will end at the rendezvous starting near Kingston( Lake Ontario) and ending at Charlevoix. Its in the beginning planning. We are going to dedicate 3 weeks to the trip. The starting point is yet to be determined. We will be trailering to starting point launching traveling to rendezvous. Retrieving the trailer and trailering back to Racine. All still in the planning stages. If you make it as far south as Racine let us know. We are at Reef Point Marina, it is in my opinion a 5 star marina within walking distance to Racine's Main Street, great restaurants, and alway summertime activities. The Marina has ample transit slips.
 
Depending on what you are looking for, I would consider taking a cruise from Mackinaw Island across to Hessel and Cedarville, then on to Detour/Drummond Island. Or, you could trailer to Detour and there is a nice protected launch at Detour. Consider Lime Island, which is a Michigan State Park that has a protected concrete pier (old fueling station for coal ships) that you can stay at overnight, for a minimal fee. There is no power or water, but drop toilets to use and right on the shipping channel going up to the Soo in a protected area. The freighters will pass by with in feet of you, and Lime Island is typically pretty quiet. It is a short run back to Detour, or Drummond Island and also a public dock at Raber Bay launch for a short term stay while walking up to Raber Bay Inn, which is due west of Lime Island. Great food! We did 10 days last summer from Mackinaw Island, up to the Soo (Sault St. Marie) and then down the Canadian side around St. Joseph Island, and Drummond Island, before pulling back out at DeTour and heading for home. It was a great trip for us.

Let me know if you would like more information. We also plan on being at Charlevoix, and would be happy to share any information with you in person.

Tim
 
Thanks everyone for all the info. Lisa and I look forward to meeting those of you attending the GL rendezvous.
 
We are planning a Great Loop segment before the Rendezvous this summer. I have set up routes starting from Lefroy marina resort. (Ranger Tug Dealer) located on Cooks Bay to Charlevoix Mi. This is an approximately 470 miles. We have 21 days from starting in Lefroy to ending with the boat on the trailer heading home. This includes 3 days for the Rendezvous, 2 days for loading the boat on the trailer and trailering Home to Lemont IL. This leaves 16 days for this trip. I have never boated in Canada, North Channel, Georgian Bay or Trent, so I don't know what to expect for weather ( water conditions ) I have planned 9 cruising days to do the trip with 7 off days for weather, site seeing and relaxing. In my route planning I saw some open water runs that I would plan on running at a faster cruise 13 to 15 kts but plan on cruising 7.5 to 8kts the majority of the trip. I am planning some logistic traveling before to give us more time on the water. I plan on trailering to Lefroy, launching, securing a slip for a few days, driving truck and trailer to Charlevoix storing at a marina or storage Area ( suggestions ?) Then enterprise rental car from Charlevoix to Toronto airport pickup my wife driving back to Lefroy. All not included in the 21 days. Logistics!!
Questions
1) Is this doable or should I plan a smaller route?
2) What is needed for Canada travel ? We have pass ports and global entry (air travel) Do we need more to make travel easier?
3) Good anchorage and marinas ? I used Active Captain while route planning, There are several, listed but, I'm interested in TugNut reveiws.
4) Hazards that have been experienced during this segment of Loop travel.
5) Good places to stop for site seeing, Nature, restaurants .
6) Suggestions or routes used, where to use small boat channel, where to run in open water?

Any information or suggestions would be appreciated. I know many Ranger Tugs and Cutwaters have traveled these waters.

We are looking forward to adding another small segment to our Loop adventure with a great ending to this summers trip. The Ranger Tug/Cutwater Rendezvous.We look forward to meeting all attending.
 
Brian, Your trip planning sounds doable, but I would not try to cover so much ground and would rather explore the areas and anchorages in more detail. We have done almost all of the trip in lots of small loops over the last 35 years except for the Georgian Bay which I did parts of as a kid but that was in the 1960s and returning there is on the bucket list. You can easily spend two weeks just in the North Channel (this may be the best fresh water cruising in the world). Two weeks in the Georgian Bay and the section of the Trent Severn you are doing. Mackinaw Island, Beaver Island and the Charlevoix area deserve another 2 weeks. We once got weathered in on Beaver Island for 4 days because the waves kicked up to 8 to 10s and no one came or went in a 3 day period (first boat in after three days was a 50 footer) (it was an early August trip). If you get some of that weather on the North end of Lake Huron or Lake Michigan your plans could get compromised.
Getting into Canada towing your boat is easy. You just need passports to go through customs at the bridge. I recommend crossing the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron and avoiding the Detroit traffic. (Fill your truck with fuel in Port Huron before you cross the bridge because fuel is approximately twice the cost in Canada.) We went that way last year to Lefroy and the roads were fairly good (lots of road construction around Toronto but traffic kept moving). I have not gone through customs by water in years so someone else will have to chime in on that.
 
S. Todd":1vzs7tgq said:
Fill your truck with fuel in Port Huron before you cross the bridge because fuel is approximately twice the cost in Canada.
Click to expand...
Yesterday in Ontario:
Gas = $1.10 CAD / liter (average)
$1.00 CAD = $0.75 USD
1 US gal = 3.785 liters
Gas = $3.12 USD / US gal

Filled up in Florida this week for $2.39 / gal, so $3.12 / $2.39 = 1.31
Hardly twice the cost ... 😱
 
Hi Brian. As Todd said you have mapped out a good float plan and I’d also concur it may be a bit aggressive as it relates to time. Absolutely it can be accomplished it all depends on your cruising style. One party may like to cover a lot of ground per traveled day whereas another may just poke along. Neither way is right or wrong it’s more cruising preference then anything. If you like to poke along then you’ll find you’ll most likely need more time. On the other hand, well you get the picture. I’ve done that distance in 6 days, however we were on a mission to get from a to b. I’ve also spent 4 weeks in the North Channel. If you go to our trailertrawlerlife blog and do a search on the North Channel you’ll find a good number of anchorages and things to check out.

Jim F
 
Thank you for the post. I agree with both Todd and Jim my plan is a bit aggressive. I'm putting more stock in miles under the keel then the cruising grounds. We do tend to like cruising and do more site seeing as we are moving. Our normal travel is 3 days of 6 or 7 hours of cruising, plan a destination, either an anchorage mid afternoon and evening or a marina. After 3 days of traveling we take a day off either at a nice anchorage or a nice marina with things to see or do. Jim I read your North channel blog. Great anchorages! If I do part of the Trent Severn from Simcoe Lake to Georgian Bay do I still need to purchase a Canada Parks Pass? Still planning stages!
 
As far as the Canadian Moorage n Lock passes you have several options. There day passes, one way passes, passes for the entire season as well as one fir locking and one for moorage on the lock wall blue line overnight. Check out the Trent Severn websight for prices, days included in the various passes, etc to determine what is best for the time you’ll be taking to go from Orilla to Severn. In years past they have given a discount if you bought your passes before a certain time of the year, which is probably spelled out on there web pages.

Jim F
 
RonB's math is lots better than my recollection from last summer and other trips to Ontario and I admit I forgot to deal with the exchange rate. The truck I had last summer didn't like to pass a fuel stop without a drink so costs to get to the lake always exceeded what the tug could consume. A vacation on the water was always worth it!

The Canadian Parks Pass to do the locks can be purchased easily at the first lock you go through. Based on your proposed schedule a three-day pass should get you to the Georgian Bay. The pass gets you through as many locks in a day as time allows. Lake Simcoe can get ugly fast in a good blow (because it is not very deep the waves can be steep) but your cruise will likely give you the lee shore and it settles down much faster than what you are used to on Lake Michigan. The rest of River/Canal system is enjoyable and relatively smooth as long as you pay attention to the channel markers. The Park employees are helpful and friendly.
 
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