680 Sun Sport

Tucker K5 said:
I was talking to the captain I’ve hired and crossing crossing over to the west coast is part of the plan. He says we’ll be less likely to have high winds coming down that side in springtime.
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One other comment, just keep in mind that many marinas/fuel docks don’t open until mid-May, particularly the further north you go to work your way to Chicago. Planning ahead is a good idea, and with some advance notice, many will meet you there long enough to fuel you up.
 
tc410 said:
Hey Tucker-

Exciting times ahead for you! One thing I wanted to mention is many of us with boats stored indoors in the winter use this time to do engine service and maintenance. You may want to check with your storage yard, and CAT to see if they can get a head start in this project. If that’s possible, you could hit the water running in April.
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Thanks for the suggestion.
I actually have the guy that’s changing the aftercoolers set up to also do a complete service on everything serviceable including engines, transmissions, and generator.
 
tc410 said:
One other comment, just keep in mind that many marinas/fuel docks don’t open until mid-May, particularly the further north you go to work your way to Chicago. Planning ahead is a good idea, and with some advance notice, many will meet you there long enough to fuel you up.
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That’s great to know.
I’ll make sure we are set up on fueling intervals.
Maybe we’ll spend a little more time on Erie before heading out.
 
jlanka said:
I'm in a similar "boat" I've got a 2010 580 DA in Fort Lauderdale I purchased in December and I plan to bring her north to NY in May.
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What are you doing with your 2007 Formula 40PC?
 
Getting close to time to start moving and we have decided life at home is way too busy to plan a Great Lakes summer and we just want to get home with it so we can enjoy it daily without having to travel to and from the boat.
Right now tentative plans are to depart on Monday, April 18th but of coarse at this point that is very “weather contingent”.

So no one has to read back we will be leaving Port Clinton, Ohio and headed around the Michigan Peninsula then back down to Chicago and into the river system.

From there down the Illinois, to the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Cumberland, and finally 500 or so miles up the Tennessee River home to Guntersville, Al.

I’m curious what any of you folks living around the peninsula (or anywhere else along the way) especially the northern tip think about travel concerns this early in the season.

I do have a captain that is retired Navy and has years of experience moving yachts around for people and has made this trip on multiple occasions in the past.
 
In two weeks the Great Lakes will still be super dicey. The other complicating factor is that the lake buoys are not out yet so you can't see wave height actual until you're "in it". South winds will be your nemesis the further north you are.

I guess my only thought for this time of year would be "if you're in calm seas, don't stop". Make as much time as you can when the waves are good. Plan to be stuck in a few places when it's not.

You may also want to check into where you can get fuel before pushing off. Most marina's around my parts will not open their fuel docks until May 1.

The good news? You can probably get free slips just about anywhere you go...but without power and water :)
 
Ohh and my last thought....you're probably better off coming down on the west side of Lake Michigan. Closer to shore, prevailing west wind, better chances of calmer waters. Even though our side is better :):)
 
Right now you’re not going anywhere up in northern Michigan unless you follow an ice breaker, but hopefully that won’t be the case when you head up in 18 days. Here’s the ice cover as of 2 days ago:

FA857A78-37E4-4D5F-9B22-CCAB4A6D71B7.jpeg
 
Stee6043 said:
And on wave height - here is a cool site to check. Note there are no registered wave heights right now. You'll know the buoys are out when you start seeing #'s in that column. I assume they'll start deploying those soon but really don't know.

https://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/globs
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had no idea that existed, great site. I always text the buoys but this is better
 
This site has daily satellite photos of all the Great Lakes:
https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/region_map.html
Some days are clear enough for good images, others not so much.
On March 29th there was a lot of ice up there. It breaks up and melts pretty quickly but there may very well be floating ice up there, even if the water is open. Down at our summer place on Georgian Bay, it is not unusual for a north wind to blow ice out of the northern inland bays down into the open water farther south well into April.

Also, keep in mind how frigid it will be on the water. Your reverse AC/Heat systems will not work with surface water temps right at 32 degrees which is pretty much where things will be. You will need alternate heat sources and true winter weather clothing and footwear for the trip.
 
Run the generator and use a few well placed electric heaters.
 
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