Sturgeon Bay to Sandusky

spikedaddy99

Well-Known Member
GOLD Sponsor
Jun 11, 2008
2,579
Prentice, Wi
Boat Info
2005 500 DB
Engines
QSM-11
So my family is planning a reunion in Lakeside Ohio. What's the trip like from Michigan to Erie? Any of you loopers chime in. How long would that trip take?
When I was a kid, my Dad had a 27' Trojan on Lake Erie close to Lakeside. How much would I love to stay in that old marina...
 
If you took your time, it would be awesome. If you did it in a hurry, it would just be a stressful way to burn lots of fuel. I would even recommend including some of the Canadian ports at the southern end of Huron.

Once you arrived here, I supposed you could reminisce in what I assume is East Harbor (near Lakeside), but our islands shouldn't be missed, nor should my home marina at Cedar Point.
 
There: Mackinac Island, Tobermory ON, Bayfield or Grand Bend ON, Detroit Yacht Club*, Put-In Bay, East Harbor.
Back: Cedar Point, Kelleys Island, Lake St Clair Metropark or MacRay Harbor, Lexington, Tawas, Presque Isle, Mackinaw City, Beaver Island

*requires ILYA affiliation or member invitation

Need a crew? :D
 
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So my family is planning a reunion in Lakeside Ohio. What's the trip like from Michigan to Erie? Any of you loopers chime in. How long would that trip take?
When I was a kid, my Dad had a 27' Trojan on Lake Erie close to Lakeside. How much would I love to stay in that old marina...
From my home port on Lake St Clair (with good conditions), I can make it to Mackinaw Island in about 13 hours. From my home port to PIB is about 4 hours. From PIB to Sandusky (Cedar Point), I believe is about 1 hour maybe 2 if the lake kicks up a bit.
I made it back from Kelly's Island to my home port (Bouvier Bridge Marina on Lk St Clair) in 5 hours and I was not pushing it at all.
 
So mackinaw to CP is roughly 18 hours. SB to Mackinaw looks about 140 miles, so about 7 hours. At 6 hours a day, that's just 4-5 days actual running. Accounting for stops RollerCoastr recommends, maybe making an adventure out of this and taking the month of July off is something at which I need to take a look!
 
Now that is sounding like a great plan!
 
I dont want to crew,i want him to tow me around behind him so i can relax.We did 16 days from Bay city to mackinaw and back this summer. Weather was perfect seas were great for the most part and we went to new places we've never been before.I want another week added on next summer.Heck im still in the water,until saturday anyway.
 
I dont want to crew,i want him to tow me around behind him so i can relax.We did 16 days from Bay city to mackinaw and back this summer. Weather was perfect seas were great for the most part and we went to new places we've never been before.I want another week added on next summer.Heck im still in the water,until saturday anyway.

Tow you around? You be the tour guide and tow ME around!! Mike
 
Spike, are you a user of ActiveCaptain? Now that Garmin owns it, people might think it's only for Garmin users, but the website is still largely intact as a cruising resource. One non-intuitive issue about the website is that the reviews and details of a port don't appear until you zoom-in or type a search.
 
I had used it in the past, but not since Garmin bought it. I'll take a look. Thanks for the info. M
 
Tow you around? You be the tour guide and tow ME around!! Mike
OK mabey we will run into each other out there and run side by side then.Check uot the americas great lakes cruisers club also.
 
OK mabey we will run into each other out there and run side by side then.Check uot the americas great lakes cruisers club also.
We've done Catawba Island to the Mackinaw - North Channel - Georgian Bay many times. Great Lakes Cruising Club harbor information is a must. Previous posters have listed great harbors on Erie, LSC and Huron (both Canadian and US).

Keep in mind that your trip will be weather dependent both ways - I can recall being stuck in Sarnia for two days because of 17' waves on Huron. And Presque Isle for a couple of days as well. We always factored in 1-2 weather days a week.

Also on a different post I recommended installing the Customs and Border Patrol app called "CBP Roam" for entry back into the US. Canada is easy as well with their CanPass call in #
 
Also on a different post I recommended installing the Customs and Border Patrol app called "CBP Roam" for entry back into the US. Canada is easy as well with their CanPass call in #

If not all passengers have Nexus, then I recommend minimizing "bounces" between borders as much as possible. There have been way too many times that I felt ashamed of the way visitors have been treated on our shores. My dock is within steps of a former OARS station. I was glad to see it removed and replaced with a sign about the App!
 
If not all passengers have Nexus, then I recommend minimizing "bounces" between borders as much as possible. There have been way too many times that I felt ashamed of the way visitors have been treated on our shores. My dock is within steps of a former OARS station. I was glad to see it removed and replaced with a sign about the App!
Reading up on this now. How long does an application take? Mike
 
It’s been a while for me, but I applied for my renewal on Friday, so I’ll be able to give you more current info soon.

Nexus is bundled with TSA Pre-Check, which makes it even more worthwhile.
 
I have TSA pre-check. So, is it the same number?
What about my kids? Need to get them registered too.
 
No, unfortunately Nexus includes Pre-Check, but not the other way around. As far as I know, children must have their own Nexus clearance.

If you don’t travel to Canada often, it may not be worth the hassle - esp since you already have Pre-Check.

One landing in CA and one return is manageable without it.
 
Everyone on board has to have Nexus or you cant use the system. If you don't plan on using it for anything other then this trip then it's not worth it. An example last year we went to Grand Bend and one of my kids does not have Nexus. So I called in with everyone's passport info.... we were just off the entrance to the harbor floating. Canada customs took all the info and we were in. Coming back I called ahead to US custom's and they met us at the marina where we were arriving to. It was no big deal.
 

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