Lake Saint Clair Peeps

Ezsteps

Well-Known Member
Nov 14, 2015
1,336
Lake St. Clair-- Michigan (MacRay Harbor)
Boat Info
1999 400 Sundancer, YL310 Zodiac, MX 335 Novurania
Engines
7.4 Mercuisers Horizons 380 hp ea., 9.9 hp Mercury, 30 Yamaha
The last couple threads I've read seems to have a lot of LSC people in it so it got me wondering. Where do you guys dock, what bay do you go to most, etc. So I thought I would start a thread to introduce ourselves if anyone is interested. I'll start, I'm Joe from BOTTOMS UP, home port is Beacon Cove Marina. Most of the time we go to either Fisher Bay or Goose Bay. We will go to Little Moot sometimes but not first choice. Big Moot by the culvert occasionally but it gets rough with all the traffic going into Little Moot. I am on the Lake most every weekend. Only missed 2 last season. I will have the CSR burgee flying this year on the port side antenna and either the American Flag or my BOTTOMS UP flag on the starboard side. If you see me in the bay walk over and say hi. I'll probably be able to offer you a Mic Ultra or something. ....
 
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We have been at Belle Maer last two seasons. We didn't renew this year. Not sure where we are going this season. We are considering GPYC.. Jefferson Beach.. We want to get closer to Detroit...Need to get this figured out I guess.
 
Hey Joe, Great idea on the new thread.

I am Ed we dock at our house on the Salt River and are members at Club Island at the end of the middle channel. We go out there almost every weekend. We also head to Goose Bay and the Moot sometimes with our Baja.

One of my friends docks at Beacon Cove he has a 40 Express named Offcourse.
 
Hey fellas
We're at MacRay's for the forth year. The two previous years we were at Belle Maer.

Fisher and Goose are our goto bays as well. Strawberry a couple times a summer depending on the wind. We'll hit moot when we have our adult boat day with friends. These non boaters love the moot, not my favorite place. The beer is just as cold at the other bays without the a$$holes, that's just me though.

We are also on the lake every single weekend. It's our cottage

We have been at Belle Maer last two seasons.
Just curious why you left? I could go on and on why we left. Eric and Lynn are great people but it was all the other little micro management things we couldn't stand

members at Club Island at the end of the middle channel.
We went there as guest last year. Loved it
 
Hey fellas
We're at MacRay's for the forth year. The two previous years we were at Belle Maer.

Fisher and Goose are our goto bays as well. Strawberry a couple times a summer depending on the wind. We'll hit moot when we have our adult boat day with friends. These non boaters love the moot, not my favorite place. The beer is just as cold at the other bays without the a$$holes, that's just me though.

We are also on the lake every single weekend. It's our cottage


Just curious why you left? I could go on and on why we left. Eric and Lynn are great people but it was all the other little micro management things we couldn't stand


We went there as guest last year. Loved it
Glad you had a good time. It is a great little island and we do a lot of events through the summer, you can come out I think 3 times a summer as a guest. If you have kids they are always doing things fir the kids.
 
Ezsteps, do you have the hunter green canvas? If so I was on your boat last year. You invited on as I saw it as I was looking for the same boat after just selling my 37' DA. I appreciated you taking the time to show me your boat.

I have been at Belle Maer for 8 years renting from a condo well owner, but am leaving as she sold it. I am moving to Mac Rays and looking forward to it. I've always love it there, but the prices were too high. Now Belle Maer prices are higher.

I am a member of North Channel Yacht Club. I think the Lake St. Clair thread is a great idea!
 
I am moving to Mac Rays and looking forward to it. I've always love it there, but the prices were too high. Now Belle Maer prices are higher.
You’ll love MacRays compared to Belle Maer. We were at BM for two years. Switched to MacRays cause we needed a bigger well. Night and day difference. Promise! Where is your well?
 
Hi guys,
We are out of Bouvier Bridge Marina, right by The Raft.
This will be our 7th season there. We really enjoy the closeness to Munchies Bay and the ability to take the dinghy all over the place.
 
Ezsteps, do you have the hunter green canvas
Yes that's me and I remember you coming on the boat... Small world out there. Hopefully I'll see you this summer and I can check yours out.

One of my friends docks at Beacon Cove he has a 40 Express named Offcours
Krazzeeddie I have seen your friends boat at the marina but haven't met him I don't believe.

We are out of Bouvier Bridge Marina, right by The Raft.
Hello Brent, haven't been over there much but would like to. My buddy that we always raft up with has a 400 DB.

I have heard a lot of good things about Island Club. Seems like a cool place. Mac Ray is my favorite marina but I just can't come off the money for some reason. I have friends on Amber over there. Beacon Cove has all the amenities pool, hot tube, showers, gas, store, and 4 or 5 events a year. It's just not as plush as MacRay. Nice meeting everyone. There's got to be more of us on here.....
 
LSC boys, have you noticed how high the water is! It's looks like late June/July levels. I hope it goes down to adjust for its natural uptick for summer. If not, we may be throwing anchor on the weeds in the bays
 
This is Jeff from Tax Holiday (hence THJeff). Joe, you and I exchanged posts when you bought your boat as it was docked in the slip directly next to ours at Belle Maer where we have been since 2012. We also are Club Island members where my wife's family legacy dates back to 1980. We anchor most often at Strawberry Island but also frequently setup shop at Goose Bay, Big Muscamoot, Metro Beach Lagoon and the Grosse Pointe Sandbar. We are out almost every weekend from May through September. It's just my wife, six year-old son and most weekends we have friends and/or family joining us for at least one day.

I must say I'm surprised at the negative reaction to Belle Maer; we have loved being on the N Row for 6 summers now. I would like to hear more feedback especially how it compares to MacRay. I have been to MacRay on other's boats and often to visit Dave Blaz as he's my mechanic. My impression has been that MacRay a bit more stuffy and sterile (less of a park atmosphere), but my impression could certainly not be reality. We have renewed at Belle Maer already for this coming summer but I would love to hear more from those of you who have docked at both marinas as we would not be averse to heading there next year if it truly is a better experience at a better price. As I mentioned, we love being right on Anchor Bay in the N Row, so if we made the switch to MacRay it would likely only be if we could secure a slip with a similar location right on the bay.
 
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As I mentioned, we love being right on Anchor Bay in the N Row, so if we made the switch to MacRay it would likely only be if we could secure a slip with a similar location right on the bay.

Jeff .. You have a good spot on N row. I tried to get same location in MacRay. All of those slips on the first row are owned. Everyone that owns them advertises on CRAIG's list if they want to rent them. They do come up buts it's rare.

I just took a quick look ...this is the only slip that turned up

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/boa/d/macray-lakefront-canal-boat/6492772874.html
 
Jeff .. You have a good spot on N row. I tried to get same location in MacRay. All of those slips on the first row are owned. Everyone that owns them advertises on CRAIG's list if they want to rent them. They do come up buts it's rare.

I just took a quick look ...this is the only slip that turned up

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/boa/d/macray-lakefront-canal-boat/6492772874.html
Yeah we love the view and all the available parking on N Row which opens up our double space for our grill. We have all that grass right on the shore along with the Bocce court. Allows me to play catch with my son, fly kites, etc. Just would be tough to find a comparable spot for us elsewhere...
 
Joe, you and I exchanged posts when you bought your boat
I remember Jeff, I couldn't be happier with the boat. It has 503 hours on it now. LOL. It's almost broke in for a 19 year old boat. I even took the SeaRay sheets out of the wrapper.

I have a question for you guys at Island Club. Does the wake from the boats entering and exiting the middle channel effect your boats or the Island? Everyone you talk to around the lake and even people that live on the middle channel say just stay on plane to almost Brown's and I'm not going to lie I have, but I want to make sure I'm not affecting anybody. Most of the time I will come off plane and just idle up the side, but there is times that I haven't. I have a friend with a cottage across the channel from Brown's so I go up there quite a bit. I just feel bad staying on plane in the middle channel. I have met the sheriff on plane and they just keep right on trucking the other way and most of the big go fast boats seem like they use it as a race track. I just want to make sure that I'm not being a A$$ if I do stay on plane occasionally going to my buddy's cottage. Even if I do I cheat the shoreline opposite the houses and club.
 
I too am interested in Club Island. I was a member (past Commodore) of Bouvier Bay Yacht Club but we have disband.
How full is the Island on a typical weekend? When I cruise by, the Island looks so nice and can only image the sunsets from there.
 
I must say I'm surprised at the negative reaction to Belle Maer; we have loved being on the N Row for for 6 summers now. I would like to hear more feedback especially how it compares to MacRay. I have been to MacRay on other's boats and often to visit Dave Blaz as he's my mechanic.
THJeff, like I mentioned before. Eric is a great guy with big heart so I'd rather not broadcast my true feelings on the board. Plus he's trying to sell, etc. I can say that it's very clicky though. I have friends that are in the dockominiums and they love them and think BM is the greatest, more power to them! I do feel like they could do without the constant barrage of emails of the rules and the new ones they may have to enforce if you don't follow the rules.. The pool at BM has so many rules that it's not even relaxing or worth going there. I'll stop, if you enjoy it then awesome! I must say, N row is the best spot at BM, almost like a different marina. At MacRay's we like the 36" wide floating docks that all have their own pumpouts. The pool is like resort living. It over looks Mr Mac row, the American flag and the bay. You can eat and drink poolside. Now let me just say, I'm not a pool guy at all, just ask the boss. You lay there, sweat, jump in, then repeat. Not my kind of fun. I think this pool kinda changed my view of that.

I tried to get same location in MacRay. All of those slips on the first row are owned.
So Evergreen on the Selfridge side is owned either by the condos or marina. Gas dock side is rented by MacRay's. There's a waiting list for Evergreen(I'm on it..) Mr Mac row is own by the boater. Thats the row facing the bay. A few of the owners own 2-3 of them in a row. Some use for toy wells but some will rent them. These are not known and you have to know someone to find out I guess

Does the wake from the boats entering and exiting the middle channel effect your boats or the Island?
Not at all

Everyone you talk to around the lake and even people that live on the middle channel say just stay on plane to almost Brown's and I'm not going to lie I have
I always come off at the orange marker
 
I have a question for you guys at Island Club. Does the wake from the boats entering and exiting the middle channel effect your boats or the Island?
It doesn't affect the boats docked on the island at all. But yes, the cigarette boats blast by regularly. Before the water level got so high, Club Island had a small beach on the middle channel side and the wakes would hit us there if you were in the water, but it wasn't a big deal.
 
I too am interested in Club Island. I was a member (past Commodore) of Bouvier Bay Yacht Club but we have disband.
How full is the Island on a typical weekend? When I cruise by, the Island looks so nice and can only image the sunsets from there.
You will always find a slip on the weekend, there is plenty of room. Holiday weekends are the only times nowadays where you need to get there early to get a slip especially if you have a wide beam. But even then we've never gone and had to turn around. My wife says it was much more crowded in the 80s when she was a kid than it is now.
 
THJeff, like I mentioned before. Eric is a great guy with big heart so I'd rather not broadcast my true feelings on the board. Plus he's trying to sell, etc. I can say that it's very clicky though.
Thank you very much for the feedback. I would like having a pump out at my dock, but we just have to spin around to go to Duffy's so it's not that bad. We usually pump out when we get fuel at Balfour's on the North Channel anyway. I know what you mean about the e-mails but I have gone out of my way several times to compliment Eric and his staff for the ridiculous complaints they have to field week after week. Some people are just clueless in my opinion, but I digress. It sounds like the slips on the bay are pretty much all spoken for so we'll likely be sticking at Belle Maer as we have no interest moving inward giving up the view, privacy and extra space.
 
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