Maggieiscrazy
Well-Known Member
Does anyone do any boating around Isle Royale? I would like some info.
Isle Royale?
- Thread starter Maggieiscrazy
- Start date
Woody
Well-Known Member
i get out there but am no expert on the area. What do you need?
Maybe you've already looked at this stuff, if not here it is. From the parks view it's everything you need to know.
Park Main Website https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm
Park Boating Guide https://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/boating-guide.htm
Park Greenstone Paper https://www.nps.gov/isro/upload/ISRO_Web_Accessible_Greenstone_Newspaper_2018.pdf
Zoomable Map https://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/upload/ISRO_Park-Map_outlines-2015.pdf
Park Mileage Matrix https://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/upload/Water-Mileage-Chart.pdf
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Maggieiscrazy
Well-Known Member
My wife wants to spend a week circumnavigating the island this summer. But I can’t get a map card for my gps for the area. I’ve heard a lot horror stories about people hitting rocks submerged just below the surface. Am I crazy going out there without the gps map?
Stee6043
Well-Known Member
I have dreams of having a boat that'll take me to Isle Royale someday. It sounds like an amazing spot.
There are some folks that'll likely chime in on the navigation. My gut would say "yes, you're crazy not to have gps" on the area. Especially with water levels as high as they are. But I have no direct experience with that area.
Enjoy your trip if you do go and please share pictures!!!
There are some folks that'll likely chime in on the navigation. My gut would say "yes, you're crazy not to have gps" on the area. Especially with water levels as high as they are. But I have no direct experience with that area.
Enjoy your trip if you do go and please share pictures!!!
Third Edition
Well-Known Member
Some of the crowd-sourced sonar maps available may have Isle Royale. Here's one that has covers bit of the southern tip of the island. https://www.genesismaps.com/SocialMap Just keep zooming in. 
Maggieiscrazy
Well-Known Member
What’s wrong with taking your 340 over to Isle Royale? I’m thinking about taking my 240da over.
Stee6043
Well-Known Member
I'm down on bottom side of Michigan. Someday I hope to own a mid-40's vessel that I can run all the way around. Spend an entire summer.
I'd have to sell my house to afford the fuel to get from Grand Haven to Isle Royale in my 340!
Woody
Well-Known Member
There's definitely rocks to hit out there, no shortage of rocks, the whole place is rock. I'll tell you what I did prepping for my first trip out there.
I tried to get experienced guys that know the island to run with me, people that have been going out there in some cases for decades. Thing just never clicked and my wife and I finally just went alone.
It's an interesting place, the history, the geology, the moose/wolve relationship. I read about the island, laid out the trip, studied the charts, compared paper charts to gps charts. After telling others the what and where of my planned trip I asked for any tips they might have. This often resulted in the chart book being opened up and alot of pointing and finger tracing.
Even google maps is helpful in understanding how mother nature made that island. I could visually see why you can't just be cutting between islands any 'ol place. Those small islands are just the high points on the reefs for example.
I found a touring guide called The Superior Way to be extremely helpful. It has good detail on common anchorage locations and approaches to them, tips, sketches, detail on just about any place you're likely to go.
Can you boat around the island with just paper charts...sure you can...but I don't know if you can. I highly advise that you update your chartplotter, it'll make things so much easier but I still have paper charts and the Superior Way open on my dash so I can quickly refresh my memory if needed.
I'm curious how your going to get there. Where are you leaving from? That'd be quite a haul for a 240DA from Bayfield to Windigo, 35-50 miles out most the time for about 110 miles.
Woody
Well-Known Member
Take a look at this. You can switch chart types down in the left corner. https://www.waterwayguide.com/explo...gitude=-89.24829483032227&zoom=13&mode=marinaSome of the crowd-sourced sonar maps available may have Isle Royale. Here's one that has covers bit of the southern tip of the island. https://www.genesismaps.com/SocialMap Just keep zooming in.
Maggieiscrazy
Well-Known Member
We would trailer to Grand Portage. About 24 miles from Windigo. Isle Royale shows up on my chart plotter it just doesn’t show lake contours. I figured with that and my nautical chart. I might be ok. And of course I never go out on Lake Superior without my copy of Bonnie Dahl’s Superior Way.
Woody
Well-Known Member
I see what you're saying now. I don't have sonar bottom charting either, just regular electronic charts with depth readings. In that respect you should be OK.
Mike sandor
Active Member
- Jul 28, 2017
- 175
- Boat Info
- 2007 320 Sundancer
Twin 496. Bravo 3
2018 3500 Chevy, Loadmaster trailer
Raymarine Axiom, Quantum 2
- Engines
- 496 Mercruiser/Bravo III drives
We went to Isle Royal back in the late 90's. We were in our 230 weekender. Trailered to Grand Portage. We were very fortunate to have two additional boats go along and one of the captains was very familiar with the area. I still dream about that trip. Some of the dreams were a bit more like nightmares. That island is no joke, reefs galore, sunken ships are visable and some are buoyed. Nothing like idling up to the bouy, and you see the bow of a 100 year old excursion ship that ran out of luck. Hit a shoale and slid down untill it hung up on rocks. Pretty assume site to see the bow of the ship trying to climb back up out of that cold water. The stern disapears in to the dark depths. Fog so thick on the return trip that we were dead in the water, keeping a eye out for other traffic. Unbelievable scenery, old fish camps that are tucked deep into varius channels. Gotta stay on plane or you hit bottom. Pucker facter for sure and I would not venture to those area's again.
Me and two other boats are just begining to plan for a trip
this summer. Will be leaving out of our home port of Washburn. Gotta get our new to us boat home first. Driving down to Lake Ozark this Thursday to pick her up. Super excited....been a long winters wait for sure.
Me and two other boats are just begining to plan for a trip
this summer. Will be leaving out of our home port of Washburn. Gotta get our new to us boat home first. Driving down to Lake Ozark this Thursday to pick her up. Super excited....been a long winters wait for sure.
I don't know anything about the area so my comment is more general in nature. If you have an iPad or android with GPS, you DO have gps charts for that area, just not on your chart plotter. Just need to download the appropriate apps and charts.
That said, I wouldn't move 5 feet off my dock without charts, else I would be crazy.
That said, I wouldn't move 5 feet off my dock without charts, else I would be crazy.
Maggieiscrazy
Well-Known Member
Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t gps on an iPad or android require cell phone reception?
Not sure on Android, but on iPad no. That said you do need an iPad that is cell "capable", although you don't have to be in cell range for the gps to work. This is because the GPS and the cell radio in an iPad are on the same chip.
Maggieiscrazy
Well-Known Member
Interesting. I can see a day when iPads will make chartplotters obsolete.
That's not likely to happen until and unless iPads become easier to see in direct sunlight and can tolerate heat better. In the meantime, they make excellent backup chart-plotters. My chart plotter has WiFi, and I'm able to update it, mirror it and transfer routes and waypoints to it from my iPad.
