Circumnavigating The Great Lakes

I love my 330DA but that is a lot of time in a small place!
I hear you and that is certainly a bit of the hesitation. On the other hand, we did 62 days and 8,000 miles in a 24' motorhome in 2019. The living quarters aren't a whole lot different between the two other than the RV galley is much better equipped. I was thinking I'd start out and after each phase NC, Georgian Bay, Trent, etc. could decide if I'm still having fun or if it's time to turn around. Probably all just a dream anyway. The years seem to be ticking away and all the covid crap stole a couple of the ones I have left.
 
We just came through, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan on a 390 and each was fun in its own way, pick one and head out. They each have their own character and the character is wonderful. Lake Erie had the biggest places to visit, Cleveland. Even when the stops were small, Put-in-Bay for example, they were big. Lake Huron had the least people on our stops, most being small state run marinas in the boonies. A few were close to tiny towns, that were fun for a day or so. Lake Michigan on the Michigan side was the most touristy and funnest because they had the infrastructure to handle tourists.
 
IMO, you need more time. It certainly can be done, but we know several loopers that felt they had to do it twice because they missed too much the first time. You don’t want that.
Considering your location, I will assume you’ve been around the golden triangle cruise so leaving from Rockport/Kingston, I would go to Trenton about the end of June and run with the loopers through TSW, Georgian Bay and North Channel. This is the most beautiful part of the Great Lakes except for maybe Isle Royale so don’t hurry through it. Mackinac then down the Michigan coast over to Chicago. Running with the loopers will allow you some company and someone to do things with if you choose. When the loopers head south down the rivers it will be around the 15th of September. You go north up the Wisconsin coast, Door county and over to Sault Ste Marie. I would leave the boat there for the winter and do Superior in the early summer. We did it early June through July and the weather was amazing. Less wind then. Back out to Huron and down to Erie, through the Welland to Toronto or if you have the 390 you could go through the Erie Canal to Three Rivers up to Oswego and home.
Our opinion is Superior is the prettiest Lake and Michigan is the lake with the most to do and the best towns to visit. That schedule would have you giving them the time they deserve. We’ve done it all except for the Canadian shore of Superior. We would have liked to have done T Bay, Red rock and the slates but our two countries bungled the Covid thing and we did Superior last year so no Canada. Be sure to post some pictures of the caribou in the Slates. At this stage of the game I doubt I’ll get there.
Great itinerary!!
 
How do you feel about doing locks? I’d consider the golden triangle cruise. Down the St. Lawrence to Montreal, up the Ottawa to The Rideau and down to Kingston. No backtracking needed. You could really do that right in 3-4 weeks.
Great trip!
 
We just came through, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan on a 390 and each was fun in its own way, pick one and head out. They each have their own character and the character is wonderful. Lake Erie had the biggest places to visit, Cleveland. Even when the stops were small, Put-in-Bay for example, they were big. Lake Huron had the least people on our stops, most being small state run marinas in the boonies. A few were close to tiny towns, that were fun for a day or so. Lake Michigan on the Michigan side was the most touristy and funnest because they had the infrastructure to handle tourists.

Sounds like a fantastic trip!
 
For those of you Great Lakes boaters, I built an Excel spreadsheet that shows the mileage between numerous port cities on the Great Lakes. It obviously doesn't list all ports but it does include 32 ports on the Great Lakes and 4 port cities on Georgian Bay.

If anyone wants it just PM me with your email address.
 
If you come down to Lake Erie, let me know and I'll be glad to show you around the islands!
 

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