Lake St. Clair --> Maumee River (OH)

ja308601

Member
Jan 1, 2019
99
Lake Erie
Boat Info
2007 290 DA
Kohler 5kw, Raymarine Hybrid Touch
Engines
5.0L Mercruisers w/Bravo III Drives
It looks like we're finally going to be able to bring our new-to-us 2007 290 DA home this weekend. We had a shakedown cruise last weekend and everything went well, so hopefully we'll manage the 85ish miles well enough. We'll be departing from Harrison Township.

I am interested in hearing from those of you who have made a similar run and/or who have experience with the Detroit River. I have Navionics and on board GPS and will (hopefully) have enough extra eyes to spot floating debris. I plan to stay south of Belle Isle on the way down and I know to stay well clear of Peche Island.

I would appreciate any tips or advice.

Thanks!
 
Congrats! My only advice would be to ensure you have a nice, wide weather window. Don't push it. Make sure you can relax and enjoy the take-home cruise.
 
Congrats! My only advice would be to ensure you have a nice, wide weather window. Don't push it. Make sure you can relax and enjoy the take-home cruise.

Thanks! It's been a long off season and the weather (particularly the rain lately) has delayed our club and others from being able to safely put floating docks on the river. The forecast right now looks favorable and I am sure we will have to go slow with all of the floating debris.
 
I'd say that the shallows off of LSC Metropark are more dangerous than Peche. Stay in the well-marked shipping channel and Peche won't be an issue.

After that you're good until you turn into the channel between Fighting and Grassy islands. Then you'll go into the "highway" of the downbound Livingstone Channel, then the lake.

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I'd say that the shallows off of LSC Metropark are more dangerous than Peche. Stay in the well-marked shipping channel and Peche won't be an issue.

After that you're good until you turn into the channel between Fighting and Grassy islands. Then you'll go into the "highway" of the downbound Livingstone Channel, then the lake.

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Thanks for the heads-up. We're starting out south of LSC Metropark so that area shouldn't be an issue.
 
Ah, like the Beacon Cove area etc? Yep - only one known danger to speak of until you get to the bottom of the lake, but again the shipping channel is very well-marked.

Locals reported a dead-head directly 3/4th's of a mile out of the Beacon Cove channel a few weeks ago. I placed a marker on ActiveCaptain. I haven't heard if it's gone or not, so keep a lookout.
 
Yes, right near Beacon Cove and thanks. I'll definitely keep an eye out for the obstacle. That's pretty directly in our path.
 
The weather looks pretty solid for tomorrow. Very excited to bring this boat home and it should be a great trip.
 
Yes, right near Beacon Cove and thanks. I'll definitely keep an eye out for the obstacle. That's pretty directly in our path.
I left out of Beacon a few weeks ago when I brought mine to its new home at MacRay. I heard about the tree just outside of Beacon that Roller mentioned but never did see it. My first trip down the river was in 2017 and it's a pretty easy run and marked pretty well. I don't think you'll have a problem. Good luck and have a great season.
 
Well it was a chilly but uneventful trip down to Lake Erie. The Maumee River is a high-running mess right now but we managed to get the boat safely docked. Here's hoping the weather normalizes so we can get back to regular boating.
 
I'm glad you had a good run!

Apparently, I gave poor advice about Peche Island not being a threat. This guy decided to prove me very, very wrong:

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Wow! Yeah, I read somewhere that it is sneaky shallow around Peche Island but when we came through it was very easy to stay in the channel and run between Peche and Belle Isle. It was a great trip and the crew loved the Detroit River--particularly zooming down the Livingstone Channel with the current.
 
The channel always seemed easy to stay in for me, but I guess I over-estimate the average boater! lol

Yeah, the Livingstone Channel is awesome! I can't tell you how many times I've wish that it continued all the way to Put-In Bay. I forgot to warn you about a real danger about the Livingstone: deer! They like to swim across the channel, eat some leaves and swim back. It's quite an experience to have to take quick evasive action to avoid hitting a deer with your boat...
 
I'm glad you had a good run!

Apparently, I gave poor advice about Peche Island not being a threat. This guy decided to prove me very, very wrong:

y4mSMvyFLD2b22uEJUlPHFlmoaHzGPdjJIxfXqjhhm-EpR9ysKe3fhQAeiQrl67CM4X4kg2wZ8PsTZSt22xSvd4nRqMTrq986DePekaSFcfrFAsffjxWrtBfrr8B7xgTp6T_rV4296mVfAcN9qC0lUy2-gNc1CYBf0BJHqYb2gnUiIPau8XMH83LA1UchvhLc9Y
Holy smokes...is that recent? I wonder if waves put it up on the beach like that or if it was driven there? Scary stuff...
 
Well it was a chilly but uneventful trip down to Lake Erie. The Maumee River is a high-running mess right now but we managed to get the boat safely docked. Here's hoping the weather normalizes so we can get back to regular boating.

Glad you're home safe - I can't imagine the debris field in the river with all of this rain.
 
Glad you're home safe - I can't imagine the debris field in the river with all of this rain.

It was really bad in both the bay and the Maumee. We had to come up the river very slowly. The debris has improved slightly over the past week though.
 

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