Puddle dweller on big water

We were out in 8-10 footers for a short period of time several years ago on Lake Ontario out from Oswego, NY. Let's just say that the short wave sets were very humbling and that the bell was ringing non-stop that day ... pretty scary stuff when land is not visible when you are down in the trough. All of a sudden, my 390 seemed so very miniscule out there. We were glad to get into port and tied up in a sheltered slip. Then out came the Appleton's 12 year old rum. We had to stay there for 3 days until things calmed down before we could safely cruise back to our home port of Rockport, Ontario in the thousand islands. On a side note, we were slipped beside Alan Jackson's 'Neon Rainbow' while it was receiving attention from the Cat techs for a blown engine.
 
electricaldoctor said:
We were out in 8-10 footers for a short period of time several years ago on Lake Ontario out from Oswego, NY. Let's just say that the short wave sets were very humbling and that the bell was ringing non-stop that day ... pretty scary stuff when land is not visible when you are down in the trough. All of a sudden, my 390 seemed so very miniscule out there. We were glad to get into port and tied up in a sheltered slip. Then out came the Appleton's 12 year old rum. We had to stay there for 3 days until things calmed down before we could safely cruise back to our home port of Rockport, Ontario in the thousand islands. On a side note, we were slipped beside Alan Jackson's 'Neon Rainbow' while it was receiving attention from the Cat techs for a blown engine.
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Reminds me a bit of my experience in August '15. There was going to be a pretty spectacular meteor shower, peaking around 2am. Wife and I both took off the next day. Weather was supposed to be perfect. I went as far as to make a "space and stars" playlist on Spotify. Headed up to our marina around 8pm, and planned to cruise about 6-7 miles North around 10pm. We're in a pretty protected bay, so it's hard to know what the lake (Ontario) is like until we start heading out of the channel.

Mind you, this was in my 24' 4-Winns cuddy. So, fire it up, and start heading towards the channel. Along the way, I noticed there was a lot of sailboat mast noises going on as we idled past them. Odd. Get into the channel, and it's pretty rough, but I was hoping things would smooth out once we got out of the confines. Nope, got out of the channel, and promptly got a wave over the bow. I'd say we were looking at 4-5', which doesn't sound like a lot to ocean folk, but on a small-ish boat on this lake, we would have been in a lot of trouble if we pressed on. Now the challenge was turning around without getting swamped over the beam. Ended up timing it right, powered around hard, and rode a wave for about 15 seconds right back into the channel.

Goes to show that I can't blindly trust the NOAA lake forecast.
 
Yep, that sounds about right. In our situation, we could not make a quick manoeuvre such as yours. I had to make a very long slow turn to safely head to Oswego. Any quicker was probably going to result in a nasty situation. Alls well that ends well. We can only learn from our mistakes.
 
Ok, we have found a few boats and we're just about ready to pull the trigger.

1. Recommend a surveyor in the Chicago area?
2. I'll need a reputable transport to our little lake in Bloomington, IN. Should be a pretty easy haul down 65 to Indy and then south to our lake.
3. Never thought in my life I'd be buying a boat like this...
 
CMS Marine Surveyors. Guys name is Rick. He has done all three of my boats as well as a few of the boats a couple of my buddy's have bought. He is very thorough and don't believe that you will be disappointed.
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Do you find it odd that that address is a house on google maps? (I have save the info and will call him)

Need a hauler too. I have one guy out of my area but I'm thinking this boat is really tall and I'd like some experience for this one.
 
Arickosmo said:
Do you find it odd that that address is a house on google maps? (I have save the info and will call him)

Need a hauler too. I have one guy out of my area but I'm thinking this boat is really tall and I'd like some experience for this one.
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no, I don't find it odd considering there's plenty of people who run successful businesses from their homes. I will check with the people who handle my storage to see if he has a hauler that he'd recommend, if he isn't interested in doing it himself.
 
Arickosmo said:
Do you find it odd that that address is a house on google maps? (I have save the info and will call him)

Need a hauler too. I have one guy out of my area but I'm thinking this boat is really tall and I'd like some experience for this one.
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I don't think any surveyors work out of an office, Their office is the boat they are on.

Don't worry about being on the BiG water. I've spent many days on Lake Michigan on a 25 ft boat fishing in 6 ft waves. The period between waves on lake Michigan are quite a way apart. Just be safe, and if you think you shouldn't go, listen to your instinct.
 
Well, we went around and around trying to find a boat after one guy got cold feet. He eventually came back and that's the boat we're buying. She's BEAUTIFUL! I need to drive her from Chicago to Michigan City within the next few weeks. I figure we'll just stay near shore but I'm concerned that on my Navionics app I see "restricted areas". As an amateur pilot I don't like those. What does that mean on the water?
 
Andy, you could do yourself a HUGE favor by finding a licensed boat captain to go with you on that trip. He'll show you how to make the trip safely and will explain all those restricted areas and how they apply to your boating.

The end result will you will be much more familiar with your boat, your confidence level will be much higher and you'll be a safer skipper.
 
I agree on the captain, it's a 1 day deal... I'll bet someone would be under 500 bucks and you will love the advice and just spending time with him.

Josh
 
Arickosmo said:
Well, we went around and around trying to find a boat after one guy got cold feet. He eventually came back and that's the boat we're buying. She's BEAUTIFUL! I need to drive her from Chicago to Michigan City within the next few weeks. I figure we'll just stay near shore but I'm concerned that on my Navionics app I see "restricted areas". As an amateur pilot I don't like those. What does that mean on the water?
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You'll have no issue's taking the boat straight across the lake from Chicago to Michigan City. Many of us on here have done that trip plenty of times. I just sold my boat that I slipped in Portage, IN and the buyer took it to Chicago this past Monday.
 
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