Your first trip on the "new to you boat" was a big/long one

Lol mine was from Miami to Ft Lauderdale up the ICW n hour. Funny thing was we were boarded b the Coast Guard. Luckily we had the folder from the sale so paperwork was all there so no issues. Had all 14 life vests out laying in the cabin, kid was funny when he saw them. They had a newbie with the 6’8 probably 300 lbs they sent him in the engine room to find the doc number… lol poor kid. They were great, but all of the sudden they saw a charter boat with a bunch or chicks on it and they gave me my all clear paper work and called their captain back to pick them up and they were off blue lights flashing chasing the charter… lol.
 
Blueone said:
That’s not big…. Used to do belle Maer to PIB every weekend….very easy run with lots to see
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That's what I want to hear. I did Belle Maer to Cedar Point a couple of times back in the late 80's, I guess. Lucked out with calm water on the trips. I have a dock neighbor that won't go down there anymore because of the Erie storms that come up. I will have a small window to get up to Belle Maer. They have to splash the boat in order to finish the shaft alignment. I have no place to moor it after that.
 
My delivery trip was from the southern end of Lake Simcoe to Sarnia. It was an amazing experience to learn the boat and an unforgettable adventure. My crew changed along the way as well but the best thing I did was bring two very experienced boaters with me for the beginning. It was supposed to be a 3 day trip but I got a lesson in great lakes boating and learning to adapt to situations. In the end it took 8 days. Day 1 we went from Keswick to Midland through the Trent Severn waterway. On board was my 9 year old daughter, my broker, who knew the lock systems very well, and an experienced boater friend. We went through 4 locks with one being the marine railway which was fascinating. We also squeaked under a railway bridge by inches after taking our anchor light down which would have hit.....with a moving train overhead. The rest of the day was just puttering along from lock to lock and enjoying the scenery. Day 2 the crew shrank to myself and the boater friend and we went from Midland to Tobermory. The radar on the boat was not functioning and my friend had said we only needed it if we ran into weather along the way. We pushed off at 7:30 and never would have expected to find fog an hour later on June 26 but we did.....and it was thick. We decided to push on at a slower pace and by 11AM we were crawling along and blasting our horn every 2 minutes and it was eerily calm. Tobermory has a ton of commercial traffic so the radio livened up with tour boats calling securites on the radio and we followed suit. As we approached Tobermory we learned that the boat was equipped with AIS as alarms rang out about an impending collision if we stayed on course. We frantically searched around us to see what was nearby. Out of the fog came a coast guard cutter which we were delighted to see and tried to follow but couldn't keep up. Using the information from the AIS we easily found our way to the harbour and tied up for the night. Day 3 is where the planned schedule fell apart. We planned to come around the Bruce Peninsula and make a straight open water run South to Sarnia. Mother Nature had other plans. We pushed off at 8AM to what looked like a beautiful day but about half an hour later we came around the tip to the open water and found some pretty big waves around 6-7 feet. My friend said the boat would do it no problem but it wasn't going to be a very enjoyable 8 hours so we turned back. The next day did not look promising either. With work commitments and young families at home we left the boat and went home, leaving the boat in Tobermory. I returned with my wife 3 days later to leave on July 1. We left at 7:30AM with following seas and relatively nice weather. We did hit a bit of fog again but only a small patch. We made amazing time and so decided to duck into Grand Bend (about an hour from our final destination) to visit some friends for lunch and grab some fuel. About a half hour into pizza on the boat I noticed some large rollers coming into the river we were on and that the waves had picked up on Lake Huron pretty quickly. Being only an hour away from the finish line we said we would try and do it. We got about a mile past the breakwall before deciding it was not a good idea and back in we went to tie up for the night. The wind and waves did not die down for another 2 days and we finally made it out and to our marina on July 3.

I just relived the whole trip through photos while typing this and can't wait do it again.
 
Josh P said:
My delivery trip was from the southern end of Lake Simcoe to Sarnia. It was an amazing experience to learn the boat and an unforgettable adventure. My crew changed along the way as well but the best thing I did was bring two very experienced boaters with me for the beginning. It was supposed to be a 3 day trip but I got a lesson in great lakes boating and learning to adapt to situations. In the end it took 8 days. Day 1 we went from Keswick to Midland through the Trent Severn waterway. On board was my 9 year old daughter, my broker, who knew the lock systems very well, and an experienced boater friend. We went through 4 locks with one being the marine railway which was fascinating. We also squeaked under a railway bridge by inches after taking our anchor light down which would have hit.....with a moving train overhead. The rest of the day was just puttering along from lock to lock and enjoying the scenery. Day 2 the crew shrank to myself and the boater friend and we went from Midland to Tobermory. The radar on the boat was not functioning and my friend had said we only needed it if we ran into weather along the way. We pushed off at 7:30 and never would have expected to find fog an hour later on June 26 but we did.....and it was thick. We decided to push on at a slower pace and by 11AM we were crawling along and blasting our horn every 2 minutes and it was eerily calm. Tobermory has a ton of commercial traffic so the radio livened up with tour boats calling securites on the radio and we followed suit. As we approached Tobermory we learned that the boat was equipped with AIS as alarms rang out about an impending collision if we stayed on course. We frantically searched around us to see what was nearby. Out of the fog came a coast guard cutter which we were delighted to see and tried to follow but couldn't keep up. Using the information from the AIS we easily found our way to the harbour and tied up for the night. Day 3 is where the planned schedule fell apart. We planned to come around the Bruce Peninsula and make a straight open water run South to Sarnia. Mother Nature had other plans. We pushed off at 8AM to what looked like a beautiful day but about half an hour later we came around the tip to the open water and found some pretty big waves around 6-7 feet. My friend said the boat would do it no problem but it wasn't going to be a very enjoyable 8 hours so we turned back. The next day did not look promising either. With work commitments and young families at home we left the boat and went home, leaving the boat in Tobermory. I returned with my wife 3 days later to leave on July 1. We left at 7:30AM with following seas and relatively nice weather. We did hit a bit of fog again but only a small patch. We made amazing time and so decided to duck into Grand Bend (about an hour from our final destination) to visit some friends for lunch and grab some fuel. About a half hour into pizza on the boat I noticed some large rollers coming into the river we were on and that the waves had picked up on Lake Huron pretty quickly. Being only an hour away from the finish line we said we would try and do it. We got about a mile past the breakwall before deciding it was not a good idea and back in we went to tie up for the night. The wind and waves did not die down for another 2 days and we finally made it out and to our marina on July 3.

I just relived the whole trip through photos while typing this and can't wait do it again.
Click to expand...
and not a single pic :(
 
Josh P said:
My delivery trip was from the southern end of Lake Simcoe to Sarnia. It was an amazing experience to learn the boat and an unforgettable adventure. My crew changed along the way as well but the best thing I did was bring two very experienced boaters with me for the beginning. It was supposed to be a 3 day trip but I got a lesson in great lakes boating and learning to adapt to situations. In the end it took 8 days. Day 1 we went from Keswick to Midland through the Trent Severn waterway. On board was my 9 year old daughter, my broker, who knew the lock systems very well, and an experienced boater friend. We went through 4 locks with one being the marine railway which was fascinating. We also squeaked under a railway bridge by inches after taking our anchor light down which would have hit.....with a moving train overhead. The rest of the day was just puttering along from lock to lock and enjoying the scenery. Day 2 the crew shrank to myself and the boater friend and we went from Midland to Tobermory. The radar on the boat was not functioning and my friend had said we only needed it if we ran into weather along the way. We pushed off at 7:30 and never would have expected to find fog an hour later on June 26 but we did.....and it was thick. We decided to push on at a slower pace and by 11AM we were crawling along and blasting our horn every 2 minutes and it was eerily calm. Tobermory has a ton of commercial traffic so the radio livened up with tour boats calling securites on the radio and we followed suit. As we approached Tobermory we learned that the boat was equipped with AIS as alarms rang out about an impending collision if we stayed on course. We frantically searched around us to see what was nearby. Out of the fog came a coast guard cutter which we were delighted to see and tried to follow but couldn't keep up. Using the information from the AIS we easily found our way to the harbour and tied up for the night. Day 3 is where the planned schedule fell apart. We planned to come around the Bruce Peninsula and make a straight open water run South to Sarnia. Mother Nature had other plans. We pushed off at 8AM to what looked like a beautiful day but about half an hour later we came around the tip to the open water and found some pretty big waves around 6-7 feet. My friend said the boat would do it no problem but it wasn't going to be a very enjoyable 8 hours so we turned back. The next day did not look promising either. With work commitments and young families at home we left the boat and went home, leaving the boat in Tobermory. I returned with my wife 3 days later to leave on July 1. We left at 7:30AM with following seas and relatively nice weather. We did hit a bit of fog again but only a small patch. We made amazing time and so decided to duck into Grand Bend (about an hour from our final destination) to visit some friends for lunch and grab some fuel. About a half hour into pizza on the boat I noticed some large rollers coming into the river we were on and that the waves had picked up on Lake Huron pretty quickly. Being only an hour away from the finish line we said we would try and do it. We got about a mile past the breakwall before deciding it was not a good idea and back in we went to tie up for the night. The wind and waves did not die down for another 2 days and we finally made it out and to our marina on July 3.

I just relived the whole trip through photos while typing this and can't wait do it again.
Click to expand...

Your story reminds me of a "gut check moment" I had on my maiden voyage coming across Lake Michigan.

My wife and I got stuck for 3 days in Sturgeon Bay due to weather (which is an amazing place to be "stuck"). We were waiting to cross Lake Michigan. Whilst having beers with the locals one night I asked if some of the guys could help show me tips/tricks on my the cutting edge 1997 vintage Raytheon Radar. Button pushing by people other than myself ensued.

About midway across Lake Michigan, in intermittent dense fog, I had my eyes glued to the monochrome green screen. I had a radar return but it's location and direction did not suggest we'd meet. No big deal.

We break out of a small pocket of fog and we see a 500ft+ freighter almost directly in front of us, slightly to starboard, maybe 500 yards out. Crapped my pants, recovered, adjusted course and speed.

What I learned is that someone had changed the radar from "heading up" to "north up" setting. The boat was not at all where I thought it should be based on the radar. Mildly terrifying...

Photographic proof of my departure from Sturgeon Bay :)

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We bought our new Tiara in Harbor Springs, Michigan. It took about a week to rig it with electronics and convert the refrigerator in the cockpit to an ice maker. We also added a drop curtain so it was a busy week to get it ready for the 250 mile trip home. When it came time to provision it we backed our Sea Ray up to the stern of the new boat and moved our clothes, food, and gear to the new boat. That took about 4 hours to get everything stowed. We left Harbor Springs the next day and 15 hours later pulled into our slip in Spring Lake. The trip home was a mix of weather from brisk north west winds with sunshine and big following seas, to fog, to rain and finally calm seas and night running. The boat handled it all with ease and we had the engines properly broken in because of the duration of the trip. Also became quite proficient on the chart plotter, auto pilot and radar during the trip. Had the user manuals at the helm and studied on the way home. As you can see the 32 foot Tiara is bigger than the 37 foot Sea Ray. It is beamier and several thousand pounds heavier. It was eye opening to experience the difference between running the two boats. Much less fatigue involved after a long day on Lake Michigan in the 32 Open.
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Josh P said:
I guess this is the meaning of 'pics or it didn't happen'. Here you go.
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I have done Orillia to port Severn many times…. Best boating on the planet … great pics

we used to do the big chute for lunch at the top the tiny place on the left when you leave the top down the Trent a bit…..Great memories
 
Jus Cruisin said:
Mine will be sort of big. Port Clinton in Erie up to the north end of Lake St Clair. No dinghy... Only about an hour or so of "out of sight of land". Then it's against the current in the Detroit River and then along the west side of Lake St Clair. I can't remember what that trip takes time-wise. It's been over 30 years since I did it. I think 5ish hours?
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When is this happening?
I’m leaving Port Clinton in a few weeks going the same direction. Just a little further.
 
Tucker K5 said:
When is this happening?
I’m leaving Port Clinton in a few weeks going the same direction. Just a little further.
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Ha ha, yeah yours will be a bit longer. ;)

I don't have the date yet as the storage facility is "organizing" some mechanical work with subs they allow into their facility. You'll likely be into Lake Michigan or even cutting across to the Mississippi by the time mine is floating. My brother in law boat a boat that was on the Mississippi and brought back through the rivers and locks to Chicago and then around Michigan. He stayed along the Wisconsin side and ran across up near Frankfort MI.
 
Jus Cruisin said:
Ha ha, yeah yours will be a bit longer. ;)

I don't have the date yet as the storage facility is "organizing" some mechanical work with subs they allow into their facility. You'll likely be into Lake Michigan or even cutting across to the Mississippi by the time mine is floating. My brother in law boat a boat that was on the Mississippi and brought back through the rivers and locks to Chicago and then around Michigan. He stayed along the Wisconsin side and ran across up near Frankfort MI.
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Our plan is to cut across to Wisconsin as soon as possible.
We’re looking at around May 4th through May 8th as a starting date. Weather dependent of course.
 
Jus Cruisin said:
Once you make to the Detroit River you won't really have to deal with significant waves even if it's windy until you get up to Lake Huron.
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Will we have to be off plane any from the time we leave Erie until we get to Huron?
Or will we be able to let it rip 30 mph all the way?
 
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