Crossing Lake Michigan

I know this may sound crazy, but I'm thinking about riding my Sky Ski across Lake Michigan in an attempt to raise money for a charity. Is it absolutely crazy to consider using my 89 Ski Nautique? I'm thinking about going from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington MI. Ideas? Suggestions? Thoughts?

Wow. Michigan has some rollers, better check the weather.
Relax, spring is right around the corner.

Behind the Badger, all you would need to worry about is when they dump the coal ash overboard. The USEPA is still after them for that!

Really, I agree that crossing the lake is risky. Pick a small lake and go around it a 100 times for an endurance run.

if you do decide to, then we'll have to raise money for your benefit lol

If you have to use a Nautique, use a Fish Nautique.

On the bright side Gordon Lightfoot might write a song about you.

I'm not sure, but if you want to hear a funny bit search Mischke Gordon Lightfoot interview and find the audio. If someone knows how to put it on here that would be great. He interviews Gordon (who was not clued in before the interview)about the wreck of the Edmond Fitz by singing each question to the tune of the song. Lightfoot lets it go on forever.

this post also made me think of gordon lightfoot... I used to run my little outboard tahiti on them there big lakes way too far out and more than once I got myself in situations where I figured it was 50/50 whether it was gonna make it back to shore. Hard to be doing it for fund raising or publicity when you can't be very careful to avoid any chance of less than perfect weather.

Its like I always say

its easy... first you got to try not to die..

maybe for a fund raiser you could just get a life insurance policy, then when you die doing this your charity will get the money. Problem solved!

BTW what are you thinking? take a good life raft!

What speed do you have to pull those foils? 22mph?
Don't think you can maintain that in a 2001 in 4' seas (or bigger)...and keep your teeth and boat intact!

Yes it is crazy, clearly you do not know what it can get like out there.

There is no doubt it can be glass or very minimal chop the whole way, last time I crossed we left Ludington not long after Sunrise and it was glass all the way to Manitowoc. You would also want to dress accordingly as the temp drops quite a bit through the middle of the Lake.

As another option, find an escort vessel with a lift capable of hoisting the 2001 and the deck space to set it down/secure it in the event of trouble.

Curious, have you done any endurance training, 2.5-3hrs at the end of the line is tough even in ideal conditions.

Pete, I can't believe the EPA has not dropped anchor on the Badger, that thing spews out an oil slick or something continuously, is that the ash dumping you referred to?

Take it from someone who has done it on a regular basis, it can be done in a small boat, but choosing the right boat, equipment, and weather is important.

I have done the majority of my boating in the Chicago Ocean (Lake Michingan), and have done so since I was 16 (41 years) and I am still alive. A very good friend keeps his boat in Michigan City, Indiana, and I regularly boated from Burnham Harbor in Chicago to see him, and sometimes made the trip to visit another friend who lives in South Haven, Michigan. My boat was a 15' Mark Twain V-Sonic I/O.

While being very small, the Mark Twain is a V bottom with a lot of freeboard. It also has the ability to change attitude by adjusting the stern drive angle, keeping the bow up to reduce the number of waves that crash over the bow and windshield. In addition I did extensive modifications for safety. These are the ones I remember off the top of my head.

Dual electrical systems and an Optima primary battery. The boat had a battery combiner so that my very large capacity Optima ran the engine and mechanical systems (tilt, trim, bilge pumps) while a large gel cell motorcycle battery that charged through a battery combiner, ran the electronics.

Dual bilge pumps. The larger one was an 1,100 GPH (really) and the smaller one was 800 GPH. they could run independently but at the same time. The 1,100 GPH had an switch allowing automatic or manual operation. The 1,100 GPH model required a larger 1" outlet. They were switched so they could be run on the motorcycle gel cell if required in an emergency. They came in handy when large waves would break over the windshield.

Dual marine radios. I had a Raytheon mounted in the boat and had a hand held in case the boat swamped or a radio failed (which has happened). The hand held could run on it's own battery, or be plugged into one of several 12V outlets for extended running or in case of a battery failure. Both marine radios had weather alert built in, as did the marine stereo in the boat.

A waterproof GPS capable of running on it's internal battery or Being plugged into a 12V outlet.

A cell phone (no gps in it back in those days) also having it's battery and access to 12V boat power.

An EPIRB activated manually or by water immersion.

A sea anchor. It is very important to keep the bow into the waves if you have an engine failure.

Flare gun kit with mirror and around 20 flares.

I never crossed the lake when the water temperature was not warm enough for indefinite survival time in the water. That is usually mid June through early September.

An emergency 5 gallons of gas in case weather moves in and you must slow to a crawl to handle the boat. You can also use it to soak a throwable PFD and have a great flare marker that burns for a long time in the water if necessary.

A pelican case that can float free of the boat if it sinks containing the flare kit, cell phone, hand held marine radio, and a spare GPS.

NEVER TAKE YOUR PFD OFF, and keep plenty of throwables to float free if you go down.

Even with the 100's of times I have boated there and the many times I have crossed the lake, I am always very respectful of the power of the lakes and the weather. The Great lakes are very unforgiving. I have been knocked down in a 30' sailboat to the point where the cooler floated out of the cockpit. This happened without warning on a beautiful afternoon. I have found myself in breaking 5 to 7 footers (in my 15') despite following weather forecasts and having a weather radio on board. I have also boated by a scene where the Chicago Police Marine Units were attempting to rescue a family that had capsized their large sailboat in 4 to 6' breakers near Evanston. I later found out that several had drowned. I have also been stuck out on the lake for several hours unable or unwilling to risk an approach to the harbor entrance, because the large (about 6' swells) that were easy to ride on the open water were reflecting off of the breakwall and harbor pilings creating an unorganized chaotic mess that I was afraid to cross to get to the harbor. This has happened more than once.

When I bought the Mustang I realized that my Great Lakes boating days were most likely over. I think these inboard ski boats perform their designed purpose very well, but that does not include a lake Michigan crossing.

I have many funny and memorable stories about these Great Lakes adventures. Frequently during the summer I would take off early from work and go boating with a friend who had a blow boat in Monroe harbor. We would fill up the cooler and head somewhere. Frequently that was Waukegan or Milwaukee. We would arrive around dusk and boat home after dark, sometimes arriving home at 0300, just in time to get the boat put away, grab an hour or two of sleep, and get to work. We would be low on fuel coming home from Waukegan, but the Wilmette Harbor gas pump was 24/7 so we always stopped there for fuel. There was a new guy working one year and we went to get him to fill us up. He looked from his office and asked where our boat was. We assured him it was at the dock. I am sure the attendant thought we were going to mug him since he still couldn't see my boat when we got to the dock. When he leaned over he saw it , about 6' below the level of the dock.
My boat became something of a legend at B&E Marine in Michigan City Indiana among the gas jockeys at the dock. I would always fill up there when I crossed the lake to visit my friend in Michigan City. As often as not they would tell me that I travelled the greatest distance that week end to fill up, and that I also made the smallest gas purchase of around 15 gallons.
Here are a few photos of Great Lakes adventures in my 15' Mark Twain, including Madeline Island Yacht Club in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior, the Bayfield Wisconsin shoreline, the Chicago skyline with a friend of mine in my old Beretta bowrider (taken from my Mark Twain), and one of my best childhood friends who died in October of last year, driving my Mark Twain, miles off of the Chicago shoreline with his big infectious smile. It is a very happy memory, I miss him. As you can see, if you're not comfortable being out of sight of land, the Great Lakes are no place to be. many of my crossings were made by GPS with visibility of less than 1 mile and never seeing land for more than 2 hours. The final two are of the Mark Twain at anchor for the night in Ephram, Door County, lake Michigan for the night, and approaching Chicago in the evening after a Lake Michigan crossing.

BuffaloBFN wrote: Last year at our end of season gathering on Lanier, even my BFN with the V-hull beat the snot out of me(they made me drive to the south end), and Lanier is tiny in comparison.

My first barefoot race was on Lake Lanier in 2001. The race was run during a small storm. The boats had a tough time getting through waves that came up, let alone us meatheads at the ends of the tow ropes.