Bay City to Chicago

[jwieneck]

I am looking at a 34 in Bay City MI. If I purchase it I could ship it over land for about $3,000 to Chicago. Butthen I started thinking about making an adventure out of it and sail up Lake Huron thru the Northern Channel and down the Western shore of MI then cross to Chicago. This would be a big step I have been sailing for a few years in my Hunter 27 which I just sold to move up to a larger boat. Most of my sailing has been in front of Chicago with a trip to Michigan City once. I am looking for so info How long would it take in days?What are the watch outs? Has anyone out there done this? Know where to anchor for the night etc.I would not travel after dark I do not think I am ready to navigate in the dark. Thanks for your feedback

 

[Mike]

Road/Water trip to Chicago

You would enjoy the sail much more than the shipping. I do the Chicago to Mackinaw Solo Challenge every June (which takes me three and one half days to cover the 335 miles; I suspect at least another day and a half from Bay City but am not sure)and depending on your experience would encourage your participation in the March Safety meeting and talk to other members about the trip. Maybe you could do the trip as part of the Port Huron event and with the Safety extended by other boats in the fleet. You can access the information at webhost.sailnet.com/glss. I would expect that it would take about 7-8 days constant sailing at about 6 knots with a lot of variables and would be considerably easier sailing with a crew. Hope I'm not out of school on this one. GLSS will have a booth at the Strictly Sail show in February Fair Winds Mikemsosborn@msn.com

 

[Richard McDonald]

Wish I had the time....

I can't help you with Lake Huron and the North Channel but I can assure you that the Western shore of lake Michigan is great for cruising. There are plenty of safe harbors all along the coast spaced out within a few + or - hours of sailing. I attached a link with marina information and to the Lakeland Boating Ports O' Call Lake Michigan & Lake Huron books. They are a great sources of information on all of the marinas, harbors, etc.How long it will take depends if you intend to stop on the way and visit. That would be my choice if I was moving it in summer months. You probably want to move it in the spring. Just to give you some perspective for me to sail from Milwaukee across lake Michigan on my H37C or motor (it does happen more often than we like) take 11 to 12 hours.Richard

 

[Mike]

To Chicago

If nothing else I'll be glad to sail it there for you.

 

[Mark Mynsberge]

Going to Cheboygan

My slip is in Cheboygan but I bought a 37.5 last fall and it is in Bay City. I will be sailing/ motoring to Cheboygan as soon as the boat is ready and the weather is good in early May. If that is when you want to start you could go with us and then you at least have some security until Cheboygan. I have done this trip many times in the spring and you have to be ready for any kind of weather. If we have good forecast we will push non stop with a crew of four. That is because you can lose a lot of time waiting for things to clear. I figure 28 hours travel time. One of the problems is that marinas are not close at hand most of the time. We usually don't even count Aus Gres, Oscoda and Alpena either because of the distance off course or the lack of depth. If you want to make it a leisure trip then you need to wait until later in the season when the weather is more stable. I can tell you all about the Lake Huron side so if you want to know more get back to me. Good luck and know that sailing the boat will be much more satisfying and probably cheaper. It is beautiful on Huron.

 

[mike]

joe, i did almost the same thing

joe, i bought a hunter 34 last year in tawes bay on the east side of michigan. i had it trucked over to new buffalo. the trucking cost $800. i think oselkas in new buffalo charged $150 to launch and restep the mast (you wont meet a nicer group of people, except maybe the torrenson people in muskegon, but thats another story). then it was an easy 6 hour sail to burnham harbor in chicago (great winds, beam reach all the way!) the only mistake i made was i wasnt there when they took the mast down and loaded the boat in tawes (some how they used a crane to take down the mast and destroyed the roller furling and wouldnt own up to it, it was properly wraped for transit and there was no way the damage happened in transit. regards and ill see you on the watermikeps, i went from a 30 to the 34, what a difference, the 34 is a great boat

 

[Steve O.]

point of note

You would not go through the North Channel, you would go through the Straits of Mackinac.

 

[jwieneck]

Joe Wienecke

What year is yours? Have you had any problems with it?

 

[jeff10600]

leaving around last week of may??

hi Joe im sailing from bay city to traverse city around the last week of may or so (oddly enough i will only leave my boat near a town that ends in CITY?). not in a big hury most likely stop by the noth channel for a while. if you need any information on bay city or want travle along let me know. Jeff  mastconfusion001@aol.com

 

[jwieneck]

Joe Wienecke

thanks everyone I looked the boat over yesterday and the guy selling it said he and a friend of his would make the trip if I wanted to maybe the last week in May first week in June. I may take him up on it. I also may give you guys that are headed up the MI East coast a call to go along. I have to get the deal done first about a 50 50 chance of agreeing on a price. Thanks again for you feedback.

 

[Keith]

Did the sail the other way

Joe, I bought my 34 in holland mi a few years ago and brought it around to the detroit area.Left holland first week of may ,a nice 69 to 70 deg day the sail north was very nice & senic along the eastern shore of lake michigan the only arear to watch for are the Straits of Mackinac and greys reef area(lots of close traffic). we got to greys reef around 10pm and just followed the markers & gps plots. plenty of wind turning into the Straits of Mackinac we had 30-35mph winds stright on the nose temp droped to 33 deg waves 6-8foot, being first trip on the boat considered turning back but the boat was handleing it well only making 3.5knots vmg to Mackinac City marina (very nice & friendly and warmest bath house ive seen)spent the night there awoke in the morning to ice on the docks & standing puddles, take heat with you I also installed a motor supplied heater (http://www.heatercraft.com/) The trip down lake huron was al light wind & some fog only thing on lake huron is if the chart says 6foot and you have the 5.5foot draft dont try it with the lake levels where they are. The trip took 5 days two persons on board & one overnight stay If I did it again I would probably do it with 4 people just to get a little more sleep. If you need some rail meat I may be available mid to lat May.Keithps. boats were ment to be sailed not trucked.

 

[jwieneck]

Joe Wienecke

thanks for the story I pretty sure I will sail it the guy selling the boat and a friend of his have been sailing for years and have agreed to go with me if I purchase the boat. I think I will wait until late May see if I can stay out of the 30 degree weather the harbor in Chicago is not open for boats until May 15th anyway. I will keep you in mind for rail meat. Need to finish the deal first its a work in progress.

 

[Mark]

Detroit to Suttons Bay Trip

Left Port Huron on May 25 in the a.m. and arrrived in Sutton's Bay (North of Traverse City)on May 27th around 4:00 p.m. Sailed round the clock with one additional experienced crew member and three "rookies". I planned for speed of about 5 knots and kept to that pretty well. Lake Huron was the worst, with strong wind from the north and 3-5 foot waves. It was VERY COLD on the water in May, even though not too bad on the land. Also, area just west of Mackinaw bridge was the most difficult navigating (we arrived there at night) - I kept to the channel markers because I didn't know the waters too well - and there is a dog-leg turning south between what is charted as reefs, rocks and shallow water. Accurate chart and GPS chip for Lake Michigan was indespensible. Never stopped during that trip, but the marinas in Petoskey (a little out of your way), Beaver Island, Northport (right at the tip of the "pinkie")and Leland are all very nice. Keep close track of the weather - the northern area gets foggy, and both lakes (Huron and MIchigan) can get pretty rough fairly quickly. I spent a lot of time getting weather forecasts on the net (just before the trip) and was on the radio (throught the trip). All in all it was a great trip and I would recommend it over shipping by land.