Now This Would Be a Trip . . . .

[PATRIOT]

. . . . anyone ever considered it?
In a tin?
The Canadian portion looks very interesting . . . Lake Superior probably the most treacherous.

 

[WALI4VR]

. . . . anyone ever considered it?
In a tin?
The Canadian portion looks very interesting . . . Lake Superior probably the most treacherous.

Do you have a death wish? Your looking at more than 2000 miles of wide open waters mostly out of sight of land. In basically a 12 to 18 ft row boat. Ever been on one of the great lakes when a storm comes up out of nowhere... little ripples become 20 ft curlers in a matter of minutes. I've run into fog banks 3 times and after the last one just missed being sucked into the props of a coal ship heading for Indiana I swore off any more off shore fishing on any of those lakes. The stories I could tell you about bring shivers back down my neck. In a 36ft twin engine cruiser with radar and auto pilot OK I'll go with you...in a tinny... NO way NO how NOT ever NOT even drugged or drunk.

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[GTS225]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

Roger

 

[Weldorthemagnificent]

Niagara Falls be tough to navigate....lol.


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[Fire1386]

Things like this is one of the reasons the Coast Guard is needed..... Been on Lake Erie when it went from pretty good to 5 to 6 footers in a very short time. Lucky I was with a Capt. that knew what he was doing and had all ready started to head in when wind showed up..... Lake Erie western basin is pretty shallow compared to most and it can get churned up pretty quickly. We were in a 28 foot fishing boat. I would NOT recommend trying to do this in a tin boat.

 

[Shaugh]

I imagine it could be done in a small boat if you hugged the shoreline from port to port.... Of course the mileage would be closer to 5000.... And depending on weather could take a decade....

 

[KMixson]

I know they call them lakes but, they are more like an ocean. If you have ever been on an open ocean you will realize your boat is not as big as you thought it was.

 

[SeaFaring]

I don’t think you could do it in just any tinny, but sub 20’ tiller steered outboards have made some impressive voyages. Look at the Tolman Skiff people doing extended cruises in coastal Alaska - https://www.proboat.com/2014/09/renn-tolman-and-his-high-endurance-skiff/

That said, your average Starcraft or Jon boat has more in common with a canoe than with a Tolman. To do that trip in anything resembling a tinny, you’d be talking about a west coast style plate boat. Of course, people do make voyages like that in kayaks and canoes also, but those tend to be professional adventurer/mountain climber types.


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[turbotodd]

Sub 20' tin? No way. Mines 15' 48" and I get REALLY nervous when the wind picks up on a local lake, which is just shy of 40,000 acres, and nowhere near "wide open". It's a mountainous lake that flooded the mountains when the dam was closed in 1969, so it's deep, and big, but sprawled out. I will fish (albeit uncomfortably) in a 2 foot chop but that's IT. Even then it's nerve wracking, and honestly the last time out my body was really tired after running just 2 1/2 miles back to the ramp. I usually fish back up in a cove where there's not much wind or wake unless some dumb butt half crocked ski or wake board boater decides to run around me in circles (and the water is riddled with submerged oak trees that are inches below the surface). But great lakes? Open water more than about 6 miles from shore? Nope...not even with GPS.

They say the worst day fishing is better than the best day working but I partly disagree. One bad day of fishing and you might not get to see that good day at work, and that bad day can come up out of nowhere even though you've been there a million times and think you know the area like the back of your hand. Speaking from experience.

Running that far and in those waters in a small tin is a good way to let natural selection work.

 

[BillPlayfoot]

Nope. Not ever.
Even little Lake St. Clair gets really rough where even the big cruiser boats won't go out.
I once went from Rondeau to Port Stanley and back on Lake Erie. I used 10 gallons of fuel for that short trip with my 16 foot Starcraft with a 35 Evinrude. It was calm when I left and then the wind came. I went down the swells so far all I saw was water all around me. Never will I do that again

 

[Johnny]

I have flown into and out of the Chicago O-Hare airport many times and it still
amazes me to look out the window at the Great Lakes and see waves
as big (or bigger) than the ocean !!! I have already donated 21 years of my life
to Sailing the Seven Seas and do not intend to put myself in harms way again. (ever).
now, if you want a really nice and safe trip, go from Sanford Florida to Elizabeth City, NC
via the Intracoastal Waterway in a 18' cuddy cruiser ...... that is a real hoot !!
- or - join Pappy and his nautical colleagues for the annual Suwanee River Cruise !!!!



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[jeffh129]

Niagara Falls be tough to navigate lol

It can be circumvented . Larger boats, 40 footers and such do “The Great Loop.” East coast via the inter coastal , around Florida and across the Gulf to the Mississippi River, up to Chicago River, thru the Great Lakes and then the St Lawarence Seaway, around the Falls and back to the starting point.

 

[Shaugh]

I spent a good part of my life working in and on Lake Michigan. I can tell you that for the vast majority of days per year the lake is perfectly calm and navigable. You'd have little trouble doing the trip if you planned a reasonable itinerary from port to port and didn't get out in the middle of any of them. The trouble with the idea is that those ports are far from scenic.... I'd imagine you'd get sick of 2 star motels and cab fare long before you ever made it all the way around...