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📹 The LAKE MICHIGAN Crossing | Sailing Soulianis – Ep. 10
It’s our FIRST OVERNIGHT PASSAGE! We set sail across Lake Michigan, leaving in the middle of the night to ride the fading …
📹 4-Day Yacht Delivery: An Unforgettable Adventure on the Great Lakes
Join me on a long distance yacht delivery! We just received delivery of our newest yacht – the 2024 Prestige X60 and I am bringing …
Lake Huron is not to be messed with. Several years ago a friend from work invited me to go on a fishing trip. We took the Saginaw River to Lake Huron. Started out as a pretty nice day, but took a turn for the worst. There is a man made island not to far from the mouth of the river that we took cover behind because it would have been too rough to fish otherwise. After a couple of hours of fishing we notice many big yacht’s struggling to get back to the river so we decided to cut the day short and head back ourselves. Turns out the waves were now too big for the boat we were in so we all put our life vests on and we began to zig zag to avoid hitting the waves head on. It tooks us what seemed like forever to get back to the safety of the river. I had always heard of stories when people got in trouble on Saginaw Bay (which is part of Lake Huron). We learned that lesson the hard way.
Absolutely Great article Love those passages, more of them please. if possible next time slow the article speed during casting off and going along side as they are so excited moments to watch and informative. appreciate the effort captain. Lovely vessel and the distribution is so comfortable. Keep them coming please.
The problem I’ve had with calling ahead and expecting any warnings or alerts is a lot of the marinas on the Great Lakes employee young uninformed summer help. I’ve had a few mishaps because of this. Presque Isle is a great place but it’s pronounced Preesk~eel I had family that lived there and I call Traverse city home while traveling the lakes in the summer Our company built the yacht club in Bay Harbor as well as several of the homes just a beautiful place. Great looking yacht and a top notch article I enjoyed it all.
My ex-wife lives in Cincinnati or rather Bethel. That’s about as much as I know about Ohio besides the Trriple F Collection is there too. The Prestige is a pretty neat yacht. I remember seeing yachts when we were in Minnesota and I was told that if the yacht was over 45′, they came in on a freighter and if it was under 44′, they transported it via rail or on a trailer. On Lake Superior we saw a 110′ Cheoy Lee explorer yacht. That was the coolest thing I had ever seen there and this was about 23 years ago when I had just gotten out of yachting. It gave me hope.
Used to pull into Presque Isle as a kid on my parents boat back in the 70’s; there wasn’t a house within many miles. The only road to the marina was a very rough two track. You could watch Sturgeon swimming in formation under the boat with black bears playing on the shore. Great place and good memories! ❤
Loved this! New sub here. I grew up here in Michigan. Was lucky enough to crew on a Tarten 37. You need to experience the Bayview Mackinac Race sometime! You just did the course! But sailing it is a joy -or a nightmare – depending on that weather. We actually won several times! Celebrated by doing the North website, the Benjamins, etc. So many wonderful memories. The Great Lakes are so special. Thank-you for sharing your trip. Looking forward to many more. Cheers! PS. The big bridge is called the “Mighty Mac”! You can walk across it every Labor Day! Really cool. And try to stay at The Grand on Mackinac sometime. It truely is magical. Enjoy some smoked whitefish & a glass of something nice from the Michigan vineyards. Go Blue!
I grew up on the straights of Mackinac St.Ignace Michigan I am from a family that spent their lives commercial fishing. My family originated from Mackinac island my great grandfather x4 was stationed at fort Mackinac from 1796-1803 and was was the first hotel owner on the island. I worked commercial fishing for a couple of years during the summer and the winter and I have experienced every type of weather out on the lakes . I have been out in 10 foot seas which was terrifying especially when you boat is only 22 ft. Been in fog banks and almost getting rammed by a 1000 foot freighter. I no longer live there but my family still does it is always home thanks for the article.
Love your trip. I’m 76 and been boating the lakes since my uncles and dad would take me fishing not too far from Port Austin in Lake Huron. Usual trips were Lake Huron, Upper Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and a little Lake Erie. Even made to Isle Royal in Lake Superior 56 miles from the tip of the Keewenaw Peninsula. Did the trip in a 32’ go fast boat on a dead calm day. Had to do the equivalent of breaking the sound barrier while passing the carrier. We went wide open exhaust in the inner harbor to amuse the lover of the peace and quite. Sorry.
Tip from a Great Lakes Michigander; Presque Isle is pronounced “Presk- EEL” as in the electric creature. Love this article and hope to see more of our Great Lakes. This helps get us excited as we count down the days til we get out on Lake Michigan! Thanks for this really well done and also informative article! Perhaps we will see you at our Harbour; safe travels!
There are Boats of All Kinds. From Tiny Paddle Boats & Jet Skis to Small SailBoats, Speed Boats, and Pontoon boats, then up to medium size vessels like yachts and other boats, then up to commercial passenger vessels, and finally to the large lake Freighters which are the Symbols and Icons of the Great Lakes.
Great to see this trip. Very fun To watch. Love the style of this boat. It looks speced out ~ except no dishwasher ? Why do people spend millions for a boat and not a dishwasher is beyond me, that would be a dealbreaker ? I know it takes up space~ but you better keep the kitchen people happy, if not nobody is happy. Like the option for V Drives ~ eliminates the expensive pod seal problems ( I hear expensive) .
Dan, thanks for making and sharing this article. Nice work! The only thing missing for me was a bit of technical data and maybe an engine view. Even a quick oil check would be cool, it would be as much a part of your daily life on this boat as the accommodations unless you hired a captain and deck hand to travel with you. (Of course I can’t afford this vessel so maybe that’s exactly what people do 🙂 Thanks again!
Nice article years ago I had a 40 ft goodroow?? Built by them in their shipyard in Canada it was very unique made of galvanized steel. Needless to say I got married she didn’t like boats it had to go😢.. now 30 years later I would gladly trade back😂 would have been nice to see what type engines you had . I love the Cummings six cylinders give a lot of room in a boat and they have a lot of torque
Going to guess you’re doing that for Springbrook? I had the same unforgettable opportunity when they took a Sea Ray 480 Motor Yacht in on trade. It was located in Sandusky, OH so Jim Thorpe flew us there and we brought it back to Seneca, IL. We did the whole trip in 4 LONG days but it was still unforgettable.
Capt Dan, Great article! Good comments and pictures and an explanation of the X60. One comment: You mentioned how to determine range, and look for marinas heading up in Lake Huron. I’m sure you planned out your marina stop and a good alternate before you untied from your departure point rather than “on the fly” like it looked like. Especially in an area where there are not a lot of choices, especially for a 60 footer. Also, I bet you were very familiar with Presque Isle marina prior to making a phone call just a few miles out. And I’m sure you had a plan B just in case… prior to Mackinaw City, perhaps Rogers. Nice to follow thru your travels. Your narrative is easy to understand and how you handle the boat. But must say, with a stabilizer, it really makes a different challenge especially in those Huron waves. Way beyond my comfort level, in my smaller boat that’s not stabilized. But you did a good job in selling me one! You Captains earn your keep, especially with more challenging runs. I’ve hired a few to move my boat around when I just didn’t feel like boating and have been very pleased with the results and how well you guys operate. Keep up the good work. Capt Larryo
Great article! Great boat! Just an FYI… White Shoal Light in northern Lake Michigan is the tallest Lighthouse in the Great Lakes, also tallest fresh water light in the world. It is massive given it isn’t on land 25 miles west of Mackinac Bridge. Check it out on your next boat delivery! What an enjoyable assignment, delivering boats like that
I was wondering if you could not fast forward during your docking process so we can hear what instruction you would give. Also, are fenders really needed on a fixed dock?? They don’t seem to be doing much.. One more thing, if you ran the boat at 80 percent of rated wide open throttle, you would get a more efficient cruising speed/fuel economy versus .42 total mpg @ 2700 rpm. Great article!
Enjoyed the article. Did you have to check all the systems on the Prestige before you took off? You said it was right off the freighter and new boats often come with bugs. I assume it has pod drives given the joystick — did you like the way they ran? No look through of the engine room — is it spacious and well-laid out?
How come a lot of great lake ships have strange looking bows, they’re not the same as ocean going ships why? For instance that Viking ship did you notice the bow it looked very different from its ocean going ships? So if you’re on your yacht you’re delivering and let’s say you get to a marina and it’s full but you are able to fule up but you couldn’t spend the night can you pull out of the marina into the water and anchor and sleep on boat?
Beautiful yacht! But a typical delivery captain. Not one word about engine room inspections while underway. No comments about (or tour of) the engine room during this entire article. I’m sure this captain is quite capable, but I’ve seen many who never check fluids, run wide open all day, fuel up, and do it all again until smoke starts coming out from below.
Thanks for the excellent, informative, and enjoyable article. I got my 100 ton in 1985 and did a couple of deliveries and some sailing charters. Never had the guts to quit my day job as a chemical engineer, but your article makes me wish I had. I’m still on the water though. This the first time I’ve ever commented on a article so forgive me if I’m not following proper protocol. Thought you might enjoy a couple of my article’s: “Red Right Returning” youtu.be/o2LpSSj1mpE?si=JJVE0et-BdwuUSd7 and “Shallowest Sister” youtu.be/-cX2HBA5aCs?si=tx0f2L9Zf8DLznzq