Re: Boating on the great lakes
Important advice for Great Lakes boating (specifically for Superior, other lakes may vary):
1) Keep an eye on the weather, or better yet your radio. Best rule is "never trust the lake".. especially late season you can get a complete change of wind direction, a temperature drop, snow and a gale blowing up in the space of 15 minutes.
2) Install and use a VHF. If you have problems on the lake, it's big enough that no one may find you or come close enough to wave down before dark. Cell phones won't always work. Use a big antenna too, not one of the 1 foot high ones. VHF is line of sight.
2.5) Bring all the required life jackets and safety gear, including ring buoys, fire extinguishers, flares, whistles, etc. In many cases it will take the coast guard more than an hour to get to you if you have an emergency, depending on how far out you are. Expect to have to deal with any problems encountered yourself without help.
3) Bring a second engine if you can. A kicker, big trolling motor with a big battery, or a dual engine boat are good. If your first engine breaks down and the waves are running, you can be pushed to shore in a few minutes or less. You won't gracefully run aground, most of Superior's bottom is sharp rocks. For the most part, getting pushed ashore will get you wet or dead, or both.
4) Be aware you won't live long if you leave your boat and swim for shore. Superior comes pretty close to a year-round temp of 40 degrees.. colder in some spots that are deep, usually warmer on the surface, but always cold. If you don't have a coast guard type gumby suit, you're going to get very cold very quick. Stay in the boat if you can.
5) Bring a good gps unit with a lake map. Unless you're staying very close to shore and not travelling far, you can get lost easily. These lakes are inland seas, and you can end up very far from home.
6) Be aware that normal waves are 1 - 3 footers in any wind, and a strong wind can easily produce 6-8 foot waves. If you're not comfortable driving your boat in a chop, then watch the weather even more carefully. The largest wave ever recorded in superior was 32 feet tall.
7) Likewise, if your boat is flat bottomed, a pontoon, or has a low stern you might want to consider taking it out only on very calm days. Make sure your bilge pump works and can move water overboard fast enough to keep you from sinking if waves are coming over the transom.
8) Superior at least can sink almost any boat. There are several thousand wrecks in the lake, from 10 footers to 700 foot boats. Edmund Fitzgerald sunk in 550 feet of water... and was over 700 feet long. No boat is invincible, everyone needs to watch the weather.
9) Edit: Bring an anchor, sized for your boat, made to hold in rocky bottoms. Bring at least 100 feet of line for it, preferably 200. The little mushroom type anchors are pretty worthless on the lakes, a danforth type is better. If you're going to anchor for any length of time, a chain rode is good.
That said, it's my favorite place to boat. Clear, clean water, shipwrecks for diving, fishing, wilderness around, and miles and miles of solitude and open water without crowds of rednecks around. Fantastic.
Erik
