First trip

I am near the end of my first trip in my new-to-me boat, a 1978 Mainship 34. Have traveled 560 NM over the past five days. The experience of spending time on a larger powerboat is new to me, and I'm very pleased so far, both with the boat and the experience.

I bought the boat ashore in southwestern Michigan last fall, and wanted to spend the summer on the boat in eastern Ontario, so my first trip was to be a delivery from the south end of Lake Michigan to the south end of Georgian Bay in Lake Huron. I wasn't looking forward to this trip. Northern Lake Michigan is not always a kind and gentle place early in the season, and I get seasick. I'm not a big fan of open water to begin with.

It didn't start out well. My son bailed on me at the last minute, so I was traveling solo. And I installed a new set of davits that I was planning to hang my RIB from, but they didn't quite work out as planned so I left the dinghy there and set out. I didn't want to tow it, but had planned to take it with me in case of sinking or mechanical failure. On the plus side the weather forecast was pretty much perfect, with a big high pressure system parked over the western great lakes.

As it turned out the weather was perfect. Didn't see seas higher than 2 feet the entire trip. Boat performed flawlessly. I travelled at 6-8.5 knots on all but one day, and anchored out all but one night. On the second day out I figured I needed to cover some distance and had a bit more confidence in the boat, so spent the day at my top cruising speed of 13 knots.

The last couple of days I was in cruise mode rather than delivery mode. Once I got into the North Channel I felt like I was in good shape, and took the meandering small boat passage south from there, which was spectacular.

It has been a great introduction to trawlering. Think I'm going to really like this style of boating!

Jeff F said:

I am near the end of my first trip in my new-to-me boat, a 1978 Mainship 34. Have traveled 560 NM over the past five days. The experience of spending time on a larger powerboat is new to me, and I'm very pleased so far, both with the boat and the experience.

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Good for you Jeff.
Quite an accomplishment for the first voyage and single handed to boot. You must have had lots of confidence in the boat and Jeff.

Way to go Jeff

Congrats

An early long trip on a new to you boat is a great way to learn the boat and develop confidence in handling it and it's systems. Glad it went well! I'm sure it will be one of those trips you will always remember.

Ted

Well done.

I won't ask what you did when you had to pee!

BTW, now that you are cutting your son out of your will, can I take his place!

The last few days have been pretty ideal for a trip like that out here. Congrats on the new vessel, and a successful voyage.

Sounds exciting!

So how are you going to get your dinghy now?

For someone entirely new to the Great Lakes it was amazing to us that on the 16th we were dealing with very rough seas of 8' or so and by the 17th it was less than 1' and like a pond. We haven't seen more than 1' since from Rochester to Sacket's Harbor to Kingston. Looks like the same for the next week too.

Congrats on the new boat and a successful journey. I've boated in the North Channel and Georgian Bay areas. They offer some spectacular scenery and generally protected waters.


Life is good!

Great job! Most of all, just have fun

5 days of 14 -16 hours per day is quite an achievement solo. Not something I'd want to do.

boatpoker said:

5 days of 14 -16 hours per day is quite an achievement solo. Not something I'd want to do.

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In a new boat, first trip, I'd savor every day and enjoy every moment.

Am now tied up at the end of this trip. In a couple of weeks I'll hit the Trent Severn at a very relaxed pace. Final stats: 650 NM, 7 days, 100 hours underway. Fuel used est. 160 us gallons.

The days were long - the first few days I started before dawn - but it was generally relaxing. A good autopilot and chart plotters made it easy to spend long days underway.

Thanks all for the comments and encouragement. I learned a lot from you guys over the winter and that helped me to feel confident with the boat and systems.

So how did you deal with it when you had to pee?

Inquiring minds want to know.

That is, what bottle design did you use!

I was never at the helm. The lakes were empty - I should have counted the boats I saw. There really weren't very many. So I had lots of time to pee, eat and to obsessively check the bilges, temperatures, fuel systems etc, at least for the first three days.

menzies said:

So how did you deal with it when you had to pee?

Inquiring minds want to know.

That is, what bottle design did you use!

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Water bottle with the top cut off. My wife still doesn't know what it is used for....

menzies said:

So how did you deal with it when you had to pee?

Inquiring minds want to know.

That is, what bottle design did you use!

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Spoken from one of experience.......surly....and I am not calling you shurly..lol.

Star0210 said:

Sounds exciting!

So how are you going to get your dinghy now?

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Taking a nine hour bus ride back to my starting point to pick up the car and dinghy on trailer then a five hour drive home, then a three hour drive back to the boat in a few days.

My plan for the next phase of the trip through the waterways is to take my bicycle and car. Park the car, travel for a day or two on the boat, then bicycle back to get the car. Repeat. I want to have a car along to allow me to occasionally get off the boat and easily get to home or office. And I'll get some exercise.

Jeff F said:

Taking a nine hour bus ride back to my starting point to pick up the car and dinghy on trailer then a five hour drive home, then a three hour drive back to the boat in a few days.

My plan for the next phase of the trip through the waterways is to take my bicycle and car. Park the car, travel for a day or two on the boat, then bicycle back to get the car. Repeat. I want to have a car along to allow me to occasionally get off the boat and easily get to home or office. And I'll get some exercise.

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Wow! Thats.....I don't know. I'm lazy. Lol
Have fun!