www.iFourWinns.com

Very well done, Ben. Great job on the videos. Can't wait 'til summer. Thanks.

_________________
Surface Interval: A scuba diving term for that time between dives to relax and prepare for life's next great adventure.

Current boat: '02 FW 268 Vista
Previous boat: '95 FW 190 Horizon

That's a great list Ben....

Just be carful, and don't try goal 2,4,5 and 7 at the same time! , oh and for sure don't hit any rocks...

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Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

How would we explain that one...hmmm. Well officer we were enjoying our freshly caught fish over the campfire while watching the Northern Lights when all of a sudden that damn bear charged us from the bushes over there. It was a narrow escape as his claws snagged our clothing giving us no choice but to wiggle out of them and dive in the water.

_________________
Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

I agree completely! I'd love try to do a summer aboard on Charlevoix. Someday, hopefully sooner than later.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Ben, Yes we have taken our boat up to the North Channel a couple times. The last time was about 6 years ago. We did boat from the Lighthouse Cove area (our home port) on Lake St. Clair, across Lake St. Clair, up the St. Clair River, up the Canadian side of Lake Huron to Tobermory, then across to Killarney and into the North Channel. We then took in some achorages in route to Gore Bay. When it was time to return to home port, we took that cut by Meldrum Bay (forgot its name right now) and travelled down the US side of Lake Huron until we came back down to Sarnia/Port Huron where we returned back down the St.Clair River, across Lake St.Clair and home. We were fortunate to have on average about 5 other boats from our marina take this trip along with us and we have some great pictures from this trip as a keep sake. Some boats trailered back from Tobermory, we decided to boat back down the US side since we were already up that far anyways and for us to hire a truck and trailer to take us home was close to the fuel we burnt by returning by water. So by water we went. Excellent boat trip and approximately 2 grand in boat fuel. It's about 13 hours boat travel time for us to get from our home port just to Tobermory with a fuel stop.

I'd love to get back up there. Just beautiful waters. My wife and I will look forward to viewing your pictures.

P.S. Hopefully you get to enjoy most of the pleasant items on your "goal list" and hopefully some items more than once.

Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Yes it is!
I'm looking at Irish as a possibility, just waiting for the spring thaw so the admiral can check out and approve the facilities. I also have my ear out for any private slips for rent. If we cant find anything then we may just bounce around marinas again this year.

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2004 248 Vista "Amante"
MC 5.0MPI/B3

Mike,
To see everything from the Bruce Peninsula, to the crystal clear waters of Tobermory, the wind swept pine covered granite and quartzite mountains of the North Channel, and a circumnavigation of Lake Huron to top it off...all I can say is WOW! What an absolutely epic trip that must have been!! I'll bet with you've got some great stories and pictures from that trip.

I believe the passage you are referring to is called the "Mississagi Strait" on the west end of Manitoulin Island. We traveled across that passage twice and it kicked our butts both times with a South wind off of Lake Huron. Did you happen to stay in nearby Meldrum Bay? We have a special place in our hearts for that little town as we spent 3 days broke down and ended up meeting some amazing people.

It's weird that it took some serious convincing from my wife and MaryannII(from IFW) to take that first North Channel trip, and now I honestly think about that place everyday. Hopefully I'll have the NC movie done in the next week, and who knows...maybe seeing some NC pic's will rekindle that fire to return and we'll see you up there Thanks for sharing!

Ben

_________________
Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Ben,

Yep thanks, the Mississagi Strait it was. Funny the memories we all have with our various boat journeys. We did stay at Meldrum Bay so we had a fresh start in the morning to run the boats from Meldrum Bay, thru the Mississagi Strait and directly across Lake Huron to Presque Isle on the US side. I remember the morning that we intended to make that run ( 4 boats where going to boat home by water the other 3 were returning to Tobermory to trailer back) we were all listening to the VHF weather reports closely and trying to determine our best time to make the run across the open lake as thunderstorms where a concern. Interesting experience half way across Lake Huron running about 29 MPH and looking at the sky wondering if you are going to make land on the US side without hitting nasty weather.

We caught enough fish off the docks in Gore Bay to cook up a fish fry for our group in Meldrum Bay before our group split up.

I just took a look at some pics I have on this computer before I posted here and it was seven boats we had in total in our group for our last NC trip in 2007. I'll try and find a couple minutes this evening and post our 7 boat raft up in the Benjamin Islands. That is one of my favorite overnight anchorages. The "Pool" anchorage was cool to. We had about 4 anchors out front and two stern anchors in the Benjamin raft up.. The stern anchors went from the outside boats in our raft up to shore, guess I should really refer to these stern anchors as stern tie offs as they were tied off on land (large rock). Anyways that night we had a wild thunderstorm with high winds rain and lightning come over our raft off. I enjoyed the experience, but when you have rocks on each side of you and shallow rocky waters about 30 feet behind you it really makes you hope we anchored and tied off to shore well. After the storm it looked like our raft line got pushed back 10 feet or so but the anchors held well. Ah, the memories.

Yes I would like to return to the NC.

Mike.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Ben - Your thread, I'll just post a couple pics from our trip to the NC, more specifically the Benjamins. The picture of my son with the fish on the dock was taken in Gore Bay. You'll notice the one picture of the storm clouds moving in as mentioned in the post above while we were rafted in the Benjamins. Our boat in the pictures was our previous boat (30 foot Doral Prestancia). It's the second from the right in the views from the stern, with the navy blue camper top. We haven't had the 328 up to the NC yet. In looking at our pics, looks like five anchors out front.
All right, back to Ben's post.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Mike,
Great pics!! After seeing those we might have to add the Benjamin's to our goal list. We've stayed away from there in the past because it's often very crowded in the peak season when we go, but maybe we will have to reconsider.

Please don't worry about posting on here with anything related to the North Channel since it is my favorite topic. I wonder if we could generate enough interest on this forum to put together a Four Winns North Channel Cruise someday. I know a handful of members that have been up there in the past and might want to return. Hmmm something to think about

Ben

_________________
Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Great Job Ben, very well done.

I know you guys and Dennis & Christa had a great time. Having a boat you can trailer to those wonderful locations is a real plus. Glad the trip went so well.

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Jnizi

2007 Vista 338 "Better Yet"
Previously:
2007 Vista 258 " Just Right"
2005 Horizon 230

Awesome video.. We did a Lake Michigan trip back in 2010. Took our Larson 290 and our friends took their Formula 400ss. We had a blast! Put in at East Chicago on a Thursday, and drove straight out across the water all the way up to Milwaukee, the water was perfect for our 5-6 hour ride. Cruised the Milwaukee river, and slipped their for the night in nice marina, and walked the town and had a great time! Got up the next morning, the weather, wasn't so great, after getting some lunch, we decided to head down to our next stop. It was foggy, and we were in 2'-3' chop the whole way. We, in our 29', got the crap beat out of us, and honestly, neither of us probably should have been out there. The fog limited visibility to about 300 feet, and we were driving strictly by GPS, neither of us had radar, so we didn't really know who else might be out there. It was a rough day, but thankfully one of our short drive days. We traveled down to Racine, and spent the evening in another nice marina with lots of amenities, and found an awesome place to eat! Got up the next morning, to another beautiful day, and drove from Racine, to Chicago harbor, where we parked with another 1,000 boats for the air and water show. That was awesome as well! Once the airshow was over, we headed into the river for a cruise up and down it. Quite honestly, Milwaukee was 3x a better river experience than Chicago.. Once back out of the river, we headed across for a late afternoon ride to Michigan City, where we found a little hole in the wall place to slip for the night, and get a bite to eat. Final day, we headed out of Michigan City to the dunes, and anchored off shore and went and played for awhile, before heading back to East Chicago. Thankfully, this was another relatively short drive day, as the water had turned for us again, and we had heavy chop 4'-5' this time.. This time the visibility was much better though. Problem with this action was more the direction we were forced to take it, and for the first time on the trip, we were taking water over the bow. My Bimini's which were in their boots, were soaked clear through by the time we arrived back at East Chicago.. None the less, we had a blast, and it was great experience! Was thinking about taking the Fourwinns up there this year and see how much better she handles with the bigger beam, and more length, however, looks like it may get pushed back another year, as we have a LOTO trip on the books for late July this year, and we're discussing either a Cumberland, or Lake Michigan trip as well (with my preference right now on Cumberland).. Here's a link to pics from our Lake Michigan trip: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 8680d04ccd

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2004 Four Winns 328 Vista
1997 Larson Cabrio 290 - sold
1988 Rinker Fiesta Vee 248 - sold

You big water boaters have it made. I am stuck on a 12 acre lake and not too many places to explore like that.

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Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

It's defenatly a nice place to go. We are heading to georgian bay this summer but are planning on staying in southern georgian bay. We can make it to the north channel in 2 days from where we are aslong as the bay is decent.

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2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

Great video. We have watched it 3 times trying to figure out where we saw you! We have a 365 Four Winns Ex. Cruiser we keep in Charlevoix, but spend time in Petoskey as well and I remember the boats. Will look for you again and thanks for warming up a cold day!!


37 Four Winns Cruiser. " Got Her Way"