Let's carve a large outrigger canoe and sail it (Kon-tiki like) to an island - Other Events

J JohnnyP Tiki Socialite Attica, MI Joined: Nov 23, 2005 Posts: 1695	J JohnnyP Posted posted on Wed, Nov 8, 2006 6:07 PM When I first dreamed this up I was thinking about something easily doable. My family owns property in the thumb of Michigan (you know the thumb of the mitten) that is fairly close to Lake Huron. I thought we could get a few adventurous souls to carve an accurate reproduction canoe on site there and transport it with a farm wagon the 20 miles to launch it There are some islands in Saginaw Bay that are fairly close to land, a mile or two, and would be an easy paddle to test the idea out. They are in a sting and we could island hop up to 10 miles in one direction without ever being to far from land. For this portion I was thinking of just launching and paddling over without getting permits or etc. More of a quick trip under cover. I knew if we could be successful there a longer journey would be called for and the 10-15 mile journey I was thinking of northern Lake Michigan. Like Lake Surfer suggested there are several islands in northern Lake Michigan that would make good destinations. South or North Manitu Island or Beaver Island are doable for a longer paddle / sail from Michigan but still within sight of land if we launched from any of several northern Michigan cites. I imagine it would take the better part of a day to make it to those islands. For multiple starting locations as Tiki Terrace suggested from Chicago this could be 180-200 miles or so. At 3 miles an hour it would take 60 hours and still be within Tiki Terrace's 2-3 day voyage time suggested. From Wisconsin it would be about 60 miles. Since these departure sites would take you out of site of land a GPS would be a great idea, unless somebody has a Polynesian style chart of Lake Michigan (can somebody make one?). These destinations would need permits or at least a review of our plan with the Coast Guard. We may even have to register the craft and pay a license fee. I'm sure they would want to inspect the craft, but since the purpose is to recreate "primitive" transportation with a specific destination/ travel plan they may waive certain normal requirements These are details that need to be chased down. I have had some experience sailing, but with a craft of this type it would be a whole new learning curve. But I don't see it as a huge hurdle. Thanks everybody for responding. JohnnyP(ighammer)

When I first dreamed this up I was thinking about something easily doable. My family owns property in the thumb of Michigan (you know the thumb of the mitten) that is fairly close to Lake Huron. I thought we could get a few adventurous souls to carve an accurate reproduction canoe on site there and transport it with a farm wagon the 20 miles to launch it There are some islands in Saginaw Bay that are fairly close to land, a mile or two, and would be an easy paddle to test the idea out. They are in a sting and we could island hop up to 10 miles in one direction without ever being to far from land. For this portion I was thinking of just launching and paddling over without getting permits or etc. More of a quick trip under cover.

I knew if we could be successful there a longer journey would be called for and the 10-15 mile journey I was thinking of northern Lake Michigan. Like Lake Surfer suggested there are several islands in northern Lake Michigan that would make good destinations. South or North Manitu Island or Beaver Island are doable for a longer paddle / sail from Michigan but still within sight of land if we launched from any of several northern Michigan cites. I imagine it would take the better part of a day to make it to those islands.

For multiple starting locations as Tiki Terrace suggested from Chicago this could be 180-200 miles or so. At 3 miles an hour it would take 60 hours and still be within Tiki Terrace's 2-3 day voyage time suggested. From Wisconsin it would be about 60 miles. Since these departure sites would take you out of site of land a GPS would be a great idea, unless somebody has a Polynesian style chart of Lake Michigan (can somebody make one?). These destinations would need permits or at least a review of our plan with the Coast Guard. We may even have to register the craft and pay a license fee. I'm sure they would want to inspect the craft, but since the purpose is to recreate "primitive" transportation with a specific destination/ travel plan they may waive certain normal requirements These are details that need to be chased down.

I have had some experience sailing, but with a craft of this type it would be a whole new learning curve. But I don't see it as a huge hurdle.

Thanks everybody for responding.

JohnnyP(ighammer)

Post #265379 by JohnnyP on Wed, Nov 8, 2006 6:07 PM