# The bridge



## stickman1978 (Sep 15, 2011)

Has anybody on here paddled across the straits from Mackinaw city to Saint Ignace?


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## Batm-m55 (Aug 25, 2018)

I paddled the other direction, from north to south, in an 18' canoe a long time ago.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

Batm-m55 said:


> I paddled the other direction, from north to south, in an 18' canoe a long time ago.



So where do you start? Brevort? :lol:


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Watched a guy making the passage a couple weeks ago. Was in an 18' older fiberglass canoe. Looked like a Sawyer Guide Special or something along those lines. Had a spray cover on the center with a decent load in the front for ballast. 

Biggest thing would be to watch your weather. Cooke and Foote at the end of the canoe marathon can be a bigger nightmare than crossing the straits. 

We used to keep our sailboat in Mac City. Once a year someone in a plastic kayak would end up needing rescued from the middle.


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## stickman1978 (Sep 15, 2011)

BumpRacerX said:


> Watched a guy making the passage a couple weeks ago. Was in an 18' older fiberglass canoe. Looked like a Sawyer Guide Special or something along those lines. Had a spray cover on the center with a decent load in the front for ballast.
> 
> Biggest thing would be to watch your weather. Cooke and Foote at the end of the canoe marathon can be a bigger nightmare than crossing the straits.
> 
> We used to keep our sailboat in Mac City. Once a year someone in a plastic kayak would end up needing rescued from the middle.



Used to own one of them Sawyer canoes 18 footer. Built in Oscoda. Used it on the Tawas river growing up. Was a beast. Gave it away years ago. Still have two wooden racing paddles that went with it. 60's or 70's models I am guessing.

Would like to do it but I think the wife would frown upon it badly.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

I have three Sawyers. A Guide Special, a DY Special and one of the cheapy promo Coke boats. Five racing canoes. Pair of SUP's. Pair of cheaper Kayaks. 

Of all the paddlecraft I own, the old beat up Coke boat still gets the most comments. People think it's the coolest thing ever. 

If you still have those wooden paddles and want to get rid of them let me know. 

What do you have for a boat to do the crossing? Wear a properly fitted life jacket. Make sure you are very comfortable with deep water re-entry if needed. Warmer day with no wind early in the morning. It's really only 4 miles or so. 


Just don't end up like me at the end of this video. Hard to tell in the video...but this was some of the roughest water I've ever raced in. The sound you hear is the bow of the canoe coming out of the water and then smacking back down.


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## stickman1978 (Sep 15, 2011)

BumpRacerX said:


> I have three Sawyers. A Guide Special, a DY Special and one of the cheapy promo Coke boats. Five racing canoes. Pair of SUP's. Pair of cheaper Kayaks.
> 
> Of all the paddlecraft I own, the old beat up Coke boat still gets the most comments. People think it's the coolest thing ever.
> 
> ...



Looks like you tipped over.


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## BumpRacerX (Dec 31, 2009)

Indeed. That as the roughest racing conditions for waves I've ever seen. Waves were hitting the steel breakwalls and then creating rebound waves. There was no consistency to them. Just a constant barrage of random water power.


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