new Great lakes heavy weather cruising houseboat!

Very diplomatic of you Hoyt!

 

Great Lakes, not "lakes". The five Great Lakes contain 21% of the earth's surface fresh water, and their combined surface area is almost the size of the United Kingdom. Lake Superior, the largest is about 600 km long and 260 km wide.

 

I suspect Frosty meant "why get caught out in bad weather on a lake in a powerboat?
Why not stay moored until the weather improves. You are not a sailboat that might be becalmed, nor a commercial craft that HAS to leave. Canadian/US weather forecasts aren't that bad"

Richard Woods

 

Storm force conditions on the lakes would be 2 to 5 meter wave height..

I don't know the frequency of summer storm force winds.

http://

 

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/winter-forecast-snow-northeast-nyc/80787

 

Exactly the same comment is applicable to any near-coastal waters for which reasonable weather conditions are available. Given the shoreline and availability of refuge harbors along portions of the Great Lakes seeking shelter is not always an option when a severe squall blows up.

The Irish Sea is smaller than the each of the three largest Great Lakes. The English Channel is smaller than Lake Superior.

 

Most that have never been on the lakes, just don't grasp the size of these puppies. They're called Great Lakes for a reason. The Great Lakes are literally the largest in the world, falling at the number 2 spot (Superior) and Huron comes in at number 4, with Lake Michigan being number 5. The Caspian sea is the largest lake, though most that have been on it, admit it's really a small ocean. The great lakes are no exception. Even though their fetch is considerably shorter than the smallest ocean, it's more than enough to build steep seas and worse with typical high frequency.

 

I didn't either,one that is lightly damaged.

Just out of high school was on Superior, a squall blew up in 10-15 minutes and have never been so scared on a boat in my life.
We barely made it behind an island.

 

And we haven't even touched on the lightning yet!

Or is it "lighting" Hoyt?

 

Yeah, the great lakes are somewhat on the huge side, and the weather has the potential to change rapidly with next to no warning at times. Not the kind of spot I would want to assume I will have calm conditions if I'm doing much of a transit.

Weather reporting has improved, but it is still far from perfect.

(Remember, Canada can go from +25C clear sky weather to -20C and blizzard conditions in less than a week. Never make assumptions about the weather, especially Canadian weather. Good way to find yourself dead.)

 

Check out these.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22836210@N03/8145056769/
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~chinwu/CEE514_Coastal_Engineering/2005_Students_Web/Matt/WEBSITE.html

 

Week? How about a few hours?

But nowhere near where many boats are,but anyways IMO in my area it's better to have a boat you can go fast and escape to a hidey hole,than having a trawler and trying to battle it out.

I'd think even more so on the lakes,as not many places to hide..but I have spent little time there.

 

So-- whats the furthest you can be away from shore.

 

Looks to be about 50 statute miles / 80 km in Lake Superior.

 

However, you can be farther than that from a port.