Prime Meridian: Minnesota to Michigan

After a fairly slow spring and summer, I am back on the water. Today I flew to Minneapolis, MN where I have gotten aboard a 2007 Meridian 459 named Prime Meridian. The boat is in great shape with only 408 hours on her Cummins 380 QSB engines. We are moving the boat from Bayport Marina in Bayport, MN on the St Croix River to Saugatuck, MI on Lake Michigan. The trip will cover approximately 1,060 miles and take the better part of a week or more.

Many people have asked me; “How and heck do you take a boat from Minnesota to Michigan”. Well that is a good question. We begin our trip with a short 18 mile run down the St Croix River where we meet up with mighty Mississippi River. We spend the next 600 miles running down the Mississippi to Grafton, IL where we make a left turn and begin our journey north on the Illinois River to Lake Michigan. We will cover approximately 325 miles on the Illinois River before the final 100 miles we will travel across Lake Michigan to Saugatuck. We expect to travel through 31 locks in route.

I am fortunate to have our very own Clair Neamand from MYO on board with me as my first mate for this trip. We were also very fortunate to meet another MYO member today. A very special shout out to Ron Reimann who is the proud owner of a 2011 441 Meridian just down the river from Bayport. Ron was kind enough to drive up and say hello before we head out in the morning. I continue to meet some of the greatest people and boaters from the MYO site. We are all fortunate to have such a great resource available.

Clair and I have our fingers crossed for fair winds and following seas. More to come.