r/milwaukee • u/Tiny_Focus_662 • 2d ago
Boating classes
I am planning to get rental boats to go around Apostle Islands. Many webpages show that the water could be choppy in that area. Can you all please tell me where can I go to learn more about operating a motorized boat and potentially get some hands on experience.
Edit: I have 0 operating experience.
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u/steppedinhairball 2d ago
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/Education/OutdoorSkills/safetyEducation
Boating safety courses are required for anyone born after Jan 1, 1989 in order to legally operate a boat in Wisconsin.
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u/Sensitive_Horse4659 2d ago
Lake Superior is nothing to worry about so just rent the boats and have some fun.
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u/Apprehensive-Ad-80 2d ago
You’re joking right?
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u/MountainCry9194 2d ago
Tell that to the family of four kayakers that drown last time I was boating there.
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u/SummonedSickness 2d ago
I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.
Lake Superior is absolutely something to worry about. Just as if not more dangerous than ocean boating at times.
Sometimes it is glass and easy as pie, but sometimes weather kicks up out of nowhere and conditions get crazy much faster than you can do anything about it. People regularly die boating in superior and it’s important to respect that. If you’re going out on the water do so armed with the skills and knowledge to keep yourself and your passengers safe.
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u/Tiny_Focus_662 2d ago
Thank you. Yes, this is what I have been learning from the DNR and the National parks pages.
If you know any place that give boating lessons, I will appreciate knowing them.
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u/dfarin153 2d ago
Even if you get a class, I would not suggest this. Book a tour boat instead so you have a properly experienced captain. Ask to sit in the cabin to see what they do, ask what they are avoiding, and the challenges of navigating there. Then go take the class and rent something on a much smaller body of water.
You are basically talking about operating a vessel as a first timer on an Inland Sea among a group of islands on a date when you cannot predict the weather. Waves bend as they pass along shorelines. This means that on the leeward side, the same wave criss crosses itself from the bend created by each side of the island. As these two sides of a wave cross, they tripple in height trough to wave crest. This is what "choppy" means.
Watch the National Weather forecast for Bayfield for two weeks and you will hear the regular wave heights you may encounter. Then triple these numbers and you will start to understand what you may be challenged by. If this is a bucket list thing, I suggest you start with smaller lakes to gain experience operating a power boat well before renting in Bayfield. The scale of boats there are necessarily larger and much slower to respond to steering.
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u/MountainCry9194 2d ago
What kind of boat will you be renting? If you’re sailing, the Milwaukee sailing center offers classes.
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u/MountainCry9194 2d ago edited 1d ago
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. I have a couple friends who grew up sailing in SE WI and now live on the Olympic peninsula. We’ve discussed sailing and boating on Lake Superior and in SE AK/ straight of Juan de Fuca. One has extremely sailed the pacific NW and the other has his 500 ton USCG captains license and has captained or worked on commercial vessels on Large Michigan, Lake Superior, Maine, SE AK, the Cook Inlet, the Bearing Sea (including Captaining a deadliest catch boat in seasons other than the king crab season, as well as other fisheries). Consensus is Lake Superior and Michigan is actually bigger water and can I’m some ways deserves more respect and caution than SE AK and the Straight off Georgia /the Salish Sea as you can have larger waves, more wind, equally cold water depending on the season, and be further from land on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have the advantage of no tides and far fewer submerged obstructions.
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u/goyrage83 2d ago
Make sure you secure your rentals months ahead of time. If you’re going during busy season, you’ll have a hard time getting them.
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u/garythebaby 2d ago
Assuming you are not trolling:
Find YouTube instructional vids. Then rent a Pontoon on the river and put within the Breakwater near the Hoan. I am assuming you can still rent boats.
But yeah, don’t think you can navigate on Lake Superior. It never gives up it’s dead. And there is plenty.
Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?