straits of mackinac

There's a thread in here somewhere about the guy who was trying to swim it back and forth for a record. Can't remember the guy's name though. He had to stop short of his goal. All I know is it is cold and deep and there is at least 1 car in the depths from flipping off the Mackinac Bridge in a Yugo. Michiganians will remember the incident, it was very sad.

I found the article about the guy who was swimming the straits. www.chicagoaa.com/.../DireStraitsannounced.html It doesn't state the distance by the Bridge, but he was trying to swim 125 miles in 31 crossings which would make it approx. 4.03 miles each way. This sounds about right as I walked the Bridge one Labor Day and as I recall the bridge length was a total of approx. 5 miles. I don't know what the water temp would be, but for the open water events in Harbor Springs (on the Lake Michigan Side) and Alpena (on the Lake Huron side), the water temp averages 65 degrees. Here is the thread link: forums.usms.org/showthread.php Even better, here is Jim Dreyer's website where he talks about the swim: www.swimjimswim.org/direstraits.htm

In 1952 I took the ferrie across the straits, before they built the bridge. It was a pretty nasty trip. Good luck in your swim. the day this guy swam it was 61 degrees. www.biketcba.org/.../April07.pdf The straits are 4.1 miles to cross. I hate to see anyone recognized for doing or completeing a swim when they wear a wet suit. To me that is just a float.

Mark What a great question. I would love to make such a swim ( maybe).

i'm getting the picture! all the information is really helpful. thank you all very, very much! mark p.s. that jim dyer is one crazy dude!!!

All I know is it is cold and deep and there is at least 1 car in the depths from flipping off the Mackinac Bridge in a Yugo. Michiganians will remember the incident, it was very sad. Yes, Leslie Ann Pluhar I believe was the girl's name. I was born in St. Ignace on the north side of the bridge and still have family there. I've often thought it would be interesting to swim the Straits or swim to Mackinac Island. Ferry and freighter traffic would definitely be an issue.

I'd love to swim it, it would be a nice event. Crossed the bridge in 1985 on a bicycle. I think a July/August swim would be ok on water temp there are many swims in colder waters without wet suits.

anyone see this? it seems jim dreyer is swimming across the straits with 49 other swimmers on labor day. www.swimjimswim.org/mightymac-home.htm mark

A group of five of us just swam this on July 26th. Starting at 7:00am, we went from the NW corner to the SE corner. It is 4 miles and the range was first out in 2 hours to last out at 3 hours 20min (different abilities and strategies). We had a power boat for emergency rescue and each swimmer had a kayaker for support. Their adventure was as large as ours. You will need to alert the coast guard and fill out a permit, rent a marine radio for the boater so that they can communicate to the coast guard to alert boats that there are swimmers in the area and have walkie talkies (with fresh batteries) for each kayaker. The freighters can be predicted to some extent but there are freighters that don't report and might surprise everyone. But they are obvious to see and predictable, speed-wise. Their wakes are large and fast moving. We tried to time our starts so that all swimmers, slow and fast, arrived at the shipping lane (.7 mile long) at about the same time for easier work for the kayakers and general visibility. Next time we will give a courtesy call to the ferry operators beforehand to let them know our plans as there was no altering of their plans (too big and fast) by our boat at the south end. Or we will start early enough to finish before the ferries come through. Or start south and swim north. If they are aware of us, they may slow down a notch when they get to the bridge. Though we had a four day window to swim we picked the first cause we were too anxious to wait and there was a small craft advisory day with 3-5 foot waves by the time we were already swimming. But the water felt to be about 70F so cold was no issue (for us non-wetsuiters) and in the end, the waves and currents were fun. Be prepared to hear endless stories about death and tragedy if you tell anyone in the area you are doing this, but be assured it is a most wonderful swim if you are well trained and well organized. We were blessed with a great team of support and swimmers and whatever other forces kept us out of harm's way.

That's awesome David! I've always been intrigued by this swim but I don't think I have the guts to do it with the currents and freighters thrown in the mix - and the usually cold water would make me wear a wet suit. This summer would have been the one to do it without a wetsuit. I see the northern most reaches of Lake Michigan are 70 degrees which is almost unheard of.