All Great Lakes

Item Description

Here is your ONCE IN A LIFETIME chance to RIDE A FREIGHTER from Lake Huron to the Detroit River on the bridge of a ship with the Lake Pilot and crew!

Your trip starts as you ride out on the Belle (a Lake Pilots Association boat) as she delivers you and a Lake Pilot to a passing freighter. After a mid-lake rendezvous, you climb a rope ladder along with the pilot 30' up the side of the still moving freighter! You then join the Lake Pilot and crew on the freighter bridge and ride down to the Detroit area! At the end of your trip, you and the pilot get plucked off the freighter and ride along with the Pilot (this time in a van) back to Port Huron where you began! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MORE INFORMATION: Ride the "Lady in Orange" as she races towards the lake freighter. She's hard to miss wearing that bright shade orange. "She" is the Huron Belle, our lovely lady of lower Lake Huron, the Pilot Association's Pilot Boat. Here is your opportunity to meet her and have a mid-lake rendezvous with a freighter, as well. You will begin your adventure at the Lake Pilots Association Inc. headquarters where you will meet the hearty souls who hang out there: the pilot boat crew as well as the boarding pilot.

You will be escorted, like visiting royalty, to the Huron Belle moored at the mouth of the Black River and proceed aboard the Belle out the Black River into the St. Clair River for the approximately 30-minute boat ride into lower Lake Huron to meet your freighter. Along the way, you will pass the Huron Light Ship moored at Pine Grove Park. Next, you will traverse the strong currents under the dramatic spans of the Blue Water Bridges. Don't worry, ""our lady"" cuts through these whirling waters as if they were butter.

Catch sight of the oldest lighthouse in Michigan at the mouth of Lake Huron. Then fly like the wind to catch up to one of the giants of the lakes. You will be thrilled to experience the expertise navigational skills of the crew as they bring the pilot boat alongside this enormous ship and keep it there. Get ready as the boarding pilot learns about his assignment from the debarking pilot that has brought the ship to the Port Huron area. Then up the ladder you go following the Lake Pilot! You will be amazed at the size of these great ships as you climb up its massive hull on a small rope ladder.

What will amaze you, even more, will be the stories the pilots have to share with you. In their fascinating line of work, pilots meet crews of varying nationalities and are treated to different cuisines from around the globe. Pilots serve on vessels of many different types and sizes, as well as differences in maneuverability; and they must make adjustments for all. Even though pilots travel the same waterway over and over again, each assignment is unique and presents new challenges.

You will end this once-in-a-lifetime experience at a port in Detroit or Toledo climb down the ladder and are plucked off of the ship by another pilot boat. You will then ride with the pilot a van back to Port Huron. You will return with stories to tell and memories to savor after sharing the comradery, meeting the unassuming heroes that provide safe passage, and experiencing an afternoon of adventure aboard the Huron Belle.

Check us out at Camp Cavell!

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This fun trip has been generously donated by Gerry Kramer of Kramer Realty Inc. and the Lakes Pilots Association!  Thank you to  for helping to make this possible! 

Item Special Note

Must be in good health and have the strength and agility to climb a moving rope ladder 30' up the side of the freighter. Pilots Lakes Association has the right to determine eligibility. Gift Certificate will by email. Winner will be contacted to make the arrangements by Lakes Pilots Association.

Sorry, No accessible ramp. No pets.