paper clip can be a wondrous thing. More times than I can remember, one of these has gotten me out of a tight spot.”

So says MacGyver, that famously savvy adventurer who can take the most ordinary of objects and make some magic happen.

No doubt as you’re enjoying your time on the boat this summer, you’ve run into a few tight spots yourself. Maybe you’re short on space in the galley and have no extra room for cooking that big family dinner, or the cans and bottles that were stacked in the fridge are knocking around with reckless abandon with every rolling wave. There are tricks you can wield yourself next time you’re out on the water and find yourself facing a situation you want to “MacGyver” yourself out of.

ummertime is always great anywhere on the Great Lakes. This year will be special as 2022 is time for the tri-annual Great Lakes Challenge. This is an event that teaches character building and leadership through sail training. The “Challenge” began in Brockville, Ontario, June 24, and will include these cities during the summer:

• Cleveland, Ohio – July 7 – 10
• Midland, Ontario – July 23 – 24
• Two Harbors, Minn. – August – 4 – 7
• Erie, Pa. – August 25 – 28

ecently I was invited to tour a Great Lakes destination, and while I didn’t get to choose where it was, I’m grateful that someone did. I can now say I’ve seen paradise.

Let me introduce you to your new dream vacation. You’ll find stunning state parks with spectacular views, excellent cuisine of all varieties, fascinating local culture and history and access to hundreds of miles of beautiful shoreline. Welcome to Door County, Wis.

I recently took a tour of this garden peninsula and discovered there was much more to see and do than I could possibly experience, even if I were to stay for months (and I wish I could have). In my time there, I got a taste of this unique community with its rich maritime history and thriving artisan scene.

here are few trips as enticing to Great Lakes boaters as the Great Loop. The beautiful scenery and historic significance permeating throughout the route can’t help but draw boaters to it.

Elliott Maurice is one such boater who felt the call of this trip. He emigrated over from England five years ago and brought his boat, a Princess V48, with him. Having two homes here in the United States, one in Sandusky, Ohio, and one in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., he had the perfect starting and ending points to complete half of the Great Loop.

He got together a group of about 10 friends, all Lake Erie boaters, and they started in Miami, Fla., in May 2021, ran the boat up the eastern seaboard, then came in through Chesapeake and Norfolk, Va., into Annapolis, Md. From there they took the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to Atlantic City, N.J., then to New York, N.Y. Then they went up the Hudson followed by the Erie Canal and across Lake Erie.

he highlight of any summer is a dazzling Fourth of July fireworks display, and that can be made all the better when you watch the show from the deck of your very own boat. While you’re traveling the Great Lakes, you’ll have the opportunity to visit local and famous fireworks displays from tourist hotspots in the waters of Lake Erie to local events in the harbors of the vast Lake Huron. While everyone’s showing fireworks, each of these patriotic celebrations have their own personal flair as unique as the cities they’re hosted in, so no matter where you end up this Fourth of July, you’re in for a good show and warm hospitality.

hroughout the passage of time, prey fish populations have fluctuated. Their story is a complex one, with scientists and recreational fishers harboring differing attitudes towards these fluctuations.

“Declines in fish are very lake-specific,” explained Darryl Hondorp, a research fish biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey who works in the Great Lakes Science Center.

“Historically, the Great Lakes systems mainly had lake trout and a species called burbot as the top predators,” described Hondorp. “These fish fed on a group of prey fish species that included ciscos, a smaller herring-like species. They also included a certain degree of shiners and sculpins which are a bottom-dwelling species.”

Great Catfishing In Our Lakes

atfish are an oft-overlooked gamefish in the Great Lakes, but this time of year especially, bewhiskered species save many a fishing trip. While most members of the catfish family are represented in the Inland Seas, the channel catfish has the broadest distribution and following among anglers across the region.

The popularity of catfishing in the Great Lakes doesn’t approach that found across the southern states, where they are considered prime gamefish. However, there are pockets of waters where channel cats thrive and savvy local anglers cash in on the action, either as a primary target or as a plan B when conditions don’t favor fishing for traditional species such as trout, salmon, walleye, bass, or perch.