I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

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Shipfaced
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I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#1 Post by Shipfaced » Thu May 15, 2014 6:56 am

So I have been offered an amazing position as a sales manager with a new company that will more than double my income, increase my benefits, and I will be home every night (I am not now). The position will mean relocating and my wife is on board with that idea. We currently have our new pontoon on a lake in Nashville, TN. The relocation may take us back home to Ohio, specifically the Cleveland area. How stable would a pontoon be in Lake Erie? We both grew up in the Toledo OH area on the lake and I seem to recall plenty of people out in the shore area on the pontoons but my memory may be failing me. Another option is Columbus OH but we don't know of any lakes there. We are obviously taking boating into consideration. Jacksonville FL is an option but I think my wife had cut that from the list since it's too far from home (Ohio)

Anyone with experience on the great lakes? Chicago is also an option but pretty low on the list.
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Soonertoon
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#2 Post by Soonertoon » Thu May 15, 2014 1:53 pm

Hell, I'd starve and beg before I moved to Cleveland or, God forbid , Chit-gaco. !!!!!
As far as Jacksonville being too far from family, well .....they do have an airport.
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HandymanHerb
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#3 Post by HandymanHerb » Thu May 15, 2014 2:25 pm

That's what I was thinking , but I let someone else say it first, at least in Jacksonville you can live outside the city and the St John's river you can ride to Orlando from there.

And our people are nicer, we don't have State income tax, with your choices, I would head south, you can get cheap tickets north because no one wants to go that way :rofl
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jeffybear
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#4 Post by jeffybear » Thu May 15, 2014 3:24 pm

I live in Ohio and I've got 6 years before I become eligible to LEAVE....and leave I intend to do, hopefully to TN. There are no good lakes in or around Columbus. Indian Lake is north of there, but it's a man made shallow lake.
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smoker62
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#5 Post by smoker62 » Thu May 15, 2014 3:28 pm

I live just acroos the border from IL in Wi right on lake Mich. I love to visit Chicago once every 10 years or so for an hr . Live there , no fricking way.
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#6 Post by Bamaman » Thu May 15, 2014 3:53 pm

I'm glad for you to have the opportunity to improve your job situation. And I'm glad that you're a Ohio native, and don't mind living in the Rust Belt. After all, home is home no matter if it's such a terrible place to live (like Toledo and Cleveland.)

I'm just sorry that when it quits snowing, you've got another 2-3 months of mud to look at outside of Cleveland. The farmland around there is really beautiful in the Summer--to a farmer. It's a kind'a flat place--like Arkansas.

If things were equal, I'd certainly be in Jax suburbs. Give me warmth and a low cost of living anyday over bad weather and high taxation.
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Johnboy
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#7 Post by Johnboy » Thu May 15, 2014 4:10 pm

Not sure exactly what size your boat and motor are?? That will answer your question.. Currently, I have a 26ft tri-toon with a 250hp on the back. I have used the boat in Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron with no problems. I formally owned a 22 ft, with a 140hp, 2 toon and used it on all the above lakes, but I was more cautious when it came to bigger waves and weather. I think if you check the weather before venturing out you would have no problem using it on Lake Erie. I am pondering taking a nice round trip from the straights of Mackinac near the Mackinac Bridge in Lake Michigan down to the Detroit area by water. That will take us from Lake Michigan, into Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and then the Detroit River. We may dip into Lake Erie just to say we made it that far before we turn around. I have done that trip on other type watercraft and if the weather is good, it will be a great trip.

Anyhow, good luck on your move. My motto is, if there is water, you need to be on it as much as possible!!
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ToonGuy
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#8 Post by ToonGuy » Thu May 15, 2014 6:52 pm

While I can't say I have much experience on either lake tooning, I can tell you this: I've been on salmon boats plenty enough on lake MI that I would NOT go out on a toon unless I lived close and could pick my weather sparingly. I've never been on Erie, but I've been told it's a shallow lake and doesn't get nearly as rough as MI. I actually sold an 18'er (2-log, 23"ers) to a guy who planned on using it for Erie fishing exclusively. He was upgrading from a 20' toon with 19" logs! I agree with the others, watch your weather. Even my Lake Wawasee can get crazy if you get caught in a storm :scared
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smoker62
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#9 Post by smoker62 » Thu May 15, 2014 7:43 pm

Erie is shallow and will get rough in a snap. Shallow water will do that , wave cant go down , then they go up. Michigan, as nasty as it can get, is a second to Erie when it is nasty.
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snowbird
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#10 Post by snowbird » Thu May 15, 2014 9:10 pm

I've lived in Ohio near Lake Erie all my life. My father also used to own a boat house in the Cleveland area so I am familiar with Lake Erie. I would never take a pontoon out on that lake. The wave factor along with all the darn debris in the lake isn't for pontoons.
We just purchased our first pontoon and decided on Pymatuning. There is a 20hp limit and fishing is good there. Now if only the Cleveland weather would co-operate so we could actually use the boat!

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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#11 Post by Bamby » Fri May 16, 2014 7:32 am

You may actually want to consider the Columbus opportunity. The reality of it is that there are several recreational lakes that are within a reasonable drive of there, but you'll need to do your research on each one. Ohio is the land of limited horsepower boats so you may or may not be overpowered for some of these waters.
Hoover Reservoir
Alum Creek Lake
Buckeye Lake
O'Shaughnessy Reservoir
Delaware Lake
Deer Creek

Plus in addition there are more than a few Columbus folks that choose to boat on the Muskingum River with us.
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#12 Post by Rascal » Sat May 17, 2014 1:32 pm

Let me see if I understand this? :coffee You now live in TN and are considering moving due to a job advancement. Your choices are Ohio or Florida? Other than wife'y wanting to stay near the relatives :hairpull .

This is a no brainer. Step back an look at the big picture.... Ohio versus Florida? Snow and cold versus warm sun and year round boating? Much lower taxes or taking it it the butt and wallet in Ohio? Much nicer people in Florida or Grumpy mad at the weather & taxes Ohio buckeye nuts?.

I have lived in both general geographic locations and boated on Lake Erie and now the Gulf of Mexico.....

Like I said... A no brainer. Use what the good lord gave you to make your decision.

As Always... IMHO,

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Shipfaced
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#13 Post by Shipfaced » Sun May 18, 2014 5:47 pm

Alright. A quick update...

Cleveland it is!! There were other deciding factors for the locations and Cleveland was the final decision. My wife and I actually both decided on Florida but when I called the owner of the company to let him know he informed me another manager accepted the Jacksonville position just 2 hours prior to that. I knew there was a few people being recruited other than myself and was aware this could have happened (my fault for even taking time to consider). This obviously settled it for us and we are headed to Cleveland for a 3-5 year time period starting around October 1st. At least we will get to enjoy one last beautiful Tennessee summer :( We have started looking into marinas and places to dock on the west side of the city since we do not want to live in the city itself, I get to choose the location of my office and there is availability on the west side also. We hope to be able to take the toon out on calm days and maybe even make it all the way to Put-In-Bay or Cedar Point on the nice summer days. We are both from the Toledo OH area originally so are fairly familiar with the Lake.

Thanks for all the advice and yes, Florida was a no brainer but I guess wasn't in the cards.
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Liquid Asset
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#14 Post by Liquid Asset » Sun May 18, 2014 6:32 pm

Trailer to Michigan if you get the chance. If you've never boated the inland waterway you'll be blown away. May actually want to get moved further north l.o.l.
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Shipfaced
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Re: I NEED HELP! May be moving to the Great Lakes area

#15 Post by Shipfaced » Sun May 18, 2014 7:50 pm

Liquid Asset wrote:Trailer to Michigan if you get the chance. If you've never boated the inland waterway you'll be blown away. May actually want to get moved further north l.o.l.
My wife is from Michigan and is a U of M Alumni. My dad's side of the family is all from Bay City. I will definitely have to check it out some weekend!
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