Totally OT: Has Anybody Taken a Power Boat From Sarnia/Port Huron to Put-in-Bay?

You should do it in a canoe. Builds character. 

I know next to nothing about boating, but my biggest concern would be not doing anything to run afoul of US or Canadian Border Patrol. Make sure you research that aspect and make the relevant "check-ins" and what have you, because illegal crossings can entail several thousand dollars in fines, not to mention impoundment of your boat and a (hopefully) brief detainment in whatever processing facility they take you to.

on the Michigan Sportsman Forums. If you put it in the Detroit River/Lake Erie Fishing Report Section, I would be willing to bet that someone there could lend some advice.

Have never made that run in one shot, but have been through all of that water at various points in time.  I would stay in US waters (clearly marked on your GPS maps), until you call Canadian Customs prior to docking in Sarnia.   A lot less risk in terms of hassle.  

Given that, aside from general ship traffic, the only real navigation hazard would be found on the east side of Grosse Ile and the islands around Wyandotte, and possibly downriver of that if you stray to close to the Banana Dike area.  The upper Detroit River, Lake St Clair and the main channel of the St Clair river are all pretty benign. 

It's been 10 years or more, but we went on my father-in-law's 34' Wellcraft from the Bay down the Detroit river and into Lake St. Clair.  We left about 11:00 in the morning and reached our destination at a marina about midway up the lake sometime between 5 & 6.  My father-in-law cruised in the low 20's.  If I recall there were a lot of no-wake zones in the Detroit river.

JOBBIE NOONER!

I know nothing about boating, but get the lobster bisque from the "Upper Deck Restaurant" on the Boardwalk.  Just had it on Friday--highly recommended.

I'm from Grosse Ile actually... Done this many times. Your cruising speed may be a bit optimistic if the waves are high.

WRT Canadaian borders, just remember that you are totally ok crossing in and out of canadian or US waters as long as you don't go ashore. You can stop for gas in Gibraltar or the west side of Grosse Ile pretty easily. Or you can get gas past detroit near grosse pointe. Once you get ashore you obviously need to do customs but you can do that when you arrive at your destination in Sarnia or when you cross the border. If you get hung up due to bad weather you can always stop at Raisin River where it's sheltered but once you get to Lake St. Clair you're in good shape. It is somewhat shallow towards Grosse Ile but as long as you stay in the channels you're totally fine.

Have fun!

I have been from Algonac to Lake Erie several times. Provided the weather is nice, the trip should be pretty straight forward. That being said, the Detroit River can get very shallow outside of the shipping channel. I imagine you'll enter the Livingston Channel from Lake Erie and stick to the shipping channel through the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Lake St. Clair is also a very shallow lake (I'm sure you know), but the crossing is pretty easy if you stay in the channel and enter the St. Clair River through the South Channel. The Middle Channel entrance to the St. Clair River can be dangerous for those who haven't been there before. If you take the wrong approach to the first set of markers, you'll find yourself in a couple feet of water (at most). I can't speak for the trip north of Algonac, but the St. Clair River is pretty easy to navigate. It is well marked, and the water color is very telling of the depth. Stay in the middle and obey any no wake zones, and you'll be fine. 

I remember the first (and only) time I went to Put In Bay when I was an undergrad.  It was the first time I'd seen people over the age of 40 getting drunk and puking all over the place.  They puked in the bars, in the bushes, on the boat on the way back.  It felt like I was at a frat party with AARP.

Now that I'm 40 I have no desire whatsoever to do that.  Life is cruel.

play a big role in navigating the St. Clair River.  From past trips(never on a boat) the river always looked fairly swift, with a discernable difference is speed between up bound and down bound boats.

Sarnia, btw, has some really interesting history with regards to oil, petrochemicals and plastics.

I live in Port Huron and I have done this trip a few times as a passenger, never as a Captain.  EZ Bud is correct.  It is all basedon the weather.  Bad weather =  unhappy Momma.

The Customs and Immigration issue is quite simple.  If you are going to be registered at Canada immigration and the vessel departs from Sarnia, you can traverse the waterway without any issues.  Techically you will NOT leave Canada as the waterway is dual owned.

The issue becomes when you step on land in the US.  If you have a mechanical or medical issue you MUST call US Coast Guard Station and identify a problem.  They will give you direction but your Captain should know this.  You never want to stop at Sans Souci Bar on Harsen's Island or Gars in Marine City for a few.  Has it been done before without any issues?  Sure.  Have I stopped in Canada for 1 or 10 without declaring????  (5th Amendment protection here). 

As long as the vessell meets the regulation for life jackets, navigation lights etc and everyone has passports; you will be golden.  Make sure to take your jacket, even in 80 degree heat because she can get cold very quickly.

If you have a few minutes, give me a shout and I will buy you that beer that I owe you.  Have fun nonetheless.

Sounds like a blast.  Not that I'm from over that way but having been on all "the Lakes" it sounds like perfect fun when living in Michigan/Ohio.

on the detroit river back in the day.   you are a solid 8 hours away at a true cruising speed of about 20 mph.  add an hour for the gas stop since you'll be waiting for others and your sons will want to buy stuff at the marina store, and you should have enough cushion with a 9 hr estimate.   mgowife will not like lake st. clair if it's windy or busy since it is so shallow.  suggest you start at first light out of PIB so you can get to lake st. clair before mid-day.   if it's really crappy and wife is bilging overboard you could suck up behind a freighter and that should help - but be careful. 

customs is the other issue, but it's been a while since i've gone.  suggest you contact canadian customs now, and don't forget passports just in case. 

I grew up in Algonac which, because of all the canal networks is like a poor man's Venice of Michigan. Situated right there on the St. Clair River. I love the area and totally recommend your trip.

The eastern shore tends to be less choppy, but if you hug that shore with US numbers on your craft you may raise the attention of the border patrol. That's me being over-cautious, though. The truth is that BC isn't present or persnickety to such a degree to ruin your time about that. As for the SCR segment of the trip, I bet it takes twoish hours at cruising speed. I bet crossing Lake St. Clair from the Detroit River takes a little less than that.

The most texhnically difficult aspect of your trip will be entering the rivers after the lakes. I think entering the Detroit R. is by far comparatively trivial, but entering the St Clair River is much less so. It's sort of a cop out claim, because there are so few fresh water estuaries in the world, but that is the world's largest one. And the labyranthine sandbars and tributaries can be tough to navigate for a newcomer.

If you ever travel the reverse route, it's a cinch, and I wouldn't bother recommending any one route over any other, only to pay close attention to lighthouse lines (!) and depth. Because it'll barely matter otherwise. Riding the river out is more likely to put you on a fair course than riding the river in. So if you do have a GPS with you for the trip from LSC to SCR, I'd recommend using it to tiptoe the US/CA border into the River between Harsens and Seaway islands. Alternatively, you might just want to follow a freighter in; they'll hug the other (southeastern) edge of Seaway Island.

I worry you'll get lost or run aground without GPS or if on another path. Then again, I'm probably overthinking things just in case, so how about I wish you luck and return to the positive outlook I has when I started writing this, because it really is a cool, summer mini-adventure you've come up with.

and all my experience has been with sailing on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and the Pacific, but one thing to try to have is alternate plans/ports sort of mapped out. 

At any given time you could have weather, illness, engine issues, etc. and need to get off the water quickly. Having some familiarity with the port options at various points can help you make a more informed decision about where to go for waht you need. If spending an extra 15-30 minutes heading downstream gets you to somewhere with a nicer hotel option or better repair options, it is time well spent assuming you don't have an acute emergency, of course. 

Other small advice.....don't push it...if weather says get off the water and you are an hour from final destination, better to hole up and finish if/when it passes. 

just north of the old Boblo Island (which yes does put you' in Canadien water) try to make time for it. That is probably half way or more between Port Huron to Put-In-Bay. You might want to really consider gassing up at Gibralter which is due west of Crystal Bay on the American side. I  had a 89  21' Sea Ray Cuddy that I kept in a slip on Grosse Isle. So I know that area real well. The Detroit River is probably 2 miles across there with plenty of islands to pitch tents on or sleep on your boat of course. I had some great times down there I will tell you that but Put-In-Bay rocks too. Just a suggestion you might want to try. Go Blue!!!

family and i took the ferry over about 2 weeks ago. on the way over the wind was ok and the waves about 1-2 foot, which is about what i remember on Lake Erie when i was a kid. Just  hours later on the way back the waves were about 3-4 foot without any real change in the wind. i was on the ferry so we really didn' t notice much except those who were at the bow were getting wet in the spray. being an avid SF bay boater i was looking at the fishing boats struggling to get in against the waves. changed my whole opinion of the placid reputation that Erie has. Looked about like what we have to struggle with in the SF bay most of the time, which we consider fairly choppy. on shore it was only a bit chilly. nothing dangerous but it would not take much to change that.  we were there during the week and had no issues with drunks or jerks but we were not there on a weekend night

If you get a nice north wind, you will make it in no time! Sea Kayaking is a lot tougher than lake Kayaking. You should give it a whirl.

If you do power boat it, I would wait for a north wind since your MPG will be much lower!