The Mahi Mahi is coming to Lake St Clair

Hey Blog Followers,

Remember the Exuma Islands Trip that Jonell & I went on with Jerry & Deena Luck on the Mahi Mahi, in 2023 ?


Well, we have a new adventure on the Mahi Mahi for 2025.

After several years of traveling between South Carolina & Marathon Key Florida every winter, The Luck’s have decided to bring the Mahi Mahi back to Michigan & use her as their summer cottage. The Mahi will soon be stationed in Miller Marina in St Clair Shores Michigan. This is the same marina that Jonell & I kept our boat “Gettin’ Looped” from 2015-2019. It is also the same marina that our mutual friends John & Cheryl Nelson keep their 42′ Chris Craft Commander – Jenny Lee (currently up for sale if anyone is interested).

So back to our upcoming adventure – a few years ago, Jerry & Deena began toying with the idea of bringing the Mahi back to Lake St Clair. They had discussed it with me & Jonell a few times, but finally made the decision earlier this winter when John Nelson was able to secure a slip for the Mahi at Miller Marina. After the slip was confirmed, The Luck’s asked The Murphree’s if we wanted to go on another adventure & help them bring the Mahi up north.


Mike jumped at the opportunity, Nellie was slightly reserved in her excitement.
Many of you know that Jonell began a successful battle against Lung Cancer in the fall of 2024. She is doing great thanks to a wonderful drug called Keytruda, an Immunotherapy drug that has virtually eliminated the 3 tumors, without Chemo or Radiation. Cancer will always be a part of our lives moving forward, but is thankfully under control now.

But due to several doctor appointments (oncology, female doctor, and dentist), Jonell has decided to pass on the trip from South Carolina to Michigan. I had drafted out a plan that would have let Jonell keep her appointments, and also come on the trip. I had identified ports/marinas that we would fly Jonell into to meet us & return back home.
But there Jonell had several reasons that made her pass on the trip –
1. She was nervous about flying by herself & taking ground transportation alone.
2. She viewed this trip as a lot less fun & a lot more work than our Great Loop or the Exuma Trip.

And she is really correct !
This trip will not be the same as our Great Loop or the Exuma Islands trip – we will not be spending 3-4 days in each port.
We will be trying to cover as many miles/day as possible – with early departures / late arrivals, and only a one night stay at each City/Port.
The goal is to get the Mahi to Miller Marina by the 4th of July, so The Lucks can enjoy the beauty of summer on Lake St Clair.

The only areas that we may slow down for some tourism or relaxation will probably be –
1. The Erie Canal
2. The Trent Severn Waterway
3. Georgian Bay

We will be departing Michigan on Monday May 12th by 1-way rental car from Royal Oak Michigan to Little River South Carolina. The car trip will be about a 12-13 hour drive.

We will depart Little River South Carolina on the Mahi Mahi , Wednesday (May 14) or Thursday (May 15).
The trip from South Carolina to Lake St Clair will be –
* A distance of about 2200 miles.
* Take about 45 days.
* Our arrival at Lake St Clair is anticipated to be between June 26th & July 5th.

Note for our Blog Followers – The coming Blog Posts will not be nearly as exciting as the Exuma Islands posts. It’s hard to write an exciting blog when you’re just firing up the engines and clicking off miles every day, but we will try our best to spice it up & show photos as we pass by interesting landmarks.
We will not be sending daily posts, but maybe a couple updates per week.
The blog will also be a way for our friends & family to keep track of where we are at.
Also keep a look out for Deena’s Luck’s Facebook posts – send her a friend request if you are not already on her Facebook network.

Here are some graphics of our tentative plan.
The actual route will be a day to day decisions.
The route will also be a combination of traveling inside on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or outside in The Atlantic Ocean.