5 Men 'Stand Up for Great Lakes' in 60-Mile Lake Michigan Paddleboard Challenge

Five Traverse City men are raising awareness of environmental issues affecting the Great Lakes in a 60-mile stand-up paddleboard challenge. (Photo: Stand Up for the Great Lakes Facebook page)

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A group of five Traverse City men are about to embark what they call the challenge of a lifetime: They’ll attempt a 60-mile trip across Lake Michigan, from Wisconsin to Michigan, on stand-up paddleboards to raise awareness of critical issues affecting the Great Lakes.

The men – Andrew Pritchard, Kwin Morris, Jeff Guy, Joe Lorenz and J. Mueller – have been training for the journey since December and plan to leave the Wisconsin shoreline Sunday, MLive/The Grand Rapids Press reports.

The expect their journey, called Stand Up For Great Lakes, to take about 24 hours with a few carefully timed breaks.

“We’re expecting it to be pretty difficult,” said Pritchard, an Australian national and digital marketing professional who moved to to Traverse City about two years ago.

“It’s the challenge of a lifetime. It’s also a great opportunity to raise some money for these lakes that sustain our way of life and to draw attention to the significant issues affecting them.”

The five men, who range in ae from 26-37, describe themselves as outdoor watersports enthusiasts who “love the lakes and want to do what we can to preserve them,” Pritchard said.

As they figuratively walk across Lake Michigan, they aim to raise $10,000 for the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes, a nonprofit advocating conservation policies for the world’s largest surface freshwater supply.

“It’s the challenge of a lifetime,” Pritchard said. “It’s also a great opportunity to raise some money for these lakes that sustain our way of life and to draw attention to the significant issues affecting them.”

Great Lakes water quality issues were critically illustrated earlier this month by a toxic algae bloom on Lake Erie that interrupted water supplies for about 500,000 residents of Toledo and four southeast Michigan communities. But the lakes are also vulnerable to invasive species and wasteful water use, the Alliance said on its web site.

If paddleboarders are able to endure this weekend, they won’t be the first to successfuly complete the trip across Lake Michigan. Last summer, a trio of three paddleboarders landed on the lake’s shoreline near Muskegon after completing the 80-mile trip well under their goal of 24 hours, MLive reported.

A seasoned Lake Michigan boating captain following the group in fishing charter boat will alert them to developing weather conditions and provide other safety support. But the men will carry their own water and food on their paddleboards.

The men will wear wetsuits and are not as worried about the temperature of the lake – cooler than during most summer because of extreme cold last winter – as they are the physical demands of the journey, Pritchard said.

“We’re much more worried about the physicality of paddling across 58 miles of open water,” he said.

If weather stops them this weekend, the men plan to attempt it a few days later, with a goal of completing their epic paddleboard trip by Labor Day

Call to action:

1. 1. Meet the team.
   2. Read their blog.
   3. Give to their cause.
   4. Like them on Facebook.
   5. Follow them on Twitter.