Title Getting Ready for Charity Island

Lady of the Lakes Gets Ready For Charity Island Tours

In Michigan’s Upper Thumb, Charity Island dominates the horizon of Saginaw Bay, but the island is rarely visited. Thumbwind has been researching the history of the island and reached out to Captain Tom Carriveau, who has been taking visitors out on Charity Island Tours for over seven years. Here is our latest on Captain’s Tom’s preparations for the Summer.

Charity Island Cruises
The Lady of the Lakes

We dropped in on Captain Tom Carriveau last Saturday to check his progress with outfitting his 50-foot tour boat “Lady of the Lakes”. Tom brought the Lady over from Leland Michigan where it had been conducting ferry service between Fishtown and Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. The tour boat is in the process of being refurbished for tours and chartering on Saginaw Bay this summer.

“It now has updated electronics including radar, VHF with AIS and a new stereo system” Tom noted. “We can take a passenger’s smartphone and play his or her favorite playlist on our onboard stereo speakers. It will be a great personal touch”


Charity Island Tour Boat
Lady of the Lakes New Color and Transom Name

The AIS is the abbreviation for Automatic Identification System. It’s a digital VHF radio-based transponder system that can prevent collisions, and can protect boats from being run over from larger fast-moving ships. AIS is like a digital radar with precise position information utilizing GPS, VHF radio and sophisticated digital processing to automatically communicate between vessels without any operator interaction.

Charity Island Dinner Tours Begin

Charity Island Cooks Keep Busy
Charity Island Cooks Keep Busy

This will be the tour boats’ first summer in Saginaw Bay. “We anticipate having our first cruise out to Charity Island on June 8th. We will depart at Caseville Municipal Harbor at 4 pm, returning approximately 9:30 pm. Then we will start our regular weekend dinner cruises embarking from Caseville Harbor”. Explorer Charters be scheduling private events. Tom added “We will be hosting a couple of upcoming birthday parties and a company outing. We will be busy.”

Cruise Tours From Port Austin This Summer

It’s anticipated that the Lady will be offering tours out of Port Austin Harbor. Tom added, “I’ve been working with the Port Austin harbor master to operate off of the State Docks. It’s work in progress.” Captain Tom will offer mid-week tours of Port Austin Lighthouse, Burnt Cabin Point and Turnip Rock. “The Lady only drafts four feet. This enables us to get in areas where other boats this size cannot.”


Explorer Charters Logo

For more information about the Saginaw Bay Sunset Boat Tours and Charity Island, Dinner Cruises call Capt. Tom at 989-550-1234 or visit Explorer Charters for details, schedules and costs. Explorer Charters offer company events, weddings, lighthouse tours, sunset tours, kayaking, scuba charters, and many more commercial and charter services​.



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Michael Hardy

Michael Hardy is the owner of Thumbwind Publications LLC. Michael was born in Michigan and grew up near Caseville. In 2009 he started this fun-loving site covering Michigan's Upper Thumb. Since then, he has authored a vast range of content and established a loyal base of 60,000 visitors per month.

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