Booked the 1.75 hour 3pm Lakeside Lighthouse Cruise from Baileys Harbor for a Tuesday. When…read morebooking, had to accept a required click though term saying: "I understand that our Cancellation policy is simple and strict, but fair. We DO NOT give refunds, rather we will gladly give you credit for use another time." Well, the proprietor may think their policy is simple and strict but fair, but making me accept the term on a click through does not make it so. After booking, I later went on the website and saw on their calendar that our tour was cancelled, although I never got an email or text saying the tour was cancelled. I called the tour company to rebook, didn't get anyone and left a message. I did get a callback later and we rescheduled to Thursday. It was windy on Tuesday and there were some whitecaps so cancelling seemed reasonable. Thursday there was little wind and the water seemed relatively tranquil.
So we go to Baileys Harbor for our 3pm tour and see the tour boat, the Hope. I wasn't impressed on first sight. There was a fairly decent sized group lined up, about 15-20 people. We boarded and the tour guide / narrator and master captain (as he said) seemed pleasant, helpful and knowledgeable enough. If I heard correctly, the tour boat, the Hope is a former U.S. coast guard lifesaving boat from around 1980, and the narrator said it was "unsinkable". Hmmm, I recall a ship described as unsinkable... We got underway. It soon became apparent that a former U.S. coast guard lifesaving boat does not make a good tour boat. Everyone was seated on hard wood bench seats (with thin foam cushions) lining the inside sides of the boat and facing inward. The boats engine, a Detroit Diesel engine is in a large wood compartment right in the middle of the passenger area and is very loud, ranging from a measured from my seat 91-94 db (loud) while underway. As a result the narrator uses a PA system to be heard over the engine noise. There is also the smell of diesel fuel quite present on board. No restroom. Despite the lake appearing tranquil with maybe 3 foot waves at most, the boat's ride is very unstable, with the boat rocking to and fro and crashing over waves and spraying occupants on occasion despite the plastic screens up front. In fact, the motion of the boat was violent enough that mid-tour the PA system used by the narrator came loose from its ceiling mount location and loudly crashed on the deck! Luckily the large PA system didn't hit or hurt anyone, but it was useless after that and the narration was effectively over. Due to the rocking of the boat, the passengers needed to stay seated and hold on, moving about while underway wasn't possible. A passenger near me kept jokingly calling the boat the SS Minnow and said he saw a small water leak, which I didn't see.
The tour itself primarily consists of loudly and slowly chugging out to the Cana Island lighthouse for about 45 minutes, staying around there for a minute for pictures and then chugging back to dock, with a drive by of the range lights on the way out and the birdcage lighthouse on the way back. Despite what the website says we did not see any shipwrecks, wildlife or other specific geological features, nor would I say the trip was relaxing or pleasant with the noisy, smelly boat crashing about. They really need a different, better, purpose built tour boat if this is the experience with only about 3 foot waves. Cannot recommend. Maybe if the lake water is like glass the experience would be a bit better.