Port Captain Introductions: Mike Kohut

Mike already sits as Port Captain for Florida Keys, Fla. & Mackinaw City, Mich. (H-76.5) and has now taken on duties for Petoskey, Mich. (M-5). He and his wife Linda are both originally from Pittsburgh, Penn. and moved to South East Michigan in January of 1970. The following year they bought their first boat and started to enjoy the Great Lakes, mainly scuba diving. Since then they have owned numerous boats, from runabouts to fish tugs to small sail boats. In 1993 they bought their current trawler, Blue Chip, joined the GLCC and started cruising. They found that working was a detriment to their cruising schedule, so in 1995 they sold their business and retired. Like many retirees, they moved to Florida. Their expectation was that they would one day move their boat to Florida, but after many excuses and two hurricanes, they decided to just keep it in the Straits and cruise the Great Lakes from there. They have cruised all of the Great Lakes from one end to the other, along with Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence and Hudson Rivers. Linda and Mike now spend their winters in the in the Florida Keys and their summers aboard their trawler, Blue Chip. The Blue Chip is winter stored in Mackinaw City, and spends most of its time now in Petoskey. For the past 14 summers they have been accompanied by their faithful yellow lab, Jake. They had to say good bye to Jake in June of 2019. Now there is a new boat dog, Duke. So far he is doing a good job charming all of the people that walk past the boat. If you see Blue Chip in your travels, be sure to stop by and say hello to Duke, but be careful, he bites. Thank you for your dedication, Mike!