A Canadian man on a quest to raise awareness and money for mental health through crossing all five Great Lakes by paddleboard this summer, is ready for his next conquest.
Mike Shoreman, who this summer has crossed Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Superior by paddleboard, is planning on crossing Lake Michigan, starting on Tuesday night and overnight into Wednesday.
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Shoreman will depart from Union Pier, Michigan on Tuesday, with plans to finish along Chicago’s North Avenue Beach at around noon Wednesday.
Shoreman, who said he would become the first disabled man to ever cross all five Great Lakes on a paddleboard, is estimating it will take 30 hours to make the roughly 44-mile trek.
Getting in position. pic.twitter.com/tnooznvEUo
— Mike Shoreman - The Unbalanced Paddleboarder (@MikeShoreman) July 24, 2022
A native of Ontario, Shoreman was diagnosed in 2018 with Ramsey Hunt Syndrome, the same disease that has plagued pop singer Justin Bieber.
The disease is a neurological condition that affects the nervous system and causes mental and physical imbalance.
On May 29, Shoreman successfully crossed Lake Erie from Point Sturgeon, New York, to Crystal Beach, Ontario, a journey he said lasted 17 miles and took seven hours.
On June 12, Shoreman cross Lake Huron, going from Harbor Beach, Michigan to Goderich, Ontario, which provided a major scare.
Shoreman said he had a medical emergency in the middle of the night in the middle of the lake, but managed to cross it completely in more than 28 hours.
He was met by paramedics on the beach, but was ultimately OK.
On July 5, Shoreman successfully crossed his third Great Lake when he paddleboarded across Lake Superior from Orenta, Wisconsin to Two Harbors, Minnesota, a 28-mile journey that took more than eight hours.
On each of his trips, Shoreman is accompanied by a boat and a crew that feeds him every 30 minutes. There also is a filming crew that is documenting his every move.
If he navigates Lake Michigan, Shoreman’s last hurdle will be to cross Lake Ontario into his birthplace of Toronto, which he plans to do in August.
Shoreman, who calls himself the “Unbalanced Paddleboarder” on his Twitter account, is aiming through his quest to raise money and awareness for mental health programs and showcase any obstacle can be overcome.