Chris,
Last summer, with much preparation and some trepidation, we flew
across Lake Michigan on our way from New York to northerm Minnesota.
We both wore life jackets with our 7mil wetsuits tuck between the seats
for easy retrieval! Departing from Muskegon airport (right next to the
lake), we circled to climb up to 8500' before crossing the lake. The
ATC certainly kept an eye on us, they gave us a call halfway asking
whether we had the shoreline in sight. It took something like 30
minutes to cross the lake in our C177B. On the way back, with
ceilings below 3000', we opted for the long way around the lake through
Chicago area and got sent over a portion of the lake to stay out of
heavies' paths.
Hai Longworth