GRAND HAVEN, Mich — For the second time in the last month, Jim "The Shark" Dreyer is attempting to swim across Lake Michigan alone.
Dreyer left from Grand Haven City Beach around 6 p.m. on Monday, with hopes to arrive in Milwaukee in just 72 hours.
The marathon swimmer said he hopes to complete a continuous, self-sufficient swim across the lake after calling it quits during an attempt in early August.
"I am going to attempt to swim across that and I'm pulling this white water catamaran with about 225 pounds of supplies," Dreyer said. "This is an attempt to make the first self-sufficient swim across Lake Michigan, meaning I'm going alone. I'm pulling the weight of all my own supplies, and I'm doing my own navigating, and I have to find my way across to hopefully Milwaukee. That's where I hope to land."
Dreyer completed a swim across Lake Michigan in 1998, beginning in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and ending in Ludington, Michigan. But, every attempt since, Dreyer has failed to cross the lake.
The 82.9-mile route will take Dreyer an estimated 72 hours to complete, all while hauling over 200 pounds of supplies and self-navigating the trek.
"A self-sufficient swim is when you're not escorted," Dreyer said. "So you have to do your own navigating. You have to pull all your own supplies, which means you have to feed yourself. It means if anything needs batteries changing. You're going to be changing the batteries. Anything breaks, you got to fix it."
His latest attempt comes just weeks after he called off a swim in August due to his GPS losing power and swimming in the wrong direction for hours.
"But you know, I need to think positively," Dreyer said. "And I do, I always do. And so you do, you get into this rhythm. And then when the sun comes up, you hope that you can't see shore anymore. And then you know, you're doing really good. And then when the Milwaukee Skyline comes into view, that is going to be epic."
The swim is raising funds for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Chief Petty Officers Association.
You can track Dreyer's progress on his website, JimTheSharkDreyer.com.