Michigan Man Floats 12 Miles Into Lake Michigan On Tube In Viral TikTok
A day at the beach is just a part of life when you live here in West Michigan. Especially during a heatwave like the one we've had for much of the summer, a great lake is the perfect cure for a sweltering day. However, if you're going for a swim, you're encouraged to stay inside the designated swimming area where it's safe.
Heading out into open water is only encouraged if you're on a boat and an experienced sailor. No one, and I mean no one, would advise solo floating 12 miles on an innertube into the third-largest Great Lake, with the sun setting in the background.
Jake McKinney's Lake Michigan Voyage
On July 9th, Jake McKinney, @91_Isvolvo on TikTok, posted a video of himself in a very precarious situation: wet, sitting in a lime green inner tube, completely surrounded by water (though I will say, it was a lovely sunset). In the video that currently has 11.3m views, 12k comments, and over 100k shares, Jake reveals he thinks he is about 10 miles off the shore of South Haven.
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How his phone survived as long as it did, whether he was posting live on the lake, and what possessed him to let himself float this far out are mysteries.
At the end of the video, he asked viewers to "find his coordinates" and send them to him. The next day, he posted a follow-up video, with the sun now up, of himself being towed behind a boat back to land.
He claims that the boat captain estimated he'd floated 12 miles offshore. Jake did not reveal how he was found, but from his posts, he seemed oddly calm about the whole thing.
It's best to assume this is just a prank; however, this video got enough attention that the US Coast Guard Great Lakes took to X to confirm they had been in contact with Jake and that he had returned to land safely.
Whether real or fake, what Jake claims to have done is incredibly dangerous, and no one should let themselves drift that far from the shore. That being said, the video was absurd and made me laugh. Guilty.
Unrelated to this event, a Flint man who was tubing on Au Sable River last week was found after going missing on the river. After a four-hour search, he was found in good condition.
All this to say, if you're going tubing this summer, be smart and stay safe.
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