Most local OS downrigger fisherman have small tin boats.
If you can recall back to the end of the "good days" around 2000 and 2001, on a late July evening, 40 to 50 local boats would be on the bay.
Of those 40-50, 60% would be tiller tinners.
Huron tends to require larger boats for the most part.
I fish off South and Port with my Whaler, but at 16ft and 50hp it is nearly impossible to sink, even in massive waves.
When the fishing was good, OS anglers never had to travel far. A very quick boat ride puts them on the "hole", and they rarely venture further than the inner bay.