Christel, I did not know your dad, but remember when this happened. It's sad that your daughter will not get to fish with your day, but she will remember every day out with you. I wish you, and her the best of luck, and be safe. Welcome to the site.
I've been checking out these images for the last quite a few years, and I have never seen this much ice on any of the lakes. Lake Superior, and Lake Huron are 3/4 ice cover. I think we are going into another Ice Age! Here in Grand Rapids we have already eclipsed our annual snow fall, and we are still in January!
Welcome aboard Some guys will load a reel with a full core, and put short segments of Mono at different intervals to attach the board to. It's not a good idea to attach a board to core. I use a standard Albright knot when tying core to mono.
Take one of your braid divers and convert it to a 300 32# copper. Get a second wire diver, so both sides of the boat match. 300 32# should fit on the 45d