Detroit River to Lorain
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
6
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Lorain,
Ohio,
United States
Wednesday, August 1, 2001
Another long day of motoring with virtually no wind. One interesting event occurred during our crossing of the western end of Lake Erie. For most of the day, only one or two boats were in sight at any given time. About 9 miles out from our destination of Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island, we saw a horizon filled with power boats. As we got closer, I started to count this mile long line of boats. I stopped at 106 not because that was the total but because as we got closer more and more boats became clear behind the front line. For the next half hour we wound our way amongst probably 200 odd fishing boats, including several cruise boats. I counted 14 people fishing around the decks of one of these cruise boats. It was like watching people at the fish pond which is sometimes set up at the Sears Mall. We stopped as one boat brought in a fish and asked what they were fishing. Walleye (Pickerel to Canadians). I was told these fish once neared extinction in Lake Erie but obviously have made a very successful comeback. With no wind, it was the perfect day for everyone to come out and fish this bank and they were making the most of it.
For a very long time, I had looked forward to anchoring in Put-In-Bay where Commodore Oliver Perry hid his fleet to attack the British naval forces under Commodore Robert
Barkley. The British ships had an advantage of long range cannons but when the distance decreased the Americans had cannonades which fired much heavier cannon balls.
Cannonades when fired within the proper range could inflict tremendous damage. I won't bore you with the details of the battle but I found it exciting to sail over the very area where these ships fought and the battle which played such a decisive role in the War of 1812.
Today, as you sail to the island, you are guided in by the International Peace Memorial which rises 352 feet above the anchorage. A very impressive site and even more so when we saw it flooded in lights at nighttime.
August 2, Put-In-Bay to Cedar Point Amusement Park Marina
The Great Lakes Cruising Club states that Put-In-Bay "is without a doubt one of the most popular boating destinations in all of the Great Lakes". We were fortunate to arrive during mid-week and be able to pick up a mooring as dock space was non-existent. Boats at the dock had to be willing to raft up to three other boats off them. At Little Current, we used to think having two boats rafted off from each other was bad!
Mackinac Island has horses and Put-In-Bay has golf carts. Hundreds of them. What a great way for a town to earn money. We spent a wonderful two hours touring about half the island, stopping outside stores and parking to explore various points of interest. Of course our first stop was outside a coffee shop for Margaret's morning Cappuccino.
At the Peace Memorial, we were told that unfortunately the elevator was down for repairs. We weren't able to go to the top but we did see a small but excellent historic display of the battle and Perry's flagship the Lawrence. To bad my father, Laurence, wasn't able to see his namesake.
We took advantage of a perfect southwest wind to sail to our next destination - Cedar Point at the tip of Sandusky Bay. This marina is the fanciest we have ever stayed in. The docks are all made of white vinyl planking, totally solid to walk on, with unique, fancy curved cleats to tie up to and with beautiful soft lighting for every slip. At the end of each dock area are beautiful wrought iron security gates.
It was 33 degrees inside the boat. I have no idea what the humidex reading would have been so we quickly left for the air-conditioned restaurant at the main dock. The cats are doing surprising well in this hot weather and continue to do their normal cat thing for the afternoon - sleep.
Rob Cassibo, a fantastic Physics teacher at our school would take his senior Physics students to Canada's Wonderland for Physics Day. This day was set aside for students across the province to ride the roller coasters, perform experiments and in general to make the theory they were learning in the classroom come alive in a most thrilling way. Rob told me that the number one roller coaster in the world was at Cedar Point and if sailing by, I had to ride it.
Cedar Point Amusement Park is the world's largest ride park with 57 rides, including 14 roller coasters. Last year, Millennium Force was built. "Recognized as the number one roller coaster in the world, it is a 310 foot tall mountain of steel with an 80 degree decent, 6,595 feet of track and obtains a top speed of 93 miles per hour. It set an unbelievable 10 world records in its construction."
Margaret wasn't going near it but I stood in line for over an hour for the 2 minute ride. What an incredible experience! Next I went on their number two ride called Mantis, which is billed as the world's top stand up roller coaster. The rest of the rides and the area were interesting but I'll never forget the rush of riding Millennium Force.
August 3
It rained all night which at least took the heat down and we are waiting for it to finally stop hopefully before the noon check out time. At least this has given me time to update our log. We haven't been able to make cell phone contact for the past few days but I'm sure our next stop will give us cyberspace contact once again.
We sailed to the river port of Huron. My advice to anyone who might follow our path is to never go to Huron. A walk downtown only produced one very nice church to look at. The GLCC log book recommends a country general store with over 5000 items in stock which would have been available at the turn of the century. Closed and up for sale. A noted sports store - closed up for sale. I was told there was a strip mall about 25 minutes away. On my way to it, two joggers stopped to answer my question about this mall and they laughed. The strip mall was a small grocery store and a drug store. So I turned around and headed back to the boat.
That evening, a north wind came up and there was a significant surge in the river which rocked us back and forth all night.
August 4
Spitzer Lakeside Marina in Lorain. What a beautiful marina. 610 slips, cement topped docks with wooden slips off nine of these main docks/piers. Each slip dock was edged with white vinyl edging to protect your topsides.
I met a man who was a marine mechanic for Regal Yachts. He was sitting on a Regal 32, looking bored and started to talk. Since I had nothing to do, I spent some time with him. He was the first black man that I the opportunity to talk with this trip. The result was an interesting talk on being a black mechanic looking after 3 very expensive boats in a predominately white marina. He kindly gave me a tour not only through the 32 but then we walked to another pier and went aboard a brand new 2001 Regal 38, $250,000 U.S. The air-conditioning on both boats not only included the cabin areas but also up top in the canopied cockpit area. Beautiful boats!!!
August 5
Wanted to leave early this morning but the pump-out station didn't open till nine so I went for a walk. Stopped and talked with a charter captain who was waiting for his people to arrive. During the next half hour, he told me the history of Lake Erie.
Fishing in Lake Erie
It took about 75 years to kill Lake Erie. With the introduction of industrial towns along the shores of late Erie from the 1870s onward, the sewage and industrial pollution entered every river flowing into Lake Erie. By the late 1950s, Lake Erie was for all intents a DEAD LAKE. Nothing could survive in it. In the mid 1960s, initiatives were passed to stop the pollution. He told me that before his retirement, he was an engineer and contractor. One of his jobs was the installation of sewage treatment plants for communities along the shores of Lake Erie. He pointed out a building about 1/4 of a mile away which was built in the early 1970s. Until that time the sewage of Lorain, like all the American port cities, flowed unchecked and untreated directly into the river. Communities had to come up with 20% of the cost and the government provided the other 80%. The EPA got after industries, especially along the Detroit River and in 15 years the fish started coming back.
In the late 1980s, the Walleyes were at their peak, now the population is going down due primarily over fishing. The mass of boats that I saw were fishing the young 2-3 year olds. Those that escape from that western bank migrate into the central bank and mature into large fish. That's what his charters are looking for. There are fewer fish but bigger when caught. He also noted that they have turned the walleye into a salmon type fish because the mature ones migrate back to the western bank to spawn so there are no young walleye in the central bank.
The smallmouth bass population is the best it has ever been due to the zebra mussels. He said the "crawdads" love the zebra mussels, bass love crawdads - therefore, great fishing.
He ended his talk by stating that 49% of the Great Lakes sport fish are caught in Lake Erie even though it is only the fourth largest of the Great Lakes.
