Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit

I ended my last post on Saturday wondering what "the waters" would be like on Sunday and if we would be setting out for the Detroit River Sunday morning. Well we did sail away with 16 - 20 knot winds on our beam and later in the morning on our forward quarter so - a good point of sail - and we were barreling along at over 7 knots, sometimes at or exceeding our 7.3 hull speed. That's the good news. The bad news is that the waves were 4 - 6 six feet and after about the first hour the wind began gusting to 26 knots. It was not the most comfortable ride and keeping the boat on course was difficult for me, at least, when I took my turn at the wheel. I have to say that I was glad to see the entrance to the Detroit river.

Our trip up the Detroit river was not difficult. In spite of the opposing prevailing current, we had wind pushing us for part of the way and even sailed for a while in wider parts of the river. We went right to the top of the river, just before the entrance to Lake St. Clarie and docked on the wall at the Bayview Yacht Club. After all that, we were tuckered out so glad to stay the extra night and give Warren time to do some sail repairs.
 
It so happens that my cousin Helen's son Peter lives just outside of Detroit and works in the city. On the Monday morning, Peter emailed to invite Bob and I and the Goodyears for dinner at his son Brandon's home in Grosse Pointe - a short drive from the club where were staying. It was a nice opportunity to get to know Peter better and to meet and visit with his wife and son Brandon. Sailing trips sometimes deliver surprises of the best kind.

Yesterday morning we went into Lake St. Claire and anchored in a small bay at Metro Beach. It was a short run and we had the afternoon to putter around and relax. We weren't exactly been pushing ourselves, were we? - another day of rest! - but one of Bob's "laundry buddies" (the ladies he got to know while waiting for our wash) told him about how nice it was to anchor at Metro Beach with the added benefit of shortening the run up the St. Claire river today by 3 hours. Today was a tedious and slow, especially after the rain began but we're at the Sarnia Yacht Club tonight and I have to say that we didn't find going up the St. Clarie river against the current all that bad.

We off again tomorrow at 7 pm for either Grand Bend or Bayfield. TBD tomorrow en route!

Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island OH

This picture of Put-In-Bay was taken from the top of the very tall tower commemorating Admiral Perry's victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie (also called the Battle of Put-In-Bay). For $3 each, we took the elevator to the top and as promised, we could see "clear to Canada".

After a two hour cruise from Sandusky, we arrived here before noon and chose a mooring ball close to and protected by Gibraltar Island (the cluster of trees, upper right). This location is protected from winds in any direction, including NE winds that can create a surge in other parts of the Bay. Today rain and possible thunder storms are predicted through the day and evening so we are glad to be tucked in here.

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

Here in Put-In-Bay, Admiral Perry is given a lot of credit for his role in bringing the War of 1812 to a successful conclusion after which "international peace was established along the world's longest undefended border".  At least that is what is implied in the film we viewed at the town visitors' center. There is a rather quick segue from the American victory in the Lake Erie naval battle to the end of the war and the settling of differences. The battle was, indeed, a turning point for the Americans and gave them back control of Lake Erie; however, the complexities of the war and the inconclusive victory of one side or the other are not part of the narrative at the visitors' center.

Put-In-Bay is a party town full of bars, restaurants and tourist attractions "for the whole family": The War of 18 Holes miniature golf course, the Butterfly House, the Antique Cars Barn and so on. Beyond the hoaky facades of the many town bars and restaurants and the innumerable shops selling Put-In-Bay T-shirts and souvenirs is a pretty little island with a National Park and a small community of families - most of them owners of businesses here.

Apparently we have managed to be here during the very busiest weekend of the summer. Why this weekend? - well because it's the end of the two week Christmas in July celebration. From the sounds of music, singing and yelling that were drifting across the bay to our more remote location night, I can attest to the hilarity and general exuberance of this end of season celebration.

The Boardwalk Taxi approaching Sand Castle 

On our first afternoon in town, we happened upon a very good band playing at the Roundhouse, decided to join the fun and managed to find an empty table and four stools. For the better part of 2 hours we whooped it up with all the other somewhat long in the tooth couples and unattached women who were dancing in front of the stage. The demographic of the audience probably had a lot to do with the type of music being played. There are crowds of younger people on the streets today - some in Santa hats; others, driving around in decorated golf carts.

The Roundhouse Bar

Thursday evening we met a couple on the Boardwalk Water Taxi and decided to join them in attending two lectures on Gibraltar Island (just behind where our boat is moored). The Stone Laboratories on Gibraltar and Put-In-Bay Islands are the center of Ohio State University’s teaching and research on Lake Erie. The center offers courses for students of ecology and the aquatic sciences (not sure if "aquatic sciences" is a term but it's the best I can come up with) and the students studying there were also attending the evening lectures. We learned a little about the center and found the lectures interesting. Just ask us now about how the personalities of native predators might affect their interaction with invasive species (i.e. - to eat or not to eat) or about the problem of Algal Bloom in not only Lake Erie but other lakes worldwide. We now know all about the effects of phosphorus run off from fertilizers and from "combined sewer overflow" both of which have been acerbated in recent years by increased severe weather incidents (think Toronto's over flowing sewers during the recent  rainstorm). It was an unexpected pleasure to get the brain cells working and to meet so many pleasant and interesting people.

The question now is - do we leave tomorrow as planned, cross over to the north side of the lake and start up the Detroit river? The winds will be pushing us in the right direction but presently the prediction is for gusts up to 25 knots. How much will these winds stir up the shallow Lake Erie waters?

The Best Part of Erie (So Far)

We had a short rolling ride from Cleveland to Vermilion - another day of motor sailing with more motor than sail happening. Swells on our beam made us inordinately glad that it was all over when we arrived at noon.

The part of Vermilion where the yacht club resides is a picture perfect community built around a lagoon. On each side of the channel there are white homes of various designs - all quite lovely and all with black roofs and trim - black and white only is the rule if you live in the "Vermilion Lagoons". As a member of the community, you have access to a private beach and also, I suspect, must submit to an unwritten directive to maintain perfectly beautiful and creatively designed gardens complete with expensive and novel lawn accessories - like distinctive post boxes, discreet lawn ornaments and very upscale cars. Which is to say that the community is a pleasure to behold and very pleasing to see as one dinghies around or goes for an evening walk.

We quite enjoyed the small but very comfortable and well kept yacht club and took our turn sitting in the rocking deck chairs assembled on the front porch. A very friendly fellow from a boat near by took Warren and Bob to West Marine in one of the golf carts rented in town for visitors to get around.  Later in the day, we took our dinghies into town to grocery shop and then, in spite of a torrential downpour that held little promise of letting up, we loaded our bags back into our dinghies and sloshed back through the rain.

From Vermilion we sailed (yes sailed) to Sandusky where we anchored for a night in the only anchorage anywhere near the town. It was marked on the chart as a "special anchorage area " and sits next to the parking lots for the huge Sandusky Amusement Park on Cedar Point.  We'd never seen so many varieties of truly scary looking roller coasters and torturous versions thereof. We didn't hear any screams from where we sat, but the sound of the rides traveling over the metal tracks was exactly like wind howling in rigging. Is there any wonder that there were no other boats anchored there? In point of fact, there was a lot of actual wind bouncing us about through the night and testing our mud encased anchors - so much so that we escaped yesterday to the Sandusky Yacht Club where we've been been able to walk through the town, grocery shop and do laundry.  Tomorrow we leave for the Bass Islands for some anchoring or perhaps to sit on a mooring ball in the much talked about Put-In Bay.

Touring the U.S.S. Cod

A big storm with lots of thunder and lightning raged through the night or so they tell me. I slept through it all. Bob was up a couple of times checking things and putting up the sides of the cockpit enclosure to keep the driving rain from coming into the cabin. Putting in the boards to close everything up would have kept out the rain - but also the much needed cooler air as well - so that wasn't an option. Somehow I managed to not hear a thing.



We so appreciated the cooler air today. This afternoon we walked a fair distance up the road to tour a submarine from the Second World War. The guys were generally interested in all the dials and levers and what might be required to operate a vessel like this but Karen and I were more focused on the narrow spaces to sleep, the size of the galley and the huge cans of vegetables, fruit and stew tucked in every available space (actually dummy cans - empty now).

 The water in the lake is still churned up from the winds last night and waves are supposed to be 5 ft. plus. We hope to find calmer waters tomorrow on our way to our next stop - Vermillion, Ohio.

Hot In Cleveland

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:
Characters from Pink Floyd's The Wall

We've elected to stay another two days at the Riverside Yacht Club in Cleveland. It's more a marina than yacht club and it's not ideal - lots of noise from the nearby road and airport - cars whistling along not far from the boats and planes coming in overhead. The pool is picturesquely situated next a power station and the associated transformers and there is no shade - but the winds are rising and the prediction is for a break in the heat tomorrow as thunderstorms pass through. We plan to leave on Sunday when the temperature is supposed to drop from the current high 90s F and fair conditions are predicted.

Yesterday afternoon Karen, Warren, Bob and I spent the afternoon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We'd been told that it would take about two hours to see. What were we thinking? We arrived at 3:30 and at 5:00 we were still on the first level enjoying the collection of memorabilia, interactive displays and best of all, the old video footage of Rock and Roll's most influential and popular singers. The Hall closed at 5:30! so there was lots left to see. Bob, Warren and I went back today and spent another another four hours. I could easily go back and enjoy another day but we'll look for other entertainment tomorrow. One of these days we'll get back to sailing!

Cruising the South Side of Lake Erie

Since leaving Port Colborne, we’ve been cruising the south side of Lake Erie. We were wary of winds that might whip up the waters of this easily roiled shallow lake but so far we’ve had flat seas. That’s the good news but we’ve also had light to moderate winds on the nose so there’s been little or no sailing. That does seem to happen a little too often on a sailboat!  Since at this time of year winds are predominantly westerly on Erie, winds “on the nose” can be expected but one can always hope for something out of the ordinary!

We’ve also had sunny and reasonably comfortable weather until a couple of days ago when temps and humidity rose.  All cool breezes have vanished and we are melting. Yes we’re hot here like many of you are in Markham, Toronto and even Vermont (so our emails tell us).
 

At the Mentor Yacht Club, they raised a Canadian Flag
shortly after we arrived.

We’ve had a variety of overnight experiences.  There was our night on the municipal docks in Port Colborne – no services and no charge, two nights anchoring in the bay at Presquil Isle Park near Erie, one night at the small and friendly yacht club in Ashtabula (reciprocal and so free for us as members of the Interlake Yachting Association), and two nights at the ritzy Mentor-on-the-Lake Yachting Club (not free but worth paying for) – beautiful setting and a pool where we sat in the shade and swam to cool off. We’ve just arrived in Cleveland where we’ll stay at the Riverside Yacht Club for a night or two – we haven’t decided yet. Warren wants to tour the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and we’ll likely cab it there this afternoon.

Getting out of the heat: dinner 
in the Mentor Yachting Club Dining Room

So far this has been a bit like cruising on Lake on Ontario except that when we stop for the night, it’s all new -  and I guess that’s one of the reasons why we’re taking our boats to Georgian Bay.  It’s not just the destination that’s important but the “newness” of experiences and sights that we're looking for.

The Welland Canal

We're off again - this time we're on our way to Georgian Bay and we're traveling with our friends Karen and Warren Goodyear on their sailboat, Sandcastle.

They call the doors in this lock "The King Kong Doors"

On Thursday morning we left the club and headed across the lake to Port Weller. We’d been instructed to tie up for the night on the wall just outside the first lock in the Welland canal.  Since pleasure craft are required to have three persons for the ascent through the Welland, Bob had arranged for two “helpers” to meet us there on Friday morning, one to accompany us on Sea Change and one for the Goodyears on Sandcastle.  We were up at 4:45 am to be ready for a 5:30 start but a slow moving commercial vessel going through the locks backed up our departure and we didn’t start through the first lock until 6:30. And so began a long slow day.  Having experienced hands aboard made the whole process seem almost easy.  In spite of the turbulent water in the rapidly filling gargantuan locks, as long as we followed instructions and did our bit, the boats stayed more or less in place, near the lock wall but not grinding into it. 

Our relief at the ease of our passage was replaced by boredom as we sat and waited for commercial traffic ahead of or behind us. We were pulled out of the procession twice and asked to tie up and let freighters lock through.  These huge ginormous vessels could barely fit into the locks and from our vantage point, tied up just outside the locks, there appeared to be a hair’s breadth between ship and lock walls.  They were slow to enter and slow to exit.  Each time we paused to tie up at the side of the canal, we sat for close to 2 hours – and so, in spite of our early start, it was 7:30 that evening when we pulled out of lock 8 and rounded the corner to tie up at the municipal locks in Port Colbourne on Lake Erie.  It turns out that we were fortunate not to have had an even longer day.  Yesterday, we were talking to another sailor who started early in the morning on his way through the Welland and didn’t finish until 1 a.m. the next morning!