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Sailing Western Lake Erie

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RL
1st Mate

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USA
76 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/17/2002 : 13:29:15

Looking for information on sailing in the islands of Western Lake Erie. Any info you folks can give will be greatly appreciated. Our plans are to take Free Spirit to the lake for a week.
Thanks
RL

Free Spirit

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2002 : 13:41:06

RL,
There's a pretty comprehensive thread on this topic in the archives. Do an archive search for "Put-in-bay"
If you work at PPG in Pittsburgh, give me a call if you'd like to talk about the western Lake Erie area, (412) 264-4606, x24.

Steve Madsen
#2428
OJ (Ode to Joy)

Edited by - on

RL
1st Mate

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USA
76 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2002 : 09:39:11

Steve,
Thanks for the info. Just read the thread and will share with sailing partner. We are looking at taking Free Spirit to that area for a week of sailing next summer. Currently we are at Attwood in Ohio and are looking for a little more water.
RL

Free Spirit

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2002 : 13:31:27

Feel free to call me at the office I sail lake erie almost every day and spend tons of time on the western end of the lake. (island areas.)

Just remove the 555 from the phone number

216-555-416-8268

Duane

Other than that, Hit Put-in-Bay in the middle of the week if you are bringing a family. Kelly's island is good for weekends, think about a stop at Cedar Point. etc..

Duane Wolff
"The Flying Wasp"
C-25, #401 std,sk
Chief Measurer C-25/250 National Assn.
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b1ce23b3127cce9b043565af3d0000004010" border=0>

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swarchitect
1st Mate

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USA
41 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2002 : 18:38:12

I agree with Duane about Kelly's Island, Put-in Bay etc. Went there a couple years ago with a compac 23 (previous boat, previous wife) and had a great time. Storms do come up fast, as I am sure you have heard.

Cedar Point, if you have kids is great. We sailed from Kelly's Island to Cedar Point one afternoon. They have a decent marina there with your own entrance to the park. We even ordered pizza and had it delivered to the boat. Kids loved it. Also, if you spend the day in the park, it is handy to have the boat so close, for changes of close, rest, or whatever.

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2002 : 21:58:18

I had a quick look on Yahoo under sailing stories. I was lucky and the first page came up with Steam Corners Sailing Club. Also try Ohio recreation and sports> sailing. Here is the site I found www.blackflute.com/sailing/ explore the site for your info

Doug&Ruth
Wind Lass
Tacoma Wa.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 07/22/2002 : 15:00:41

Last Thursday, I returned from a six-day cruise in western Lake Erie with the Admiral and our two girls (7 and 11) that included most of the usual tourist destinations. We planned our route to ensure that each day we were in a marina by early-to-mid afternoon (I don't like to go into unfamiliar marinas after dark and the Admiral would prefer not to do any night sailing). We departed our marina, which is at the mouth of the Detroit River in Brownstown, Michigan, and headed east to Colchester, Canada. The Colchester Harbor marina is a nice marina, but there is not a whole lot to do in the surrounding area other than going to the gas station for ice cream. There is a restaurant at the marina, and since it was Saturday night, they had a band playing (it played until 2:30am <img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>!). There is a park at the top of the hill for the kids to play and stretch their legs and there is a nice beach next to the marina. The beaches were closed due to the lake becoming warm from all of the hot days and we were told that bacteria levels were elevated. We just stayed the night and then headed out the next morning after breakfast.

We then departed Colchester and sailed east-southeast to Pelee Island, Canada. We went to Scudder Marina, which is located on the northern shore. The facilities were adequate (showers and heads could've been cleaner), but the marina was quite nice. There isn't a whole lot to do on this quaint island (even the cab driver said that people come to the island to do nothing), but there is signs of life. On the northern shore, they have a restored lighthouse (we didn't walk the mile or two to get there since the temp was in the mid 90's), a rudimentary putt-putt golf course, a bar/restaurant, a co-op building (sort of the island Home Depot, farming supply, gas station, 7-11, bait shop, and marine store all about the size of my living room). On the western side there is more activities with restaurants, a few shops, and a winery. We took the $10.00 cab ride from Scudder, through town (at least I think it was a town. I blinked and missed some of it <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>) and to the winery. We didn't take the official winery tour, just sort of did the self-guided thing, because the kids were getting restless and hungry, so we walked back to town (?) and then took a cab back to the marina. Again, the next morning after breakfast we departed and set sail for South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay), Ohio.

Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island is the tourist hot spot in western Lake Erie(my wallet started smoking when the first mooring line was set on the cleat). We moored at Ladd's Marina, which is the closest marina to Perry's monument. Although I've never been there on a weekend, if you want to be a part of the party scene, go on the weekends when the island population swells to the size of a small state with mostly drunken powerboaters(and some sailboaters). We wanted to avoid this and went there on a Monday so the kids didn't have to step over drunks going to and from the boat. On this island we did the usual tourists things; Perry's monument(awesome!!), rented a golf cart to tour the island and get around, did the cave tour, walked around, shopped,...etc. All the while, money flowed from my wallet like the waters over Niagra falls, but you have to expect it at this tourist destination. We only stayed one day and left the morning for Cedar Point, Ohio.

Cedar Point has a very nice and clean marina right next to the amusement park. We planned three nights here and bought the Ride-n-Slide multi-day tickets for both the amusement park and water park. Again, this place is not that wallet friendly and is specifically designed to extract as much cash from you in the shortest amount of time (Even before we arrived, we spent $220.00 on tickets and $135.00 on the slip). Again, the amenities are first rate and kids just love being moored next to the roller coasters!

After Cedar Point, we were going to go to Kelley's Island for their IslandFest, but the weather outlook for the weekend was calling for thunderstorms so we decided to shorten our trip and head home early to avoid the approaching weather system. We left Cedar Point a day early (two days at the park is more than enough <img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle>) and we headed back Thursday at 9:30am. We planned a stopover in Colchester again so the trip wouldn't be so long and would return Friday to our homeport in Michigan. When we left Cedar Point, winds were moderate and kept the boat moving along at a fairly good clip, but when we were along the eastern shore of the Bass islands, the wind disappeared and the water was flat so for the most part we motorsailed north from Kelley's, along the eastern shores of the Bass islands, then north to Colchester, Canada. When we were about 6 miles due south of Colchester, still motorsailing, I spotted an eerie line in the water about a 1/2-mile ahead of us that appeared to be headed our way. The weather radio was reporting possible chances of thunderstorms and the sky was a bit hazy, but no thunderheads were present. Anyway as this line in the water neared from dead on, I made the decision to drop the sails and continue motoring since there wasn't any wind and there was nary a ripple on the flat water. I furled the genoa and as I was on the cabintop lowering the main, we crossed that line in the water and were immediately in heavy winds. I secured the main and raced back to the cockpit as the wind started picking up speed. The water was still flat but winds were now over 25mph and building. As we motored head-on into the wind, the seas started slowing building. 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, 4,5,6 feet. These weren't swells, but choppy waves that were about 15 feet between crests, which resulted in a somewhat wild and bumpy ride. I gave the Admiral the choice heaving-to and heading back out to sea or motoring dead on to weather to the nearest safe harbor in Colchester now about 4 to 5 miles away. She opted for the harbor since we didn't know how long this was going to last. Fortunately there was no rain or lightning, only the wind and the waves to deal with, although the water coming over the bow drenched every square inch of me. The winds kept building and the weather radio was now putting out small craft advisories and heavy thunderstorm warnings. The winds were fierce (radio reported sustained winds of 50mph) and the seas were heavy making our four mile trip to the harbor a two hour ride against the grain. After about on hour and a half of this, the weather started to subside with winds in the 25-30mph and the seas becoming less dramatic (I don't know if they were really subsiding or I was just getting used to the ride?) and then as suddenly as it appeared, it stopped. The winds went away and were replaced by an eerie calm as the seas slowly subsided to flat water again. We were so glad that it was over that we decided to skip Colchester and continue on to home, which was another 3 1/2 hours away. We made it back to our marina at 9:00pm after having left Cedar Point over 11 hours earlier, going without wind for the majority of our trip then going through the fiercest windstorm that I've ever encountered. Needless to say we were relieved to be back home again, especially the Admiral who had never even sailed in a hint of bad weather before. The moral of this story is, "be prepared for anything and everything and know what all your options are. Also, keep an eye to the sky and an ear to the radio".

Don Lucier, North Star
C25 SR/FK

Edited by - dlucier on 07/23/2002 01:02:39

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 07/22/2002 : 16:33:43

One note about Put-In-Bay.

The Deepwater races - Cleveland, Detroit, buffalo Toledo to Put in Bay start August 1st. The Week long regatta is the 5 - 9th of August. If you want to enjoy the island when the sailboaters take over - that is the time to go....

Duane Wolff
"The Flying Wasp"
C-25, #401 std,sk
Chief Measurer C-25/250 National Assn.
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b1ce23b3127cce9b043565af3d0000004010" border=0>

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