Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior are interconnected to form the Great Lakes. Together, they are the largest group of freshwater lakes on the earth by area and second in volume only to Lake Baikal in Russia. They hold approximately 21% of the planet’s surface fresh water. Lake Michigan is the largest lake entirely within one country. Lake Ontario is the lowest elevation at 246 feet and is separated from the Erie Canal by the locks on the Oswego Canal and from Lake Erie by locks of the Welland Canal. Natural water flow from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario is through the Niagara River and Falls. Lake Superior has the highest elevation at 600 feet and ship traffic from there to the North Channel in Canada and Lake Huron is through Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. Lakes Michigan and Huron are at 577 feet and Erie is at 571 feet. There is no lock to control the level between Huron and Erie which makes for a little current! More on that later.
With their propensity for high
winds, strong currents and large dangerous waves, the Great lakes have been
referred to as an inland sea. Battles have been fought on these lakes… ie.. The
War of 1812. The famous line “We have met the enemy and they are ours” was in
the report from Capt. Oliver Perry who led the battle on Lake Erie against the
British Navy. Capt. Perry famously flew a battle flag with the words “Don’t
Give Up The Ship”. His original battle flag is now framed and displayed at the
Naval Academy in Annapolis and the phrase is popular on t-shirts and souvenirs
from Lake Erie. Much commercial traffic
and shipping occurs along these lakes with more than 100 large freighters,
known as “Lakers” traversing their waters. Commercial and recreational fishing
along the lakes is a $4 billion a year industry. Despite their relatively short
season, boating, fishing, sailing, cruising and diving are all huge activities
on the lakes.
Shipwrecks Galore!
Oh… and of course there are the
shipwrecks. With their large size, numerous shoals and the propensity for
sudden thunderstorms, hundreds of ships have met their end on these lakes. The
last major freighter to sink was the Edmond Fitzgerald in 1975. The largest
loss of life was with the sinking of the Lady Elgin in 1860 with 400 souls
lost. With this in mind, it is no wonder that boaters venturing onto the Great
Lakes for the first time, ourselves included, Karen in particular, dip their
toes into their waters with some trepidation.
Black Rock Lock an Channel
Our voyages on the Great Lakes
would begin from Buffalo, NY on the eastern end of Lake Erie. To get there we
had to first travel upstream from Tonawanda on the Niagara River. You know… the one with the falls! Along parts of this river the current can be
8 mph which makes the going quite slow and dangerous. To keep boats from
feeling like salmon swimming up a river, a channel and Black Rock Lock were
built along the side of the river. We found out later one of our friends did
not know about this channel and had a difficult trip. Fortunately, we did our
homework and together with our buddy boat, Star Dust, we had a very pleasant
and safe trip to Buffalo. Soon after the lock and a couple of lift bridges, we
found ourselves entering Lake Erie and leaving Buffalo behind. Lake Erie is the
southernmost of the Great Lakes, and also the shallowest and the smallest by
volume (not by surface area.) At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet deep. The
shallowness allows her waters to whip up easily. We approached these waters
nervously not knowing what these moody, temperamental, gorgeous lakes would have
in store for us.
35 miles away was our first
destination of Dunkirk, NY. The first glimpse was of glass-like water with low
winds and small swells. Okay, so far so good. We made it to Dunkirk without
much drama and tied up to a free town dock with no electricity. This was no
problem for Off Leash as she has solar panels and one night without power is
not an issue. Dunkirk is a small town, depressed, like many of the New York
towns we saw along the Erie Canal but we did, at least, find Waldo peering out
from an office building as we walked through town. Dunkirk did have a free dock
and a nice area around the marina with some up-scale restaurants and boutiques.
The sunset over Lake Erie was quite beautiful. We made an early night of it,
locking our boat to the dock just in case anyone decided to untie us during the
night. This is something that other loopers have experienced on other free city
docks where hooligans, with nothing better to do, will untie boats in the middle
of the night, not thinking about the potential for real physical harm to occur
both to the boats and the boaters.
Sunset in Dunkirk and who knew Waldo was hiding there
The next day we headed to Erie,
Pennsylvania, happy to finally be out of New York State. Nothing against the
great state of New York, but we had been in New York for over a month and it
was time to move on. The journey was 48 miles and the lake once again behaved
well. While in Erie, we anchored at Presque Isle State Park for two nights. This
was our first time at anchor since North Carolina and we couldn’t have asked
for a more beautiful, remote and peaceful place to drop our hook. Our friends, Ron and Linda on Gypsy Soul,
dinghied over that evening for a visit and docktails. We also, took a bike ride
through the state park to the beach and enjoyed a dip in Lake Erie.
Presque Isle
Our next stop on the Lake was to
Geneva State Park Marina in Karen’s home state of Ohio.. Heading out of Erie,
we were followed by two looper boats with crews we had not met yet, Benita and
Classea. The day was cool and cloudy so we used the inside helm station for
much of the trip but, once again, we had smooth waters on which to cruise. We
also had fish traps! These were new to us and it took a little while and some
quick googleing to figure out how they were set up so we could figure out how
to avoid them. It also gave us a reason, not that we really needed one, to
contact the boats behind us to warn each other of traps as we came upon them.
We tied up in Geneva and met the crews of our following boats. Benita had
started their loop in Ohio and they were less than 100 miles from home. Jim and
Cheryl on Classea were extremely nice folks from Alabama and we hoped to cross
paths with them as we both continued our loops.
Geneva On The Lake (GOTL)
A, somewhat, short walk from the
Geneva marina is the town that time forgot.
Geneva On The Lake, or GOTL to the locals, is like a town out of the
50s. The main drag is lined with burger joints, diners, arcades, miniature golf
and souvenir shops. The only things missing were Richie Cunningham and the
Fonz! We walked the town, ate some burgers, strolled through some shops, and
grabbed some ice cream cones at an arcade before heading back to the boat.
Next up… one of the more memorable stops of our trip, Cleveland. The wind was picking up as we pulled into the outer harbor but we still needed to pass under a pedestrian drawbridge to access the marina. Unfortunately, the bridge operator must have been on some kind of a break and we had to maneuver around in the wind for quite a while. Once raised, we passed the bridge to find a beautiful, modern but mostly empty marina. This marina is located right in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and next to Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Guardians. We were told that on game weekends, this marina is packed, with all slips filled and boats rafted up to each other…the boating equivalent to tailgating! Our friends, Ron and Linda pulled in shortly after us having been forced off the lake by high winds and waves. Our luck continued to hold out as we had gotten in before it got too rough.
The next day we visited the
R&R Hall of Fame. Karen had been there before but I had not. What an
absolutely amazing place! Clothing, guitars, shoes, sheet music, photos and
recordings from all the great rockers. We wandered the exhibits for 4 hours
but, had we gotten there earlier, we could have spent a whole day. At one point
we took a break by sitting in the theater that plays continuous loops of
R&R Hall of Fame induction concerts. We could have watched those all day
too. As much as we did see, there is just as much we did not have time for.
Next time we find ourselves back in Cleveland we will again make time for
another visit to the museum.
Guitars: Jimi Hendrix's White Stratocaster, Eddie Van Halen's self customized guitar, Keith Richard's hand painted Gibson Les Paul, and Elvis' double neck guitar. And Michael Jacksons Jacket!
Our next leg took us from Cleveland to Port Loraine. Although this is not a significant tourist or cruising stop, it was one we had most looked forward to as it was from here we would be visiting with Karen’s 98 year old father, John. We spent a week here just being family rather than being tourists or cruisers. We hung out with her dad, had some “tasty”(?) but wonderful meals with him and his friends at his independent living facility, took him shopping and to Drs. Appointments and just generally hung out. He took us to one of his favorite restaurants, Jake On Lake, for terrific fried walleye and perch. Karen’s brother, Jack drove up from North Carolina and stayed on the boat with us so we could all visit together and we drove out to see Jack’s daughter, Courtney, and her family at one of her daughter’s soccer games. Karen’s dad has been living our loop vicariously through us. He and Karen talk almost every day. It was a highlight of our visit to have him come aboard Off Leash for cocktails. The week with John went by too quickly and I know it was not easy for Karen to say goodbye but it was, once again, time to untie and move on.
It was now time to leave the
coast of Lake Erie and head to the island resorts of Put-in-Bay and Kelly’s
Island. These are summer playgrounds less than 3 miles off the Erie shore in
Ohio. We grabbed a mooring ball in the harbor at Put-in-Bay where we stayed for
two nights. The town was typical of any beach town resort. Bars, restaurants,
t-shirt shops etc.. The town was crazy busy but we hear it is absolutely insane
on the weekends. As an indication of the party atmosphere in this town, at over
405’ long, the bar at the Beer Barrel Bar is recognized as the longest bar in
the world. Highlights…. Lobster bisque on the dock, sipping drinks at a
barefoot bar while seated in hanging chairs, running through the streets in
pelting rain on our way to lunch, a tram tour of the island, and a visit to the
Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial and Museum. The museum gave us
an understanding of the War of 1812. Prior to this visit, I knew there was a
war of 1812 but I was not particularly interested in history as a kid so I
honestly didn’t even remember who or why
we fought the war. I did, at least, have a pretty good idea it took
place in 1812.
As a young nation, having won the
Revolutionary war just 30 years earlier, we still felt that our independence
was being stymied by the British. While we sought free trade with Europe, the
British routinely stopped US ships on the high seas in search of deserters from
the Royal Navy and in the process sometimes seized American sailors and forced
them into military service. There was also resentment in the US over the
British aid to Native Americans resisting American expansion. The US also had
eyes on Canadian territory for expansion although how much of a role this played
is debated. The war was fought on multiple fronts including the great lakes, at
sea on the Atlantic Ocean and American East Coast, and the southern states and
southwest territories. It was during this war that the British troops burned
Washington. The war was brought to a close in 1815 with the Treaty of Ghent.
Ultimately all territorial borders remained unchanged. There were no winners of
this war, only losers – primarily the Native Americans whose land borders were
not recognized by Congress and not enforced by the treaties. The relationship
between Britain and the United States has remained peaceful since that time.
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
As I mentioned at the top of this
now long blog, “Don’t Give Up The Ship” was the battle flag flown by Commodore
Oliver Hazard Perry as he led his outnumbered American fleet to victory over
the British Navy in The Battle of Lake Erie, securing American control of the
lake. His message to Washington after the battle – “We have met the enemy and
they are ours” has also become famous in naval history. This victory was a
turning point for America in the war.
Towering 352 feet in the air, Perry’s Victory and International Peace
Memorial was built in 1915 as a testament to the everlasting peace and
friendship between the nations. Buried at the base of the column are six
soldiers who perished in the battle and the names of all the soldiers slain in
the battle are etched inside the great rotunda. Karen and I went to the top of
the monument during our visit. The view of the Islands and the lake are breath
taking.
Put-in-Bay
Only a few miles away from
Put-in-Bay was the more laid back Kellys Island. We relaxed for a few days,
toured the island by golf cart and enjoyed some remarkable sunsets. Also of
note… the frozen Brandy Alexanders at the Villiage Pump. I can only describe this
as a very tasty adult beverage milk shake! Bartender… I’ll have another!
Sunset at Kellys and 300-400 year old native American pictographs carved into Inscription Rock
Leaving Kellys Island behind, we headed back to the mainland and the port of Sandusky, Ohio. We had an appointment here for some engine and electronics work to be done. Our stop here also allowed us to visit Cedar Point Amusement Park, a place that held fond memories for Karen from her youth. Although our backs and necks may disagree, the highlight here was the Blue Streak, an old, original wooden roller coaster. Although it is not the fastest or tallest ride in the park, those old fashioned rickety twists and turns are still exciting.
With our amusement park fix and
boat maintenance behind us it was time to plan our exit from Lake Erie. Our
next destination would be up the Detroit River to….. Detroit. Knowing the run
from Sandusky to Detroit would make for a very long day so we planned to stop
again overnight in Put-in-Bay along the way. The weather predictions that day
had been fairly ominous but the conditions never seemed to look as bad as
predicted. After consulting with many local boaters, we headed out of Sandusky
at 5 pm which was very unusual for us. The seas were rougher than we had seen
in the past with 2-3 foot waves on the bow but we put we hammered down the
throttles and powered through the waves and in less than two hours we were
safely on our mooring in the bay.
We woke up early the next morning to beautiful skies and relatively calm seas… perfect for our jaunt to Detroit. We had a nice uneventful trip. We had many marinas to choose from in Detroit but based our decision of where to dock with one main criterion….walking distance to Buddy’s Pizza. Karen went to high school outside of Detroit and Buddy’s has always been her all-time favorite pizza. We tied up and hoofed it 1.5 miles and pigged out. Buddy’s did not disappoint. Great Pizza! And on that note I end this post!
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