Crossing Lake Erie South

Entry #57:  Lake Erie Clockwise to South Shore West to Mouth of Detroit River.

 Sunday, June 9th:  Sixty-seven miles to Erie, Pennsylvannia.  I won’t make it today but maybe I have the stamina to sail through the night.  Well, I’m tired but the long term forecasts for Lake Erie are not promising and I’m TEN days behind schedule.  I left the slip at 7:15 am after tightening my backstay headed for Erie.  Winds were light coming out of the ESE but the sky was clear.  The winds turned out to be fluky and pretty soon I was inundated with meat eating flies – thousands of them.  (I do not recommend this approach to weight loss.)  I covered my ankles the best I could with little success.

The winds remained fluky throughout the day and 2 pm shifted now coming from the west.  Storms were now being forecast for late evening.  I wasn’t going to make Erie either today or overnight.  I changed my waypoint for Dunkirk, New York.  I turned on my engine and with my sails still up, I planned to hit the coastline near Dunkirk then head west as far as I could go and then anchor for the night.

I anchored near Ripley, Pennsylvania on the leeward side of the bluffs to buffer me from the predicted growing winds coming from the south.  Storms were forecast overnight and winds were to grow to over 30 coming from the west.  NTL rocked and rolled that evening but I made it through the night.

Monday, June 10th:  I took up anchor at 5:30 am in an effort to beat the storms and higher winds predicated for the afternoon.  I had 25 miles to Erie and safe harbor.

I followed the bluffs along the coastline in 10 foot water heading west.  The winds were building with sudden gusts well over 30 mph.  Even with the protection of the bluffs and not being more than 1,000 feet from shore, I was continuously sprayed with water from the waves hitting my boat.  Rains added to the fun.  I had a long sleeved thermo, ski sweater, semi-dry suit, life preserver and water proof hooded jacket, gloves and I was still cold.  No way it was 75 degrees as forecast!   Needless to say, I was the only boat in sight the entire day.  NTL handled the conditions superbly.  She’s truly a gem.

As I entered the safety of the Erie Bay heading for (blank) Landing Marina and my pre-reserved slip, a vessel approached me and I was being hailed.  US Customs & Board Patrol and they want to board me and search my vessel!  (Honest, I have pictures.)

They escorted me to my marina where one officer took every piece of identity I had and proceeded to get on the phone; another went through my boat while a third (Ohio State fan) stood alongside me.  After about 45 minutes they were done and wished me well on my journey.  I voiced my condolences to the Ohio State officer and proceeded to fuel my boat before going into my slip.

Later I found out that not 40 miles to the east of me, a 4.0 level earthquake struck Ohio (per USGC)!  No wonder I had difficulty holding steady taking photos of the CBP!  Again, I can’t make this up.

The winds were howling last night together with the rain storms.  But its clear this morning and I walked the 2 miles to Starbucks to update my blog.

I hope to reach Geneva On The Lake Marina tomorrow.  It promised to be a tough sail but todays’ respite will help me to step up to the challenge.

Take care everyone.