Lake Erie Sailing

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Comment by Doug Mekinda on October 12, 2009 at 9:00pm

Mark, that is some drastically low water. we usually have an issue at the end of the season, although we got the state to dredge this year. I took the boat downtown to haul it out this week, and when i left the channel had a wonderful 9.5 feet of depth. Feel free to join us at Wildwood Yacht Club if you are ever heading east.

Comment by Mark (Voodoo Acrobat) on October 12, 2009 at 5:49pm

We had major low water problems at Otter Creek over the last couple of weeks too. Hopefully these two photos show up. It always goes down a lot toward the end of the season, but this month my boat was sitting on the mud two different times.

I just moved her over the weekend to Meinke's Marina in Curtice, Ohio. An enormous place with loads of ammenities! I'll miss the park-like atmosphere of Otter Creek, but Meinke's is closer to all of the fun ports. Put-in-Bay, Catawba, Port Clinton, etc are all a few hours away instead of an entire day. (Ok, it's also about half the price for slips and winter storage. Money is an object!)

Comment by Mac on October 12, 2009 at 5:24pm

I hauled my Bayfield on Oct. 4th as I was going away in the land yacht (motor home) for a week. Just returned and I found out the water disappeared from the yacht club channel while I was gone, it even made it to the local TV.

It is now safely in its location in the barn for the winter.
Mac

Comment by Becky Gilmore on September 25, 2009 at 2:01pm

Ahoy, fellow Lake Erie sailors. My husband and I have sailed to almost every port on both sides of the lake, and are now at Perry's Landing Marina, in Erie, Pa. This season is coming to a speedy close, and I'm sure like we are, you are getting the last sailing in, or getting your boat ready for haul out. I would like to see more posts and comments from this group, and hopefully, once the winter winds start to blow, we all will have more time to compare and share our tales of the lake.
S/V ENTROPY III Irwin 34

Comment by Mac on August 25, 2009 at 3:56pm

I kept my first sailboat at this Meinke's back in the late 1970's. Always enjoyed it back then, it was a lot smaller than now and so much has changed along the canal from Lake Erie. We would come in under sail back then as around 11:00pm there seemed to always be a nice wind off the lake.

There was an event from my yacht club, HVYC on August 15 where the HVYC Sail Fleet and members of the Jolly Roger Sailing Club worked with the U.S. Navy and the UK Royal Navy personal to take members of the Navy Sea Cadets out in our sailboats. I had 2 teenage boys, a Lieutenant from the Royal Navy and the mother of a Sea Cadet on the sail. We had good coverage in the Toledo Blade and on the local news. The boys enjoyed getting to man the tiller on my boat and other duties while under sail.

Mac

Comment by Mark (Voodoo Acrobat) on August 25, 2009 at 1:25pm

I thought I'd comment and perhaps knock some of the cobwebs off of this page. lol

I helped friends shop for their first sailboat over the past several weeks. They ended up getting a Sefarer 29' for their first sailboat, and, since they don't yet know how to sail, I get to be their skipper for the rest of the seaon!

They are at Meinke's Marina in Curtice, Ohio very close to Anchor Point. It's nice sailing out of that place. They have 1800 slips, very deep canals, and direct access to the lake. It's cool for me to see my local landmarks from their vantage. I can see the Fermi Nuke Plant, the power company stacks in Monroe and Luna Pier, and the Toledo light - the same things I see in my home waters. They're also very close to West Sister Island and a few hours closer to Put-in-Bay than I am. Lucky stiffs. lol

I've been neglecting my own boat for the past couple of weeks, but hope to get out there in the next day or two before the rains come.

Comment by Mark (Voodoo Acrobat) on June 14, 2009 at 10:37pm

Ahoy, Mac.

Too bad you had chores. It was a great day on the water! Sailboats far outnumbered the powerboats out there. Lots of sunshine and steady winds. The forecast called for light and variable, but I was happy to see they were wrong this time.

I can relate to those quick storms too. A couple of summers ago I was out for the day with a woman I used to date. We were about four miles offshore and I noticed the fishing boats were all making a beeline toward shore. I always monitor channel 16, but heard no warning either. I turned about and motor-sailed back to port while I felt the waves rising and the temperature dropping. My date was a lousy helmsman, but I managed to pull down the headsail and drop the main without getting tossed over the side. It was a very, very rough ride back into Bolles Harbor where my slip was at the time, but we made it. When the lake decides to kick up like that there really isn't much else you can do except reduce sail, fire up the motor, and hang on! It was rowdy, but passed quickly.

I've heard no word on whether or not anyone was arrested for the theft of the dock and boat ramp from the Toledo Lighthouse. Pretty ballsy move! There is a restoration organization trying to raise money to replace them.

All the best,

Mark

Comment by Mac on June 14, 2009 at 10:23pm

Glad to see you joined Mark, that was fast after I wrote you. As I was working on my dock at the yacht club and seeing some of the sailboats going out I thought it would have been a good day on the lake but I had just painted the dock yesterday and was building new steps from the shore to the dock, so much for sailing today.

Mac

Comment by Mark (Voodoo Acrobat) on June 14, 2009 at 10:12pm

Greetings, Lake Erie Sailors! Thanks for starting this group. Bluewater sailing is great, but the challenges found on the Great Lakes are so much different. Some days it's like sailing in a washing machine. Other days, like today, are just wonderful!! I was on Laplaissance Bay south of Monroe, Michigan gliding back and forth with my son and trying to avoid the boats racing from the North Cape Yacht Club and Toledo Beach.

I have a Westerly Cirrus 22' that I keep at Otter Creek Marina, a little mom & pop marina with a great bunch of folks and quick access to the lake.

Looking forward to hearing from you folks, and hopefully getting a few more members in this group.

Mark

Comment by Mac on June 14, 2009 at 9:16pm

Hi Doug, I thought this group needed more members so here I am. I sail the west end of Lake Erie from HVYC were the Maumee River opens into the lake. I have a Bayfield 25 and have had her since 2001. I had another Bayfield and an 1967 Alacrity that had ended up with a man on Seaknots that got her from my stepson after I gave it to him and this man restored her and then sold her when someone wanted to buy her.

Have you ever been in one of the quick squalls that will come up on the lake? One day back in the early 1980’s we were out in the Alacrity in what had been a great day. The weather radio gave no signs of a fast approaching storm. We had started to tack back to the Coolly Canal were we had our dock after a day out in the lake. About a mile from shore I noticed a dark cloud front approaching from the west, still nothing on the radio. As we got closer to the cannel the winds and waves whipped up and the rain started, still nothing on the weather radio about a storm. The canal has an entrance that had large rocks on each side and I had started the motor, an outboard, and was dropping the sails when the motor died and the wind with no sails was taking us toward the rocks. There already were two power boats on the rocks and I did not want to be a third boat. So I hoisted the main to the lowest reef point and was able to bring her in under sail. Now like many places around here there is a rule that you cannot come down the canal under sail but we made it to the dock with no problems and as fast as the storm came up it was gone and still nothing on the weather radio. As to why the motor quit the fuel pump diaphragm had to give out just at that time.

Anyone that has not sailed on Lake Erie might not know about these storms and how bad they can get fast due to the shallowness of the lake.

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