First Crossing of Lake Erie - East to West

My two brothers and I finally got Moon Shadow home to Sandusky last week. Sorry for not visiting with a few of you along the way; I planned the days a little too long for our first trip, and we were not comfortable arriving after dark just yet.

A few quick notes from the trip:
Buffalo, NY to Erie, PA: Too long for a first day. We stalled for a day due to weather, and last Sunday the lake still had choppy (and closely timed) waves. Nothing dramatic, but 4-5 foot waves that are only 3-4 seconds apart are really uncomfortable for us newbies. We had to "burp" the impellor a couple of times, which meant quite a bit of rolling around with no engine and no sails up (no steering) for about half an hour. It did not make for a great first impression with my brothers. No high drama, just lots of nerves and getting rolled around while trying to get the engine cooling system to draft properly. I got a couple of "what did you get us into" looks. We only saw one other boat all day, until Presque Isle.

Erie, PA to Ashtabula, OH: Still motoring. Jib installed, but we lacked the confidence to install the main and reefs properly. Motor-sailed with the jib for a while, but the wind was pretty much straight at us all day. Presque Isle is lovely. Added fresh diesel at Erie Yacht Club, which really reduced the smoke in the exhaust. I am pretty sure the diesel in the tank was 2-3 years old, with fuel stabilizer being added each fall....so lots of old and over-treated diesel. Erie Yacht Club was very nice, for the 20 minutes we were there. Presque Isle State Park was beautiful, but the fuel and pump-out vendor was still not open for the season (after Memorial Day?). We came into heavy fog/mist at 3pm, and it lasted until we rounded the river to the bridge at Ashtabula. It was quite uncomfortable to know a sea wall is <.1 miles in front of you and you still can't see it.

Ashtabula, OH to Cleveland, OH: Ashtabula Yacht Club was amazingly friendly. I had told the dock-master we were rookies, and they had 4 gents standing at the wall to help us tie-off and get things situated. The guys helped us get the main sail on and the reef-lines sorted properly. They let us know what restaurants would still be open, and made us feel very welcome. The club sits right next to the town. 2 blocks and you have several independent restaurants and and excellent coffee roaster! We did not encounter any other recreational traffic until we got within 2 miles of East Cleveland....because..... the midgies came out. The midget flies came out in swarms. It was unpleasant.

Cleveland, OH to Sandusky, OH: Stayed at E 55th St city marina in Cleveland. The facilities are under construction, and the marina is very close to a couple of major highways. Big change from Presque Isle and Ashtabula. Noise, people, dark shower house. It was nice, but we are not city folks, generally, and there was not really any socializing with the handful of people we saw at the marina. We sailed for about 3 hours on the way to Sandusky, but we here pointed 40 off course to do it.....and the midgies were back with reinforcements for our final day. The back of my mainsail was nearly completely black with little squishy bugs. We flagged the main and the flies came off in rolling clouds. It was too much, and we just wanted to get to home port quickly. Hoods up, neck gators up, sunglasses, anything we could do to keep the flies off. No fun at all. Couldn't sit when down below, for fear of covering the cushions with bug guts. Laid on the cabin sole and took a nap for an hour, just to get away from the flies for a while. Couldn't eat in the cockpit, and couldn't sit below. Not an ideal last day. A few fishing boats, with guys looking miserable, and us. We did not see another sail boat all day. We passed one large motor yacht on our way into the Sandusky channel. "I bet they turn around real quick when all that glass turns to bug smear."

Sandusky Sail Club (SSC) was, as I already knew, very welcoming. Boat was gross. We were gross. Nobody seemed to mind a bit, though. (Nobody was going out last week, though, I noticed. Word was out about the midgies.)

Boat got hosed down. We got showered and fed, and all is well. Other than some struggles with the engine cooling on day one (and smokey exhaust from over-treated fuel), we had no mechanical issues. Moon Shadow ran better and better with every 5 gallons of fresh diesel to blend out the old fuel, and I added a little more each day. We did 210 miles just two days after the mast was re-stepped.

Pretty good start.

Sounds like a good trip and well planned. As for feeling gross, get a buck, a bar of soap, and shampoo, you will feel like a new man.

Those May flies are nasty little boogers

May flies are gross, but those damn black biting flies are a scourge.

Congrats on a big first crossing! And congrats on all the work to get the boat up and running!
Whooo - those buggy days on the Great Lakes are something else.
Once you're comfortable with the boat, overnight passages are a strategy we've used to great effect to avoid night time arrivals. Depart in the evening while it's light so you can get everything rigged and get sailing. Spend the night out on the lake where there's a lot less else to run into, and then you've got the whole day ahead to come into harbor.

A friend of ours relocated from the Great Lakes to Portland back in the 80's for his job. I still recall visiting aboard his boat and asking about the several fly swatters laying around... He had similar stories about the seasonal fly swarms. And, that they would bite!

Fly swatter and a bug-a-salt. There will be blood... From all parties involved

C. Shamis said:

May flies are gross, but those damn black biting flies are a scourge.

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I don't even want to think about insects that bite, not in these quantities!

driftless said:

Congrats on a big first crossing! And congrats on all the work to get the boat up and running!
Whooo - those buggy days on the Great Lakes are something else.
Once you're comfortable with the boat, overnight passages are a strategy we've used to great effect to avoid night time arrivals. Depart in the evening while it's light so you can get everything rigged and get sailing. Spend the night out on the lake where there's a lot less else to run into, and then you've got the whole day ahead to come into harbor.

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I hope to sail overnight after a few months. We are still getting a feel for Moon Shadow, definitely. I find I still have to look at sheet colors just to know I have the correct line in hand. Once the habits are better formed, I definitely hope to find a big full moon to slip under.

Out There said:

Fly swatter and a bug-a-salt. There will be blood... From all parties involved

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I had to look-up bug-a-salt. That....is....hilarious. (slick website, too)

I think it is going on my wish list.

If you go to Put in Bay don't get in the pool unless the chlorine in the air burns you sinuses

and i hear the upside down pineapples are seen there

Out There said:

If you go to Put in Bay don't get in the pool unless the chlorine in the air burns you sinuses

and i hear the upside down pineapples are seen there

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I have already been advised that, if, I go there.....mooring ball is the way. I don't know that Put-In-Bay is my scene....

200+ miles in two days on Lake Erie is impressive. I grew up sailing Lake Erie on my family's '76 Pearson 26, I always enjoyed Kelly's Island. We'd sail from Monroe Michigan to Put in Bay first, then leave after a couple of days rafted 3-4 deep for Kelly's which was serene and pleasant. We were kids so we'd ride bikes to local quarries and swim (after letting ourselves in), dinghy fishing in the late afternoons, it's a nice spot at least in my memory. It seemed to me the water was deeper, bluer, and cleaner the further east you went. Afternoon storms on Lake Erie are no joke, neither are the may flies and biting black flies that hide amongst them.