Lake Erie

We made our trek back down the Black river in Port Huron to get back into the St. Clair river. We were heading to a marina on Lake St. Clair, in the town of St Clair Shores… No more St Clair. It’s now just SC.

The marina we stayed at in SC Shores was huge. The fuel dock had a wall and 8 slips. Hoses could easily reach anywhere. A great layout that more marinas need to copy. Nothing else stood out.

We had wanted to stay in Detroit, but it’s the weekend and everything was booked. We decided to push off early and shoot for the islands in western Lake Erie. We’ll have to see Toledo and Sandusky another time.

Here are some of the pictures of Detroit.

GM building

We continued down the river sharing narrow channels with some large freighters

Once we hit Lake Erie, I waited for the waters to get deeper before I set course to the islands. But, it never did. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes. I’m used to 300 feet deep and 55 degree water. Here it’s 30 feet deep and 82 degree water.

The more I read about anchoring on the islands, the more concerned I became. Lots of hard granite not much sand, clay, or anything the anchor can bite into.

It’s Saturday night and weekend pricing were in full swing. This is a very popular area and I wasn’t going to pay $150+ for a slip. Put-In-Bay has a mooring field and a ball is only $40 a night. Done.

My friend Bob, who lived in Cleveland for many years, has told me many stories about Put-In–Bay. Bruce and Pam, who are also from Cleveland, told me I wouldn’t like PIB on a weekend. They suggested Kelly’s Island instead.

I’m glad I came and experienced it. I don’t think I’ll be back. This is the complete opposite of Little Currents. Image a college frat party with adults who want to pretend they’re 20 again. The sun hadn’t set yet and there were already people sleeping it off in the park. I’m writing this from the cockpit of my boat in the mooring field and I’m being blasted with rap music from the bars on shore. What I’d give to hear Ann and her cello again.

The pluses of PIB

Tomorrow, we’re off to Cleveland.