Lake Erie has very little in the way of protected natural harbors. As we still needed to wait a while before the Welland Canal opens to recreational boating, our choice became to go to one of the many constructed harbors available and stay at a marina, or to sail across the Lake to Presque Isle State Park by Erie, Pennsylvania, where we would have 360° protection and could anchor for the duration for free. Plus, there was a chance we could spot beavers. We took that choice. We'd been to Presque Isle before, the previous year, and knew we'd be comfortable anchored there.
The sail went about as well as could be expected. We left Erieau just before sunset in rain and fog, which pushed through a few hours later. Once Begonia was pointed at Erie, I synced the flux gate compass with our actual heading as a stopgap. That made the instruments read pretty normally, so long as we didn't deviate by more than ten or fifteen degrees.
Maryanne gave the main and jib a good airing. After waking me at midnight for my watch, the wind had moderated enough for me to switch to the spinnaker for the rest of the trip eastwards across the lake.
Maryanne and I switched watches again at sunrise. She woke me a few hours later to say that we were outside the harbor and that she had already received our inbound clearance to the U.S., so we were free to go right to our anchorage. Once through the main breakwater, we ran through the procedure for swinging and aligning the compass. Then, for good measure, we did it again. Now everything is behaving as it should.
Not surprisingly, after entering the next basin, Begonia was the only boat there, so we got our first choice of a spot to drop the anchor. ALL the boats at the adjacent marina were still on the hard under their covers, with not a single intrepid one in the water.
We departed Erieau around dawn, and I'm sure we were the only 'pleasure boat' on the lake. 85 nautical miles later we sailed passed Erie where the fire fighters were executing some practice drills. Soon we were away from the city, anchored, and snug in the tranquility of Presque Isle Park
On the first nice day, we went ashore at the park to stretch our legs. We also rowed over to the marina where we learned they were doing a big improvement project and didn't expect to be putting boats into the water until early June. That's why almost no one looked like they were even starting to get ready for the season. We did occasionally see a fishing boat launch from the nearby boat ramp, but anytime the wind picked up or the sun got too close to the horizon, they would head for their trailers and leave us to our solitude. After a winter of near-constant travel, it was nice to sit back and enjoy some proper unstructured time for a change.
We spent 10 days in Presque Isle, only 3 of which were nice enough to venture ashore - so we made the most of those times
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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