First Time Cruising to Lake Erie from Toronto

[Tonyjay]

Originally Posted by sailr69

hold on folks, things to know about lake Erie. it has a purge cycle of three years. meaning; every three years it will have a complete change of water. quicker then all of the other great lakes. lake superior takes 100 years. another thing, lake Erie is the greatest fishing lake of all the great lakes. the lake is very clean and can be swimmed in just about everywhere. in late summer the lake can get a algae bloom from river runoff and can be disgusting. this happens in the west basin which is overall shallow. Kelley's island is a great place to spend a few days at. put n bay is for the folks who need more stimulation. historical place with more things to do then you can shake a stick at. this September will be the tall ships coming to put n bay for the bi centennial of the battle of lake Erie in the war of 1812, the ship Niagara is the ship commodore Perry defeated the British squadron with. she will be there reenacting the battle on the original site. along with a dozen or more tall ships. Lake Erie borders 4 states, Michigan , Ohio, Penn. and New York. two countries Canada and US. the lake itself is larger then the North Sea. The bad press the lake got back in the sixties was for the most part true. but that is now history. the Lake can and does get very nasty with the storms and winds from any direction. lots of water spouts. keep a eye on the weather forecasts. we sail into November but that pushes it a bit.

+1

We've sailed Erie for 30 years. And yes there is an algae bloom this year - worst since 2003 caused by spring rains and fertilizer runoff. On the other hand there are a number of forces in play to further clean up the lake. 50% of the fish population of the Great Lakes is in Erie. So you'll see more dead fish than in other lakes - especially if you're on the lee shore in a strong blow.

We've sailed virtually all of the Great Lakes and they each have there own + and - .

Spend an entire summer here to really explore and you will be less negative on Erie. For that matter take a summer for each of the GLs.

FYI no salt corrosion to deal with. No medical waste on the beaches.