Day 50

Middle Bass Island OH - Detroit MI

• Start 6:25 am
• End 12:32PAM
• Underway 9 Hours
• Distance 48 miles
• Total Miles on Trip 1064
• Av Speed 7.9 knots
• Weather Heavy Rain

Lake Erie had to get her last punches in. The first 3.5 hours of our trip was the last of Lake Erie. The forecast was for seas under 2 feet. Once again they were wrong! When we started it was very smooth, by the time we were half way across the lake the seas were a good 3 feet with an occasional 4 foot. While not dangerous they were definitely not comfortable. To make it even better it was raining heavily.

Since we had already crossed into Canadian Waters, I decided to head towards the shoreline, directly into the waves. This made the ride much smoother, but added about 45 minutes to the trip. It was well worth it. As we got closer to shore the waves were back down to 1 foot or less.

By 10am, we were at the mouth of the Detroit River. While the river had no waves, now we had a current to deal with. The current slows our speed by about 15%, which in turn reduces our fuel economy by 15%.

There are three channels up the Detroit River separated by islands. We choose the eastern channel which is totally in Canadian waters. We cannot take the western channel because there is a low bridge, and the main channel is primarily used for south bound traffic

Even with the border closed, we are allowed to travel through Canadian waters, as long as we do not stop, anchor or touch the shore line. We did not have any issues, with the Canadian Border Patrol but Sabbatical had to slow down so Steve could check something and they did come alongside them and asked where they were from, and reminded them that the border was closed.

Because of the rain and flooding we did not see much of Detroit. We did go out to dinner with several other Loopers. The first restaurant we stopped at was closed, and was pumping water out of the building.

Tomorrow we head to St Clair MI.