Finding Lake Erie

Life has been way too busy to blog. Both Nicki and I are starting up the school year. And with watching the Katrina news there hasn’t been much time. The kayaks have been safely stowed on their racks in the garage - didn’t want them caught up in the storms we had Tuesday and Wednesday. Besides we were starting to get a certain amount of recognition (I assume positive) as we drove around town with the boats on top.

However, Saturday we just couldn’t not take advantage of the great weather and reloaded the boats on the CRV and headed northeast. First a stop at Trader Joe’s to pick up coffee beans, munchies, and wine. Then to the boat launch at the Rocky River Reservation which is part of the Cleveland Metroparks - a string of parks that circles around most of metro Cleveland. The Rocky River section contains a long section of the Rocky River as it empties into Lake Erie.

This boat launch is much busier than any of the others we’ve experienced. Five or six ramps feeding into the river in the shadow of a long shale cliff. Even has a policeman on duty and a police patrol boat - assume that is part of heartland security. We didn’t get much notice.

Tried going upriver first. Interesting to be under the cliffs. If you look closely you'll notice that Nicki is wearing her PFD inside-out - either a new fashion statement or just overlooked in her enthusiasm to get out in the water. Didn’t get far - maybe a half mile before the river became too shallow and we started scraping rocks and fighting the current. Turned around and headed toward the mouth of the river. The river passes through the Cleveland Yachting Club marina - hundreds of boats and yachts and interesting houses along the water. At one point we passed an exclusive looking picnic ground - by exclusive I mean the picnic tables had table cloths, candles, wine glasses, and a real nice unobstructed view of sunsets over the lake.

As we got closer to where the river empties into Lake Erie the paddling got more and more challenging. The water got increasingly choppy as you near the end of the breakwall leading into the lake. I’d like to say I was real confident about my boating skills but after a minute or so officially out in the lake we turned around to explore more of the marina area.

Later on we got braver and our desire to see the sunset from the perspective of the lake led us to venture just a little further onto the lake proper. And besides you do get more confident about the kayaks ability to ride the 1-2 foot bumpy swells - I can’t really call them waves. There was a little water that splashed up into the cockpit but only enough to moisten my shirt - no concern. The kayaks feel very stable, turn well, and are easy to steer away from the waves striking the breakwall. And with the wind at your back they kind of surf the swells - cool.

Nice sunset. It was worth riding rough waters. Good thing it wasn’t a busier evening as it would have been even more interesting if boat traffic had been heavy. We are small and low and we don’t make much of a bump in the night.

Wildlife report: We did find a couple herons to sneak up on, there were a few cormorants fishing, and on our way back to the boat launch we found a small bunch of immature and mature Black-crowned Night Herons. Too little light to get decent photos of the Night Herons and besides Nicki's camera wasn't cooperating (she was using her boat camera - not her good camera).

I think we surprised the policeman on duty at the boat ramp as we kind of quietly snuck up on him - he wasn’t sure what was arriving along with the dark. I did have my flashlight on so I was legally abiding by the watercraft rules.

After loading up the boats and changing clothes we stopped for a late dinner at one of our favorite spots - Max’s Deli. Home by 11:00.