Lake Erie Winds: Island Splendor

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Island Splendor

I had the opportunity to head out to to South Bass Island this past weekend and was able to snap some nice shots. I'll share a few with you in this post. On Saturday I climbed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay as we headed out about ten miles out for a ceremony commemorating those who died in the Battle of Lake Erie. I posted briefly on that and will have more for you later this week. But for now, enjoy these pics.

If you follow my blog you know that I reported on and posted photos of a blue Amphicar I spotted at the boat show in Huron earlier this summer. This red one, from what I was told, is owned by someone who resides at Put-in-Bay. On Saturday they were tooling around the harbor. Last I saw it the car was driving ashore on Gibraltar Island.

The South Bass Island Light sits majestically on the west side of South Bass Island, looking out over the waters of Lake Erie, with a Miller Boat Line ferry and a small boat nearby.

A bright red buoy bounces gently in the lake with uninhabited Green Island in the background.

The imposing granite edifice of the Perry's Monument and International Peace Memorial displays scaffolding, announcing to the world it's still being renovated. Park Service officials hope to see the observation deck open to visitors by summer.

Many took advantage of OSU's open house of its research facility at Gibraltar Island. Two boats carried a regular stream of visitors to the island. Here one of them cruises past a trimaran.

The high cliffs that are a feature of the north side of Gibraltar Island are apparent in this photo.

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About Lake Erie

9,940 sq mi (25,745 sq km), 241 mi (388 km) long and from 30 to 57 mi (48-92 km) wide, bordered on the N by S Ont., Canada, on the E by W N.Y., on the S by NW Pa. and N Ohio, and on the W by SE Mich. and NW Ohio.; fourth largest of the Great Lakes. It is 572 ft (174 m) above sea level with a maximum depth of 210 ft (64 m), making it the shallowest of the Great Lakes and the only one with a floor above sea level. It is part of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system and is linked to Lake Huron by the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, and St. Clair River, and with Lake Ontario by the Niagara River (Lake Erie's only natural outlet) and the Welland Canal. The New York State Canal System links the lake with the Hudson River. Several small rivers, including the Maumee, Sandusky, and Cuyahoga, flow into the lake from the south; the Grand River enters from Ontario. Lake Erie is partially icebound in winter and is usually closed to navigation from mid-December to the end of March. Rich agricultural lands border the Canadian shore, where the chief towns are Port Colborne and Port Stanley. The principal U.S. cities on the lake are Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, and Toledo; all are ports with heavy industry. Untreated industrial and municipal wastes from lakeshore cities-and from Detroit, whose wastes enter the western end of the lake-polluted the waters and rendered surrounding areas foul smelling. A U.S.-Canadian pact (1972) ended the discharge of contaminating materials into the water, and the environmental damage has since abated. Numerous recreation facilities are provided at national (Point Pelee and Fort Malden in Canada), provincial, and state parks located on the lake's islands and shores. The first European to see the lake was French explorer Louis Jolliet in 1669. The British and the French, and later the British and the Americans, fought for its control. The battle of Lake Erie (Sept. 10, 1813), a naval engagement in the War of 1812, led successfully by the U.S. leader Oliver H. Perry against the British, was fought at Put-in Bay. (Courtesy the Columbia Encyclopedia)

News and views, and history and humor, about the lake I love.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Island Splendor

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