Lake Erie Anchorages

[xort]

Planning a cruise to and around Lake Erie next month from the Detroit area.

Looking for anchorages. I have plenty of info on marinas but not much on good anchorges. The only one I know of is Put-In-Bay. Most time will be on western Lake Erie, not sure if I can make it far east in the week I have.

Also, any info on docking at the Rock N Roll Hall?

[duffer1960]

The south end of Pelee Island: the side you anchor on will depend on the wind direction. Be warned though, it can switch 180 degrees on you.
The north side of Kelly's Island: very nice cove, lots of boats on weekends.
In front of the Perry Monument at Put-In-Bay: never anchored there, but it looks VERY rocky due to boat traffic.
North end of Pointe Mouillee spoil area (west of the Detroit River Light). VERY protected from the weather; don't know if I'd want to swim in there though.
East side of Sugar Island (East side of Grosse Ile, MI), north of the seawall extending from the Livingstone Channel. I haven't anchored there, and the chart shows it is pretty shallow, but I know of other people in sailboats that anchor there.
Crystal Bay, (north of Bois Blanc (Boblo) Island). Used to have HUGE crowds on weekends, but I'm not sure if they still do.
You can tie up right in front of the R&R Hall FOR FREE (at least you could three summers ago). It is a public park and is VERY sheltered, but it is DOWNTOWN and open to the public, so lock your stuff up. We didn't have any problems, but we heard of some who did.

If I can think of some more, I'll post them.

[tommyt]

Looks like Russ has given you quite a few choices. I would also suggest that you join the Lake Erie email list here on Sailnet and ask the question there. Not a very active list, but answers usually come.

[Valiente]

Haven't sailed Lake Erie, but have spoken with quite a few that have, and you have to be vigilant in summer anchorages due to the extreme rapidity with which heavy weather can develop. Here at the west end of Lake Ontario, we've had three days out of the last seven with damaging wind storms, golfball-sized hail and heavy lightning. Last week we had funnel clouds. It's generally worse down Lake Erie way, with the only consolation being that it clears out usually pretty promptly.

I say this only because most anchorages there seem pretty shallow, and if you lose your purchase in a 50-knot line squall with a big wind shift, you won't have a lot of time to react.

[cruisingdream]

Careful where you anchor crystal bay , white sands and some others are in canada you need to check in on shore in canada before anchoring in these areas.

another nice spot is up the maumee in downtown toledo (2 draw bridges)

[primerate84]

I keep my boat at Sandusky Harbor Marina and there are a lot of vacant slips (powerboats that are still on the hard). If you belong to a yacht club, our club is Harbor Bay and you may be able to get a member's slip for free if they are out on an extended cruise. The marina also has a bathhouse and pool.

Put-In-Bay has mooring balls rented by the day although they may do a weekly rental; I never stayed for more than two days at a time. I was there last Saturday and the fee was $40 for overnight which includes a free water taxi to shore. Weekly fee is cheaper.