Last day of summer 2007
What better way to enjoy the last day of summer and toast the first day of fall than an overnight cruise?
The forecast was promising a sunny and warm weekend with perfect winds for a sail to the lighthouse at the tip of Long Point. Long Point is a peninsula that's basically a huge sand dune on Lake Erie and projects about a third of the way from Canada to the USA. It's World Biosphere Preserve and the last 25 miles of it is uninhabited and inaccessible from land (except for a few birdwatchers and staff)
We headed out Saturday afternoon in 15kts NW. The sun was already getting low!
Lenore snapped this "Old Mariner" shot of me...
Broad reach and hull speed - sometimes breaking 7kts surfing down the 3 foot waves. What an easy sail!
20 NM later, the lighthouse is in sight!
Anchored at dusk in about 3 feet of water. Depth doesn't exceed 5 feet until almost 800 feet off shore. Sand bottom and a good grip for the danforth. Water temp is about 70 F - good enough for where we live but probably too cold for the boys down south...
The last few rays of sun cast really looooong shadows! Kira has fun making "shadow monsters".
The day ended with a spectacular sunset - and we are the only ones here to enjoy it!
Had a bit of chop during the night but we mostly slept well. Or was it the homemade chili and beer we had for supper? Woke to a clear blue sky and warm sun the next morning.
We leave Teliki at anchor to do some exploring. Note that we are still the only ones here! Hard to imagine that several million people live within 50 miles of here!
This is the tip of the peninsula - considering you can find it on any globe, it's amazing to actually stand on such a prominent feature. Note that the waves come from two directions - quite "confused" in heavy weather. Actually, heavy weather here is pretty nasty. Lots of shipwrecks and several lighthouses were washed away in storms over the past hundred years.
Looking down the southern beach and there are actually a couple other boats there! They probably made the trip over from Erie PA. You have to walk a good 25 miles to encounter civilization.
The trip back was uneventful as the wind had died to nothing. Lake Erie was like a pond - barely a ripple. We rigged up the autopilot and motored back as "passengers". Made it back into our slip about 30 minutes before dusk.
What a perfect weekend!