We departed Cedar Point Marina a little before 11:00 am for a short 13.1 mile trip to Catawba Moorings (marina). First, we went across the bay/harbor to downtown Sandusky, Ohio. The major ports along the south shore of Lake Erie used to ship out a lot of coal from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, but most of the huge coal loading facilities are now gone. The railroad cars were pushed in one at a time. Then they were lifted up and tipped so that the coal would slide out and into a chute that directed the coal into lake freighters. As a kid in Lorain, our parents would take my brother and I down to the coal dock to watch this process for what seemed like hours. I guess that it was a good way to put my brother and I to sleep, but no matter how many times we went it was always fascinating to watch...
As we left Sandusky Harbor, we went out past Cedar Point one more time and got some great views of the roller coasters.
The north side of Sandusky Bay and Harbor is formed by the Marblehead Peninsula. Rather than marble, the peninsula is formed by resistant limestone. Further to the north, the limestone forms a series of island and shallow shoals, which were very dangerous for shipping on the lake. The eastern tip of the peninsula is marked by the Marblehead Lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper's home is just behind the light. This would easily be the most famous lighthouse on Lake Erie.
The peninsula and the islands to the north is the area is where we will be spending the next few days. After rounding the tip of the peninsula, we headed west along the shore. After a half mile, we passed the small town of Marblehead where we saw this lake freighter being loaded with crushed limestone. In large areas of the interior of the peninsula the limestone has been quarried out to below lake level. The red hulled ferry in the foreground is one of the passenger and vehicle ferries to Kelly's Island, which is the first island to the north, and it had also been extensively quarried in its interior.
After a couple of miles the shoreline abruptly heads north at what is now East Harbor State Park. The park is on a long, often narrow spit of sand. The beaches are not wide, but the water gets deep VERY slowly. It is the kind of place where you could walk 100 feet out into the water and still be in only 1 or 2 feet of water.
At the north end of the several mile long park we reached our destination at the Catawba Marina. As usual, the Admiral did an excellent job of picking a marina. This one had a nice, large pool and restaurant. ...and oh, did I mention that they had fried Lake Erie Perch???
No comments:
Post a Comment