Lake Erie Moorings

[Ian]

Oct. 29th

Spencer called last night and said he was available if I wanted to take the moorings off Lake Erie. Turned on the computer to check the marine weather only to find that they were calling for high wind warnings starting about noon today and building through the weekend. We decided to meet at the harbor this morning and take a look for ourselves before making the decision.

When we left Port Colborne it wasn't bad at all, and we made the 20 mile run out to the Niagara in good time. After removing the buoy ( still in good shape) and attaching the winter jug, we headed south for five miles to the Finnie only to find that there was no buoy on site. Although we had dive gear on board we elected not to dive as we still had three wrecks to go and the weather was picking up. Didn't really matter anyway, whether sunk or missing, we still need a new one for next year.

Another 6.6 miles brought us to the Carlingford and one of our new tall buoys. This one stuck out like a sore thumb and you could see it from a half mile away even in the waves that were beginning to pick up. Other than some green slime, this thing still looks new.

4.2 miles later we were at the Stonewreck and had the only problem of the day. When we tried to pull in the buoy, it would only come about a foot out of the water. The chain/rope attachment was still 10' below the surface. We figured the line had to be tangled in the wreck. Jack Wenger suited up and went down to clear the line. What he found was that the line was so heavy with zebra muscles, it had sunk and knotted itself. After clearing the knot, he proceeded to clean all the zebra muscles off the line. We had the buoy off and in the boat by the time he surfaced. Unfortunately this buoy is in bad shape. The outer casing is split top and bottom and when I picked it up by the radar reflector the reflector and light pulled about 10" out of the buoy. The bottom stop along with the shackle and chain were pulled up inside the buoy. This wreck is also going to require a new buoy next year as well. Makes me wonder if this is what might have happened to the Finnie buoy. I guess we'll find out next year when we see what's left on the bottom.

10.7 miles more brought us to the Benson. Other than being the dirtiest of all the buoys and in need of some reflective tape, it was also if good shape.

After a grand total of 52.3 miles, we made it back into Port Colborne. All our buoys have been removed for the season. The Niagara, Carlingford, Stonewreck and Benson have small foam filled jugs on them for anyone planning a late season dive. NOTSHIP C2427/09 covers the work we did today.

Finally, I'd like to thank Spencer and Jack for the help they provided all season. Without them, a lot of mooring work would not have been done. Ian

[Jen]

That's great Ian.. Thanks to your team!