Friday, September 21
Lake Erie EverStart Practice, Detroit, Michigan
Dan writes:
At 2:30 in the morning we stepped outside the tent. The wind had died, the stars were as brilliant and as numerous as we’d ever seen them, and I went back to bed anxious for daylight to return, and looking forward to a nice day on the water. By 6am though, things had totally changed. The sky was completely overcast and the wind was beginning to blow in the treetops. By 7am, when it was light enough to launch the boat, the rain showers had begun. It was a south wind again, and I knew the waves would get worse the further north I went, but I was determined to get all the way out to Pelee Island this morning. The only reason we’re here in Ohio, as opposed to Detroit, is that Pelee is only 25 miles away, instead of the 40 or so it is from Detroit.
By the time I made it out to Chickenolee Reef, some of the waves were about six feet, and running directly downwind I had already taken five over the front of the boat. Soaking wet, I set out my drift sock and crawled on hands and knees up to the bow, where I unstrapped the trolling motor and reattached the depth finders. Sitting down on the deck, for it was too rough to be standing up, I began dragging a tube and drifting across the reef.
As I sat, the approaching waves were above the level of my head. The rain had begun in earnest, and I could not make out land in any direction. There was also not another boat in sight, and the wind was getting stronger, and the waves higher, as time went by. I broke off five times on the zebra muscles, and had not had one bite by 10am, when I decided I’d had enough. It was a mistake coming out here at all, and I was anxious about making it back to shore safely.
Thank goodness for GPS technology and for products that use it, like my Lowrance X15. Anyone who comes out on big water like this without one is crazy. It took almost two hours for me to get home today, but thanks to my Lowrance unit I was able to do it without any landmarks, or even any visible shoreline, yet I knew at all times my exact location, the path I had taken to get out here, and how far it was back to safe harbor. And if I ever broke down out here, with my cell phone I could call for help and give someone my exact coordinates for rescue.
I was back at camp by noontime. Coming in early allows us to break camp this afternoon, travel the two hours up to Detroit and find a campsite there. That at least will give me a full day of fishing tomorrow, but we have wasted now two entire days out of the five we’ve allocated for practice.
Annie writes:
I like the fact that it doesn’t get light out until around 7:00am. This allows Dan to stay at home later in the morning. He left around 7:00, it was raining, so Cooper and I hung out in bed for a while longer. I spent most of the day working on the computer and doing things around the campground.
My mom called last night and she said that she heard there were papers found in Detroit, Michigan that mentioned something about a second wave of terrorism that was suppose to happen this Saturday (tomorrow). It makes me very nervous, but you hear so many of these different stories and rumors, that you do not know which ones are true, if any at all. I will definitely keep an ear to the news stations tomorrow just to be sure.
Dan came back much earlier than expected, he was soaking wet all the way to the bones. He told me of his experience on the water and I am so thankful he made it home OK. When he gets nervous on the water I know it is really bad, because he is so used to driving in rough water. I am glad he was smart enough to come back in and not try to stick it out, and risk getting hurt.
We decided to pack up and move our campsite today rather than tomorrow, so he will get to fish early tomorrow. We were packed up and on the road by 3:00. We arrived in Detroit around 5:30 and found a great State Park to stay at. There are other fishermen here also and we got to socialize a bit while setting up camp. We got the tent and screenhouse all set up, it is mostly organized and livable for the night. We cooked a can of stew at 9:30 and I watched a little of the news before going to bed.