7/26/15 Grosse Pointe to Middle Bass Island, Lake Erie

We left Grosse Pointe Yacht Club at 0830.  We passed Blue Star on the way out of the marina.  Ron had talked with one of the crew on this boat (a Burger, 1987, 75 feet long).  It is a Fort Lauderdale boat which is currently at Grosse Pointe, but it is headed to Florida on the inland waterways and the Tenn Tom.  That will be quite a site as loopers travel south.

There was a ship behind us entering the Detroit River, traveling at 12 mph to our 8mph, so we decided to wait until he entered and got behind him. 

At 1000, we approached the Ambassador Bridge and I said, "OMG, I think that's a body in the water."  Since I wasn't sure, we circled back and then called the Coast Guard and gave our location.  They arrived 30 minutes later along with a police boat and divers.  Once we pointed out the body, we left the area.  The body appeared to be an African American male. Later in the day, one of my Facebook friends found an article online from the Detroit Free Press stating that a body had been found by boaters.  Although the person had not been identified, it was believed that he was the missing person who had fallen overboard 3 days earlier (at 1:30 am) during a concert.

(The U.S. Coast Guard says boaters have found a man's body in the Detroit River.
WDIV-TV reports the Coast Guard says the body was found Sunday morning. The man wasn't immediately identified.
The Coast Guard has been searching for a 44-year-old man who fell overboard in the river about 1:30 a.m. Thursday. He was watching a concert from a 33-foot boat anchored in the river off shore from the amphitheater at Detroit's Chene Park.

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Big concerts find new home at Detroit riverfront park

Coast Guard Cmdr. Austin Ives tells WJBK-TV that witnesses saw the man disappear under the surface in the fast-moving water.
Wednesday night's show featured Avery Sunshine as well as the duo Kindred the Family Soul.)
 

We continued on the river and met lots of weekend boaters, none of whom slowed down when passing.  Once we entered Lake Erie, we encountered a lot of boats returning after the weekend.  
We heard several pon pon calls on the radio.  One was for a plane believed to have crashed in Lake Erie 20 nautical miles north of Astabula, OH.  Another was for a 24 foot vessel adrift. 
The Coast Guard really works hard, especially on weekends!!

We arrived at Middle Bass Island (north of Sandusky) at 4pm.  Apparently it is good that we arrived on a Sunday night.  This island and Put-In-Bay, the adjacent island, had an event called Christmas in July.  There were no slips available and it sounds like it was nothing but a drunken brawl.  We specifically picked this island because the reputation of Put-In-Bay is that it is a PARTY PLACE.  Guess they both are.  It is really quiet here now.


We hitched a ride with a golf cart both to and from the pizza place a mile down the road.