Spring Thaw on Lake Erie - 2010

**pgvoutdoors** · 03-16-2010, 11:43 AM

I went down to the lake yesterday to look around. The ice has melted quite a bit but there's a way to go before we see clear waters.

The sand on the snow makes a interesting picture.

Note: This was shot in color, not black and white!

Summer picture in the same direction added.

**Ken** · 03-16-2010, 11:58 AM

Living on the shore of the Atlantic, I was gonna' make some smart-@ss remark about the Great Lakes being over-sized wading pools. Then I remembered that we have quite a few guys who live on the Pacific coast.

So I won't say anything.

**pgvoutdoors** · 03-16-2010, 12:05 PM

I had a friend a couple years ago visit from Seattle. It was early winter with some ice on the lake. She was so surprised to see ships on a lake. The Great Lakes are no wading pools and nothing to mess with in bad weather. Many ships and there crew are resting on the bottom of those lakes. In the winter the ice is unbelievable.

**Ken** · 03-16-2010, 12:11 PM

Yeah. Remember this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

**Ken** · 03-16-2010, 12:20 PM

Phil, I've been on most local (much, much, much smaller) lakes and rivers, and once or twice I was mighty grateful when I stepped back on dry land.

**BLEUXDOG** · 03-16-2010, 12:25 PM

Nice picture! Looks like a Hallmark canidate!

**pgvoutdoors** · 03-16-2010, 12:28 PM

Thanks for the link Ken, and yes I do remember. I was twelve and had just moved back to Ashtabula, Ohio. Two sailors were from that town and four more from nearby towns.

One of the main reasons the ship sunk was it's designed was based on ocean going vessels. The Great Lakes are more choppy by nature. When you have twenty five foot waves, these waves slam a ship atop of the water.

I served in the Mare Corps for ten years and was deployed by ship for most of that time. I've been around the world many times and even road out a hurricane off the coast of Japan. If you don't respect open water, be it ocean or lake, your doomed.

**Ken** · 03-16-2010, 12:49 PM

Phil, I've encountered one - just one - rogue wave in my life, and I've been on the open ocean over 1,000 times. Some people never see one during a lifetime spent on the ocean. One is more than enough.

Sometime between 1976 - 1979. A weak hurricane had blown past a couple of hundred miles out at sea a day earlier. All local marine forecasts were good. Normal seas at the mouth of a river in Westport, MA, with open ocean directly in front of us. Then there it was, racing toward us and growing to at least 25' high.

My dad was running the boat (21 footer) and he hit it just right. The wave broke over the bow, there was a ceiling of water over the boat, and we only got hit with a bit of spray. Somehow, my shorts still got soaked.

There were 3 of us onboard, and we all thought we were gonna' die.

It happened here, on the far side of that rock formation known as "the Knubble":

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

**pgvoutdoors** · 03-16-2010, 12:53 PM

I've had a few close calls on land but you can't shake the feeling of the possibility of death when on the water.

**Ken** · 03-16-2010, 12:57 PM

Here's the place.

**rebel** · 03-16-2010, 01:07 PM

The first picture looks like an Ansel Adams picture.

**Old GI** · 03-16-2010, 01:10 PM

Wading Pool? Was the name Edmond Fitzgerald?

**Ken** · 03-16-2010, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by Old GI

Wading Pool? Was the name Edmond Fitzgerald?

Just trying to wind you guys up a bit. Click on the link, GI.

Originally Posted by Ken

Yeah. Remember this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

**Julie362** · 03-16-2010, 04:34 PM

Used to live just outside of Chicago, so I saw a LOT of Lake Michigan. Now, in VT, Lake Champlain seems so tiny to me! It's all a matter of perspective. Also, you have to consider the fact that the ocean is salt water and the Great Lakes are fresh, and on the scale of freshwater sources, they are enormous! If you can see it from space, it's big!