posted 11-02-2008 11:20 AM ET (US)        

DAUNTLESS 18 at Detroit River launch ramp, Wyandotte, Michigan
Photo by Dave Buckalew

For November 1st the weather was delightful. It was sunny and the temperature was climbing from an early morning 45-degrees toward a forecast high of 60-degrees. As we motored southward in the lower Detroit River I was bemoaning my lack of sunglasses. We jogged over to the eastern side of the river and took the Amherstburg Channel to the Detroit River Light. We saw very few other recreational boaters.

Kevin running at speed in his DAUNTLESS 18, Amherstburg Channel, Detroit River.
Photo by Dave Buckalew

GAMBLER in the lower Detroit River
Photo by Kevin Albus

GAMBLER alongside the Detroit River Light
Photo by Kevin Albus

We headed out into Lake Erie, which was delightfully and uncharacteristically calm, with only a hint of waves. The breeze was very light from the northwest, and what little seas there were were a following sea. We followed the shipping channel southeast, drawn by the approaching bulk of the JAMES R. BARKER, a 1,004-foot ore carrier. The "Big Barker" (as she is known to differentiate from a smaller sister ship the KAYE E. BARKER, only 767-feet, and known as "The Little Barker") was making some speed in the open lake. She was pushing a six-foot or higher bow wave, and we had to slow to idle to cross her rather significant wake. After that close encounter we jogged to the south-southwest and headed for Toledo, about 25 miles away.

GAMBLER making a one-whistle (PORT to PORT) pass with the BARKER.
Photo by Kevin Albus

The 1004-feet of the Big BARKER in Lake Erie
Photo by Dave Buckalew

As we cruised along at 30-MPH, Lake Erie's open water started to roll up some 2-footers. I speculated aloud to Dave that I hoped these wouldn't get bigger when it came time to return. Dave and I were tucked in behind his Mills forward shelter and windshield, so we quite warm and cozy, particularly as the sun was shinning. As we headed south we passed under a large cloud bank, and lost the solar heating from the sun. We also lost any heat from land, and I imagine the air was not much warmer than the 45-degree water. Kevin was out in the open, dressed in warm gear but lacking much of a lee from the wind.

By about 1:45 p.m. we made the Toledo Light, proceeded up the dredged and marked channel to the inner harbor, found an empty dock in front of a shore-side restaurant complex, tied up, and went for lunch. We got a table next to the fireplace at THE SEAFOOD CO., and the radiant heat from the logs was much appreciated.

Toledo Harbor Light, Lake Erie
Photo by Dave Buckalew

At about 3 p.m. after a warm and relaxing meal, we got back into the Boston Whalers for the trip home. I jumped into Kevin's DAUNTLESS 18 with Mercury 135-HP OptiMax for the trip up the Maumee River to Lake Erie, but I added an extra layer of clothing and changed to warmer gloves. Kevin kindly let me take the helm. We backed away from the floating dock and motored at No-Wake speed about a mile. As the Maumee River widens slightly the speed restrictions are lifted. The shoreline there is all commercial docks.

A gloved hand points the way toward home in the Maumee River, Toledo, Ohio
Photo by Dave Buckalew

The AMERICAN REPUBLIC was sitting very high, drawing only about 7-feet at midships, and her bow thruster, extensive flanking rudders, and Kort nozzle twin propeller arrangements were above the waterline, prompting a closer look. She is rigged this way to permit her to navigate up the Cuyahoga River without much vessel assistance. THE WHISTLER, a saltie stick ship with Chinese home port, was also riding high at the Toledo Overseas Terminal dock. We speculated what cargo she had just off loaded.

As we left the inner harbor I motioned for Dave to bring GAMBLER along side so I could get into the shelter of all that canvas for the trip home. I jumped aboard but left the extra layers of clothing in place. The sun had disappeared down here in Ohio, and it was cold. As we returned to Lake Erie we found that the light northwest breeze had also disappeared, and the great lake was laying down to almost calm conditions.

We broke out of the shipping channel and took a more northerly course, heading at an oblique angle toward the Michigan shoreline at over 30-MPH cruising speed. A few miles out in the lake we broke back into sunshine, as an early autumn sun angled low in the sky and made our wake sparkle. The sun was still strong enough to put warmth into our backs.

The Michigan side of Lake Erie brought a return to sunshine
Photo by Dave Buckalew

We passed the port of Monroe about a mile offshore, and headed for the very prominent twin cooling towers of the Enrico Fermini Nuclear Power plant a few miles north. I was surprised how close we could approach before a string of buoys marked a RESTRICTED AREA. We veered eastward and out into the lake to skirt around.

About then we sighted the 730-foot EDWARD L. RYERSON steaming toward Detroit from eastern Lake Erie. The RYERSON is just about unique among Great Lakes freighters as she still retains her original straight-deck design. No self-unloading crane breaks up her long profile. Boat Nerds call her "the most aesthetically pleasing of all lake boats." Dave pushed the throttle ahead to catch up to her as she passed the Detroit River Light. After taking a few pictures with the benefit of the low sun angle, we then jogged west to take the Trenton Channel passage.

Built in 1959, the RYERSON's raked masts and streamlined superstruture give her a distinctively modern style
Photo by Dave Buckalew

From the 30-foot depths of the shipping channel, we crossed water as shallow as 4-feet to make our way, passing between Celeron Island and the southern tip of Grosse Ile. We slowed to no-wake speed to make the passage under the highway bridge, then we went back on plane. The Detroit River was completely calm, with barely a ripple on her surface. We cruised effortlessly to the launching ramp.

The two Boston Whaler boats were expertly loaded on their trailers and hauled to the parking lot to be prepared for the highway. It was about 5 p.m. and both the sun and the temperature were dropping. It was delightful to get into the car and run the heater on the 40-minute drive home.

posted 11-02-2008 12:56 PM ET (US)            

The pictures above were taken by Dave Buckalew and Kevin Albus.

The low transom and relatively low gunwale height of the DAUNTLESS series have always appealed to me. They echo the more classic Boston Whaler designs. The view at the launch ramp shows this well.

Kevin's DAUNTLESS 18 with 135-HP OptiMax were purchased new in 2002. The motor gives the boat a top speed in the mid-30-MPH range. Kevin seemed to like to run there all day long, even in the cold winds. I need to find out what kind of foul-weather gear he was wearing. It must have worked well, otherwise he'd have been frozen.

The size of these big Great Lake freighters is hard to appreciate until you get really close to them. An 18-foot boat looks like a small dot along side. When we generally see these big boats they are running under check in the river, making only about 7-knots. Out in the open lake they move considerably faster, and make a wake that's big enough to take seriously.

The Toledo Harbor Light looks like it has not been manned in a while. The white stuff on the roof is not snow, but rather bird droppings. It is so far out in the lake that it is not shown on the harbor chart! You have to use the general Lake Erie chart to find it.

Cruising in the DAUNTLESS 18 I noticed that the console is placed more forward than in Dave's OUTRAGE 18, but then Dave revealed that he had moved his console aft about five inches when he was doing a re-fit. This created some extra leg room in the forward half of the boat for sleeping. Although not shown in any of the above photographs, the DAUNTLESS 18 when on plane at high speed tends to ride on a small pad of hull at the stern. Most of the boat hull is out of the water.

The demarcation between Michigan and Ohio seemed to be marked all day by the transition from clear skies to heavy clouds. You can see it in all the pictures. If there is sunshine, we were in Michigan.

The RYERSON is a classic Great Lakes freighter with her original straight decks. She has to be unloaded by shore cranes. These specialized cranes were known as Bessemer Unloaders. There used to be one in Little Current, Ontario, another of our favorite cruising spots. In Toledo we passed a dock with the appropriate cranes. This arrangement is quite rare these days, as most all ships can self-unload.

GAMBLER runs along on plane past a Bessemer Unloader in Toledo Harbor
Photo by Kevin Albus

posted 11-02-2008 03:34 PM ET (US)            

An album of my photos for the day can be found here: PhotoBucket Link
(Jim, feel free to add any of my photos to your narrative above.)

One minor correction to Jim's report: Although we did indeed spend most of the day cruising in the low-to-mid 30 mph range, my boat's top speed is now in the low 40s. See: http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/006379.html

posted 11-02-2008 04:54 PM ET (US)            

Thanks JimH for coming along, and Kevin - I'm glad we finally had a chance to meet in person and do some boating together!

posted 11-02-2008 06:21 PM ET (US)            

I think all the cartography is pre-loaded into the GARMIN, and Dave hasn't bought any more detailed charts, at least probably not for Toledo Harbor and the Maumee River. But his plotter was excellent. Is a 10.4-inch display too much for an 18-footer? Not really. I think I'll have to upgrade my ancient black-and-white 4-inch display before too long. Having a big color chart plotter is too much fun to miss when you go boating.

As Dave mentioned we put about 100-miles under the keel. Both of these boats get excellent fuel economy. Dave's tank indicator moved from FULL to 3/4-FULL, and Kevin's electronic SmartCraft instrument showed he used around 25-gallons. Both figured fuel economy was around 4-MPG. And were running quite fast for much of the trip. You can't pack 100-miles into a few hours of boating any other way.

posted 11-02-2008 07:24 PM ET (US)            

I was impressed that Kevin's 135 OptiMax was indicating 4 MPG on a bit heavier boat, and he was running at a higher percentage of WOT than I was for most of the trip. I am excited at the prospect of doing some more boating with Kevin to get more familiar with the OptiMax.

Despite some of my regular cruising buddies being fans of OptiMax motors, none of them actually own one - so this was my first opportunity to run with one for any distance.

Too bad we changed course from the original destination of Put-In-Bay.

posted 11-03-2008 10:04 AM ET (US)            

Here is some great info on the ship. If you look at the pictures you can see it looks like they explored the option of retrofitting it to be a self off loader. Glad they didn't do it.
http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/elr.htm

Here is where you can find some great rendered profiles as well.
http://www.boatnerd.com/digitalshipyard/gallery.htm

Sorry I missed out on this trip. I stopped in at Lockeman's Saturday but I just missed Dave. Anyway I had family over all weekend so I had to be social. My father and I are still hoping to get one more ride this fall if anyone would like to join.

posted 11-03-2008 06:59 PM ET (US)            

sorry I missed out on this one at the last minute...seems I've become a member of the "I forgot to go to work Club" I thought Saturday Nov 1, 08 was the change of shift date, turns out Monday Nov 3, 08 was.....

I was on my way to Lockeman's to meet Dave, Jim, & Kevin, I stopped in the station to drop something off, when low & behold everyone was running around looking for the Duty Detective....Ooops I ended up working the day instead of Whalering the day...rats.....

Pat

posted 11-04-2008 09:26 AM ET (US)            

At cruising speed the engine speed is only about 3,000-RPM, and you get the impression that these engines could run a very long time in this sort of service.

Dave's boat also has trim tabs, and Dave has become quite expert in their use. He was able to adjust the boat's trim to suit the wave conditions. As the pictures above show, GAMBLER likes to run on plane with a very low planing angle. This keeps more hull in the water, which might increase drag and thus burn a bit more fuel, but it provides a very steady ride.

The short stretch I took on DAUNTLESS was also interesting. The boat transitions to plane with little bow rise, and it runs very smoothly. For an 18-footer the DAUNTLESS has a lot of beam. I think this gives good lift and as a result good fuel economy.

We did not bash into any of Lake Erie's famous square waves--three-foot high waves that are three-feet apart--but believe me, there are no small boats that perform well in those conditions, in spite of the many declarations of proud owner's to the contrary.

posted 11-04-2008 01:08 PM ET (US)            

http://s512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/ Toledo%20Trip%20With%20Gambler/?action=view& current=GamblerOnMaumeeRiver2.jpg

posted 11-04-2008 10:48 PM ET (US)            

http://picasaweb.google.com/Rohlfingsinbox/ BostonWhalerGroup92708#5250877078917205554

http://picasaweb.google.com/Rohlfingsinbox/ BostonWhalerGroup92708#5250877393027727170

http://picasaweb.google.com/Rohlfingsinbox/ BostonWhalerGroup92708#5250877148271191106

http://picasaweb.google.com/Rohlfingsinbox/ BostonWhalerGroup92708#5250878035630119634

posted 11-11-2008 12:32 AM ET (US)            

The AMERICAN REPUBLIC, which was sitting very high in the water and drawing only a fraction of her normal draft, proceeded from the wharf to a graving dock, where she was raised in order to repair a leak in her stern thruster tube.

The RYERSON was on her way back from Lorain, Ohio, where she has spent an uncharacteristically long 40 hours being off-loaded of her Taconite ore. There was a breakdown dockside and only one crane was working. She was heading north in ballast and bound for winter lay-up in Superior, Wisconsin. Even though it takes longer for her to be unloaded than a self-unloading vessel, the RYSERSON can run at 17-knots, so her speed makes up for the extra time spent unloading.