Relic Hunter wrote in
:

I live in the NE. Lake Erie is my home lake. But I enjoy reading the
experiences of others.


I was born and raised on Owasco Lake, 40 mi SW of Syracuse. Been a boat
owner, of one sort or another since I was 8 (lovingly restored old oak
rowboat and 1hp Elto outboard circa 1930-something and given to me for
Christmas in 1954..(c; It was painted the same green as the picnic tables
at the state park because my grandfather knew someone.)

Back on topic....is Lake Erie still "dead" or have the two governments
gotten that under control?

We used to tent camp at Fair Haven State Park on Lake Ontario, every
weekend, from the time the snow melted until it returned.....weeks
later!..(c; Larry KNOWS Mooneyes on a beach.

The only boat I own, right now, is a 9.6' Watertender and Yam 3hp outboard
one of the guys at the marina gave me. (I never turned down a free
boat....not one time!) He hated towing it and bought a Fold-A-Bote. It's
a fun boat, though not rippingly fast so my neighbor's kids can play with
it. The ketch I sail on belongs to a friend from Atlanta. We're going
sailing in the morning after the weekenders head back to the slave pits.

Larry W4CSC wrote:
Relic Hunter wrote in
:


I live in the NE. Lake Erie is my home lake. But I enjoy reading the
experiences of others.



I was born and raised on Owasco Lake, 40 mi SW of Syracuse. Been a boat
owner, of one sort or another since I was 8 (lovingly restored old oak
rowboat and 1hp Elto outboard circa 1930-something and given to me for
Christmas in 1954..(c; It was painted the same green as the picnic tables
at the state park because my grandfather knew someone.)

Back on topic....is Lake Erie still "dead" or have the two governments
gotten that under control?

We used to tent camp at Fair Haven State Park on Lake Ontario, every
weekend, from the time the snow melted until it returned.....weeks
later!..(c; Larry KNOWS Mooneyes on a beach.

The only boat I own, right now, is a 9.6' Watertender and Yam 3hp outboard
one of the guys at the marina gave me. (I never turned down a free
boat....not one time!) He hated towing it and bought a Fold-A-Bote. It's
a fun boat, though not rippingly fast so my neighbor's kids can play with
it. The ketch I sail on belongs to a friend from Atlanta. We're going
sailing in the morning after the weekenders head back to the slave pits.

Hello Larry. No Lake Erie seems to be in not too bad shape. I sail on an
oil tanker on the Great Lakes and we see quite a few fishing boats on
Lake Erie. The water is not good enough for using directly as drinking
water as in various parts of Lake Superior for example.
I see you are a ham. Been a ham for about 10 years now. In the process
of restoring a 27' Vega. Home here is Nova Scotia and will be sailing
out of Chester. Colin...

Colin wrote in news:FasZd.20009$oh4.746302@ursa-
nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

Hello Larry. No Lake Erie seems to be in not too bad shape. I sail on an
oil tanker on the Great Lakes and we see quite a few fishing boats on
Lake Erie. The water is not good enough for using directly as drinking
water as in various parts of Lake Superior for example.
I see you are a ham. Been a ham for about 10 years now. In the process
of restoring a 27' Vega. Home here is Nova Scotia and will be sailing
out of Chester. Colin...



Thanks and nice to meet you, Colin. Yeah, I've been a ham since 1957. I
was 11. It's been a great hobby, ruined my whole life. Let me know if
you're ever in Charleston. Last week we hosted a ham from Switzerland at
our old timer's breakfast. Always lots of fun to breakfast with hams from
all over the world.

Larry W4CSC wrote:

Back on topic....is Lake Erie still "dead" or have the two governments
gotten that under control?

Phosphates in detergents and agricultural runoff were some of the
primary causes of the stagnation of the lake in the 60's. Banning
phosphates and getting farmers to be a smarter in the use of fertilizers
and disposal of "nutrients" from stock-rearing operations started the
ball rolling on the clean-up. Water clarity and oxygen content improved
steadily throughout the 70's and 80's. In the late 80's the zebra
mussel found its way into the ecosystem. Net result of its explosive
growth was a shocking improvement in water clarity in the space of a
dozen years. Whereas in the 60's good water clarity would be in the 6'
range, clarity in the late 90's and currently can be in the 40-60'
range. The bottom of the western basin -35-55' depth- is frequently
clearly visible from altitude when overflying in calm conditions.
The water is clear, but is the lake healthy? No. Recently there have
been blooms of blue-green algae that are toxic for certain species of
fish. The filtration of micro-organisms by the zebra mussels, combined
with the idiotic program of fish-stocking undertaken by Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York and the province of Ontario in order to support
the sport fishing industry has caused a general collapse of the natural
food chain in the lake.

prodigal1 wrote in :

The water is clear, but is the lake healthy? No. Recently there have
been blooms of blue-green algae that are toxic for certain species of
fish.

Here in the South, particularly in Eastern NC, blooms of VERY toxic
Pfiesteria piscicida have driven boaters and fishermen crazy as their
toxins effect human memory in a terrible way. Large commercial hog farms
dumping hog sewage into rivers and streams is the root cause.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/pfiest.html

They call it "The Cell from Hell"....with good reason.