Dear Readers,
From my previous articles about Lake Erie, you might remember about the location of Lake Erie and that Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake inthe Great Lakes system and one of the largest in the world.
I am sure that this lake is one of the mysterious and supernatural places on our planet because at the bottom of this wonderful lake there are more than six thousand ships!
Storms rage on it and huge waves accidentally appear, which have been sinking ships since the 18th century.
Despite the fact that it is not the largest lake of the Great Lake System, however, it is ONLY its territory mysterious shipwrecks always occur and occur.
But today we are not talking about the mystery of this lake.
I want to tell you HOW exactly and WHERE this lake is connected to the ocean.
But before let me remind you what so special amd mystical about Lake Erie =)
Why Do So Many Ships Sink in Lake Erie?
I am sure that it can be because of the huge waves.
But there are some people who believe that it can be assumed that many ships sunk under mystic circumstances.
So many and various kinds of underwater research were repeatedly carried out.
But till nowadays scientists cannot explain the formation of such waves, but they believe that some unknown processes at the depth of a lake or ocean are to blame.
Either the reason for such waves is electromagnetic anomalies, which occur not so often, but with great frequency or the movement of lithospheric plates, but then there must be volcanic activity at the junction of them, but this is not in the lake Erie.
So, It can be assumed that many ships sunk under strange circumstances.
Now Let’s Move to the main topic of today’s article:
Can You Drive a Boat From Lake Erie to The Ocean?
Yes.
For this you need to passthrough eight locks of the Welland Canal, which bypassesNiagara Falls.
After that you need to enterLake Ontario and pass throughthe seven locks of the St.
Lawrence Canals by passing Montreal.
Today, the Great Lakes are considered one of the busiest shipping areas on earth.
There are more than twenty major seaports here, of which Toronto, Buffalo, Oswego, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago and Duluth are the most visited by European ships.
How Do Ships Get From Lake Erie to the Ocean?
Through artificial channels and rivers.
Today, ships can get from Lake Erie to the Ocean by:
- Sea route of St.
Lawrence (along the river of St.Lawrence), provided that ship length is not more than 8740 inches, width 906 inches, height of superstructures 13378 inches.
- Illinois waterway (along the Mississippi, Illinois, Chicago and Calumet rivers), provided that their length is not more than 7165 inches, width 945 inches,height of superstructures 197 inches.
- New York State Barge Canal (along the Hudson, Tonawanda, Lake Oswego and connecting canals), provided that their length is not more than 3583 inches, width 512 inches, height of superstructures 236 inches.
The Great Lakes are interconnected by rivers and artificial channels, water from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan flows into Lake Huron, Erie and Ontario, from where it flows along the St.
Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean.
These fresh water lakes are connected not only to the ocean, but also to the Hudson and Mississippi rivers.
What Ship Size Is Allowed at Lake Erie?
Did you know that not all ships are allowed to pass to the Great Lakes?
All ships are divided into lakes which cannot leave the upper lakes, and canalers.
For example Canaler Ships have no restrictions on the navigation area and can go to the ocean.
For example:
Lakes Superior and Huron connect the Sault Ste.
Marie locks, bypassing the rapids on the St.
Marys River, allowing ships to pass with 12087 inches long, 1260 inches wide.
Lakes Erie and Ontario are connected by the Welland Canal, allowing the same vessels as the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
So large sizes of inland navigation vessels are associated with the peculiarity of the natural conditions of the lakes.
The weather at Great Lakes can change in a second , there are frequent thunderstorms with squalls.
There can be huge tornadoes.
Autumn storms are especially strong.
November is considered the most dangerous month for ships.
In frosts, visibility drops to almost zero due to the strong soaring of non-freezing water.
Depending on the weather, navigation of ships continues from the end of March to the beginning of December.
Although, the cessation of navigation depends on the weather.
With the exception of the smallest lake, St.
Clair, the Great Lakes freeze completely only in the most severe winters (the last time in 1979).
Storms break the ice, but only in harbors or straits, the thickness of the ice reaches an inch or more.
Ships on the Great Lakes are built with ice class, but such ice is no longer under their power, so the United States and Canada keep icebreakers!
What are Storms Like at Lake Erie?
Lake Erie and other Great Lakes storms can be stronger than ocean storms.
The speed of a suddenly changing wind direction reaches 93 mph, the height of unusually short and steep waves reaches 39 inches.
The common feature of lake storms are the “three sisters” – three waves, going one after another, which can be up to 787 inches high.
For a long time, scientists considered the “sisters” to be simple tales.
Storm in Lake Erie in November.
As I mentioned before, the most dangerous storms on the lakes are in November.
The primacy among them belongsto the Great Storm of 1913, which raged over all the lakes on November 7-11, 1913.
It destroyed 12 ships and 250 people and threw another 30 ships on the stones from the old barge to the new bulk carrier with a displacement of more than seven thousand tons.
Only the cargoes that went to the bottom were worth more than a million dollars, and the losses from destruction on land were not at all calculable.
Hope Now you are well informed how to get to the ocean from Lake Erie!
