I went out into the lake tonight for the first time. It was glorious! Calm as glass. I guess you hardly ever see the lake like it was tonight.
Anyhow, Iāve been studying the Upper Niagara NOAA chartso that I donāt accidentally my boat. Are the buoys marking the channel into the inner harbor not out yet? When do they put them out?
It didnāt affect my night because I didnāt want to go there, but I was hoping to see where to go for next time when I do want to go in there.
Kinda OT butā¦You have to be REALLY careful in that area. The area between the marina and the mouth of the river is VERY shallow near that breakwall thing very far out.
Yep. Itās surprising how many spots of what looks like a huge body of water are only a couple feet deep. There are like 4 major reefs at the mouth of the river, the whole south end of Grand Island, a few other spots.
The second time we had my dads boat out (we werenāt familiar with boating or the area) we hit bottom on the reef in the mouth of the river. It bent the bottom of the out drive, and ruined the prop. We got lucky, it obviously could have been much much worse. That site you linked to is really nice to haveā¦I never knew about it.
My parents and I used to cruise there all the time when I was youngerā¦we always went out around the round water intake house, as going between it and the shore where Lasalle Park is, we whacked like two props on various shallows. If you donāt know EXACTLY where youāre going, itās better to take the 10 minutes and go around. Hereās a map of where we used to go to get from the river to the Marina:
Also, watch your speed inside the breakwallsā¦the cops (used to, at leastā¦) like to pull people over for going to quickā¦
That grid square right side of it. Buffalo river entrance.
He doesnāt have any kind of significant draw. As long as he stays away from Horseshoe reef. Heāll be fine. You can kind of see the area because of the usual thick seaweed growth that floats to the top and is viable.
Thereās a few spots, you just need to go see where they are. Youāll never have a problem with them again.
Ah, I figured out a way to get in there care free without buoys marking the dredged channel. Go around the abandoned lighthouse and water intake, then point towards the Buffalo Lighthouse.
Stay away from the round houseā¦ (if Goin from small boat harbor to the river go around the red bouy that sits an 1/8 mile SW of the round house an then head up the river)
Dont go between the breakwall and the round houseā¦
Dont go between grand island and strawberry islandā¦
Stay in the middle of the river when traveling between the peace bridge and the railroad bridge.
Yes. Go all the way up to the āofficialā mouth of the river. Itās marked with a red buoy, I believe EU4. Youāll go past the abandoned light and the water intake, turn left, head for the main entrance light. Youāll be golden. If you have any more questions donāt hesitate to PM me. Iām a professional licensed captain and Iām on the river/lake everyday.
Red = my day time route when I can see whatās going on.
Green = night time modification when thereās no moon to get basic navigation points.
Basically I come out of the river, go about 1/2 way between the red and green cans, then cut straight toward the breakwall that ends at horseshoe reef. When youāre about 1/2 way to the breakwall make a slight course correction toward the lake to make sure you go around horseshoe reef.
And as a rule, just donāt go between Strawberry Island and the one marked āPirate Iā on the chart. I thought it was called Motorboat Island but regardless, you can almost walk between the two without getting your shorts wet. It is possible to cut through there with a boat but you have to know exactly where to go. It takes almost no time to go around them on either the channel side or the GI side, just stay far enough away from GI to avoid the rocks that stick way out from the point.
for all you fisherman, in between strawberry island that that other island, theres some old, broken down docks. if you can get your boat in there, theres decent sized american shad(catch for bait in the deeper water), and some species of fish that iāve never been able to identify. bright orange with a dark red tail. this is the only place that iāve ever seen them.
Lake Erie has more shipwrecks that most. The end of year storms are well known for taking lives. Mostly because the water stays fairly shallow until you get of the WNY area and a little beyond.
I went out into the lake tonight for the first time. It was glorious! Calm as glass. I guess you hardly ever see the lake like it was tonight.