Surfing the rolling waves with a stiff wind at our backs, the
novice crew anxiously trimmed the sails as we headed past the
breakwater into the safety of Buffalo Harbor. Captain Ed Quinlan
of the Seven Seas Sailing School barked a command to trim the
jib, and after complimenting my wide-eyed sister on the helm,
leaned against the stern and turned to the rest of us. “Now
that,” he said with a broad grin, “was sailing. You looked like
old hands out there. Lake Erie can be a challenge, but you did
well.” After the wild ride in the open lake, the crew – a little
green from the pounding of the waves – breathed a sigh of relief
and smiled with pride at having bested the turbulent lake and
returned to the safe haven. “Now try and imagine,” said Captain
Ed, pointing toward the lighthouse, “what it must have been like
out in the lake when the seiche crashed over Kelly’s Island and
washed away most of Buffalo. Ships went down or were washed
ashore in that storm and nobody knows how many souls were lost.”
I had never he