History of the Lorain Harbor Boat Club

The Lorain Harbor Boat Club (LHBC) desends from a long history of boating in Lorain, Ohio. LHBC is the resulting club from the merger of the Lorain Sailing and Yacht Club (LSYC) and the Westlake Yacht Club in 2019. LSYC is the resulting club from the merger of the Lorain Sailing Club and the Lorain Yacht Club in 1996. Going back through the Lorain Yacht Club the line of merged clubs descends from the Lorain Yacht Club established in 1928. The Lorain Yacht Club through its descendents is the oldest, continually operating club on Lake Erie.

The Lorain Yacht Club originally occupied a non-gone building that was most recently the "Hot Waters" bait shop on the westside of the Black River in the commercial slips and Lorain City launch ramp, north of the Lorain Water Plant. The Lorain Sailing Club originally occupied the Lorain Yacht Basin. This basin was carved out of fill that extended north from the present location of the US Coast Guard Station Lorain. In the 1950s the present Lorain Yacht Basin was open water and the shoreline surf zone and the present Spitzer's Lakeside Marina was open water. In later years the Lorain Yacht Club moved to the land overlooking the Black River's east side from what is today an open grassy knoll just north of the Erie St Lift Bridge.

The Westlake Yacht Club (WYC) was established in 1942 along the banks of the Rocky River. It moved to Lorain in 1988 and was housed in the old mechanical works building of the old American Shipbuilder Yard. The two old dry docks are the present day channels surrounded by the Condos just south of the Erie St Lift Bridge. The building still exists, but WYC lost their lease in 2018 which prompted the merger with LSYC to form the Lorain Harbor Boat Club.

Lorain Harbor used to include a major Coal Loading facility and Iron Ore deliveries for commercial freighters along the west bank of the Black River just north of the Erie St lift bridge. To the south of the Erie St lift bridge was the American Shipbuilding Company's two dry docks. These facilities produced countless freighters since the early 1900s and was partially owned by the Cleveland Steinbrener family (of NY Yankees fame). Further up-river and still operating today was the Terminal Aggregate docks (just south of the railroad lift bridge and further up river yet and still visible today are the Republic and United States Steel yards that at one time produced raw steel from base sources including coal shipped from the south on rail and iron ore and limestone shipped by freighter from northern lake ports.

The Lorain Harbor remains an active commercial port with deliveries still made to the Terminal docks. Small boats are advise to give commercial traffic, especially in the confines of the Black River, lots of room to operate. These long freighters must swing widely in order to pass through the various lift bridge passes. Likewise, be aware that every freighter visiting Lorain today is equiped with bow thrusters. These thrusters are bi-directional and will send vast rushes of water perpendicular of the hull at the bow in order to swing the vessels around the winding bends of the Black River. Flows from these thrusters can easily swamp small boats.

Our present day clubhouse is the original US Coast Guard Station Lorain. Coasties slept upstairs and quickly access the lower floors through a trap door still visible upstairs in the clubhouse's attic.

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