There weren’t any tropical-like breezes helping Billy Market to start running his Miller Ferry out of Catawba Point to Put-N-Bay early this season.

And now, Lorain County and other Northeast Ohio communities will benefit.

With Lorain County’s 325,000 residents, the county, Miller Ferry and Jet Express team up for a win-win.

“We have a good number of people from Lorain County and adjacent Erie County who ride both lake vessels to the islands,” said Nico Samaniego, CEO of the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce. “People who go to Cedar Point and the islands support business there and vice versa, because tourists there come to Lorain County for Lake Erie Crushers baseball games in Avon Lake.

“They also attend Rockin’ on the River on Lorain’s Black River. Plus, nearby Vermilion straddles both Erie County and Lorain County with its charming downtown Vermilion which hosts the Vermilion Fish Festival. Elyria’s Apple Festival and historic Oberlin are also big draws.”

Market said there was something happening to launch sooner than he imagined this year.

“A weather miracle on Lake Erie,” he called it.

The popular ferry line has been delayed until late April in some winters.

96% ice coverage

Market usually launches by late March, but when the National Weather Service Cleveland reported Lake Erie was 96% ice covered from Ohio to Canada in mid-February, and 100% ice covered along the western basin for the first time since 2015, he thought the ferries would stay docked until mid-April.

But something happened that in the 52 years Market has owned and operated Miller Ferry, he’s never seen.

“February was the most ice I’ve seen on Lake Erie in 11 years, then like magic, temps hit 70s for several days and, poof, ice melted super fast,” he said.

According to Cleveland NWS Meteorologist Brian Mitchell, the lake was almost entirely frozen in mid-February when highs hit 74, 74 and 75 over a three-day stretch resulting in a “stunning” amount of fast melting ice.

When Market opened March 15, the temperatures reached 75 degrees.

Heat wave

A February “heat wave,” Market calls it, allowed him to operate a week before spring.

“Then we even hit 82 degrees recently; now all five ferries are in the water,” he said.

Market’s new ferry, The Mary Ann, is running full time to the village of Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island and for now, its companion ferry, The Put-In-Bay is running on an as-needed basis.

Another one of the five ferries in his armada is full time to Middle Bass.

“We’ve been taking homeowners, tourists and builders to the islands since March 15,” Market said.

Some restaurants and shops have opened.

“The only advice I have is bring your comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and have fun,” Market said.