Ballast Island is a small, 12-acre (0.049 km²) private island in Lake Erie, about one-quarter mile (0.4 km) northeast of the northeast tip of South Bass Island. It is known primarily as a navigation point for boats going to or from Put-in-Bay from the east. There are shoals between Ballast and South Bass, but there is a passage between known locally as "the wagon tracks". Ballast Island is partially owned by Mr. and Mrs.