Around the World of Sailing

12 December 2001

This weeks features:

Finish Line

Another sailing record for Steve Fossett and Playstation.
This one from Cowes England to Dinard France, 138 miles
across the English Channel in 6 hours 21 minutes an
average of 21.68 knots.

Water Level Update

Weekly Water Level Update
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/atwos/2001/oc/1024/frw.htm

Below you'll find water level info that pertains
to Lake Michigan and Huron.
For information on other lakes see:
http://huron.lre.usace.army.mil/levels/weekly.html

Reference Point:

Difference from Chart Datum +1
Difference from last month -1
Difference from last year +9
Difference from long term average for December -13
Difference from Record High -48
Difference from Record Low +17
Forecast for 7 December 2002 -1

Rowing Reporter

The Rowing Reporter is a weekly column of commentary and
observations by Ike Stephenson, Marine Informationist. It
concentrates on the home waters of Around the World of
Sailing, Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake.
****************

Correspondence: Wind Instruments
Recently I conducted a brief email correspondence
with Campbell Field of Brooks and Gatehouse.
	On 30 November I wrote, "Read with interest
your comments in latest Yachting World.
        I first encountered wind shear trimming headsails
on a Farr 50.  Since then I've had an idea that you could
build a mast with a deck level wind sensor, one midway up
the mast and one at the mast head.  Then have separate
readouts for each sensor and a wind reading that mixes
and averages all three.
        Has this ever been considered?"
        Campbell Field wrote back, "We have thought
very seriously about how to combat the measurement of
wind shear, and have of course considered options similar
to your suggestion which would be the most logical and
straight forward solution. however physical issues come
to the fore here, with respects to measuring the real
wind or that altered by the wind flow over sails or
rigging, and of course the problem of having the sensors
kept intact during a tack."
	This brought to mind the following passage from
a 1999 article on mast load sensing, "Carbo Spars calls
this technology smart fibre.  Essentially it can be defined
as optical fibre structural load monitoring.  The fibre
optic cable of .25 MM diameter can easily fit unobtrusively
in a spar.
	Carbo Spars says that the cable is similar to a
spinal cord, with readouts being the brain.   The fibres
carry light which is sent back from sensors.  The change
in the characteristic of the light is measured on return,
and then translated into a strain reading."
	Perhaps all the ideas discussed here can be
combined into the future of wind shear aware wind
instruments!
*****************
Watery Issues Update
	Three recent stories have shown the changing
and shifting characteristics of the watery world.  They
involve sand dunes, drugs and sediment.
	First, researchers have found that the sand dunes
that line Lake Michigan's east coast are quite changeable.
Formed approximately 5000 years ago it has been determined
that in the past 500 years a combination of winds, waves
and human activity have changed the dunes.
In fact growth has occurred within the last 150 years.
	For a person who grew up near beaches and dunes
this conclusion makes good sense.  At my boyhood home
the beach always seemed to shrink after a good NE wind.
Multiply the affects of wind, waves, and more and I can
readily see how the dunes change and continue to live.
	Researchers in Canada have begun to find common
pharmaceuticals such as aspirin and ibuprofen have begun
to turn up in the Great Lakes in measurable quantities.
A similar study is being completed by the US Geological
Survey.  Since 80% of a drug can pass through the body,
this explains the presence as society gets further into
better living through pharmaceuticals.
	What the effects could be isn't totally clear.
One possible effect, should this trend continue, is the
creation of bacteria strains resistant to antibiotics.
	For the Muskegon River the issue is sediment.
Although rain in the River's area has not increased, the
water flow has.  The river has a stronger current and
50 percent more sediment carried.
	This sediment has done things like make the
River's South Channel almost 5 feet shallower.  Whether
these effects are caused by humans or are just part of
a natural cycle aren't clear.
	All three situations may not be perfectly understood.
What is clear is that we should always be looking for
connections, problems and solutions.
***************
Readers Write
	Kimberly Jarvis writes in with news on the
US Rowboys originally profiled in the 8 November 2000 ATWOS.
	The Rowboys are a 2 man rowing ream consisting
of Tom Mailhot and John Ziegler.  On 4 December they
completed the Ward Evans Atlantic Rowing Challenge.
In 58 days they rowed from Tenerife to Barbados.  They
finished 11th of 36 in this international competition.
	The winners were Matt Goodman and Steve Westlake
from New Zealand.
	For more info:
http://www.usrowboys.com/ http://www.telecomchallenge.co.nz/
and http://www.usrowboys.com/
**********************
Weather Piece
	A year ago I was writing, "This time of year
the beaches become filled with a substance I think of
as sand ice. This northern winter phenomenon is mostly
sand, combined with cold and ice."  No sand ice so
far this year.
	Heck no, December 2001 has been warm.  On the
5th there was a record high of 63°.  You may think of
the beach, but not of ice.  To date temperatures are
10.5° above normal and there has not been one day of
below normal temps.
	This weekend I visited the still unfrozen beach.
A dark blue sky, considering the weather circumstances
I took in optimistically.
	I walked the always changing beach.  I passed
a cliff like section. 3-5 feet higher than the sand I
trod with markings where the sand had carved off.
	As I walked I searched for the most packed
sand where walking is easiest.  If the wind off the
lake gives the trees a permanent lean I am sure it
can shape the more malleable substance of sand.
	However, snow ice season may not be that far
away.  The latest weather threat map produces by the
National Weather Service states, "Locally heavy
lake-effect snows could affect the Great Lakes region
from December 20 on, as cold air covers the eastern
half of the country."
	White Christmas wishers- hang in there!