Around the World of Sailing

19 September 2001

This weeks features:

Finish Line

It was a week for America's Cup sailors to prove their
status. At the Farr 40 worlds Ernesto Bertarelli helmed a
chartered Farr 40 to the world championship. On board Cup
sailors Russell Coutts, Warwick Fluery, Simon Daubney and
Curtis Blewett. Bertarelli said: "I just put the boat
straight and Simon and Warwick steer the boat for me."
In Holland another Cup winning skipper was
victorious in a one design championship. Dennis Conner and
crew won 2 of 6 races and counted no result lower than a
3rd to win the Etchell's North Americans.

Water Level Update

Here is an informative feature that used to appear in the
Friday edition of Sailing Daily. 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

Inches below Chart Datum -1
Difference from last month -1
Difference from last year -4
Difference from long term average for September -22
Difference from Record High -54
Difference from Record Low +9
Forecast for 14 October 2001 -2

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.
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Readers Write
Duane Siegfried wrote in with a question concerning
documentation and registration. The question being: if you
document your boat with the Coast Guard, is it then exempt
from state licensing?
The answer is that documentation does not exempt
your vessel from state registration. According to the Coast
Guard, "States may require documented vessels to be
registered (but not numbered) and to display state decals
showing that they have complied with state requirements."
In the case of Michigan any boat that can be documented
(minimum 5 tons) also must be registered. However, you need
not display MC numbers just have the necessary registration
items on board.
For more documentation questions and answers see
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/vdoc/faq.htm.
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2001 Beach Cleanup
This past Saturday was the day for the 2001 Coastal
Cleanup. I participated at Muskegon's Pere Marquette beach
located along Lake Michigan.
After arriving I traipsed off with the tools of
beach cleanup: garbage bag, gloves and data card. The data
card allows you to track the items you pick up.
After several hours my data card showed I had picked
up: food wrappers, glass and plastic bottles, clothing,
straws, cigarette buts, tampons, condoms and many stryofoam
cups. Additionally I found a wooden desk that had been
broken up and disposed- at the beach.
The good news is that I didn't find bait containers,
drums, batteries or appliances. As these were on the data
card they must be found somewhere!
Two thoughts struck me as I picked up. One, the
beach is a place we go when we want to experience fun and
positive experiences. All the litter does not add to that
experience. Second, all the items I picked up are entirely
within beachgoers control. If you bring an item to the
beach it should leave with you. There are garbage cans at
the beach. Perhaps people put their items in these cans
and then the wind scatters them. Again the solution seems
rather simple- lids on garbage cans.
In backpacking it's 'leave not a trace' or 'pack out
what you pack in.' Adopting a similar policy while at the
beach would help us all.
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Lake Ontario Keeper
Last year ATWOS covered the St. Clair Channel keeper.
Now another keeper organization is active on the Great Lakes,
the Lake Ontario keeper.
The Lake Ontario keeper via boat serves as a
pollution watchdog and investigator. An example of the
Keeper concept in action recently occurred in Hamilton
Ontario.
On 5 September keeper Marc Mattson found oily, black
slicks off the Stelco Hilton Works in Hamilton Harbour.
Mattson believed that the black goo was some type of coal
tar.
Here's how Mattson described his discovery: "We
attended at the Randle Reef that is just off the Stelco
Hilton Works pipes and outlets. The GPS at the Stelco output
pipes. GPS N 43.15.69, W 79.49.74. Here we noticed obvious
black globules floating on water - just off the area where
the outfall pipes were pouring discharges into the harbor.
Further investigation showed that the black slicks
could be coal tar from asphalt and roofing combined with
polluted sediment from the harbor bottom. The Stelco
company denies they are producing and believes it might be
bubbling up from the polluted bottom of the harbor.
Samples have been sent to labs to be fingerprinted.
Hopefully this will tell whether the chemicals are new or
old and what the source is.
This incident shows why the Keeper concept should be
of interest to anyone near the water. For more information
see http://www.lakeontariokeeper.org and
http://www.keeper.org/
************
Studies and Observations
Remember Boston Harbor and the role it's pollution
played in the 1988 presidential campaign. Reports are that
it's gotten better, but according to Paul DiPietro of the
Metropolitan District Commission, "You are never going to
have 100 percent of the beaches open 100 percent of the
time."
The Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu is planning
ahead. This obscure nation gained attention as the first
country to ring in the year 2000 during the premature
celebrations of the new millennium.
Now, Tuvalu is developing plans to evacuate to
places like New Zealand due to sea level rises. Such an
occurrence would once again get Tuvalu back in the news.
**************
Anchorage Cup
For those who participated in the Anchorage Cup or
would like to see the results they are located at:
http://www.anchoragecup.com/ac01.html