Around the World of Sailing

13 February 2002

This weeks features:

Finish Line

When Djuice Dragons rounded Cape Horn it was the 6th time
for Jacques Vincent.

He has 4 mono hull roundings: 1989-90 Whitbread, 1993-94,
Whitbread, 1997-98 Whitbread, 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race and

2 big cat roundings 1993 Commodore Explorer and 2001 Team
Adventure

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

Difference from Chart Datum -2
Difference from last month -1
Difference from last year +8
Difference from long term average for February -15
Difference from Record High -45
Difference from Record Low +15
Forecast for 8 March 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.
****************

Lake Facts

Lake   	     Area   Length    MaxDepth Width
Superior     31,700   350     1330      160
Huron        23,000   206     750       183
Michigan     22,300   307     923       118
Baykal       12,162   395     5315      50
Great Bear   12,096    192     1463     110
Great Slave  11,031    298    2015      68
Erie         9417     266     60        57
Ontario      7340     193     802       53
	Lake Baykal with it'd extreme depth is home to
20% of the world's freshwater.  It is also the oldest
lake on earth.
	Some big lakes in Canada too.  Interesting to
contemplate different lakes and what types of offshore
races you could have.
*************
French AC Sponsorship
	As expected the sponsorship of the France Le Defi
team by Areva, a nuclear power firm, has not gone unopposed.
The French boat-sail # 69 nicknamed the Atomic Warrior- now
building at Multiplast in Vannes France faces multi national
opposition.
	An anti nuclear group Sortir du Nucleaire has pledged
to use multiple means of non-violent protest to block the boats
progress.  In addition activists have mentioned disrupting
training at Le Defi's base in Lorient.
	Meanwhile in New Zealand, Greenpeace has is considering
using inflatables to disrupt racing.
	The main case against Areva's sponsorship is the
environmentally friendly image they will gain by
greenwashing nuclear power in sailing's clean image.
	Areva is in the business of producing nuclear
energy. This is different than the nuclear weapons test
France performed in French Polynesia.
	Although sailing is green in that not much fuel
is burned by internal combustion engine, there are other
non green elements.  Modern sailboats are essentially
plastic in their hulls, sails and hardware.  Plastic
comes from oil.  This adds and subtracts from the
various arguments.
	The issue is not a simple one.  It looks that
in addition to on the water racing, off the water wrangling
the hurly burly of protest and social change could be
present at the America's Cup.
**************
Explorer's Books Part 2
	This week we continue to look at books by and
about four famous Antarctic explorers.
	Of the four, Ernest Shackleton is currently the
most popular. His story has reached the point where a
current day business leadership books has been based
on his voyage. This book is Leading at the Edge.
	Shackleton also wrote several books.  This was
a common way for explorers to fund their expeditions.
He covered his most famous voyage in  South: A Memoir
of the Endurance Voyage.  The voyage is covered from a
secondary perspective in Alfred Lansing's Endurance.
	An excellent biography is Shackleton by Roland
Huntford.  Shackleton's captain FA Worsley wrote about
the epic Southern Ocean open boat voyage in Shackleton's
Boat Journey.  This is a fine book about arguably the
greatest feat of seamanship ever.
	Norwegian Roald Amundsen had a remarkable life
exploring the North and South Pole and the North West
Passage.
	Amundsen wrote about his South Pole achievements
in South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic
Expedition.  At 896 pages this is a comprehensive account
by the most organized of the explorers.
	The second book by Roland Huntford on this list is
The Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen's Race to the
South Pole. A joint look at two of our list, Amundsen
triumphs while Scott perishes and the reasons why.
	Robert Scott's final Antarctic expedition is
controversial to this day.  Most now see it as a less than
competent amateur effort. Scott's Last Expedition: The
Journals covers this occurrence.
	A member of the search party that found Scott
Apsley Cherry-Garrard wrote The Worst Journey in the World.
	Any of these books are worth their price.  They
take you back to a recent time when there was no fleece
or Gore Tex, satellite links or email yet people still
succeeded in audacious feats.
************
Great Laker Magazine
	The winter issue of Great Laker Magazine arrived
the other day. Great Laker covers ports, lakers and
lighthouses to a high standards.
	I found three items of particular interest.
One is a visit to the J.B. once an active laker now serving
as a cement transfer and storage facility.  Great time
capsule pictures of the Ford's original early 1900's captains
cabin.  Another is the story of a voyage on the 1000 footer
James R. Baker.  This includes current thoughts from crew
on the state of the shipping industry.  Finally a profile
of Goderich Ontario located on Lake Huron.  This is the
only Seaway depth (27 feet) port on Lake Huron's east shore.
Goes to show that the glacier did do some work on Lake Huron.
	Visit http://www.greatlaker.com for more information
and to start a subscription.