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Around the World of Sailing
10 July 2002
Finish Line
Europe based Australian sailor Nick Moloney member of Ellen
Macarthur's Offshore Challenges Sailing team recently became
the first official entry in the 2004/2005 Vendee Globe
single handed non-stop around the world race.
See
http://www.nickmoloney.com/nick/default.asp?m=displayarticle&id=5103
For more.
Water Level Update
Difference from Chart Datum +12
Difference from last month +3
Difference from last year +11
Difference from long term average for July -11
Difference from Record High -41
Difference from Record Low +22
Forecast for 5 August 2002 +1
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
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.
****************
Michigan to elect a new Governor
For readers residing in Michigan the Rowing Reporter
presents a series of strictly informational pieces on the 5
main candidates running for Governor of Michigan. The
candidates were approached and asked to give an answer to
the following question: "What will you do to protect and
enhance the Great Lakes?" This topic should be of interest
to those Michiganders who are boaters and to all who use the
Great Lakes. For the next weeks the Rowing Reporter will
carry the answers and information the candidates provide.
This information is given to assist those who may vote in
the August 6th primary. No endorsement or preference of any
sort is given or implied.
Candidate answers will be presented in alphabetical order.
Question: "What will you do to protect and enhance the Great
Lakes?"
Answer provided by Congressman David Bonior.
The Bonior-Smith Plan to Protect Michigan's Water
· Aggressively use our state's veto under the Water
Resources Development Act to stop diversions --- including
bottling facilities like the Perrier plant in Mecosta
Township.
· Implement a statewide water plan and management strategy
to protect our Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers and
aquifers.
· Develop and implement a real-time water quality monitoring
system and portable equipment that would identify and
measure threats to our water and our health right away.
· Review our emergency preparedness and the vulnerabilities
of our water systems.
· Prevent combined sewer overflows and help stimulate our
economy by providing funding to improve our water treatment
facilities and sewer infrastructure.
· Make enforcement and accountability paramount concerns ---
and that means strict oversight of sewer permits and
sufficient enforcement budgets.
· Establish water pollution permit fees and make polluters
pay.
· Clean up contaminated sediments --- including PCBs,
dioxins, arsenic and lead.
· Enforce the Clean Water Act and stop Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operations from contaminating our drinking water,
lakes and rivers.
· Identify other non-point sources of pollution and stop
them.
· Evaluate habitat needs, including protection and
restoration of wetlands.
· Develop models to predict when water quality conditions
will require the closure of recreational beaches and to
identify the sources and causes.
· End the Engler-Posthumus DEQ, put high quality,
environmentally sensitive leaders in charge, rebuild
staffing levels, restore morale and provide adequate budgets
for enforcement.
· Reinstate citizen review boards and include the public in
the decision making process by mandating a policy of
openness to increase - not thwart - public input.
· Aggressively bring businesses into Michigan to develop new
technologies to clean up PCBs, arsenic and other
contaminants in our water.
More Information http://www.www.davidboniorforgovernor.com/
**************
Praise for Lake Michigan Carferry
My 4th of July holiday took me across Lake Michigan via the
SS Badger. The 410 foot Badger built in the 1950's is the
only ferry still giving passengers cross lake service. Up
until the 70's ferry boats carried passengers, cars and
railroad freight. They ran routes such as
Muskegon-Milwaukee, Frankfurt-Menominee,
I noted three things in particular during my round trip.
One is a certain lingo you begin to use. There's morning
flights, commuter trains, red eye flight, the last bus out
of town etc. When it comes to the Badger you can add the
word boat to discussions of commercial transport.
From Ludington to Manitowoc I took the 'Sunset Boat'.
Coming back I was a passenger on the 'redeye boat'.
Second, if you take the redeye boat as I did you may end up
suffering from boat lag. You do move through one time zone,
albeit at under 20 miles per hour, but boat lag can happen.
Finally, I noted the employees loading and unloading cars of
which the Badger can hold 180.
After an employee exits a car they run back to the ferry for
the next one. It's clear they are making an effort to make
things happen and get the boat off the dock on time. This
hustling spirit pervades the Badger's crew and adds to a
unique way of travel.
*****************
Mac Season
It appears as though I will speculate rather than sail the
2002 Mac Season. I do have one request to make of my fellow
sailors-don't pollute the water!
In other words sail fast, sail for fun and sail with safety
in mind. Several East Coast events have had man overboard
events. Hopefully Great Lakes sailors will keep lessons
learned about PFD's, Safety Harnesses and other safety
issues in mind. That way I can focus on successes not
tragedies!
******************
Rowing Reporter Interactive- Bringing people together,
passing messages and answering questions. The Rowing
reporter seeks comments, questions and suggestions.
Send email to ike@torresen.com.
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