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Around the World of Sailing

31 July  2002

Finish Line

From Tim Kent currently on his Around Alone qualifying
voyage from Charleston to the Azores: "I have had one major
mechanical problem - in the middle of a storm, of course.
The mainsheet grabbed the tiller while I was below,
overpowering the autopilot, or so I thought. What really
happened was that the autopilot, unable to turn, forced the
tiller arm it operates belowdecks to move around on its
shaft. When I freed the sheet, I only could move the tiller
to port; it stopped dead center. It took an hour to find
and fix the problem - in the very back of the boat,
belowdeck in a storm."

More at: http://www.everesthorizontal.com/news.html

Water Level Update

Reference Point

Difference from Chart Datum +12
Difference from last month 0
Difference from last year +11
Difference from long term average for July -11
Difference from Record High -42
Difference from Record Low +22
Forecast for 26 August 2002 0

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 State Senator Joe Schwarz

Michigan is the Great Lakes State, and I am committed to
protecting our vast supply of fresh water both from
polluters and from those who may seek to divert our water
resources. We must also invest in programs to protect and
preserve Michigan's natural resources our rivers, our
forests, and the Great Lakes themselves. As Governor, I
will work to ensure the safety of our valuable natural
resources for the benefit of present and future generations
of Michiganders.

I am opposed to any drilling under the Great Lakes, Schwarz
added. Energy reserves that might be located under the Great
Lakes are small, if they exist at all, and there is
absolutely no logic in risking environmental damage.

While the technology for slant drilling has been proved
safe, I do not believe there is any useful purpose in
allowing such drilling. Michigan's water resources and our
environment must be protected.

More at: http://www.schwarz2002.com

******************
Sail Michigan Studies and Observations

The four post Mac regattas offer differing forms of racing,
and provide some ways to study racing trends.

The venues that are one design go for multiple races. In
both Cheboygan and Muskegon 7 races were cranked out in 2
days.

The Harbor Springs affair is 2 races for most. Even the one
design fleets only got to 5 races. For some of the handicap
fleet it turned into a winner take all one race series as
they didn't race on Saturday. The Harbor Springs course are
admired/notorious for not being your standard configuration.

The 100 Miler is the oldest of all the events. It's nearly
50 mile course takes boats around fixed buoys and islands.
No laboratory like buoy racing. Still, the 100 Miler is
preceded by the Fritz Du Brucq regatta which does allow
sailors to sail around the buoys.

The Muskegon regatta entries were mostly out of towners.
Some from Chicago, some from northern Michigan etc. In the
days when boats traveled by their own bottom they may have
raced from Chicago to Muskegon. They may have had a Sunday
race to Holland where they will race next weekend.

Not these days. The boats travel the bulk of miles on their
trailer. Even from Muskegon to Holland a 4 hour sail many
boats come out and ride the road.

No longer do crews stay on board. No longer do boats carry
spares, or have a bosuns locker. Many a trailerable racing
boat needs not one but two trailers. The second trailer is
for spare sails, cordage, dehumidifiers etc.

The 4 events show there are several ways to race your boats
and like with most things diversity in sailing is a
positive.

**************
Marin County

The image of Marin County California took a beating when
John Walker Lindh aka the American Taliban became news.
Recent news out of Marin County in regards to PWC's may go
some way to further adjusting the areas image.

Recently a California Court of Appeals panel reinstated a
Marin County ban on PWC's. They were banned in 1997 due to
the effects their engines have on air and water quality,
noise levels and safety concerns.

The ban had previously been overturned as it was felt that
PWC operators would not be able to determine when the
counties waters began. The appeals court stated, "We hold
that the ordinance does not suffer from that constitutional
infirmity."

Later the court states that the law doesn't overly restrict
navigation. According to the California court, "the public
trust doctrine has been expanded beyond its traditional
common law emphasis on commerce, navigation, and fisheries;
it is now construed as "sufficiently flexible to encompass
changing public needs" (id. at p. 259), such as concern for
the environment, expanding recreational uses, and aesthetic
preservation."

As waters grow more crowded cases like this will occur. It
will be interesting to see how changing views affect our
time on the water in the face of "changing public needs."

Court Decision:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A093769.DOC