community weblog - [ Nav and Harbors ]

Lock shut down; highlights need for new lock

SAULT STE. MARIE — A brief shutdown of the Poe Lock last week demonstrated the need for a new lock capable of handling the largest cargo ships of the Great Lakes fleet, the Lake Carriers’ Association claimed in a press release.   more...

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Cruising Michigan and Minnesota

Ron Reimann loved the setup he had in New Buffalo, Michigan, where he kept his Silverton 372 aft-cabin motoryacht, Flying Colors. He and his wife Nancy and their two kids, Lisa and Brad, didn't mind the hour or so drive they had from their Chicago home to get to the boat. Western Lake Michigan had lots of interesting places to visit, the shoreline looked as rugged as the coast of California, and they had long-time friends at the dock. But he knew that when the family moved to Minnesota a few years ago, the boat would eventually have to come, too.   more...

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How to Sail your Dream but Keep Your Career

Almost every day there's another cruising yacht setting off for the sail of a lifetime - some cruisers, mostly couples, just stay in their own ocean, some circumnavigate their own country, and a few circle the world. Many give up promising careers or save for years for the 'big one'. However, not all cruising yachties have had to give up their careers, as this story demonstrates:   more...

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New rescue boat set to handle Lake Michigan's choppy waters

They launched the rescue boat a little tentatively on choppy waters at the boat launch in Lake Forest on a recent sunny afternoon.

But that's okay, since the mission was a training session, not an actual emergency.

Erik Kositzki, captain in the Knollwood Fire Department and a Lake Forest firefighter, shouted instructions to that afternoon's trainees, Brian Bagdon of the Lake Bluff Fire Department and Ryan Bene of the Knollwood Fire Department. Bagdon and Bene left the dock in the 14-foot Mercury heavy-duty military-grade rescue boat, motored around and returned to the dock, securing the boat back onto the trailer and pulling it out of the water.  more...

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The Ocqueoc River And the effort to keep it one of Northern Michigan's true 'gems'

Gary Hubbard has an interesting way of trying to combat the erosion problem that plagues his property overlooking the Ocqueoc River in Presque Isle County. He has built a little platform on which he tees up stones and chips them with a golf club over the giant bluff down to the river below, where they plant themselves into the sandy bank that is forever shifting with the seasons.

Of course Hubbard, a Lansing area dentist, realizes his fun little exercise in futility is just that. He isn't making any difference against the force of the Ocqueoc and its ability to tear away the sandy bank that is just a couple dozen yards away from the new log home he recently had built.   more...

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Great Lakes Marinas: Michigan's Harbor Program

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Tips for Planning the Perfect Overnight or Weekend Getaway!

Q: What level of experience is needed to take an overnight/weekend cruise? 

A: Assuming that you are just sailing during the day and sleeping at night aboard, you only need to be practiced in basic navigation, anchoring and/or docking, and have experience in safe sailing under good conditions.

Q: What types of charts are needed?

A: Be sure to have charts that cover the whole journey, not just intended stops. You need a large scale chart of any harbor along the way that you may need to use as safe refuge if weather conditions deteriorate.   more...

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Avoid Launch Ramp Ridicule

For most boaters, the fun starts once the boat is in the water. But getting there can be a real ordeal. Aligning the trailer tongue and the hitch ball can be tough. And then there is the dreaded moment at the landing when you will have to back the boat into the water in front of all the other boaters waiting for their turn at the ramp.
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More small ships to ply Great Lakes next summer

Here's some great news for lovers of the Great Lakes: Two small, high-end cruise ships - one new, the other newly refurbished - will make their debut next summer on the fresh-water waves of lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior.

"It'll be a great summer," said Chris Conlin, owner of the Great Lakes Cruise Co., an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based travel agency that specializes in Great Lakes cruises. "We have lots of choices that we haven't had before." more...

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Leaf-peep by Land

LES CHENEAUX ISLANDS -- For a brilliant burst of fall color, trace the shoreline of Lake Huron, east through the Upper Peninsula on Highway M-134, toward the Les Cheneaux (pronounced Lay-Shen-O) islands.

Les Cheneaux is French for "the channels," so named because of the many waterways that divide this archipelago of 36 islands. Thought to be the home of Hiawatha, the waterways were the routes for coureur de bois, or French fur traders, and Jesuit explorers.

"It's easy to imagine the moccasined feet of Chippewa Indians moving silently along the elusive trails of wild things," wrote Bonnie Stewart Mickelson in the prologue of her award-winning book "Hollyhocks & Radishes" (Pickle Point Publishing, 1989), a collection of local recipes that has sold more than 150,000 copies.  more...

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Swim At Your Own Risk

Possibly the only thing that matches Lake Michigan’s beauty is its danger. For the inexperienced swimmer, the lake can be deadly. And swimming is particularly dangerous off the sandy beaches of Indiana’s shoreline. Now, a new way of warning swimmers aims to prevent drownings there.   more...

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Public asked for input on Lake Erie projects

SANDUSKY -- Citizens with an interest in the future of the Lake Erie coast and how shoreline construction projects are handled are encouraged to express their opinions at a series of public informational meetings set for September on the coastline.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management is sponsoring the meetings to solicit input on proposed Ohio Administrative Code rules for managing construction and improvements along the shore. more...

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Debate over future of Erie Canal echoes its early history

ALBANY, N.Y. — It was an engineering marvel that brought tremendous wealth to New York and opened up the North American interior, helping turn the United States into an international commercial powerhouse in the 19th century.

Today, managers of the storied Erie Canal are pouring tens of millions of dollars of public money into it each year as they struggle to transform the once vital freight route into a tourist destination.  more...

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Silt still clogs lake harbor

LEXINGTON -- Money has been made available to dredge the village's state-operated harbor, but it seems no one has the time to do the project.

Karolyn McEntee, Lexington's village clerk, said the community was presented with a check for $162,360 on April 28 to pay for the dredging. But since then, nothing has happened.

The community had hoped the project would have been done by the end of May, she said.   more...

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Duluth finds compromise for Great Lakes cruising

DULUTH, Minn. - Concerns that security issues could sink plans to offer a cruise service between Duluth and Toronto appeared to have been answered.

As a result, the Clelia II, a 290-foot cruise ship capable of carrying 100 passengers should enjoy smooth sailing between Canada and Minnesota next year.   more...

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