H20Notes - community weblog

LakeFront Radio Interviews Ben Favret - US World Champion Skier

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:54:22 GMT

We had a great time talking to Ben Favret today all about slalom water skiing for which he has won several awards and championships. The one that meant the most to Ben was the 2001 US Team World Championships in Italy....Listen in to hear why this was a very special day for Ben and Team USA. more...

How to Find a Fishing Guide

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:42:30 GMT

Open Communication matters. It is important that you provide the guide all the information they need so that they will figure out what kind of fishing trip is best for you. Be sure to be honest in telling the guide how much experience you have regarding fishing. This will help them to know what advice and tips to give you so that you can make the most out of your time. more...

The building of the Ambassador Bridge

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:40:40 GMT

For the past 67 years, the Ambassador Bridge has served as a graceful link between Detroit and its neighbor, Windsor, Ontario, and as a weathered monument to the friendship and cooperation of two great nations. But the bridge itself was born not out of peace and cooperation but amid bitter squabbling between public and private interests over whether it should be built and who would build it. more...

Shipwreck searchers hit the jackpot with 3 finds Up North

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:37:52 GMT

TRAVERSE CITY -- Northwest Michigan waters hold three, maybe four, shipwrecks discovered last month by a Grand Traverse County man and other shipwreck hunters.

"It's a passion for exploring. I love going places and finding things nobody's been to before and sharing that through photos and video," said Thaddius Bedford of Mayfield, president of the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve. more...

Bush signs Great Lakes compact with Ont., Que.

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:36:56 GMT

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan — Great Lakes water cannot be diverted to thirsty areas elsewhere in the United States and abroad under an agreement signed Friday by U.S. President George W. Bush.

Approval of the Great Lakes Compact was the final step in a nearly decade-long quest to strengthen legal protections for the five Great Lakes, their connecting channels and the St. Lawrence River. more...

Lock shut down; highlights need for new lock

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:35:35 GMT

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...

Cruising Michigan and Minnesota

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:33:06 GMT

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...

Searchers find Fossett’s plane with remains

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:54:33 GMT

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. — More than a year after millionaire adventure Steve Fossett vanished on a solo flight over California’s rugged Sierra Nevada, searchers found the wreckage of his plane with body parts among the debris.

National Transportation Safety Board acting chairman Mark Rosenker said Thursday that searchers had found “very little” at the scene but enough to provide coroners with DNA. more...

How to Sail your Dream but Keep Your Career

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:50:59 GMT

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...

Lassoing a Post or Cleat from your Boat

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:49:49 GMT

by Captain Jack Klang

Tying up at a dock no longer requires a dock attendant to take your me, nor does a crew person need to jump ashore. It can be done from the deck of your boat. If you can see it and you have enough line, anyone can do it.

Begin with the concept that all lines originate from your deck and return to your deck for attaching. This facilitates line adjustment from onboard at any time. It also allows you to maintain control of your boat’s position at the dock. more...

Dumpster Diving

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:48:30 GMT

Long ago, in the prosperous times before any oil crisis or world trade recessions, I met a man who was sitting in a boatyard dumpster. I tactfully lobbed my bag of garbage well clear of him and we fell into conversation, as one does with strangers in dumps.

"Looks like rain again," I observed.

"Sure does," the stranger replied. "Guess I'd better get a move on. Don't want all this stuff to get soaked."

He spoke with a cultured accent, but I noticed he had the weathered hands of a deep–sea sailor.

"Which stuff's that?" I continued. He was eyeing up a piece of metal poking out from under his pile of junk. And with a heave he dragged out his prize. It was a substantial bronze turnbuckle that looked seized–up. more...

Michigan Online Boating Safety Course and Exam

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:46:46 GMT

Welcome to the official boating safety course developed for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. If you are 16 or older, this online safe boating course can be taken in place of the classroom course as preparation for the proctored final exam. Please be sure you are familiar with Michigan boater education law concerning age and education requirements for vessel operators of all ages. more...

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

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:44:26 GMT

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...

The wildest and tenderest piece of beauty...

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:42:39 GMT

Harriet Martineau gazed in excitement from the deck of the Milwaukee as the schooner tacked across the Straits of Mackinac en route to the island known to Michigan's native peoples as Michilimackinac. It was the evening of 4 July 1836 and the sophisticated, thirty-four-year-old British author tempered her disappointment at missing the Independence Day festivities at the fort whose whitewashed bulwarks dominated the island's heights with the sights that followed: more...

Ohio boater wins Bass League event on Detroit River

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:40:34 GMT

TRENTON — Boater Michael Trombly of Perrysburg, Ohio, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Michigan Division Super Tournament on the Detroit River with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds even. The victory came with a $4,578 prize. more...