The Michigan Clean Marina Program is pleased to announce that three Michigan facilities have been designated as “Michigan Clean Marinas” effective March 26, 2009. They are the Edward C. Grace Memorial Harbor, Village of Elk Rapids; Linwood Beach Marina, Linwood, MI and Woodland Marina, LLC, Brighton. With these three additions, 24 marinas have obtained this prestigious designation.
“In all of our business ventures we always strive to reach for the pinnacle of success. Success is not always defined by the amount of money that you can make in any given business venture, but also to go where many of your competitors have not. In the marina business one of those pinnacles is to be designated as a certified ‘Michigan Clean Marina’. Out of the several hundred marinas in the State of Michigan, only a handful have reached that plateau,” said Mike Van Buren, Woodland Marina. “The other important part of this designation is that you are also doing a great service to the environment. Not only are you doing a service to the environment by your actions you are also leading by example by promoting to your customers all of the important issues that you have learned by being a designated ‘Michigan Clean Marina’. Although, it is a process to becoming a certified ‘Michigan Clean Marina’ it makes you become aware of not just the big things, but also the small ones that can promote personal and environmental safety.”
The clean marina designation begins with a pledge to participate in the program, followed by workshops where the marina management and staff receive a marina handbook, overview of the designation process, and a review of best management practices. The facilities then conduct self-evaluations of their environmental practices to determine their strengths and weaknesses. After implementing improvements and reaching a level of competencies, the marina requests a visitation by a CMP consultant, which serves as an evaluation of the facility’s environmental stewardship. When the facility reaches established goals, they receive their designation.
The Michigan Clean Marina Program is a joint program between the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Sea Grant and the Michigan Boating Industries Association. For more details on the program and to see which facilities are designated Michigan Clean Marinas, go to: http://miseagrant.umich.edu/cmp/
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
America's Boat Show
Searching for a new boat? Just curious to learn about boats? Think going to a boat show is too expensive and too much of a hassle?
At America's Boat Show you can find boats at your own house at your own pace.
Sign up to view the Boat Show here.
At America's Boat Show you can find boats at your own house at your own pace.
Sign up to view the Boat Show here.
Monday, April 13, 2009
THE REAL STATE OF BOATING
We have seen plenty of doom recently in the boating community: manufacturers have been downsizing, boat show attendance has shrunk, sales have declined. But here at Great Lakes Boating, we are bucking that trend. Readership and interest has been improving, and that is nowhere more evident and measurable than on our website. Our presence on the Internet is evolving and readers are flocking to it.
According to Alexa.com, our overall web ranking has improved by 348,236 places during the previous three months. Great Lakes boaters may be staying home because of the winter weather and the troubled economy, but they are still finding their way to our website. When they arrive, they are finding new and improved ways to read their favorite articles and to research boating information. And these new offerings are leading to a larger readership.
Not everything has to be downtrodden right now. Boaters know that times will change again, and Great Lakes Boating will be there when they start buying and boating again. As proof, our improved status is at least one bright spot in these gloomy times.
We wish to thank all of you who visit the website. And for those of you who don’t, we remind you to visit to see our latest features. Also, don’t forget to read the daily news about topics affecting the Great Lakes region.
According to Alexa.com, our overall web ranking has improved by 348,236 places during the previous three months. Great Lakes boaters may be staying home because of the winter weather and the troubled economy, but they are still finding their way to our website. When they arrive, they are finding new and improved ways to read their favorite articles and to research boating information. And these new offerings are leading to a larger readership.
Not everything has to be downtrodden right now. Boaters know that times will change again, and Great Lakes Boating will be there when they start buying and boating again. As proof, our improved status is at least one bright spot in these gloomy times.
We wish to thank all of you who visit the website. And for those of you who don’t, we remind you to visit to see our latest features. Also, don’t forget to read the daily news about topics affecting the Great Lakes region.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
AREN’T FISH PEOPLE TOO?
Another dam is being removed, this time in Covington, New York. The thought is that native fish will once again use the river for spawning, thereby restoring populations to the glory years when there were so many fish that they fought each other to swim upstream. It takes no amount of science or thought to realize that removing an impediment unnatural to an area would allow wildlife to move more freely. Only time will tell, however, if this removal will restore the river to past surging populations for future generations.
Isn’t restoration what this is all about? Making sure there will be something for our kids? Every time I think of fishing, I remember night fishing with my parents—so scared of a coyote’s howl that I wouldn’t leave the car. Or having a big fish (how big is still uncertain) on the line and losing it, only to have my grandfather scold me for not letting him bring it in. I’m sure you have plenty of tales of your own. Wouldn’t you like your children to have some, too?
Everyone knows about protected habitats and animals, but what about fish? Sure there are things called marine sanctuaries, but in the Great Lakes I could only find one, at Thunder Bay, and it was formed to protect shipwrecks. Sure, shipwrecks are wonderful and worth preserving, but the other twelve sanctuaries were created to protect marine life. Why is the only protected area on the Great Lakes a place for ships to rest eternally safe? Aren’t living fish at least as important as wrecked vessels?
Restoring an organism to its natural population is not an easy thing to do, but it is possible. Remember the bald eagle almost disappearing due to DDT? It’s not even on the endangered species list anymore. Maybe you don’t know that the Alaskan salmon was nearly fished to extinction, and that because of smart fishing practices and forethought it is now one of the healthiest fish populations in the world. The sanctuaries on the West Coast have helped to restore marine ecosystems simply by allowing aquatic plants and animals safe places to grow.
What does the future hold for Great Lakes fishing? The answer is in our hands, and one thing is certain: the better our stewardship, the better the future of fishing will be.
Isn’t restoration what this is all about? Making sure there will be something for our kids? Every time I think of fishing, I remember night fishing with my parents—so scared of a coyote’s howl that I wouldn’t leave the car. Or having a big fish (how big is still uncertain) on the line and losing it, only to have my grandfather scold me for not letting him bring it in. I’m sure you have plenty of tales of your own. Wouldn’t you like your children to have some, too?
Everyone knows about protected habitats and animals, but what about fish? Sure there are things called marine sanctuaries, but in the Great Lakes I could only find one, at Thunder Bay, and it was formed to protect shipwrecks. Sure, shipwrecks are wonderful and worth preserving, but the other twelve sanctuaries were created to protect marine life. Why is the only protected area on the Great Lakes a place for ships to rest eternally safe? Aren’t living fish at least as important as wrecked vessels?
Restoring an organism to its natural population is not an easy thing to do, but it is possible. Remember the bald eagle almost disappearing due to DDT? It’s not even on the endangered species list anymore. Maybe you don’t know that the Alaskan salmon was nearly fished to extinction, and that because of smart fishing practices and forethought it is now one of the healthiest fish populations in the world. The sanctuaries on the West Coast have helped to restore marine ecosystems simply by allowing aquatic plants and animals safe places to grow.
What does the future hold for Great Lakes fishing? The answer is in our hands, and one thing is certain: the better our stewardship, the better the future of fishing will be.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Portside Reading
The Sailor from Gibraltar
By Marguerite Duras
Disaffected, bored with his career at the French Colonial Ministry (where he has copied out birth and death certificates for eight years), and disgusted by a mistress whose vapid optimism arouses his most violent misogyny, the narrator of The Sailor from Gibraltar finds himself at the point of complete breakdown while vacationing in Florence. After leaving his mistress and the Ministry behind forever, he joins the crew of the Gibraltar, a yacht captained by Anna, a beautiful American in perpetual search of her sometime lover, a young man known only as the “Sailor from Gibraltar.”
Though confronted with the loneliness and boredom of life aboard, captain and crew continue to pursue the passion for which they first set sail. This kind of conflicted voyaging is familiar to many boaters, and Duras describes it in all its complexity and beauty. In one characteristically precise passage, she writes, “The sea was smooth and warm. The ship cut through it like a blade through ripe fruit.” Readers will move through this compelling novel just as effortlessly.
Open Letter Books // $12.95
Freighters of Manitowoc
By Tom Wenstadt
Freighters of Manitowoc chronicles the building of freight carrying vessels in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Manitowoc was a tiny frontier town in the 1840s with a river entrance on the western shore of Lake Michigan. From these small beginnings, it grew to build and deliver the largest vessels on all of the Great Lakes of the time.
While there was only one principal shipyard that produced freight vessels in the 20th century in Manitowoc, there were more than 18 builders in the second half of the 19th century that built an amazing number of ships.Read about the builders themselves, the vessels they built, their yards and how their businesses interrelated with the town, the river, the lake and other waterways of the world. You will view the evolution of ship design and construction technology and see freighters built before your eyes through pictorial chronologies from keel blocks through launch, final fit-out and delivery. As you follow from ship to ship and builder to builder, shipbuilding becomes the spirit of the city.
Packed with 519 photographs, this book not only serves as a reference for details of each ship but also paints a time-lapse story of the evolution of the industry in Manitowoc.
Authorhouse // $17.97
Ice!
By Tristan Jones
When Tristan Jones was discharged from the Navy and told he was physically unfit for seagoing, he got hold of a small craft, Cresswell, which he converted to a cruising ketch, and started sailing. Then, determined to sail farther north than anyone else, Jones set out from Iceland, accompanied only by Nelson, the one-eyed, three-legged dog he had inherited.
Jones spent two winters full of continuous suspense and danger in this bleak polar region. He was trapped by violent snowstorms, attacked by a ravenous polar bear and marooned on an ice pack in the Arctic Ocean, all the while grappling with loneliness and despair, plus dwindling supplies. Finally, when the ice shifted, crushing Cresswell like a matchbox, Jones had to deal with possible death.
Widely regarded as one of the best-known small-boat sailors and writers of our times, Jones tells the unforgettable story of this adventurous voyage and his harrowing survival.
Sheridan House // $16.95
By Marguerite Duras
Disaffected, bored with his career at the French Colonial Ministry (where he has copied out birth and death certificates for eight years), and disgusted by a mistress whose vapid optimism arouses his most violent misogyny, the narrator of The Sailor from Gibraltar finds himself at the point of complete breakdown while vacationing in Florence. After leaving his mistress and the Ministry behind forever, he joins the crew of the Gibraltar, a yacht captained by Anna, a beautiful American in perpetual search of her sometime lover, a young man known only as the “Sailor from Gibraltar.”Though confronted with the loneliness and boredom of life aboard, captain and crew continue to pursue the passion for which they first set sail. This kind of conflicted voyaging is familiar to many boaters, and Duras describes it in all its complexity and beauty. In one characteristically precise passage, she writes, “The sea was smooth and warm. The ship cut through it like a blade through ripe fruit.” Readers will move through this compelling novel just as effortlessly.
Open Letter Books // $12.95
Freighters of Manitowoc
By Tom Wenstadt
Freighters of Manitowoc chronicles the building of freight carrying vessels in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Manitowoc was a tiny frontier town in the 1840s with a river entrance on the western shore of Lake Michigan. From these small beginnings, it grew to build and deliver the largest vessels on all of the Great Lakes of the time.While there was only one principal shipyard that produced freight vessels in the 20th century in Manitowoc, there were more than 18 builders in the second half of the 19th century that built an amazing number of ships.Read about the builders themselves, the vessels they built, their yards and how their businesses interrelated with the town, the river, the lake and other waterways of the world. You will view the evolution of ship design and construction technology and see freighters built before your eyes through pictorial chronologies from keel blocks through launch, final fit-out and delivery. As you follow from ship to ship and builder to builder, shipbuilding becomes the spirit of the city.
Packed with 519 photographs, this book not only serves as a reference for details of each ship but also paints a time-lapse story of the evolution of the industry in Manitowoc.
Authorhouse // $17.97
Ice!
By Tristan Jones
When Tristan Jones was discharged from the Navy and told he was physically unfit for seagoing, he got hold of a small craft, Cresswell, which he converted to a cruising ketch, and started sailing. Then, determined to sail farther north than anyone else, Jones set out from Iceland, accompanied only by Nelson, the one-eyed, three-legged dog he had inherited.Jones spent two winters full of continuous suspense and danger in this bleak polar region. He was trapped by violent snowstorms, attacked by a ravenous polar bear and marooned on an ice pack in the Arctic Ocean, all the while grappling with loneliness and despair, plus dwindling supplies. Finally, when the ice shifted, crushing Cresswell like a matchbox, Jones had to deal with possible death.
Widely regarded as one of the best-known small-boat sailors and writers of our times, Jones tells the unforgettable story of this adventurous voyage and his harrowing survival.
Sheridan House // $16.95
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Chicago Slips Too Expensive
Ned, I thought you might be interested in reading the letter I recently sent to Scott Stevenson surrendering my Diversey Harbor slip I can no longer afford.
Hutch Liebewein, Paols Park, Il
February 1, 2009
Scott Stevenson, Westrec Marinas
Dear Scott,
It is with sincere regret that I am returning my 2009 Chicago Park District Diversey Harbor Mooring Assignment unsigned. I have been a Diversey Harbor tenant since 1979—exactly 30 years! But as a retired senior citizen, I can no longer afford the outrageous slip fees that the Park District is charging, particularly for suburban boaters like myself. A 9% increase for us alone is absolutely criminal. I am moving my boat to another Illinois harbor which, unlike Diversey, provides FREE electricity, FREE dock boxes, FREE satellite TV, with a resultant slip fee almost HALF that charged by the Chicago Park District for the same 35 foot slip, a yearly saving well over $2000. The nasty fee proliferation continually added by the greedy Chicago political machine—Non-resident FEE, Chicago Mooring Tax, Water usage FEE and now a $25 electronic Transaction FEE—demonstrates the grubby mendacity of these politicians who consider boaters their cash cows. Well, not any longer will they bleed this boater!
Sincerely,
Hutch Liebewein
Hutch Liebewein, Paols Park, Il
February 1, 2009
Scott Stevenson, Westrec Marinas
Dear Scott,
It is with sincere regret that I am returning my 2009 Chicago Park District Diversey Harbor Mooring Assignment unsigned. I have been a Diversey Harbor tenant since 1979—exactly 30 years! But as a retired senior citizen, I can no longer afford the outrageous slip fees that the Park District is charging, particularly for suburban boaters like myself. A 9% increase for us alone is absolutely criminal. I am moving my boat to another Illinois harbor which, unlike Diversey, provides FREE electricity, FREE dock boxes, FREE satellite TV, with a resultant slip fee almost HALF that charged by the Chicago Park District for the same 35 foot slip, a yearly saving well over $2000. The nasty fee proliferation continually added by the greedy Chicago political machine—Non-resident FEE, Chicago Mooring Tax, Water usage FEE and now a $25 electronic Transaction FEE—demonstrates the grubby mendacity of these politicians who consider boaters their cash cows. Well, not any longer will they bleed this boater!
Sincerely,
Hutch Liebewein
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