GREAT LAKES CRUISING CLUB Winter 2015 GREAT LAKES CRUISING CLUB From the Bridge Volume 82 Number 2 It is a distinct honor and wonderful privilege to have been elected to CONTENTS serve as your 47th Commodore of the Great Lakes Cruising Club. I am From the Bridge ..................................2-3 grateful to the Nominating Committee for placing their confidence in my abil- Great Lakes Foundation .........................3 ity to serve in that position. In preparation for assuming this role, I served as From the Editor .......................................4 Vice Commodore for the past two years, working alongside our Immediate Region 53 Rap-Up ...................................8 Past Commodore Niels Jensen. That experience and support has been both Detroit-Windsor Rally Recap ..............10 educational and enjoyable. I also want to acknowledge the crucial sup- 2015 Rendezvous Recap .................12-15 port from the rest of the Bridge including Treasurer Jim (Bullfrog) Richlak, Founders Award ..............................16-18 Secretary Phil Doolittle, and of course, our Office Manager Yvonne Murray. Port Captain’s Log Book .......................20 Fortunately for all of us all they plan to continue in these roles. Since tak- Annual Meeting Recap ...................22-23 Spring Awakening .................................24 ing over as Treasurer, Jim Richlak has been center stage in the efforts to Welcome Aboard...................................26 manage your club’s costs and expenditures. His skills as a budget overseer Member to Member Ads ......................27 are excellent. Secretary Phil Doolittle has consistently been a trusted asset Coming Events ......................................28 in compiling excellent meeting minutes and broad-based Club communica- tions. Of course, everyone knows Yvonne, who works so diligently at the Official Publication of the Great Lakes Cruising Club Home Office to keep it all on track. Her efforts at member recruitment and Suite 101 retention have been almost legendary. What a great team! 405 Water Street This year brings some new faces and changing roles. Please join me in Port Huron, MI 48060-5469 welcoming, to the bridge, our newly elected Vice Commodore Rich Barzyk. Phone: 810-984-4500 Rich was the Rear Commodore for Region 53 Lake Erie, prior to his induc- Fax: 810-984-4565 Email: [email protected] tion. Over the next two years he will be providing coordination and guid- Home Page: http://www.glcclub.com ance for our many social events while also transitioning his previous role to Publisher incoming Rear Commodore for Region 53, Roger Hankle. Great Lakes Cruising Club I would also invite all of you to welcome new faces to the Board of Editor Directors. We have several former Board members who officially retired Philip May Office from the Board at the October Annual Meeting in London, Ontario. Fleet Yvonne E. Murray Surgeon John Pepin, M.D., served the club very well and is being replaced Art Direction by Michael Hritz, M.D. Rear Commodore Roland Aube is releasing his Cindy Badley Correspondents role as Canadian Judge Advocate to Steven Selznick. Roland retains his All GLCC Members position of Rear Commodore, North Channel. Roger Hankle retired as a IMPORTANT NOTICE Director and assumes the leadership role of Rear Commodore, Lake Erie, The membership application which may Region 53. Joining the board and fulfilling Roger’s unexpired term through be included with this issue of Lifeline is for your use in signing up a new member. It 2017, please welcome Doug Jackson. Our widely recognized and honored DOES NOT mean that your membership Fleet Captain and Past Commodore Jim Acheson has retired from that has expired. It is just a reminder that GLCC is always interested in new members, and you position. Jim will certainly be missed, but is replaced with another longtime are the source. Sign up a new member today! contributor and leader, Past Commodore Joe Mesenburg. We owe a huge Editorial Closing Dates debt of gratitude to both these Past Commodores for their many years of Editorial copy and change of address should outstanding contribution to our club. be submitted no later than 6 weeks before the publication date, to the GLCC Office. Please join me in also recognizing the talent and dedication of the cur- LIFELINE (ISSN: 0745-9718) is published in rent group of Directors. Ardy Barclay, James Passe and Vern Meyer were December, March, June, and September by re-elected for another three-year term. They will be joined by Directors the Great Lakes Cruising Club, Suite 101, 405 Water Street, Port Huron, MI 48060-5469. Cheryl Cheger-Timm, Jack Dever, Bill Rohde, Doug Jackson, Bill Matley The subscription rate is $45 USD annually, avail- and Steve Reinecke. I could not have asked for a more diverse and tal- able only to Club members. Copyrighted by ented group of individuals volunteering their time, talent and energy to make The Great Lakes Cruising Club. Periodicals postage paid at Port Huron, MI, and at addi- tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notice to LIFELINE, On the Cover Great Lakes Cruising Club Suite 101, 405 Water Street Commodore Chuck and Joann Mead’s boat Moku Hale, a 43-foot Tartan sailboat, Port Huron, MI 48060-5469 rests in solitude at Port Rawson Bay in the Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada. © 2015 GREAT LAKES CRUISING CLUB Photo taken from Commodore Chuck and Joann Mead’s dinghy! 2 GLCC Lifeline, Winter 2015 the GLCC the premier cruising club in North America. Beyond your elected officials, I am hopeful you also recognize the strength of our many committee chairper- sons and their members, working tirelessly behind the scenes from the Website, Ships Store, Future Site, to Trailer Sailors and more. I encourage you to look at our various committees and consider volunteering your per- sonal skills and interests and being part of the energy moving us all forward. Photo of Moku Hale by As we enter our 82nd year, I expect we will con- Commodore Chuck Mead tinue to face challenges and, hopefully, celebrate successes. Our membership is stable with a modest dedication of these volunteers and the committees and growth rate. The GLCCSchool is a burgeoning asset elected officers working so hard to deliver the host of as its portfolio of webinars and cooperating partner- services and benefits of membership. Hats off to these ships with other boating organizations continues to individuals and, of course, the spouses and partners grow. Director Bill Rohde has been driving this phe- who support and join them. nomenal initiative since its inception and is always on On a more personal level, my wife Joann and I have the lookout for new curriculum topics and instructors. had the pleasure of meeting many members since we Our website is the entry portal for club policies, news, joined the club a dozen years and 15,000 miles ago. events, ships store, and of course, our extensive We both look forward to meeting many more of you as library of Harbor Reports and more. New initiatives be- we spend the summer aboard our Tartan 4300 named ing driven by Joann Mead, Chairperson of the Web- Moku Hale, a name that loosely translates to “Boat site/IT Committee and Lou Bruska, our Logbook Editor, Home” in Hawaiian. As we approach year end and the promise exciting improvements for route planning and wonderful holiday season ahead, Joann and I wish the access to Harbor Reports. Our community of Port best to all of you for your health, safety and happiness. Captains is growing, providing a broader group of re- sources. Recent initiatives exploring social media and Facebook are gaining traction and have already at- tracted new members as they also discover the many benefits of our club. It is exciting to see the energy and Chuck Mead, Commodore Photo by Immediate Past Commodore Niels R. Jensen The new breakwater at Grand Marais, Mich., was partly made possible by a grant from Great Lakes Foundation Please Remember the Great Lakes Foundation When You Make Your Holiday Donations We know that December is the time, when many of our members choose to support worthy causes, and hope you’ll consider making a donation to the Great Lakes Foundation (GLF). Any amount – big or small - is greatly appreciated. As a member of the Great Lakes Cruising Club, you’re also automatically a member of the GLF. The Foundation was organized in 1993 exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes, and since it’s inception has distributed more than $185,000 in grants throughout the Great Lakes. Some of the supported projects have included breakwater construction, dredging, and university level research. It is a goal of the Great Lakes Foundation to attract, review, and issue a growing amount of annual grants to ac- tivities that meet the Foundation’s criteria. We are especially interested in grant applications for projects, which will enhance cruising activities, facilities, and access. To do it, we need your help. If you wish to see a list of past GLF recipients, please go to http://www.glcclub.com/grants-awarded-foundation. Our most recent grant went to the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences for a graduate level scholarship. If you wish, you can view the recipient’s explanation of her environmental research at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF6Vuq7FPRw&feature=youtu.be To learn more about the GLF and to make your donation, please go to http://www.glcclub.com/donate-great- lakes-foundation. The Great Lakes Foundation is an IRS 501(c)(3) charity. Thank you for your consideration and support. Niels R. Jensen, President GLCC Lifeline, Winter 2015 3 does not have to be only navigational info, but can be anything that might be helpful to others who will be visit- From ing the same area after you have left.