-

,

TThhee BBaarr mmeetteerr Tip of the Mitt Sail and Power Squadron

Michigan – District 9

A Unit of the United States Power Squadrons

NNoovveemmbbeerr 22001111 http://www.usps.org/localusps/tipofthemitt/index.htm VVooll.. 1111 NNoo.. 0088

Commander's Corner Cdr Thomas Rea, JN

Thank you to those members who attended.

I believe that you were well rewarded with the

quality of program that was provided.

For the 16 November GMM, Lt/C Tom

Tietjen, N, has arranged for Terry Pepper of the

Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association to

present "Miracle in the Straits", as well as give us

an update on restoration projects around the Lakes.

You may have noticed that I was not at the

last GMM (he missed a terrific program! – Ed.),

and I'm sorry to say that I will not be at the 16

November meeting either. In October, I was in

South Dakota counting birds for the DNR. In

November, I will be in Alpena observing whitetail

deer for the Michigan DNR. It is tough job work-

ing for the government but someone has to do it!

XO Bob Bokram will be at the helm once

again, and this time will have all the squadron flags

set and ready to go. Although, having someone

hold a small flag during the Pledge is more

personal.

With Terrapin in the barn, my thoughts are

already turning toward next summer's adventures.

(continued on Page 03, Column 01…) »

From the SEO Lt/C Bill Fleck, AP

sonal watercraft (PWC).

If you are between the ages of 14 and 16,

you must have taken a class – like USPS Boat

Smart, ABC3, or the Sheriff's class – and passed a

test. This age group must be accompanied by

someone over the age of 21 (preferably a mother

or father) while operating, either on the PWC or

within 100 feet. Failure to possess certification of

having taken a class, or operating while under

fourteen, is a misdemeanor.

This law is the direct result of a young girl

in Oakland County having been killed by a PWC

operated by someone under the age of fourteen.

The girl's mother campaigned for this legislation,

and it is now Michigan Law.

USPS continues to rely more and more

upon the Internet and things like Sailnet for

communicating with its members. The cost of

U.S. mail continues to increase, and more and

more USPS members are using electronic mail.

If you want to read the D9 publication

Interlaker, go to the Internet address:

http://d9-usps.org/app/HomeContact.aspx

In the top bar, click on "Member Access" and then

click on the red "sign in". Put in the user name and

password, which are both the same: "member"

and "member". You then have access as a D9 user

(continued on Page 02, Column 02…) »

The District 9 Fall

Conference at Shanty Creek

provided some interesting

new information. As of 31

October 2011, no one under

the age of 14 in the State of

Michigan can operate a per-

XO Bob Bokram re-

ports that the October Gen-

eral Membership Meeting

(GMM) at Audie's in Mack-

inaw City was exceptional.

He said that the outstanding

buffet dinner was exceeded

only by Michael LeButt's

great presentation on the

S.S. Eastland disaster.

****

The Barometer Page 02 November 2011

From the SEO (…continued from Page 01, Column, 02)

and can go to the second top bar and find

"Interlaker" to read the most recent issue.

The HQ800 system is another Internet

innovation that allows squadrons to electron-

ically advertise their classes to the public as well

as to squadron members. The recent Piloting

class was so listed, and the upcoming Seaman-

ship class will display there as well.

To access the class listings:

http://www.usps.org/national/eddept/

On the first page, you'll find a link to "Find a

Course", then follow the instructions. Seminars

can be found by clicking on the "Find a Seminar"

link.

Also note that this will be the first year

that Merit Marks are distributed electronically.

Stay tuned for more developments as USPS

moves into the electronic age.

The Piloting class, with its seven stu-

dents, is moving along well under the expert

tutelage of Tom Tietjen. While the class is

challenging, it is definitely worthwhile, and use-

ful when you are on the water.

There will be an Anchoring Seminar (one

night) offered in early January, and a Seamanship

class will most likely begin in January as well.

We still plan to offer the three Marine

Electronics classes in early spring if there is

enough interest.

Electronic Navigation texts should be

printed and available in January. The field of

electronic navigation (chart plotters and the like)

is changing so rapidly that the authors keep

delaying publication due to new technologies –

but I guess they have finally decided that they

just have to pick a date and print the text. □

November Shines Lt/C Jack Weber

The 16 NOV General Membership Meeting

will be held in the Rose Room

at The Perry Hotel in Petoskey.

1830 Refreshments; 1900 Dinner

RSVP to: jackkathyweber@sbcglobal.net See e-mail notices from Lt/C Weber for details.

Terry Pepper from the Great Lakes Light-

house Keepers Association will present The Miracle

of The Straits of Mackinaw, the story of the

restoration of the St. Helena Island lighthouse. □

The Barometer is the official publication of the Tip of the Mitt Sail

and Power Squadron, and is published sort of monthly.

Editor: P/D/Lt/C Michael LeButt, SN

Webmaster: P/C James Ellis, AP

Deadline for submittals is the 1

st day of the month of publication.

e-mail to: captainmackinaw@charter.net

The Tietjen Test Lt/C Tom Tietjen, N

Editor's note: We continue our column to test your

knowledge of things nautical. See how well you

know your stuff. Answers on Page 05 (no peeking!).

1. What does this buoy tell us,

and what are its characteristics?

2. What is a limber hole? A lim-

ber chain?

3. If your GPS were receiving a

signal from only one satellite,

what would be your position? □

Build me straight, O worthy Master!

Staunch and Strong, a goodly vessel

That shall laugh at all disaster,

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Barometer Page 03 November 2011

Commander's Corner (…continued from Page 01, Column 01)

One trip on my "Bucket List" is exploring the north

and eastern shores of Lake Superior. I want to share

with you some information I discovered about this

northernmost lake of our state. This comes from the

Drummond Island Digest and the Internet:

-Lake Superior contains 10% of all the fresh water on

the planet Earth.

-It covers 82,000 square kilometers or 31,700 square

miles. The average depth is 147 feet.

-There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in

Lake Superior.

-By surface area, it's the largest lake in the world,

with 20% of the world's fresh water surface area.

-A Jesuit priest in 1668 named it Lac Tracy, but the

name was never officially adopted.

-Superior contains as much water as all the other

Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Eries.

-There is a small outflow from Superior into Lake

Huron at the St. Mary's River, but it takes almost two

centuries for the water to be completely replaced.

-Lake Superior was formed during the last glacial

retreat, making it one of the earth's youngest major

features at approximately 10,000 years old.

-The deepest point in the lake is 405 meters or 1,333

feet.

-The maximum wave ever recorded on the lake was

9.45 meters or 31 feet.

-There are 78 different species of fish.

-If you stretched the shoreline of Lake Superior out

to a straight line, it would be long enough to reach

from Duluth MN to the Bahamas.

-The average underwater visibility is about 27 feet,

with a 30-foot maximum, making it the cleanest and

clearest of the Great Lakes.

-In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes

later on the western shore than at its southeastern

edge.

-Some of the world's oldest rocks, formed about 2.7

billion years ago, can be found on the Ontario shore.

-Superior rarely freezes over completely, and then

usually just for a few hours. Complete freezing

occurred in 1962, 1979, 2003 and 2009.

More than you need to know? This marvelous

wonder is your back yard, go see it! □

Van Dam Outing Lt Birute Fleck, AP

Twelve Tip of the Mitt Sail and Power

Squadron members met in Boyne City on

October 26th to tour the Van Dam Custom

Boats facility. What was very clear during our

visit was that the company, all of its employ-

ees, and the boats they design, build, and repair

exemplify quality.

Owner Steve Van Dam started out in

Grand Rapids, MI, and as a young boy of ten

he, his father, and brother Dave restored a

small Crescent day sailor, which they kept at a

friend’s beach on Lake Macatawa near Lake

Michigan. This began Steve’s lifelong love

affair with wooden boats. After this success, he

restored an aging 36’ cutter-rigged sailboat

built originally by the Burr Brothers in

Massachusetts.

He labored with fiberglass boat builder

Ted McCutcheon, and discovered that working

with glass was not his calling. He subsequently

studied with wooden boat builder Vic Carpen-

ter in Ontario.

Returning to Michigan, Steve cleared

land next to his home in Harbor Springs, and

built a small boat building shed in 1976. This

business, now known as Van Dam Custom

Boats, formally began the following year as

Van Dam Wood Craft.

In the spring of 1991, Van Dam Wood

Craft relocated to Boyne City.

The Van Dam Staff is quite skilled, and

very dedicated to their craft. Michel Berryer,

our tour guide for the day was no exception.

Michel, a design engineer, came to Van Dam

(continued on Page 04, Column 01…) »

The Barometer Page 04 November 2011

Van Dam Tour (…continued from Page 03, Column 02)

by way of the automobile industry in Detroit. He

also worked at Four Winns, tried his hand at his

own business, and 18 years ago began working for

Van Dam.

Michel is involved in both boat design and

building. Jean Van Dam handles the office. Steve

and Jean’s son Ben has degrees in Naval Archi-

tecture and Marine Engineering, and has experience

in yacht design acquired when he interned at a boat

building company in New Zeeland.

We were able to see a few of the boats built

by Van Dam: Impshi II was being retrofitted to go

faster – it will do 80 miles per hour now – with a

slightly altered hull to keep the boat more in touch

with the surface of the water. The alteration was

impeccably done and looked like it was meant to

be.

Honduras mahogany planking, cut from a

single log for uniform color and grain, is book-

matched so each side of the boat is a mirror of the

other. We also saw Don Don and Blue Star – all

impressive, and so beautifully built that words

really are hard to come by to describe them. The

mirror finish on the boats was perfect – in color and

luster – and remains so after many years of use.

For more information, please go to the Van

Dam web site to learn their history, meet their staff,

and see their collection of boats:

http://www.vandamboats.com

We finished up the day with a convivial

lunch at Café Santé with its view of beautiful Lake

Charlevoix. □

Rare photo of Barometer photographer

P/D/Lt/C Michael LeButt, SN

presenting The S.S. Eastland Disaster

at the October GMM

Welcome Aboard!

After a friend invited me to take a two-

week sail on his 1920 ketch from the Isle of

Eigg, Scotland to Northern Ireland, I knew that I

had been bitten by the bug, and there has been

no turning back!

Along with the help of friends and

family, I was able to purchase a 1963 Nordic

Folkboat, and with even more help from local

sea dogs, sailed her for over a month from the

Bristol Channel north to the Isle of Eigg, in the

Scottish Hebrides.

My boat sits

now on the island while

I am here, learning from

a variety of sailboats,

sailors, and experiences

– and taking the Pilot-

ing Course. One day, I

hope to sail back to

Europe from the Great

Lakes. □

Hello! My name is Megan

Frey and I have recently joined the

Tip of the Mitt Sail and Power

Squadron.

I have always had an interest

in sailing since I was very small, but

now I would say this interest has

developed into a great love over the

last few years.

1.

The Barometer Page 05 November 2011

Answers to the Tietjen Test

Van Dam tour

1. Even though we cannot see its color, an

identifying number/letter, or light, we know from

the sphere on top that this is a "fairway", "mid-

channel", or "safe-water" buoy. We can pass on

either side. It will have red-and-white vertical

stripes, identifying letter(s), and a white light

flashing Morse Code "A" (dot-dash).

2. A hole through a frame or floor so that water

will drain to the lowest part of the bilge, rather

than accumulate between frames. Chains are

sometimes installed in the holes; they're pulled

back-and-forth to clean out debris.

3. Somewhere on a sphere, with the satellite at its

center. □

Sir! Oh, Sir! I'm from the United States

Power Squadrons. Could I interest you in

a free boating course?

The Barometer Page 06 November 2011

Welcome Cindy Mom!

of southeast Michigan.

A rowboat on a small pond during my

teenage years got me interested in the quieter

aspects of human-powered boating, and since then I

have learned a lot about canoeing, kayaking, and

rowing.

Bay (mostly by rowboat and kayak), and was

captivated by the maritime heritage of the Cape

Ann area.

The only boats I have owned so far have

been paddle-powered. But I dream about sailboats.

I work for Little Traverse Conservancy, helping to

manage over 13,000 acres of nature preserves and

over 60 miles of trails. Since my work is so land-

based, I tend to head toward the water for

recreation on my time off. □

I have enjoyed boating

since I was very young, starting

with recreational power-boating

and waterskiing with my dad, on

Lake Huron and the inland lakes

From 1997 through 2003, I

lived in Gloucester, Mass-

achusetts, and fell in love

with all kinds of wooden

boats, from dories to

schooners. I had the oppor-

tunity to thoroughly explore

Gloucester Harbor and Essex

And in This Corner…

David and Suzanne!

she was in the hospitality industry. She was the

General Manger of the Holiday Inn located in

the Grand Haven/Spring Lake area.

Sue has always loved boating, but doesn't

consider herself a seasoned veteran. Presently

she is taking the USPS Piloting course and the

Seamanship course, which she is enjoying

immensely.

Her general interests are: cruising,

exercise, yoga, and volunteer work. She is very

active in her church, St Mary's, the St Mary's

School, The Rainbow Shoppe, and is a member

of the B.A.S.E.S. and LaCroft Condominium

Board of Directors.

David Campbell is from Oakland

County, where he spent most of his adult life,

living in the Birmingham/Troy area. In 1985, he

moved to Charlevoix to practice law, focusing

on commercial real estate.

He had somewhat of a checkerboard car-

eer before moving up north, in that he was an

IBM salesman before law school, an Asst.

Prosecuting attorney, a member of the State

Legislature, and an Administrative Law Judge

with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

David raced a Pearson 26' on Wed-

nesday nights for about 5 years when he first

moved to Charlevoix. He has been out of boating

for some time, after trying his hand at motor-

homing and traveling.

David and Suzanne have been friends for

over 25 years and been in a committed

relationship for the past year-and-a-half. □

Suzanne Goodwin is

from Muskegon, and moved to

Charlevoix with her late hus-

band in 1985. Prior to moving,

Wingnuts Lt/C Bill Fleck, AP

conduct an independent study of what happened.

You may find this exhaustive investigation edu-

cational and useful, especially the weather review.

The study concluded that the combination

of strong wind and vessel design characteristics

were the primary factors in causing the incident. □

http://media.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=16940

After two sail-

ors’ lives were lost dur-

ing the recent Chicago

to Mackinac race, the

Chicago Yacht Club

asked US SAILING to

conduct an independent

study

Did You Know?

► As world hydrography offices prepare for

eventual seamless electronic navigational chart

(ENC) coverage, countries are addressing

overlap issues along their shared international

borders. As the first step in meeting the needs of

U.S. and Canadian mariners and other chart

customers, NOAA and the Canadian Hydro-

graphic Service have harmonized the Pacific

ENCs, effective Dec 15, 2011.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, the United

States and Canada will continue to resolve ENC

overlaps in the Atlantic and Great Lakes

regions. This new ENC coverage scheme will

result in each country changing their areas of

coverage, so that only one country's ENC would

be available for any given area.

► Michigan no longer leads the other states in

the number of registered watercraft, and has

fallen to third place behind Florida and

Minnesota. 12.5 million boats were registered

nationwide in 2010 – a decline of 300,00 from

the previous year.

► USPS will be conducting a webinar on 15

November to educate attendees on the use of

EPIRBs (emergency position indicating radio

beacons). Register at:

http://www.sailangle.com/education/webinar-

registration

► U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City,

Mich., was named an Outstanding Agency at

the Special Olympics Hall of Fame Awards

Banquet in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Once a year, Special Olympics gives

Outstanding Service Awards to acknowledge

groups and individuals who have stood out for

their support and friendship. □

Continuing Our Video Series:

Faux Pas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R56EeRd

gFs&feature=related

Serious Faux Pas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEfUblSD

zww □

The Barometer Page 07 November 2011

The Piloting class hard at work on a recent fall evening

New members Suzanne and David

Decimating the buffet at Audie's – October GMM