We are saddened to report the loss of Port Captain (Ret) David A. Jeffries. David was a long term member of the GLCC serving as Port Captain of Rocky River from 2005-2012. He was an avid single-handed trailer sailor, taking his Catalina 22, WYNDANCER to many GLCC events. He was found frequently in the North Channel during the summer. He was the proud recipient of the Commodore's Award at the 2014 Leamington Rendezvous. As he said, he sailed up I75 at 70 MPH bringing his boat from Florida for the distinct purpose of attending the Rendezvous. Later he attended the Wilderness Rally at Turnbull Island and the Georgian Bay Rally at Keyhole. He died on April 9 in Florida spending his last hours comfortably with his son. There are no immediate services planned but a memorial service is expected to be held this summer on Lake Erie.
GLCC News
The famous freighter Arthur M. Anderson finally made it into port for winter lay-up on March 4. It's month-long futile slog from Indiana to Ohio to pick up cargo ended with it returning to Sturgeon Bay, WS with empty holds. It looks like this winter's ice build up on the Great Lakes will be a repeat of last year's deep freeze when the shipping slowdown cost 4000 jobs and $705 million in economic losses. See full article here.
A link has been added to the Weather, Navigation & Marine section of Links to view maps of the ice buildup on the Great Lakes.
NOAA and the British Geological Survey recently completed the most current update of their World Magnetic Model (WMM). For information on this model and what it means to you, click HERE.
Philip and Ann May's boat ZEPHYR, a Tartan 37, is featured as the boat review in the November issue of Soundings Magazine. Click here to read the article. Philip is editor of the GLCC quarterly magazine Lifeline and chairman of the club's publicity committee.
This not-to-be missed 40-minute video imagines what could be learned about each Great Lake and the overall Great Lakes system if the lakes could be drained to reveal the secrets of their bottoms in detail. The result is amazing and incredibly insightful. Click here for more information and to view.
Help get the word out about GLCC and GLCCSchool with a new mini-webinar recording created to serve as a "ready-made" program for presentation at local Yacht Club, Power Squadron or similar meetings. For more information about how you can provide this program to your local boating organization, click HERE.
The club's new Facebook presence is now up and running! To take a look click here or go to Facebook and search for Great Lakes Cruising Club. While the glcclub.com web site will remain the club's primary source for member services such as harbor reports, member benefit info, event registration and more, our new Facebook page offers a complimentary environment for existing and potential club members to share and interact around common cruising interests. Don't delay! Check it out today, add your "LIKE", invite your boating friends, and join in the community conversation!
In this, our final installment of the 80th anniversary review of vintage Harbor Reports, we saved the Big One for last. Lake Superior's superlatives are well known, so there's no need to list them.
Steve & Brenda Reinecke's boat BETS ON, a Mainship 43, is featured as the used boat review in the October issue of Soundings Magazine. Click here
So sang Gordon Lightfoot. It is true the Great Lakes are blessed, each lake has islands and bays beckoning the boater. Some are quite compact, while others sprawling, but in all cases they offer places to anchor and explore. Lake Ontario has it own island area, the Bay of Q
As we continue our journey through the Great Lakes via vintage Harbor Reports, it’s time to visit the gateway to Lake Ontario and the Southern Terminus of the Welland Canal, Port Colborne. The old report E-25 Port Colborne was a mere 4 pages long. We now have three reports to cover th
Long time GLCC member Angele Passe's article on escaping to Lake Superior by sailboat was featured in the July 25th Minneapolis Star Tribune. Angele and her husband Jim will also present their "Sharing the Helm" seminar at the upcoming GLCC Annual Meeting in Milwaukee. Don't miss it!
If you're headed to Lake Ontario there are two canals to get you there. This month's look back is about the Welland canal. As is always the case with these vintage reports, it is interesting and informative. Note the old photos, they speak well of the long history of the canal.&
With the Rendezvous next month in Leamington, Ont.
The June anniversary issue has information about the GLCCSchool summer session webinar offerings, cruising in Lake Erie (also helpful to our Leamington Rendezvous visitors), up-and-coming GLCC events, GLF update, boating safety, a wave of new members, and reports about our previously held events. Information & registration forms for upcoming events are available via the Events page.
With the unseasonable winter's ice cover and slow melt, this year's Memorial weekend proved to be memorable to say the least. The two accompanying photos show how Lake Superior cruisers enjoyed the holiday. The left photo is from Bayfield Wisconsin Yacht Club member Carl Olding; the right from GLCC member Bob Hansen. Lake Superior boats typically launch starting the first week of May, but not this year. Some Marinas are still iced in.
GLCCSchool weather instructor Mark Thornton recently put together a handy "Marine Weather Dashboard" on his weather forecasting web site. The new dashboard provides an easy to use consolidated window into a wealth of Great Lakes weather information. To check it out click Great Lakes Marine Weather, and then simply click on any lake name or weather product tile for additional detail.
This month we continue our journey Southward through the Great Lakes. We are stopping at a busy commercial harbor on the western side of the Bruce Peninsula.
If you’ll be traveling to the Leamington Rendezvous this summer from a port above Lake Erie you’d be well advised to read harbor report D-0 for information on traversing the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River.There you’ll find details of not only the 25 ports and anchorages along the way but also critical advice on applicable charts, currents, ferry crossings, unique aids to navigation, speed restrictions, international border issues and more.Be sure to also read the harbor reports of some of the more significant individual ports in the area to learn of special treatment of GLCC members, such as in Port Huron and Sarnia.Then, of course, there’s the newly updated report on Leamington itself, where all the fun begins on 13 July.
Having left the North Channel, this month we find ourselves in Tobermory. The 1951 report for the gateway to lower Georgian Bay is rather sparse, it does, however, get you there. We are blessed with a much fuller picture of the town and its amenities in the Club's current edition
04/27/2023 Corrected link. JM It won't be long before mariners and the boating public will have a wider choice of options and special services when they purchase NOAA paper nautical charts, thanks to NOAA's expanded "print-on-demand" chart production and distribution system, Coast Survey officials announced April 4, 2014. Coast Survey recently certified new print-on-demand chart printing agents, and gave them the flexibility to offer different color palettes, various papers, a cleaner margin, and a range of services.
I’m often asked, if I been to the North Channel. I say yes, and the next question is have I been to Baie Fine? Again, I answer in the affirmative. Even non-boaters are intrigued by the place. It’s been said the rocks don’t move. The trick is: to know where they are. The information in 1949 was a little sketchy, but thanks to hundreds, maybe thousands, of cruises by our members things are a little clearer now. The rocks and the Pool are still there, but our report makes it a little safer to venture in. Enjoy the look back in time to the Club’s 1949 report (Click here), and then check out the current report, NC-83, for the latest.
Time lapse satellite imagery shows the Great Lakes icing over in one of the coldest winters in memory.
Have you ever had the time or the bird's eye view of a lake as it freezes? We all know it's been unusually cold this season. Click here to see what's been happening in our Great Lakes and read the article by Bryan Walsh from the Science & Space section in TIME's web magazine.
This anniversary issue has updated program information about the 2014 Rendezvous at Leamington, ON; many other summer events; updates from winter gatherings; boating information you can use in preparation for summer cruising; as well as boat show reports. Information & registration forms for upcoming events are available via the Events page. Click HERE to read the latest issue of the Lifeline.
We are pleased to introduce to you one of GLCC's newest Port Captains, Ed Mahoney for Rocky River, OH (E-11). Here's a brief introduction to get you acquainted! Click here to read on.
Her Diamond, a 1991 Freedom 38 sailed by recent members Bob and Sheila Allenick, is the featured boat in the January, 2014 issue of Good Old Boat. Currently they cruise the Great Lakes but hope
In this month’s installment of our look back in time, we’ll view not an expansion of facilities or services, but, sadly, the loss of a well known and once thriving facility.
Are you looking for a diversion from your winter wonderland? The Cleveland Mid-America Boat Show is sure to keep the boating season in mind and prepare you for the good times ahead. It will take place at the I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio on January 16-20, 2014.
Thanks to a handful of our wonderful volunteers, GLCC will have a booth where attendees can learn about our friendly club and a chance to partake in all the fun things that we’re about. Mark Gagyi, Jim Erhman & Rich Barzyk will present an intriguing boating seminar entitled, Great Ports on a Great Lake. We really hope to see you there! Please visit the Mid-America Boat Show website here for more information on this once a year event!
In this month's installment of our look back to the 1950’s, we visit the Western gateway to the North Channel. Cruisers from the lower Lakes, would mostly likely pass this way as they proceed to their favorite cruising grounds, and it is telling. The Great Lakes Cruising Club has, sur
The year is 1952 and the Mackinac Bridge is still in the talking stages. GLCC members, who passed through the Straits of Mackinac on their way to the North Channel and beyond, had a very different view. En route, they probably visited one or more of these locations.
Click HERE to read Great Lakes marine weather expert Mark Thornton's recently published review and analysis of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction of two Cleveland, Ohio, marinas. (Note - Mark recently joined the GLCCSchool faculty and will be teaching a class on Great Lakes thunderstorms this winter - see GLCCSchool for class details)
The All NEW GLCCSchool is now open for business with additional faculty members, a refreshed and expanded curriculum, a totally new web site and more. For more information click here or click directly to the new https://www.GLCCSchool.com to take a look.
6/2/2020 Updated artcle about magzine. JM
5/28/2020 Update link to magazine. Note that Good Old Boat is offing their latest issues free at this time. JM
The crew at Good Old Boat magazine created a brand-new digital subscription offering. To spread the word they’re offering free introductory issues.
Lake Superior's water level has increased rapidly the last few months. Now Lake Superior will outflow more water into Lake Michigan-Huron. Read Mark Torregrossa for MLive.com's article HERE.
Asian Carp, the invasive species known for leaping out of the water when motorboats pass, have reportedly moved upstream another 100 miles on the Illinois this year. According to an August 19th Prairie Rivers Network press release, they were recently found spawning within 62 miles of Lake Michigan and just 25 miles from an electric barrier intended as the final line of defense for the Great Lakes. For more information click here.
Event reports from the 2013 Rendezvous at Charlevoix, Detroit-Saginaw Bay Regional Dinner Meeting at GPYC, and the Lake Erie Re
For many GLCC members and others making offshore passages, Herb Hilgenberg and his free daily "Southbound II" SSB weather broadcast had become an integral part of the their crew. After over 25 years of service to the cruising community, Hilgenberg, age 76, recently retired. While similar services remain available to offshore sailors (for example, GLCCSchool weather instructor Chris Parker's Marine Weather Center), Herb's Ontario-based North Atlantic forecasting and routing services will clearly be missed. We thank Herb for his years of service, and wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement.
What factors are influencing the recent decline in Great Lakes water levels? Changes in precipitation? Warming lake temperatures? Increased outflows? Evaporation? Will these trends continue or reverse? Click here to read an interesting July 27th Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article examining the factors affecting our Great Lakes.
May 18, 2020: Page updated to reflect correct broken links and reflect Safety at Sea course status as of COVID-19 - W Rohde.
The Cruising Club of America has put together an outstanding checklist for skippers to use whenever new crew or guests are invited aboard. Click here to take a look, and think about using it every time you leave the dock with new crew or guests this summer.
The Friends of the Fort Gratiot Light will sponsor SandFest, the first Master and Professional/Advanced Amateur Sand Sculpting competition in Michigan.
Two leading boating education organizations with a history of making boating education easy and affordable, have teamed up to offer a fully interactive online seminar for those First Mates who may find themselves needing to take command of the family boat. Partner in Command, from the US Power Squadrons (USPS), in partnership with the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety, aims to acquaint the First Mate with basic skills he or she may need in an emergency. For details about this class click HERE. GLCC members should click USPS Discount for GLCC member registration discount instructions. Click USPS/BoatUS Info for information about the USPS and the BoatUS Foundation.
The June 2013 issue of Lifeline includes a review of the GLCCSchool year, many descriptive articles regarding upcoming GLCC events, the 2013 Spring Break summary, and the conclusion of the second installment of Secretary Phil and Althea Doolittle’s cruising log. Information & registration forms for upcoming events are available via the Events page.
Click HERE to read the latest issue of the Lifeline.
Two new promotional videos for the GLCC have been produced. A high quality one to be used at presentations and boat shows and a shorter version for the web. Please click here to view our web video.
Bernida was the first yacht to win the Bayview Mackinac in 1925 and again in 1927 before being declared too fast. After a decade long restoration she came back to win again in 2012! The boat has a rich sailing history at Bayview in Detroit as well as racing for more than 60 years on Lake Michigan out of numerous yacht clubs including the Muskegon Yacht Club and Pentwater Yacht Club over her 92 year run. She will be enshrined at her permanent home at the Michigan Maritime Museum on June 15 at a special fundraiser. See flyer for more details or click HERE to link directly to the event and donor information.
Just in time for the summer season, Detroit Public Television and The Nature Conservancy are teaming up again to bring you another Great Lakes Now town hall event, this time on beaches. The special will feature two panel discussions, hosted by veteran journalist Christy McDonald. Panel 1: "How Safe Are Our Beaches" and Panel 2: "Where Is My Lake?" The panel discussions will take place at Detroit Public Television Studios, May 14, 9 AM - 12 N. The public is invited. See flyer for more information.
The Canadian Coast Guard Radio Station in Thunder Bay is slated to close on March 31, 2014, after 104 years of continuous service. It presently serves boaters on Lake Superior, St. Mary’s River, the North Channel, Northern Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, and Lake Winnipeg. Click HERE to read more.
Yesterday, part of the Apostle Island’s commercial fishing fleet was breaking ice in order to leave the port of Bayfield, WI, on Lake Superior. It is attractive for the fishermen to be working right now, because of the substantially higher market prices for their products. At this time (April 4, 2013), the south shore of the western end of Lake Superior is still covered with heavy pack ice. The ice cover appears to extend about 20 miles from the shore.
The current low water levels are raising considerable concern among north channel harbor communities. For an update from GLCC Honorary Member and Little Current Cruiser's Net Moderator Roy Eaton on actions currently underway to help mitigate the situation, click here.
The March 2013 issue of Lifeline includes a recap of the 27th Lake Superior Annual Mid-Winter Regional Dinner meeting, an invitation to join GLCCSchool and the anticipated Harbor Reports Update Package announcement. Information & registration forms for upcoming events are included here (on-line registration forms are also available via the Events page). Also in this issue, a light-hearted look into fellow members’ (Phil and Althea Doolittle) cruising log. Click HERE to read the issue.
The GLCC will again have a booth at Strictly Sail Boat Show - Chicago being held at Navy Pier from Thursday, January 24, 2013 through Sunday, January 27, 2013. This boat show is the nation's largest indoor all-sail boat show featuring hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest sail boats, marine accessories, the newest sail boat gear, hardware from the top suppliers and seminar sessions given every hour for sailors of all abilities. Though the show is focused on sailboats, there are some seminars and exhibited equipment that are relevant for powerboats as well. Click HERE to go to event information page.
When planning your 2013 summer cruise, the Green Bay harbors and anchorages provide an excellent opportunity to explore a unique corner of northwestern Lake Michigan, before or after attending the GLCC Rendezvous in Charlevoix (M-6), MI. There are 4th of July and other summer activities in almost every community. For more information, please click on the headline above.
The December Lifeline has the announcements about the 2013 Rendezvous at Charlevoix, MI, Spring Break at Punta Gorda, FL, and the Lake Superior Mid-Winter Dinner at Duluth, MN, as well as news about the GLCCSchool. Also included are the event reports from the Annual Meetings at Chicago, Wilderness Rally, Lake Huron Rally, Lake Superior Rally, and Lake Erie Regional Meeting. Click HERE for to read the issue.
To check out a short article about our Great Lakes Cruising Club School in the November-December issue of Great Lakes Boating, click Great Lakes Boating. Log in if you're already registered, otherwise click register (it's free), and then proceed to view the virtual November-December issue. The GLCCSchool article is on page 49 of the virtual issue (page 47 of the hard copy if you're a subscriber).