The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently completed an emergency dredging project in Keweenaw County to restore the Grand Traverse Harbor channel for commercial and recreational boating. The $246,230 dredging project, undertaken by Marine Tech, LLC of Duluth, Minnesota, through the DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division, pumped 9,000 cubic yards of sand to a beach area north of the harbor. Previous dredging at the harbor was done by the DNR in 2015 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2009 and 2003.

Meanwhile, more extensive sand removal and containment efforts are needed to protect important lake trout and whitefish spawning habitat on Buffalo Reef and a juvenile whitefish area south of the Grand Traverse Harbor, which is situated on the east side of the Keweenaw Peninsula, northeast of Lake Linden.  Read rest of article.

Let's welcome newly appointed White Lake, Mich. (M-21) Port Captain Chip Sawyer to the alliance of GLCC helping hands. Here's a porthole glimpse of this sailor's story:  I began sailing at the age of five. “Cruised” the western shoreline of Green Bay in a homemade eight-foot plywood pram with a bedspread sail. Probably put 200 miles on that craft. Graduated to a Seagull class sailboat at about the age of ten and began competitive racing. At age 17, I began cruising (North Channel, Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, half a Great Loop) in earnest with the then GLCC Port Captain for Menominee, Mich. aboard his 45-foot converted schooner. Please click here to read more!

Newly appointed Port Captain for Wye Heritage Marina, Ont. (GB-22.4), Paul Strub is quite the explorer. Let's give him a warm welcome and if you stop by; be sure to give him a holler. Here's a little insight of his "learning the ropes"... 
     I was introduced to the cruising lifestyle around the age of ten while watching an episode of PowerBoat Television. They did a feature on Killarney and the North Channel. After watching the episode, I knew I had to eventually have a boat.
     Finally, in 2007 I got my first pocket cruiser, a 23-foot Cooper Yachts Prowler. I kept this boat four seasons as I learned the ins and outs of boating. Click here for further reading.

Past GLCC Commodore Niels Jensen's narrated video of his August trip from Lake Superior's Apostle Islands to the GLCC Lake Superior Rally in Silver Bay, Minnesota, certainly whets one's appetite to attend a regional rally or the annual rendezvous. Check it out here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXA_MP89cNM

Let's welcome Lynn Dupuy with a hearty "ahoy!"  He is our newly appointed Port Captain for East Harbor, Ohio (E-167). Here's what he says about his boating experiences: I have been around boats and water as long as I can remember. I began by running around with my cousins in the swamps of Louisiana in a 10-foot johnboat. In high school I taught swimming, diving and canoeing classes for the YMCA. Fortunately, I married someone who enjoys boating as much as I do. Our first boat after we got married was a homemade dinghy that accommodated one person comfortably and two people uncomfortably. Please click here for more reading.

We're very happy to welcome newly appointed Port Huron, Mich. (D-1) Port Captains Dale and Teena Lashbrook. Their love for boating began on their 20-foot Carver Son of a Sailor. In addition to cruising in the “Blue Water Area,” basically Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron, they trailered their Carver to places in Michigan such as the Les Cheneaux Island, Inland Waterway, and Traverse Bay. Please click here to continue reading.

The crew of the Pride of Michigan, which includes 30 Sea Cadets and Captain Luke Clyburn, are grateful to the Great Lakes Foundation for a $5000 grant. The grant will help replace the 25-year-old inflatable, which functions as the support vessel for their many dives into the Great Lakes to help train the sea cadets as the Great Lakes are explored. The Pride of Michigan will proudly be flying the Great Lakes Cruising Club burgee throughout all her cruising on the Great Lakes. Captain Luke and the crew of the Pride of Michigan welcome your visit whenever you see them in any Great Lakes port. Please click here to keep reading.

02/14/2025 updated HR number and link JM
02/08/2022 Corrected link to yacht club. JM
​Congratulations to newly appointed Port Captains Eric and Cynthia Sunstrum! The couple have co-chaired the Lake Ontario Rally for the last two years and worked behind-the-scenes on other GLCC events. We appreciate their efforts and welcome their support as Port Captains for Ivy Lea, Ont. (SLR-33). They discovered the joys of cruising in the 1000 Islands and Lake Ontario when they bought their Tanzer 22 (Moon Dance) in 1981. A new house and the birth of their daughter later interrupted their Great Lakes cruising until they purchased a Tanzer 7.5 (Whisper 2) in Brighton in 1999. Ivy Lea has been homeport for the Sunstrums since then. Please click here to read further.

As summer comes to an end, let’s catch up on some reading... This issue of the Lifeline has all the usual items in the magazine and it is information-packed with the final From the Bridge by Commodore Chuck Mead. Read about the Great Lakes Foundation’s grant contributions; see what the GLCCSchool has been doing; and check out the 2018 Boat Show Schedule. Click here to read more. Click here to access the 2017 Fall Lifeline magazine, and here for updates and information on GLCC Events.

Those who missed the outstanding August 18-20 GLCC Lake Superior Rally in Silver Bay, MN, are invited to visit the GLCC Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/glcclub) where you'll find several posts highlighting activities and photos from the event.