The great 2011 'Rags n' Bags' sew-in - - Kathy Chrzanowski 

On Saturday, March 12, Liz Pothoff, Kathy Welch, Vic Macks, Barb Hayes, Jim Dow, Nancy Bennett, Greg K, Dave Clark, Patrick McArthur, Kathy Chrzanowski, Mark Valentine, Jim Bills, Casilda deBenito, and Mark Costins joined together to make lighter work of repairing ASI's sailboat covers and sails.   

Thank you so much to each one of you for donating “free labor” to extend the life and quality of our sails and boat covers. Volunteers like you keep this project as a minimal cost to the club. 

Wanna help? Next Saturday we'll meet again same time, same place.  Hope to see YOU here. 9:30 am at Kathy Chrzanowski’s 

7471 Buckthorn Dr.

W. Bloomfield, MI 48324

Please RSVP, so I know how many will be coming.

248-363-6540 home or 248-877-6539 after 4 pm

Open Timeshares for the North Channel!

You're a level 4 sailor? and you missed the February lottery meeting? You're in luck! 

There are still two open timeshares on Voyager for July 2 and July 9, and one open timeshare for Manitou on July 9. Interested? Contact Norm Schmidt for details. 

Photo shoot this Spring - - Craig Smith

All sailors of all levels, want to have some fun and help ASI get some great pictures and video’s for the website and other promotional ads?  

We are in the process of updating the website, www.sailasi.org, and we need some pictures and videos of us sailing and having fun. This spring we are planning a Photo Shoot on Lake St. Clair near Jefferson Beach Marina.  We will need sailors to skipper the 4 keelboats and 2 Interlakes and the power boat.  We will need camera crew and equipment. The JBM location will be the first photo event.  At a later date we will have a photo event at Kensington and then at Stony Creek. 

So, won’t you volunteer for this exciting adventure and who knows, maybe you will become a star on the ASI website.  You will certainly be a star in helping ASI. More information on date and time will available soon.  Please contact me soon so we can make plans, thanks.

Craig Smith 248-767-8871 cell craigsmith248@msn.com

Yearlings bring fresh ideas - - Joan Swain, senior investigative reporter

If you weren't one of what deceptively appeared to be a modest turn-out at last week's General Sail meeting, you missed 2 energetic hours. The lousy weather may have kept you home. Well, we may have been modest in numbers, but the ideas and comments flowing sounded like a packed room.  OK, the initial minutes were routine updates as to what's been going on with the varied Levels, some rumors were addressed, and it almost looked like the 3 newest members were just present to listen.  Not so.  

Once the topics opened up, the commentary covering concerns, solutions, ideas, clarifications and expectations were equally engaged in by Suzanne Benloucif-Moore, Elisa Gomez and Richard Jagers, three of our newest members from last year. Marketing and maintaining membership brought forth the most diversity of thought with membership participation,  fleet expenses, ASI alliances and reflection on "how it used to be" also in the mix.  I kept thinking throughout the next day, "What a meeting!" 

Thank you, Zyggi for renewing the General Sail meetings and somehow effectively directing the diversity for all to be heard. 

I am looking forward to the next Generral Sail meeting, on April 14.  That may be the last date til Fall, so if you care to share your thoughts, hope to see your fresh or more seasoned face then.

The Interlake 'put-in' schedule

In just over two weeks, we'll begin prepping the Interlakes for launching at Kent Lake and Stony Creek. Be sure to add these dates to your calendar!

• April Saturdays - 2, 9, 16, Boat preparation at Crawford Farm
• Saturday, April 23 - Transportation and installation of dock boxes and launch of the powerboat at Kensington Metropark
• Saturday April 30 - Trailering and launch day!

Is this a rigid schedule? No! A lot depends on the kind of weather we get, and the turnout. But it's a general guide to what we need to get done; there are generally one or two Saturdays when it's too cold or wet to work at Crawford Farm. 

Fortunately, conditions can be assessed each week and a more accurate schedule can be posted in the Burgee for the following Saturday. By then, we'll have a better idea of what the weather will look like. We don't want to schedule too many people unless there's sufficient work lined up, and conditions are good for working at the farm. So stay tuned for more details!

Level 3/4 Manager(s) wanted - - Joe Jaeger, Vice President

JOB OVERVIEW: 

The Level 3/4 Manager is responsible for coordinating Level 3/4 operational activities.Specifically, these activities include:

• Communications to Membership regarding L3/4 specific concerns
• Hosting L3/4 specific meetings
• Represent L3/4 membership at General Sail and Operations meetings
• Lead Organizer for commissioning of L3/4 Keelboats
• Lead Organizer for decommissioning of L3/4 Keelboats
• Oversight for L3/4 Operational Activities 

This is a very important position for ASI.  While not directly responsible for all L3/4 activities, the L3/4 Manager is the primary liaison for the level and can be tremendously instrumental in all related efforts.  

You can volunteer to fulfill these commitments as an individual or as part of a team – i.e. co-managers.  In either case, your efforts will be greatly appreciated!  

Note that the Level 3/4 Manager is not responsible for organizing the North Channel timeshare lottery.  The Level 3/4 Manager is only responsible for coordinating this event with the North Channel Lottery Committee 

If you are a L3/4 member, please consider volunteering for this position.  The absence of an L3/4 Manager will be most consequential to you and your peers in L3/4. Contact Joe Jaeger for more details at joe@computer.org

Power squadron class offering

For those ASI sailors that are interested, the Birmingham Power Squadron is offering their Cruise Planning course - Beginning March 24th  

Instructors:

P/C Tom Geggie, SN & Lt Shirley Geggie, AP 

Location: Bloomfield Hills City Hall

45 East Long Lake Rd.

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304.

Anatomy of a North Channel cruise - Part 2 

HOW DO WE GET VOYAGER AND MANITOU UP TO THE NORTH CHANNEL?

Where's the North Channel? Take a look at the map to the left. Way up at the very northernmost part of Lake Huron is 100-mile-long Manitoulin Island. The body of water between Manitoulin Island (the largest freshwater island in the world) and the Canadian mainland is called the North Channel. 

The entire 100 mile length of the North Channel is considered by many to be the most beautiful freshwater cruising ground in the world. There are literally hundreds of secluded anchorages, some better known and others beckoning to be discovered. 

To get there by boat, ASI sails north up the St Clair river to Port Huron/Sarnia. Then we sail north, either along the Canadian side by way of the Bruce Peninsula or along the Michigan side, then entering the west end of the channel. Destination is Little Current, on Manitoulin Island. Either way, it's a trip of almost 250 miles.

The two ASI keelboats that go north every summer for cruising workshops and chartering are Manitou, a 30' Catalina sloop, and Voyager III, a 30' S2 sloop. Both are well equipped with inboard diesel engines, fully equipped galleys and heads, GPS, dinghys, roller furling head sail, and all necessary sailing gear. Both boats sleep four comfortably; there's even room for five or six, depending on the crew. 

Who crews Manitou and Voyager on these 'transfer trips' to the North Channel? The 'level 3' graduates of the ASI spring keelboat courses on Lake St Clair. After successfully completing the trip from Lake St Clair to the North Channel, the participants are awarded the Level 4 rating. And just as importantly, ASI now has it's two flagship keelboats in the North Channel, all ready for two months of cruising workshops and chartering by ASI sailors.

In late August or early September, the 'transfer trip' is reversed, and the two boats are brought back to Lake St Clair for late-season sailing there.

NEXT WEEK - PART 3 - GETTING THERE BY CAR - CLOCKWISE OR COUNTERCLOCKWISE ? 

One more thing...       

The ASI Burgee is back on a weekly schedule. The next one will be next Tuesday, March 22. Please send your Burgee input to asidon@comcast.net by Sunday for inclusion in that Burgee.