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

Ahoy Instructors and Instructor Wannabes! - - JoAnne McClure

Spring is here, and it's time for Level 1 Instructor Training! The workshops are designed to provide information for instructors, both experienced and new. If you've been thinking that you'd like to earn volunteer hours for sailing (what a novel idea??), this may be for you. Even if you're not sure you want to take out brand new sailors, you may want to teach Intro Class (how to rig, taught at the dock) or even shore school! It's fun and the best way to sharpen up your own skills.

The workshops will meet on Wednesday, April 20 & 27 at Wayne State Oakland Center on 12 Mile Rd, West of Farmington Rd. Time is 6:30 - 9:30 PM. If you plan to attend and do not have a copy of the Instructor's Handbook, please contact JoAnne McClure (je-mcclure@earthlink.net) for an electronic copy.

Hope to see you there!   JoAnne

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

Help get ASI on Local Cable TV - - Kate McRae, ASI President

With the start of sailing season approaching and classes beginning at the end of May we would like to spread the word about ASI. Consider contacting your locate cable station and ask them to run an ad. Tell the station you will send them a picture formatted in jpeg, 800x600 pixels.

Several members have been in contact with their local cable station already. so if you can help please contact Kate McRae, ASI president (kmamcrae@hotmail.com) and let her know so we do not duplicate efforts to get the ad on television. Share the fun!

The Interlake 'put-in' schedule

In just over a week, 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!

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.

Hello Metroparks volunteers! - - Becky Gajewski, HCMA

Spring is in the air, and that means that sunny weather and warm temperatures aren’t far away! Cure your cabin fever by lending nature a helping hand at one of the many upcoming ecological restoration workdays at the Metroparks! This year’s schedule of volunteer days is attached (let me know if you have trouble viewing it), but please be aware that it is subject to some change due to site conditions, weather, etc. If we end up having to make a change in scheduling, I will let you all know.

As in previous years, our activities will focus on invasive species removal and seed collecting. I will send out detailed reminders with all the logistical information you’ll need to know the week before a workday is scheduled to take place. We may add additional workdays as the season progresses, and I’ll keep you all up to date on that as well. 

Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and dedication to protecting and preserving the natural spaces at the Metroparks! I look forward to working with you all again this year!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

All the best,Becky

PART 3 - Getting to Little Current by car - Clockwise or Counterclockwise? 

If you take a look at where the North Channel is, you might say you can't get there from here. But even though it's difficult, it IS possible.

By boat, you'd head north out of Lake St Clair, pass under the bridge at Port Huron and sail for three or four days. That's what the ASI transfer trip crews do to get to Little Current, in the North Channel. 

But if you're driving from the Detroit area, you

 only have two choices; clockwise or counter-clockwise. The clockwise route takes you north on I-75 across the Mackinac Bridge to the upper peninsula, then north again to the international border at Sault Ste Marie. Then eastward for a hundred and eighty miles across Ontario to Espanola, where you'll take a right to cross the bridge to Manitoulin Island at Little Current (that's the ONLY bridge to the hundred-mile-long island of Manitoulin). Total drive distance of 480 miles, about nine hours.

Counterclockwise, you'd take I-94 to Port Huron, and cross into Canada. Then a pleasant shoreline drive up to the Bruce Peninsula and up to the tip at Tobermory. Board the ferry Chi-chi-maun for the two-hour ride to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. Little Current is an hour north. Total drive distance of 300 miles, about nine or ten hours including the ferry ride. 

Why does anybody go to that trouble to get to the North Channel? Some of us think it's worth it!

NEXT WEEK - PART 4 - HOW DID THE NORTH CHANNEL GET THAT WAY?

Always Avoid the Lee Shore - right? 

In one of Patrick O'Brian's books, Stephen Maturin asks Captain Aubrey, 'How far off a lee shore do you have to be, to be safe?' and  Jack answers 'Oh, about one hundred miles!'. And for those square-rigged frigates that couldn't sail to windward, that's good advice!

But is it? Sailing our Interlakes on Kent Lake, the 'lee shore' surrounds us, doesn't it? How is it to be avoided, in a storm? And should we try to avoid the closest shore, under all circumstances?  What do YOU think? 

One more thing...       

The ASI Burgee is back on a weekly schedule. The next one will be next Tuesday, March 29. Please send your Burgee input to asidon@comcast.net by Sunday for inclusion in that Burgee.