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Word From the Editor: Welcome to the
first edition of the Lake St. Clair Network
Newsletter. All of us at AMS would like to thank
you for visiting our site, and for all of your great
feedback and words of encouragement. The Metro
Beach Boat Show was a very successful launch for the
Network, not to mention it was a lot of fun! It
was a real pleasure meeting and talking to all the
great people who stopped by our booth. With your
continued support, we will make the Lake St. Clair
Network the coolest source of information for this
community, anywhere. Remember, this is a FREE
information source that we have created specifically
for YOU. Please continue to contact
us with any comments
or feedback that you may have -good or bad, so
that we may continue to provide our visitors with the
best source of information possible.
Wishing
you Calm waters and fair skies....
Captain
Rob
Enjoy
these free services:
Charts - Over 150 charts
in the Network. More and more businesses are being
added to the network everyday. Remember, select along the
coastline of the major charts and view a magnified
version of that area. Select the colored icons to find
more information on that business. Check
out downtown Detroit!
Classified Ads - Browse
through our Classifieds
section if you're looking for boats and
accessories, and if you are selling a boat, upload
up to 3 pictures, video and sound for FREE. Register for up to 10 ads per person. Dealers welcome! Helpful
hint: After placing your text ad, you will then
be
prompted to add multimedia files if you choose to. Place
an ad now!
Bulletin
Board -
Help out others
looking for info by sharing your knowledge of the the
lake or your favorite watersports. Post your
questions about local water levels,
boat maintenance, hot spots and up coming
events. For instance, click
here to find out what options you have to rid your
boat of those pesky spiders. Also link
to charts or other sites of interest in your messages.
Calendar
of Events - Have you made plans for the weekend
yet? Before you do - take a look at the LSCnet calendar
to see what's happening in your area. Business
owners, as well as the general public have full
writing privileges to the LSCnet calendar. Feel free
to post and link your own event. Check
out June!
Attention Business Owners: Take
advantage of our free services!! Use the Bulletin
Board as a forum to discuss upcoming sales or specials
you may be running. Post an event on our calendar
letting our visitors know when something special is
going on with your business. Dealers are welcome
to create up to ten free classified ads with sound and
pictures, so we encourage you to take advantage of
this great free advertising opportunity.
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Todd McInturf / The Detroit News
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Kevin Burns shows
off a Radio Direction Finder (RDF), which is
used to find boats in distress.
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By Charles E. Ramirez / The
Detroit News
ST. CLAIR SHORES -- Getting people out of hot
water has gone high-tech.
Rescue agencies and law enforcement departments are
increasingly using James Bond-like gadgets to save the
lives of wayward adventurers.
The U.S. Coast Guard Station in St. Clair Shores is a
perfect example.
The station recently installed a new computerized radio
system that can pinpoint a vessel's location anywhere on
Lake St. Clair by tracking its radio signal.
"The previous system could only give the general
direction of a boat in distress, so we had to head in
that direction we found it -- we couldn't tell if the
craft was a quarter mile or two miles from shore,"
said Lt. Michael Russo, the station's executive officer.
"The new one gives us longitude and latitude, so we
know exactly where a vessel in trouble is."
Come winter, Russo and his staff of officers also will
be ready to rescue ice fishermen who find themselves up
a creek without a paddle. U.S. Rep. David Bonior, D-Mt.
Clemens, helped the station get funding to buy a Husky
Nattiq airboat, a state-of-the-art rescue vessel. Russo
expects to receive the new boat in time for winter.
The 19-foot boat has a Kevlar hull, a 5.7 liter, 345
horsepower Chevrolet V-8 engine and a maximum payload of
1,500 pounds. It can travel over any wet medium,
including mud and grass as well as Lake St. Clair's
shallow waters and wintertime ice.
"It's technology that's long overdue," Russo
said. "Using a skiff for ice rescues is very
outdated. It's kind of like a fire department still
using a horse-drawn carriage to put out fires."
Traditional ice rescues with skiffs can be treacherous
and physically demanding. A rescue team of three
normally carries a 500-pound skiff over the frozen lake
until they can find water. Then the team has to search
for the victims. Once they're found, the rescuers shroud
the victims in a hypothermic capsule, a special sack
that helps them retain body heat.
The team retraces the path to shore, often carrying the
boat over the ice again. Since the skiff has room for
only six, more than three victims forces the team to
make multiple trips.
"In any emergency, every second counts," Russo
said. "The new boat will enable us to shave
valuable hours off of traditional ice rescues."
Other technologies are emerging as lifelines for
outdoors enthusiasts who find themselves in a jam. Some
fire departments and rescue agencies have turned to
thermal imaging devices and night vision goggles to help
them in operations. But the equipment is expensive --
thermal imaging units cost $10,000 or more.
"One of the popular technologies being used in
search-and-rescue missions is GPS (Global Positioning
System)," said Steve Foster, training director for
the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR)
in Chantilly, Va. "Although it doesn't replace a
compass or skill, more and more rescue teams are using
GPS to navigate when they're searching for people who
have gotten lost."
Foster is based in Morgantown, N.C., which is about 70
miles west of the state's capital.
Another technology that's turning into a handy
search-and-rescue tool is the computer.
"There are several software programs that can
manage search-and-rescue operations and come up with
tactics for missions," Foster said. "As a
result, we're seeing more laptops on missions."
But technology still can't replace the tried and true
search-and-rescue methods, experts say.
"There's nothing like skilled people who know the
terrain and tracking dogs," said Kim Thorsen,
deputy director of the law enforcement and investigation
division of the U.S. Forest Service in Arlington, Va.
"The old traditional search-and-rescue tools are
still the best."
______________________________________________________________________
Activist pushes ecology
Robert Kennedy Jr. urges backlash against polluters
By Mike Wowk / The Detroit News
HARRISON TOWNSHIP -- Flying over Lake St. Clair
and the Detroit River Thursday afternoon, environmental
activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he spotted illegal
polluters at work "every 200 to 300 feet."
"The Michigan Constitution says the lakes and
rivers belong to the people. You have a God-given right
to fish these waters for walleye to feed your
families," the nephew of President John F. Kennedy
told a fund-raising crowd of about 400 at Metro Beach
Metropark.
"But that right has been taken away by people who
are abusing the public trust," he added. "We
need to pick a (legal) fight with these people."
Kennedy is a lawyer who successfully fought industrial
polluters in the Hudson River valley in his home state
of New York. He also helped found the first River Keeper
organization, which patrols for local polluters.
He came to Metro Detroit to formally set up and
raise money for its newest local affiliate, the St.
Clair Channel Keeper. Local spokesmen said they want to
fund patrol boats on Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River
and the Detroit River to find sources of pollution.
Speaking for an hour, Kennedy told the crowd he has
spent much of the last six years fighting
anti-environmentalists on Capitol Hill, who argue that
environmental protection comes at the expense of
economic expansion.
"Our children will pay for this (economic) joy
ride. Environmental damage is deficit spending," he
said. "I remember when Lake Erie was declared dead,
when fires started on the Cayahoga River (in Cleveland),
and when the air outside my home in northern Virginia
was so thick you couldn't see through the smoke.
He urged the crowd to aggressively pursue Lake St. Clair
polluters.
"To quote a Lakota saying we didn't inherit this
land from our ancestors. We borrowed it from our
children," he added. Pat Barker of Harrison
Township said she thought Kennedy was enthusiastic in
his speech. "It was very inspiring."
Harry Kilinski of Clinton Township also praised
Kennedy's style. "It was very well done. He had a
lot of good stuff."
_______________________________________________________________________________
State House OKs special loans for dredging work
Jun 11 2000 12:00AM By Robert Gold -- Macomb Daily
Special Writer
For local marina owners worried that this year's low water levels will keep
boats away, some relief may be in sight.
The Michigan House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday to give low
interest loans to commercial marinas for dredging.
Harrison Township supervisor John Hart said the loans will bring much needed
help for smaller marinas who can not afford dredging.
"There's a big concern," Hart said. "I know several people who aren't putting their
boats in the water this year," Hart said, adding that high gasoline costs and low
water levels have been big deterrents.
The proposal will allow marina owners to borrow up to $75,000, which must be
repaid to banks within seven years.
Rep. Janet Kukuk, R-Macomb, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the loans are
necessary to keep the marina economy intact.
"They live year to year," Kukuk said, referring to small marina businesses. "A bad
year could put them under. For them, this is a disaster."
Nancy Harvey, assistant secretary at Lukas C/B Marina in Mount Clemens, said
low water levels have prevented larger boats from using the business this year.
She said owner George Lukas has done some dredging but does not know if he
would consider doing any more.
Kukuk said area stores and businesses could also be hurt by low boater turnout.
Mark Howard, partner at Belle Maer Harbor in Harrison Township, agreed the
loans could help small marinas.
His marina just started a dredging project but Howard said he has no plans to use
the loans, if they become available.
"Our dredging job way exceeds that," Howard said, referring to the $75,000
maximum. "It would be less than one-tenth of our job."
Belle Maer Harbor is dredging 6,250 feet in its entrance area.
The $20 million state project would be distributed in the form of certificates of
deposit from the state treasurer.
"There's absolutely no expense from the taxpayer," Kukuk said. "This is not a
handout in any way."
The House passed the bill 84-17. Rep Elizabeth Brater, D-Ann Arbor, disapproved,
saying extra dredging harms fish habitats.
The bill now heads to the Michigan Senate.
"I fully expect it to be passed at that time," Brater said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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