A Word From the Editor: Welcome to the second edition of the Lake St. Clair Network Newsletter. We've made several updates we think you'll enjoy. Using MapServer software, we've added "Charts Anywhere" to the home page, allowing you the ability to view charts ranging from coast to coast. Surf the latest nautical land and air charts via your browser. Also, purchase your nautical charts and mapping software on-line from our friends at Maptech. We encourage you to use our new "Tell a Friend" link on the home page. HELP US SPREAD THE WORD by sending your friends our link. Remember, we've created The Lake St. Clair Network for YOU, and our site is constantly being updated and improved-upon based on the feedback you send us. So keep it coming! Visit our updated Clinton River charts! Many new businesses have been added and we've only just begun to scratch the surface! Last but not least, here's a picture of the LSCnet staff members that turned out to work the booth at the Metro Beach Spring Boat Show. Thanks again for all your great comments. 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.

Help wanted! We are always looking for content. Content provided can result in free advertising for your company or organization. Please E-mail me with suggestions or proposals.

                                                                            Wishing you Calm waters and fair skies....
                                                                              Captain Rob     

Win a Lake St. Clair Network Cap!  Complete a Lake St. Clair Network survey and win a free cap. One winner will be selected for July and announce in our next news letter. Winner will be notified by e-mail. Click here to complete a survey!

          
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. Click here to view Harrison Township!

Do it Yourself 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!


Free marine online pricing! What is your boat worth? Select on NADA icon at the bottom of The Lake St. Clair Network classifieds. Click here!

Bulletin Board - Help out others looking for info by sharing your knowledge of the lake or your favorite water spots.  Post your questions about local water levels, boat maintenance, hot spots and up coming events.  A sample of current discussion topics; Gull Island, Jobbienooner, Beach Closings, Water Depths. Click here to find out more.

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 July!

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.

1999 Nitro - 911CDC
Power - 3.0L 225HP Optimax
Price - 30K
Call - 810-219-1883 John

Options:  SS Prop, Trailer, Boat Cover, GPS, Depth Sounder

Chuck Brockman -- Macomb Daily Boating Columnist

Port Huron to Mackinac Race

It's almost that time again. The 76th running of the Bacardi Bayview Mackinac
Race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island has some changes this year. This
year's race starts on July 25. 

The old Cove Island course is now the Southampton course with a new rounding
buoy called the NGS Buoy about five miles offshore from Southhampton in
Canada. 

In addition, they will introduce the Millennium Race for those sailors who will
continue to compete first to Mackinac Island and then on to Chicago. This nearly
600-mile trek is for the sailors who enjoy the challenges of longer journeys.
Harrison Township resident and Michigan Secretary of State Candice Miller will be
competing for the 24th year and said that as a participant, "It's the highlight of my
summer." 

Last year's winner in cruising Class A, Dr. Norman Silverman of Insatiable said:
"It's more than a sailboat race, it's a tradition". 

Follow the race by accessing their Web site at www.byc.com/mack00.

______________________________________________________________________



The St. Clair-Detroit River System is the sole outlet for waters flowing from the upper Great Lakes. Lake St. Clair itself is about 26 miles long and 24 miles wide. Ninety-five to ninety-eight percent of the total inflow to the lake enters from Lake Huron through the St. Clair River. The Channel supplies 4,500,000 people with drinking water. The lake is a vital resource for swimming and other aquatic recreation.

Lake St. Clair is a vital component in both the economic health and the human health of the region. The lake supports a recreational fishery larger than all of the five Great Lakes combined. A major segment of the local economy is tied to the Channel, including marinas, boat dealerships, sporting goods stores, restaurants, gas stations, and bait and tackle shops.

The demand for development in the watershed continues to increase as the human population in the region grows. 

This development will effect the Channel. More nutrients with the potential to disrupt key food web linkages are likely to enter the lake via tributaries, septic system drainage, and sewage treatment plant effluents. Spills and discharges of persistent toxic contaminants increasingly impact fish and wildlife. Bacteria and viruses posing a risk to 

human health prove increasingly difficult to control.

The problems affecting Lake St. Clair go beyond the borders and control of the State of Michigan. The Lake St. Clair watershed is part of two countries, one First Nation, one state, one province, and several counties. Many of Lake St. Clair’s recent problems could have been avoided or minimized had existing laws been enforced.

Water Supply Facts:

• The number of monitoring stations have been reduced by more than seventy percent. Twenty years of lax enforcement and lenient permit compliance have led to an unacceptable and epidemic level of E-Coli contamination in our Great Lakes.
  ~Macomb County Blue Ribbon Commission on Lake St. Clair
  
  

• Thirty-three percent of all fish caught in the Great Lakes, and forty-eight percent of all fishing done in the state was done on Lake St. Clair.
  ~Robert Haas, DNR Fisheries Biologist
  
  

• To date, the combined sewage overflow into Lake St. Clair and the Clinton River totals over 15.3 billion gallons since 1990.
  ~Macomb County Health Department
  
  

• Approximately four and one half million Americans and one million Canadians draw their drinking water from Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River.
  ~Reported by numerous media sources
  
  

• Multiple beach closings have occurred in Michigan and in Canada since 1994.
  ~Macomb County Health Department
  
  

• Twenty percent of the world’s total fresh water and ninety percent of the country’s total fresh surface water comes from the Great Lakes.
  ~Doug Martz, President of the St. Clair Channel Keeper
  
  Join and make a donation

COOKING
1. Combine the wasabi paste and the soy sauce and mix together in a small bowl. Add the olive oil, sesame oil, garlic and ginger and mix well. Brush the tuna on all sides with the mixture, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning once. 
2. Prepare coals for grilling. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Grill the fish until
charred but still pink, about four minutes or less on each side. Makes 4 servings.

Total time: 8 to 10 minutes plus marinating. 

Source: The New York Times, 06/14/98
   

Spare Parts: Make a detailed list of what you have on hand, then make a separate list of what should be added - including items that were depleted last season. Check the condition of each spare to make sure it is still serviceable and ready for instant use. A partial list of spares should include a complete set of spark plugs for gas engines, lower unit gear lube for drive legs, cotter and shear pins for propellers, a spare propeller, fuel filter elements, engine oil, oil filter, drive belts for alternator and water pump, pump impellers, outboard fuel line connector and hose clamps, outboard two-stroke oil. For diesel engines, spare parts kits are available from many dealers. To assemble your own, be sure to include: several fuel filters, water separation filter elements, V-belts, water pump (or impeller kit), water pump and valve cover gaskets, two fuel injectors (if you feel qualified to replace them at sea), air filters, several cans of lube oil, fuel biocide, hose clamps, water hoses, start/stop solenoid (if equipped), and a service manual. Service manuals for every piece of equipment aboard should be part of your spares inventory.

Steering System: If you didn't do it in the fall, lubricate all cables, chains and other moving parts now. Don't forget sheaves and pulleys through which cables run, as well as gears and rotating shafts. Turn wheel at helm all the way over from one side to the other several times to make sure it works freely.

Strainers: Engine strainers should have been cleaned out in the fall, but if they weren't, check them now. Clear plastic water strainers can be visually
inspected to make sure they are clean; others will have to be opened to
check the inside. Don't forget strainers on other water lines, such as
toilet inlet water lines, shower sumps, etc.
    

Q. Who founded Lake St. Clair, and in what year?
A. French explorers discovered and named Lake Saint Clair on August 12, 1679. Among the party of 34 men were voyageur Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, and Roman Catholic Friar Father Louis Hennepin.

Q. Who was Lake St. Clair named after?
A. Sainte Claire, ‘the foundress of the order of Franciscan nuns of the thirteenth century, known as Poor Claires.’  Clara d’Assisi was a beautiful daughter of a nobleman of great wealth.

Q. When were the twin lighthouses of the new Ship Canal lit?

Q. How were goods transported through the channels before freighters?

Answers will appear in next month's Newsletter.