Memorial Day Picnic Next Monday - May 28 - at Noon

Towing behind a sailboat last Memorial Day

Jim Fletcher and Pat Dolan have agreed to plan activities for next Monday's (May 28th) Memorial Day Picnic and afternoon of fun on land and on the Water.

Plan on attending and participating in the fun. The picnic kicks off the day's activities at noon with other events to follow.

Bring a dish to pass. LSC provides brats, hot dogs, soft drinks, paper and plastic.

Updated Membership Directory on Web Site

LSC members can download and print a copy of the latest Membership Directory from the Lansing Sailing Club's website.

A link to the directory is in the "Members Only" area and will require a username and password to access. Instructons for the password and username can be found at the top of the "Members Only" page.

"Luna Rossa" and "Emirates New Zealand" To Face Off Starting June 1 for Right to Sail Against "Alingi" in America's Cup

New Zealand pushes Desafío Español in pre-start

The US entry in the America's Cup competition was eliminated last week, winning only one race against the Italian "Luna Rossa" team. The Italians move on to the challenger finals that begin June 1st.

The other finalist will be the "Emirates New Zealand" team. They got to the finals by besting the Spanish team 5-2.

Waukeegan to Whitehall - 100 Miles of Open Water

"Sacre Bleu" Dennis Dudley at the wheel of "Sacre Bleu" as she leaves Waukeegan Neil Harrison taking his turn at the wheel of "Sacre Bleu"

Dennis Dudley is bringing his newly acquired Ericson 35, "Sacre Bleu", to Port Huron from Waukeegan, IL. This report from Dennis comes after the first leg of this journey. Ed.

I arrived in Waukeegan, Illinois on Friday May 11 with John Quesen , Neil Harrison and Ken Zielinski as crew. My wife came along to drive the van back home. The boat was schedule to be commissioned by Saturday moring. However, there was a delay in getting the boat ready and the crew went out to MacDonalds for coffee. Neil and John got some apple turn overs on sale. More about this later. There were some last minute problems but we topped off the fuel tank and headed out toward Michigan at 12:50 CST.

We were soon able to put up the main and jib and turn off the engine. The wind was brisk from the north so we had to sail a little south of the rum line --- 44 degrees. We contined sailing prtetty much due east until dark at which time we dropped the sails and turned on the engine. It turns out tthis was a very good decision. The apple turn over boys started getting queasy and soon they started up chucking. Only Neil and John were affected so we deduced the the apple turn over were on sale (2 for 1 ) for a reason. That left the bulk of the steering to Ken and Dennis. John and Neil were able to help only occasionally. We were very glad we didn't have to deal with the sails at night with two sick crew members.

The water was 39 deg. and the air temp wasn't much higher. I was able to get warm in my down bag but some of the others never did get warm. Of course there was no heat and we needed to keep the companion way open . When I was stering I had on a pair of sailing gloves and Ken's wools socks over them. It wasn't pretty - but they kept my hands reasonably warm.

The night was clear and we saw several shooting stars. They were special.

We arrived at White Lake in the morning. I had made arrangements to dock at the White Lake Yacht Club. Were weren't able to find a place to eat Breakfast so we clean the boat and got ready for our ride back to Lansing. John and Neil have since recovered but Neil said it took all week.

Next installment --- White Lake to Mainstee around Big Sable Point.