Last sail of the season

Jump aboard for the last sail of the season.  We will leave @1pm Saturday November 1st.  We are docked at Eldean marine in Holland and we will arrange a ride north to get cars.  Email if you would like to crew.

Jim Schneider

The Friends Good Will is on the hard for inspection and painting. Come join in the fun, sanding and painting 8-4 Wednesday, 9-4 Thursday and Friday or Saturday we will relaunch. We are at Eldean Marina in Holland Mi. No skill required.

Greetings All,

        Friends Good Will is now sitting in Holland at Eldean's Shipyard waiting to be hauled out for the Coast Guard inspection and bottom painting.  The current plan is for haul out and inspection to occur Tuesday, October 28.  The first coat of bottom paint will be applied Wednesday morning October, 29.  The second coat of bottom paint will be applied Thursday morning, October 30.  A minimum of 16 hours drying is required between coats and before returning into the water.  The boat will go back in the water Friday morning, October 31 and return to South Haven as quickly thereafter as possible.  If you can help at the Wednesday and or Thursday painting sessions, please try to be at Eldeans no later than 9:00 am.  Painting should be completed by about noon.  Eldeans is on South Shore Drive near the west end of Lake Macatawa.

        The above schedule is tentative, depending on the weather, the Coast Guard, Eldeans work schedule, etc, etc.  Please check the BLOG for the latest status before coming up to Holland.

        There will be a work session Saturday morning, November 1,  at the Padnos.  If FGW is back, efforts will be concentrated on completing unrigging and setting up the plastic cover.  If necessary there will be a work session Sunday, November 2 to complete the cover.  If FGW is not back, the work session will concentrate on painting and repairing rigging that has already been removed.

        Regular Wednesday evening work sessions will start in the Padnos on November 5.  They will start at 6:00pm and run to about 8:30pm.  Wednesday work session dates will be November 5, 12, and 19;  December 3, 10, and 17; and January 7, 14, 21, and 28.  Saturday work sessions will start on November 8. They will run from 9:00am to 12:00 noon.  Saturday work sessions wil be November 8, 15, and 22; December 6, 13, and 20; and January 10, 17, 24, and 31.

 

Thank you,

Eric Standen

       

 

Michigan Maritime Museum Annual Meeting 2008

*Michigan** Maritime Museum Annual Meeting*

*Board of Trustees*

*September 30, 2008***

* *

/Present: /Betty Davis, Arlene Dickerson, Charlotte Giesler, Bob Hoppes,
Gary Horton, Jim Spurr, Janice Varney, and Jim Woodruff

/Teleconference: /David Bergman and Barbara Busch

/Absent: /John Busch and Cleo Miller

/Guests: /Megan Blacyn, David Ludwig, Pete Mathews, Marilyn Powell,
Diane Schlanser, and Michael Winkel

President Jim Woodruff called the annual meeting to order at 3:03 pm.

Horton made a motion, supported by Varney, to approve the agenda. Motion
passed.

Spurr made a motion, supported by Hoppes, to accept the minutes of the
September 19, 2008 board meeting. Motion passed.

/Report of the nominating committee: /The nominating committee
recommended three names for the museum board of trustees: Bob Copping,
Pete Mathews, and Michael Winkel. The committee will continue to meet
and consider additional candidates. In addition to the three new
candidates, Bergman, John Busch, Spurr and Varney were approved for
another term. After a discussion of other candidates who had shown an
interest, Horton made a motion, supported by Spurr, to accept the people
nominated by the committee. Motion passed. At this time the new board
members were invited to sit at the table and participate.

/Election of Officers: /The proposed slate of officers for the coming
year is:

President: Jim Woodruff

Vice President: Pete Mathews

Secretary: Janice Varney

Treasurer: Bob Hoppes

Motion by Dickerson, supported by Barbara Busch, to accept the slate of
officers. Motion passed.

/Old Business: /

· Varney informed the board about correspondence received regarding
grants in progress. She asked if she should follow up on them and where
the information might be so she would know what they were about.

· Mary Stephens will work part time until October 15^th at the current
pay scale. She is a candidate for the position. At that time we can
renegotiate or hire. We need to have the position defined and filled.
Spurr said that Stephens should be interviewed for the position.
Presently her duties include: open the museum, put flag out, check phone
messages, train people for the store/ cash register, school tours,
resolve sails, and write a job description for a full time position. Her
current hours are: Tuesday through Friday 2:30 to 7 pm and Saturday from
8 am to 8 pm. Some of the hours will be worked at home.

· Judy Schlaak will work one day a week at current pay and will
volunteer time to help with the exhibits. She needs a financial budget
for her job needs until May 1^st .

· *We need to do inventory!*

· The Great Lakes Sports Fishing exhibit is scheduled to open on
December 1^st .

· Andrea Olson has offered to help with the store

· */Spurr made a motion, supported by Winkel, to contract out/**
/bookkeeping services as soon as possible/. /Motion passed/*. Bob Hoppes
and Bob Copping will be responsible for selection and engagement. Hoppes
said that it should be an accounting firm so that we have continual
coverage. Spurr offered to draft the receipt.

· David Ludwig told the board that Port Washington needs a receipt that
we've been paid because they're applying for a grant. Spurr offered to
draft the receipt.

· The MMM will again participate in the South Haven Ice Breaker held
January 30, 31, and February 1^st . Volunteers are asked to come forward
to help with museum activities.

· The kick-off for the fall Keel Club membership drive and annual fund
raising campaign will be held on October 15^th . Cleo Miller is have a
Getting to Know You gathering at her home on October 8^th .

· /Horton made a motion, supported by Spurr, to have a membership drive
in May and continue to collect memberships year round. Motion passed./
Horton discussed additional offers for Keel Club Membership: 2 free
tickets for FGW, discount for a charter not during the regularly
scheduled sailing times. Winkel and Horton will chair the fall fund
raising event.//

/ /

/New Business:/

/ /

· A committee will review the by-laws: Jim Spurr, Mike Winkel, and
Dorothy Appleyard. Julie Pioch was suggested as a resource person to
consult.

· Committee assignments will be discussed at the October meeting.

· Winkel said that our priorities should be a grant writing program and
a successful store.

· Mike Winkel discussed the /Winkel Proposal /and the conditions of it.
A FGW standing committee will be appointed at next months meeting with
Jim Spurr as chair and Woodruff as one of the members. Spurr emphasized
that he was willing to serve so long as it was the committee's charge to
*/support/* the ship through its captain Jim Schneider. */Dickerson made
a motion, supported by Mathews, to accept the Winkel proposal for a
restricted gift as stated in their letter to the board. Motion passed./*
The signed letter is attached to these minutes on file.

Motion was made and supported to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed.

*The next board meeting will be held on October 17^th at **3 p.m.** at
the MMM campus.*

Anouncements! Anouncements!

1. Paint the Boat! This coming weekend Friday Oct 17th and Saturday Oct 18th, Megan is going to be painting Friend's Good Will. Please join in! The weather prediction is good if on that morningit looks like rain, give the museum a call to check on rescheduling.

2. October 25th: Maintenance Committee Meeting starting 9:00 am

Work Session -Prep the Boat for Holland starting 10:00 am

At the meeting we will be discussing winter projects and the final preparation of the boat for winter. Directly following the meeting will be preparation for our last away voyage- the trip to Holland. This trip is completely weather dependent but roughly scheduled for the last week of October. We will be hauling her out for the 5 year inspection, and applying fresh bottom paint. Hands are encouraged to participate, keep an eye on the blog for updates concerning the trip.

3. Wednesday Evening Work Sessions: These are scheduled to begin the first Wednesday after the boat returns from Holland (Tentatively the 5th of November). We look forward to these productive and enjoyable times. Stay posted concerning the official starting date.

4. Heading South? Grab a Baggy Wrinkle Kit! Hanging in the Boat Shed are kits for making the much needed chafe gear known as baggy wrinkle. A great way to stay involved but remain out of Michigan's cold winters is to bring one of these blue bags with you. The bagged kits are complete with the needed materials and instructions. So impress your friends and have fun making traditional, nautical chafe gear! NOTE: The distribution of the kits is not limited to volunteers heading south; people heading to other states or remaining in Michigan are welcomed to take one and bring it back completed in the spring.

Cut and Run Part Two- Down Rigging Continued

The weather was fantastic last Saturday October 11th, as downrigging continued. Windblown volunteers lined the dock during the removal of the Jibboom. Volunteers climbed aloft and onto the bowsprit to send down leftover toprig or tension the Mainstay. The spar rack was assembled and the spars settled into their winter home. The gun carriage is on the project list for this winter, so the gun found it's new place in the Padnos after a smooth use of simple machines and brains. The boat begins to take on her bare, off season look, yet she remains more than a list of projects as her maintenance this past Saturday brought out the faces of Tim Mattson, Eric Standen, Jim Spurr, Jim Scholz, Darcy Heavin, Duane Coon, Marilyn Powell, and Richard Lula. And I cannot fail to mention Walter Pascal and his enthusiastic oiling of the exposed hearts and cleats! A "Thank You!" goes out to all who attended this past weekend! As our Bosun Eric Standen commented, It was good weather, and good completion of tasks. The off-season has started greatly, I look ahead with wonderful anticipation.

Thank you
Megan Blough

Sunday afternoon, October 26th, 2pm

Christopher Winters, from Milwaukee, will speak on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 26 at 2:00 pm. He has just published "Centennial" featuring the oldest freighter still in service on the Great Lakes, having celebrated her 100th anniversary of continuous operation in 2007. The book was 5 years in the making and his powerpoint presentation will combine his beautiful photography of commercial shipping on the Great Lakes and many stories gathered from his total access to the boat and her crew. He will bring copies and sell them after the presentation.


.
Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Board Member Chris Winters spent five years creating a vivid record of life aboard the venerable Great Lakes steamboat S.S. St. Marys Challenger as she approached the centennial anniversary of her maiden voyage in 2006. A frequent visitor to Milwaukee’s harbor and reportedly the oldest operational freight ship in the world, the Challenger began her remarkable fresh water career on the Great Lakes on April 28, 1906—six years before the launch of R.M.S. Titanic.

Granted unprecedented access to the vessel by her owners, Winters set off on a personal quest to record an old way of life in a new way by focusing revolutionary digital cameras on this revolutionary machine from another century. On April 28, 2006, the centennial anniversary of her maiden voyage from the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Challenger became the first vessel on the Great Lakes—and quite possibly in the history of seafaring—to eclipse 100 years while still in commercial service.

Centennial: Steaming Through the American Century is a painstakingly researched, masterfully designed, 240-page hardcover that contains over 300 contemporary and archival images from the boat’s hardworking 100-year history.

Chris Winters is a Milwaukee-based photojournalist specializing in Great Lakes maritime subjects. Smitten with the lore of lake boats and the mythology surrounding the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Winters is a veteran wreck diver, dynamic lecturer on Great Lakes shipwreck history, and a frequent contributor to Great Laker magazine. His documentary work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the region.

Current Events

Great Lakes Whitefish:  A Culinary Legacy
Program and Demonstration

On Thursday, October 16, at 7:00 pm, The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center will offer a program entitled, "Great Lakes Whitefish:  A Culinary Legacy."  The program was previously scheduled for July 31 but had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.  Chuck Pistis of Michigan Sea Grant will talk about the history of commercial fishing on the Great Lakes, its transition to a largely recreational industry, and what the future holds for fishing on the Lakes.  He will also address issues surrounding public concern and the safe eating of Great Lakes fish, while at the same time cleaning and filleting a whitefish, one of the most sought after species harvested from the Lake. Audience questions and participation will follow. 

St. Joseph once had a thriving commercial fishing industry. As early as the 1850s, travelers on the St. Joseph River witnessed the weathered fish shanties, docks, and sailboats of commercial fisheries.  In later years, family owned fish tugs, smokehouses, and net drying reels marked a thriving local industry that would last through a century of technological, economic and environmental change.  Ecological issues, declining profits and the state regulations would contribute to the local industry's demise by the 1970s.   

This program is part of The Heritage's annual Public Program Series and looks forward to the upcoming exhibit, "Working Waterfronts:  Planning and Preserving the Maritime Traditions of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor."  The program is free for members of The Heritage and $5.00 for non-members.  The Heritage is located at 601 Main Street, St. Joseph.  Please call 269-983-1191 for more information.

CUT 'N' RUN - Down Rigging 2008

Orley's dock was a hub of excitment Sunday Oct 5th, as the fall down rigging season began. Throughout the day nearly 40 hands (20 people) unreaved line, cut seizings, manned the windlass, and carted rig to the Boat Shed. With a fall breeze to chill the Topman- Marica Flynn, Zachary Scholz, Nathan Hager, and Megan Blough- the rig began to make it's way to deck. There, it was coiled, labeled and swept away by the deck, dock, head rig, and windlass team - Ann Wolters, Jim Spurr, Darcy Heavin, Sarah Komenik, Dave Kupczyk, Tim Bell, Jim Scholz, Ron and Rosie Refior, Bonnie Wilson, Walter Pascal, and Katie Koontz. Marilyn Powell was also present until she disappeared into the main building to stand her watch at the front desk. Captain Jim and Bosun Eric Standen managed from the dock seeing everything safely and effiecently from it's place aloft. Safe and effiecent it was! In less than an 8hr day they seamlessly downrigged the yards and Topmst and all it's accompanying rig! A job well done!! Thankyou to everyone who came out! Down rigging is the official mark our off season, a time of coffee, donuts, paint and deck oil. This winter's maintenence season is a fantastic opportunity to enhance your personal skills and knowledge. There is nothing like learning the intricacies of the boat through the hands on relationship of a good maintanence project. Just don't mistake the deckoil for the coffee.





-Yours Truely back from South Africa,

Megan Blough