From the Poop Deck
Seaworthy Ideas and Stuff
Paul Kurkowski

Ahoy mates.

Welcome to summer. I don’t know about yous, but I hope the heat hangs around. Between racing and cruising, it seems like it’s gonna be another great season for the CRCA sailors.

Hold on to your swimming trunks, the latest NOAA prediction on Lake St. Clair is as follows: We are plus 25 inches from the chart datum, we have lost one inch of water since May (wow it’s only June) and we are three inches below the level it was it in 2004. Bottom line there is that the long-term forecast for August is that we are expected to lose four inches of water level. We are still 33 inches below the highest recorded level of water and 24 inches above the lowest recorded level. And, if you understand all the information in the way that NOAA reports it, you are a better sailor than I. We have all bumped bottom before, I’m sure we will be doing it again.

More news --- to I-68 or not to I-68 ---that is the question! Once again, you will have to let your conscience be your guide; personally, I feel that having a valid passport should do the trick. I have to believe that the average US Citizen does not have a valid passport. The continuing forms that our government keeps coming up with have to be ways of plugging proper identification holes. Remember, that traveling to Canada in 2006 a passport will be mandatory for everyone.

The I-68 form is for pleasure boaters who frequently pass between US and Canada. It’s a requirement for US Citizens. The I-68 costs $16 per person or $32.00 per family maximum.

The next program is NEXUS. This is a highway program being adopted by the waterways (yes, I’m talking cars and they are now going to use it for boats). The pilot program for NEXUS is (only) the Detroit River. NEXUS cards are available for $50.00 per person and free for persons under 18. A new wrinkle in all this “formmania” is that if your boat is 30 feet or larger you also need to obtain a CBP User Fee Decal – this is unclear to me if you need it for the I-68 and/or the NEXUS. All I know it’s another way for the government to collect another $25 bucks. (Shades of the Boater’s Luxury Tax and Decal) Oh by the way, CBP stands for Customs Border Patrol and if you want to get one of these decals, you can get them via the internet at www.cbp.gov . It is still unclear to me if you have to have an I-68 and a CBP Decal or a NEXUS card and CBP Decal or maybe you can just get the CBP Decal all by its lonesome.

I think what we have here is a clear example of “pay your money and pick your show”.

For all you shellfish lovers out there --- A May Nor’easter drove a red tide towards the New England Coast causing contamination in certain shellfish, oysters, clams & mussels. Shrimp and lobster will not be affected by this because they have the ability to flush it out of their system. Red tide can make people sick if they eat the contaminated shellfish. It seems like shellfish will be going to go the route of oil, there is going be less available at higher prices

Hope you all have a good summer – see you at the cruises.

That’s it for now.

Casting off all lines. Color me gone.

Paul Kurkowski “Space Hunter”