Rhumb Line

a course that keeps a constant bearing

2. Ice Cover on the Great Lakes

3. Water Levels

4. Changing Accents Around the Great Lakes

5. Commissioning Checklist

(a) Fifty Point ON, is probably the finest harbour between Hamilton and the Niagara River. The conservation area is a 197 acre/80 ha park with beaches, camping areas and a large, well-maintained marina. Click here to visit Fifty Point, ON.

(b) West Harbor, OH is home to several thousand boats and about a dozen public and private marinas. It has lots of transient docking and provides easy access to the islands at the west end of lake Erie. Click here to visit West Harbor, OH


2. Ice Cover on the Great Lakes


What a difference a month makes. As of the beginning of April, the Great Lakes are now 73% ice free. It takes little imagination to guess where the other 27% is! Eastern Lake Superior remains ice-clogged. The North Channel and Georgian Bay are still heavily iced as is northern Lake Michigan. Eastern Lake Huron and eastern Lake Erie both have significant degrees of ice cover as well.

About all we can truly be certain of is that spring and summer are definitely on their way!


3. Water Levels

Because this winter was so cold and so dry, lake levels declined right across the GL basin. Lake Superior was still 7.5 in/19 cm above its long term average but Lake Ontario saw its average water level drop by nearly 8 in/20 cm. As reported by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are 6 in/15 cm, 15 in/38 cm and 19 in/43 cm respectively, above their levels of a year ago. Lake St. Clair is 9 in/23 cm above last year’s level, and Lake Erie remains at its level of a year ago. Lake Ontario is 8 in/20 cm below what it was at this time last year.

Their projections for this summer are generally, that Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Lake St. Clair will be above last year's levels, Lake Erie at more or less the same as last year and Lake Ontario below last year's levels. As always, its important to keep in mind that these are projections.


4. Changing Accents Around the Great Lakes

We who sail the Great Lakes are well aware of the differences that exist between our two countries of Canada and the United States. One difference we may not pay much attention to is language – especially accents. Other than noticing they exist, we seldom if ever think about them.

However, linguistic researchers note that the 35 million+ population in the cities that ring the American side of the Great Lakes are revolutionizing the sound of English. Called the Northern Cities Shift, it is described as one of the most important changes in the English language in centuries.

I won't try to explain this but this article here offers a fascinating peek into this evolution.

One interesting fact – this linguistic shift has zero impact in Canada. As the writer says, geographically Detroit and Windsor may be looked at as one community but linguistically, they inhabit separate worlds. The starkest dialect boundaries in North America are the boundaries between Detroit and Windsor and between Niagara Falls - Buffalo NY and Niagara Falls - Fort Erie, ON.


5. Commissioning Checklist

So much of sailing pleasure is based on solid preparations. That is certainly true when you begin the season. Here is a commissioning checklist that may help you as you attend to the many details prior to launching for this spring.

Don't overlook some personal preparations either – perhaps a brush-up on navigation, weather or seamanship skills.

Click here for a Commissioning Checklist

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Fair winds and following seas.

Michael Leahy, Publisher