Cardboard boat regatta crews scramble to beat the leaks

Galesburg Register-Mail

The biggest winners at Galesburg’s Cardboard Boat Regatta at Lake Storey Sunday were members of Team Lemon from New Richmond, Ohio.

They scooped first and third in the Class 1 category, and also won the Pride of the Regatta award, a prize given to the boat with the “most spectacular design and construction.”

That award was justly won by Team Lemon’s Island Queen, a beautifully constructed model of a steam ship. The boat took 300 hours and 42 cases of beer to build, according to Team Lemon.

Of course, the regatta wasn’t all about winning, and nobody exemplified the spirit of fun better than the crew of The Flying Drunkman. Their pirate flagged cardboard ship didn’t last very long before it crumbled and sank.

Clambering ashore, drenched but beaming, Davida Ecklund said the team had been a bit optimistic to think the boat could hold all eight team members. “It started leaking right away,” she said. “We just had too many heavy people on there.” more

Here's a switch: Boat clubs hope water will go away

LaSalle News Tribune

Problems filled the minds of boat club members Monday, although few answers were available, as the Illinois River swiftly rose, putting their boats in danger.

By late morning, South Shore Boat Club members in Peru were arriving at the north shore dock to find their boats unreachable because all the walkways connecting the dock to shore had buckled and sunk below the waterline.

“It’s supposed to get worse,” said club commodore Brian Hunter, as he looked out at the river, which rose more than 6½ feet in a 24-hour period. “You can’t stop Mother Nature.”

Boat owners, including Dave and Marilyn Janka of La Salle, were left standing on the club balcony with crossed fingers, hoping the river wouldn’t rise much more or pick-up speed and carry away dock along with their boats.

If the boats were carried away, owners would have no option other than hoping they could find their boats downstream.

The commodore’s wife, Jennifer Hunter, said only a few boat owners pulled their boats out of the water in advance of the flood.

While some South Shore members watched and waited, Hunter and a few others busily rebuilt a sand-and-tarp breaker wall that was intended to block the steady stream of water flowing into the South Shore basement. more

Marad makes 'green' grants

The Journal of Commerce

The Maritime Administration has announced two grants totaling $500,000 to underwrite maritime anti-pollution measures.

The Northwest-Midwest Institutes Great Ships Initiative will receive $350,000 to design and validate a cost-effective, reliable method for sampling ballast water in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system. more

Volunteers to hit Lake Michigan beaches for clean up

Highland Park News

Peggy Malecki of Highland Park is doing her part to help keep the beaches of Lake Michigan clear of litter.

Malecki is coordinating volunteer efforts this Saturday to clean up trash at the Park Avenue beach in Highland Park. It's the fourth year she's been a volunteer and she feels the efforts do have a positive effect.

"I've been sailing down at the Park Avenue beach since the late 1980s," said Malecki. "Personally, I'm very interested in Great Lakes conservation. This is a way for me to help out and it's also raising conservation awareness about the Great Lakes."

Malecki and other volunteers from throughout the Chicago region will participate in the Alliance for the Great Lake's annual "Adopt-a-Beach" cleanup, which will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

In Illinois, volunteers will clean up debris from 46 beach sites along Lake Michigan from Winthrop Harbor to Chicago. Beach cleanups are planned in Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor, Zion, Glencoe, Wilmette, Winnetka, Evanston and Chicago.

"The cleanup helps our Great Lakes shoreline in two ways. First, it visibly improves our beaches by clearing away trash, and our efforts help inform the public on why we shouldn't leave litter on our beaches in the first place," said Frances Canonizado, Adopt-a-Beach coordinator in Illinois. more

Special Olympics Bass Tournament

Rend Lake Tournament to Benefit Athletes in Illinois

WHAT: 3rd Annual Chad Morgenthaler Bass Fishing Tournament to Benefit Special Olympics Illinois. The weekend includes a two-day buddy team format tournament, Beat the Pro fishing contest and a chance to win great prizes.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20-21, 2008

WHERE: Rend Lake Sailboat Harbor – 7 a.m. launch and 3 p.m. weigh-in. FREE & OPEN TO PUBLIC. Rend Lake Resort – Friday, Sept. 19 – 3-5:30 p.m. registration and 6 p.m. pre-tournament meeting (NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC)

WHO: Professional fishermen include Chad Morgenthaler and Ranger Boats Pro Guido Hibdon, plus teams of Illinois fishermen competing for great prizes. Teams can still sign up through Friday.

NEW THIS YEAR : Fans will get to test their skill and experience the excitement of tournament fishing with the FLW Outdoors Simulator. The innovative Ranger Boat and fishing simulators mimic the exact action and feel of being out on the water. Fans will get to experience the excitement of tournament fishing as well as the fun that comes from a Ranger Boat. Imagine the excitement of an amusement park ride combined with the action of a state-of-the-art computer video game and you’ll start to understand what the simulators are all about. Simulators are open Saturday and Sunday from 1 – 4:30 p.m. (after the weigh-in).

FREE & OPEN TO PUBLIC.