Boat Handling Course starting in May – offered by American Boating Club of Saginaw Bay

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 American’s Boating Club of Saginaw Bay (formally called the Saginaw Bay Sail & Power Squadron) will offer a Boat Handling course May 2024.  The course meets for two hours (7-9 PM), once a week for six weeks at the Bay Landscaping, 1630 SE Boutell Rd. Essexville.    Classes are Wednesdays 05/01/24 – 06/05/24 at 7 PM.  Cost:  $70/person or $85/ couple sharing a textbook.   The classroom setting encourages extensive dialog in which the instructor can transfer much of his or her boating experience to the student.

Individuals with a potential interest are requested to reply to Craig Murchison, 989-295-0810, cbmurch2@gmail.com, expressing their interest. 

Please select link for course flyer – Boat Handling Course

Letter from the SSYC Commodore regarding the channel – posted

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Good morning Sunset Shores Yacht Club Members,

            The channel entering our club is at the mercy of Lake Huron & Saginaw Bay-Saginaw River.  Earlier this summer, we dredged the channel to a depth of 6’.  (This was a point that was determined by the dredge company.)  After they completed their work, we said it was not good enough.  The company then went back into the channel & used our point of reference which was a  depth of 6’.  Our crew went back out & checked their work and found the depth to be satisfactory.   At that point the lakes & river decided to adjust what we did.  This is a simple explanation of what transpired.  The lake, Bay & river won.  We work with Bay City Yacht Club to determine dredging needs as it is a shared channel.  The first step in that process is to check the depth for accurate soundings to determine how much needs to be dredged in the spring.  The bottom line is we need the water to return to Lake Huron-Saginaw Bay-Saginaw River as the water fluctuation would not affect the channel so much.  Plan your exit from SSYC based on wind direction.  (North Wind)

       William Roberts

Future lake Level Forecast

Historic Lake Levels in Essexville

Channel Depth Update – posted

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Sailboats or boats that draw 4′ or more need to proceed with caution in the channel. Depths of 4.5′ (hard packed, not silt) have been reported near the channel buoy closest to the SW corner of the BCYC wall with WSW winds at approx. 8 knots. Winds from the North help the depth a little but may not be present when you are navigating the channel. Please use extreme caution when entering or leaving the channel.