t is the time of year to start thinking about what to do over the cold months. Unless you are into the iceboats, sailing the Great Lakes at this time of year is most likely not in the cards… although we do occasionally get the chance to do a Thanksgiving Day sail. There have been years where we needed to break up the ice surrounding the boat before heading out. Of course, we were also younger then.

The summer of 2022 went too fast for me. In fact, all of 2022 is going too fast. But that is the nature of the beast. The one nice thing about the cold season is that at least there are some boat shows throughout the region. I love that they are making a comeback and drawing some good crowds.

From what I can determine, there are shows scheduled for January in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Minneapolis. There are also shows scheduled in Indianapolis and Nashville, although my guess is that there are not too many sailboats at these shows.

Boat shows are always a fun way to spend a day in January. The holidays are over, and it is certainly time to start “thinking spring.” Wandering around these shows always makes me really appreciate my boat… I’ve had her for just over 22 years! Heck, I have friends who have owned ten or more boats in that same time. I like to look at the new boats and see what new “stuff” is out there. It seems electronics just continue to get better and even in some cases easier to use. There are always some great new innovations to be found at the boat shows too. So, pick a good one near you and enjoy the day.

Time for some fall/cold month’s musings…

Florida was hit with a nasty hurricane this year. The past several winters I have had the chance to sail the Florida Keys and West Coast with some friends. It looks like one of the prettiest places I’ve been in Florida, Cayo Costa Island, is where the storm made landfall. This island is a Florida State Park near the entrance to Charlotte Harbor and Captiva Island. It is about eight miles long and there is just about nothing on it… a park office, some campsites and a few rustic cabins. There are no houses, condos or paved roads. It is pristine. Imagine a place on the West Coast of Florida with no big buildings!! The anchorage in Pelican Bay is well protected… although the channel going in is very narrow. We can only hope that the areas hit by Ian will recover without too much lasting damage.

Have you been reading anything about the fake AIS positions of ships? I suspect that this is not something that we see on the Great Lakes currently. But imagine if you were sailing in the Caribbean or Mediterranean and saw a ship approaching on your AIS and when you looked out the hatch it was not there! While this is not an issue for most AIS users, because most AIS signals show up on your screen as a VHF signal, but if it comes via an Iridium Internet connection it could potentially be a problem.

This points, possibly, to a general problem with the over reliance on all our technologies. I came across an article in the New York Times recently that discussed GPS spoofing. GPS signals are weak when they get to us from the satellites and can therefore be overpowered by land-based signals which are stronger. While the jamming or spoofing of GPS signals are not designed to mess with the recreational boater, it can be an issue if you just happen to be in an area where something nefarious is taking place. I guess that, for sailors, it is just another good reason to keep those pesky paper charts handy and if you are headed offshore for some blue water sailing take along your sextant. (See the May 2020 issue of Great Lakes Boating for my thoughts on the phasing out of paper charts.)

Have a great cold season and dream of sailing our Great Lakes come springtime.