Some of our members have been browsing on the Web and have uncovered some interesting Web sites dealing with Sailing. Some of these sites are themselves resources pointing to other sailing spots. A few of them are listed here for all to see and browse at your leisure. We hope that you have some favorable winds and clear water as you sail onward. We will add additional page references as we become aware of them. If you know of some sites we should be sure to list, please let us know.
Boats for Sale - From time to time, MTLSA members have boats for sale.
The Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program Monitors water quality on 50 Missouri lakes. MTLSA volunteers collect samples every 3 weeks on Mark Twain Lake from April through September. Contact Kevin Ballard for more information and to sign up.
Featured Link - Safety Guide for Beginner Boaters: https://www.dietspotlight.com/sailboating-safety-guide-beginning-boaters/
Chicago Boat, RV & Sail Show - Mark your calendar for January
Miami International Boat Show - Mark your calendar for February
U.S. Sailboat Show - Annapolis - Mark your calendar for October
St. Petersburg Power & Sailboat Show - Mark your calendar for December
Good Old Boat Magazine - Lots of DIY information, boat reviews and more.
Sailrite- Comprehensive source for DIY supplies.
Shoreline Sailmakers - Small sail repair and canvas works business in St. Louis area
Bacon Sails - New & used sails
Grouper Moon Project Submitted by Suz Stillwell February 2013
From time to time, some of us sailors explore other avocations on the water. Mark and I are among those who have taken up scuba diving. In an effort to learn more about fish identification, I've also joined REEF, which provides educational "fishinars" - online webinars. The end of January we were fortunate to join Captain Nemo's Scuba Club on a dive trip to Little Cayman. It happened to be just after the full moon so we had a few wonderful nights with the big, almost-full moon glistening on the water before it waned. But soon we found another amazing thing was that with this phase of the moon, there is a rare spawning aggregation of the Nassau grouper. REEF, was actually on Little Cayman researching and videotaping this event. There's a button link to the Grouper Moon Project on the REEF website. We were able to go to a presentation given by the scientists and see the new video.
An unexpected highlight came on our last dive when we saw 2 huge schools of the groupers as they returned to the dive sites. All of our dive group froze in awe and then applauded as we realized we were seeing such a rare and touching event. This was definitely likely a once in a life time event.
Climate Change Submitted by Suz Stillwell February 2013
I made it to the M.W. Boudreaux Memorial Visitor Center on Saturday February 9th at 2:00 p.m. to listen to a special guest speaker. Dr. Robert Sadler, Professor of Physical Science at Culver Stockton College, gave an interesting presentation on Global Climate Change. There were about a dozen in the audience. Dr. Sadler gave a detailed 45 minute powerpoint presentation going into the science on both sides of the issue. He stayed away from taking political sides.
There were many take aways for me from the simple: "Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get." to the complex: Responses include mitigation (stabilize green house emissions), adaptation (steps taken to make communities more climate resilient like building sea walls) and geoengineering (including seeding oceans with iron to increase plankton- things that have unknown side effects!)
I have a list of resource websites for more investigation.
World Meteorological Organization - has links to safety at sea, winds and gales, and apps for weather.
National Center for Atmospheric Research - nice page navigation at the bottom to let you read this like a book.
COMET - has tutorial modules for education on climate and weather topics
American Meteorological Society - links to more detailed research sites
NOAA Climate Prediction Center - has drought information, la Nina/el Nino info, etc.
NASA Climate Change - very comprehensive - NASA's eyes on the vital signs of planet Earth
The Nature Conservancy - interactive online climate model
Android App: Skeptical Science
IPad Apps: Skeptical Science | Climate Mobile | Climate Wise Pro | Arctic Watch
Mark Rosenstein's Sailing Page This is another treasure spot of sailing. If you like pictures, books, mailing lists, and the like, you can spend an eon of time wandering the seas at this location.