7/14/25 GLCC Rendezvous Day 2

After a wonderful pancake breakfast put on by the Lutheran Church ladies, the morning cannon was sounded and colors were presented.  As was done every day, the national anthems for both Canada and the US were sung. 

The kayak races were canceled for lack of registrants, and the dinghy races were cancelled too. 

Ron attended two seminars, Quantum Sails and MMSI/AIS.  He had hoped there would be more seminars than were offered over the 4 days. 

In the afternoon, there was a ladies luncheon and tea, along with a style show.  Models were GLCC members and the clothes were provided by Richards, a local clothing store with great prices!  Most of us went to Richards during the week and bought something.  The emcee, John, a bridge officer in GLCC, grew up in Michigan and his mother was a fashion icon in Charlevoix and Grand Rapids.  She owned several clothing stores in Michigan.   His mother had attended school with President Gerald Ford, and she provided clothing for Betty Ford when they were in the White House.  She even stayed at the White House twice. 

New friend Angele Sancho Passe, Early Education Consultant.

The speaker for the event was Melissa Spillenkothen, a woman who has single-handled many boats over the last 40 years.  She was not only humorous, but told the women in attendance what they should be able to do while boating either alone or with a partner.  Those things included docking the boat, deploying the dinghy, starting the dinghy motor, using the radio for emergency calls (maydays, pon pon, securite), etc.  She shared a story about the time she was anchored at Beausoleil Island in Canada.  After taking her dog ashore, she fell and broke her ankle.  There were no people on shore and no boats anywhere nearby.  She realized that she needed to get back to the boat, so she got to the dinghy with the dog and finally climbed aboard her boat.  In her calm call to the 'Canadian Coast Guard, she suggested that she wait until morning since the area was full of rocks under water and there were no lights in the area to assist with a rescue.  The coast guard readily agreed.  Next morning, Melissa started the boat and headed for Midland where she was treated at the hospital. 

There was a special showing of the documentary November Requiem which detailed the sinking of the Carl D Bradley in 1958 in a storm on Lake Michigan.  This documentary was written and produced by the local librarian and her brother.  It won two Emmy's in 2009.  Thirty-three men lost their lives, and 23 of them were from Rogers City, a town of approximately 4800 people. Rogers City has the worlds largest limestone quarry and that is what the Carl Bradley transported to various ports.  The ship was on its way to Manitowoc, WI for repairs but it was diverted back to Rogers City for one last load.  During the storm the boat split apart in 40 foot waves.  Four men managed to get on a life boat.  One went overboard and was never seen again. Another was hallucinating in the bitter cold and jumped off the raft and swam away.   Two men survived even though they were thrown off the life raft three times during the night.   The survivors were found after 15 hours and were encrusted in ice..  Frank Mays, currently a resident of Florida, is now the only living survivor.  He was a speaker at our event. 

After the showing, we were invited to dinner by Tom and Barbara Lyon.  We had a great night visiting with them.  We may seen them this winter snce they are Dunedin snowbirds.