The 2012 Mariner’s Ball: A Salute to the American Sprit can now be found online:

 

Information about the 2012 Mariner Ball, including an online ticket purchase option is now available: www.flagshipniagara.org/mariner

 

The Flagship Niagara’s Science Voyage is featured in the Port Clinton Beacon

Apply now for summer class aboard the tall ship Niagara

Students interested in environmental science and policy have a unique opportunity for a summer class: a three-week trip across the Great Lakes on the tall ship Brig Niagara, a replica of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s flagship from the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The course, which is offered as a partnership between Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory, Niagara University and Penn State University, will introduce students to hands-on lake science and Great Lakes policy issues while allowing them to experience life aboard an authentic wooden naval warship.

 

On the voyage, students will stop at ports of call in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, including a two-day stay at Stone Laboratory. Much of the course includes sailing the ship, water sampling, fish trawling and dissections, and a general close-up on how lake science and ship handling works. Class discussions will expand students’ knowledge of current issues facing the Great Lakes, as well as apply newly learned materials to concerns about Great Lakes environmental policy.

While previous sailing experience is not required, students will be expected to help sail the ship (within their level of comfort). According to course instructor Dr. Bill Edwards, few people have the opportunity to challenge themselves in such a unique environment, and participants in previous years have come away from the trip with newly learned self-confidence, along with valuable lessons in teamwork, leadership, discipline and communication.
Students from any college or university are welcome to apply for this three-week field experience, running from July 11-31. Stone Laboratory will be offering OSU course credit for EEOB 3189: Field Experience for undergraduate students and EEOB 5189: Field Work for graduate students.

For detailed information, contact Matt Thomas, Stone Lab Manager, at thomas.347@osu.edu or Bill Edwards, Niagara University Associate Professor of Biology, at wje@niagara.edu .
The application deadline is March 19. Interested students should apply at stonelab.osu.edu/applynow

 

Niagara Featured In Maritime Executive Magazine

 

Wood Framing Replaced on US Brig NIAGARA

                                                                Wednesday, March 7, 2012
 
Erie, Pennsylvania’s Flagship, the US Brig NIAGARA, arrived at Great Lakes Shipyard to replace framing in the bow. The work on the NIAGARA at Great Lakes Shipyard will include replacing three frames and will take approximately four weeks.

In September of last year, the NIAGARA spent two weeks in the Great Lakes Shipyard’s drydock for out of water surveying, hull cleaning and painting, propeller inspection, and other routine maintenance.
Owned and maintained by the PA Historical and Museum Commission, an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Flagship NIAGARA is a reconstruction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s ship that led the Battle of Lake Erie victory on September 10, 1813.  The bicentennial celebration of Commodore Perry and the NIAGARA’s Battle of Lake Erie victory will take place in September, 2013.
 

FNL Offers New Referral Program to Returning Trainees

The Flagship Niagara League has a new referral program. We are providing $300 discounts to returning trainees who refer a friend, bring a friend, etc. There is no limit to this offer. If you have sailed before and wanted to bring five friends, you would sail for free! The idea is simple…we are trying to attract new people to sail on Niagara! Spread the word to your friends! You can call or email us for more info. sail@flagshipniagara.org 814-452-2744x223

 

EXPERIENCE SOMETHING INCREDIBLE THIS SUMMER!

The Flagship Niagara is offering three incredibly unique voyages this coming summer. All three voyages have availability and are open to the public. While each voyage has a theme, virtually anyone who is interested in history, science or adventure can apply! Each voyage is three weeks in length. We do offer a variety of discounts to our members AND returning trainees.

The dates are as follows:
May 31-June 19 – History Theme
June 22-July 12 – History/Science Mix
July 11-July 31 – Science Theme

Our science voyage is even gaining notoriety around the Great Lakes – see the right hand article published in the Great Lakes Echo on Thursday, February 23.

 

New York professor, pollution institute study plastic in the Great Lakes

 from on board sailing vessel

Feb 23 2012 Alethia Kasben

Sherri Mason once watched a plastic bag blow around Niagara Falls and drop into the water far below.

Although the water looks clean, she knows plastic pollutes the Great Lakes.

The chemistry professor at the State University of New York, decided to study the problem after discovering that it hadn’t been done before.

The 3-week-long study of the Great Lakes will be spent on this vessel, The Flagship Niagara. Photo: Flagship Niagara Niagara League

“There was not a single other study done on this and I thought, ‘oh this is a gold mine,’” she said.  “It is not my expertise, but I started learning more about how they do this field work.”

For help, Mason contacted the 5 Gyres Institute, a group that has studied plastic pollution in the ocean. It is named for five subtropical gyres – rotating ocean currents where plastic can collect. “They are spinning vortexes. Like a toilet without a drain,” said Stiv Wilson, the communication director of the group.

The organization has advocated against plastic pollution on the east and west coasts, but hasn’t worked much in the Midwest, Wilson said.

The Great Lakes study will not only look at the amount of plastic present in the water, but also the amount of plastic the fish are eating, Wilson said.

“Plastic attracts a lot of persistent organic pesticides and the plastic particles in the lake concentrate these pesticides,” he said. “The fish we eat consume this plastic. We want to look at plastic ingestion in the fish and how that travels up the food chain to humans.”

The 5 Gyres Institute essentially catches rides with other scientists studying plastic pollution around the world since it is expensive to sail a boat long distances. When Mason contacted the institute, it was also looking to study the Great Lakes, Wilson said.

“Pollution in our lakes and rivers ultimately ends up in the ocean,” he said. “People have looked at debris on the shoreline, but not in the freshwater systems.  We will be looking at the density of pollution and training a new generation of scientists to monitor it now and in the future.

Wilson said knowing the problem is half the battle.  The rest is fixing it.

“If you look at this issue as a whole, globally, there are a lot of places where this has never been studied,” he said.

The study starts this summer and repeats annually. Mason, students and faculty from several universities in the region and members of 5 Gyres will study all five Great Lakes for three weeks from on board the Flagship Niagara, provided by the Flagship Niagara League.

The vessel, based at the Erie Maritime Museum in Pennsylvania, is a reconstructed flagship , famous for winning the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.
trawl filters the water so even the smallest pieces of plastic can be found in the water. Photo: 5 Gyres Institute

The study will be done using a trawl, which is an aluminum box that floats on the water with two wings on either side, Wilson said. A net that catches everything but the water is used within the trawl. The contents of the net are checked for pieces of decomposed plastic, he said.

“We are only going to be hitting a small cross section of the overall lake surface area,” Mason said. “This first attempt should be interesting.”

Simple things like using a reusable grocery bag and not using a bag when only buying one thing can mitigate plastic pollution, Mason said.

“If it is in our water, it is in us,” If it is in our water, it is in us,” Mason said. “I want to make people aware that we are the problem, but that often means we are the solution too.”

© 2012, Great Lakes Echo, Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. Republish under these guidelines

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     

January 26, 2012

Contact:                                                                                

Timothy A. Goldsmith

Flagship Niagara League Board President                                                    

tgoldsmith@malinbergquist.com

814-454-4008

Flagship Niagara League Names Executive Director

The Board of Trustees of the Flagship Niagara League has selected E. Shawn Waskiewicz as its executive director, effective March 19.

Waskiewicz currently serves as the Assistant General Manager of Administration for the Erie Otters. He is a graduate of Harborcreek High School and received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Edinboro University.  He recently completed his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership at Mercyhurst University and was named the Walker School of Business Graduate of the Year last May. 

Waskiewicz has worked in the sports industry for more than 14 years in various roles.  In his current role with the Erie Otters, he manages day to day business operations.  “We are excited about Shawn coming aboard,” Goldsmith said. “Shawn’s strong sponsorship and event management background make him a well suited professional for the important 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie and our next Tall Ships event in 2013”. He will fill a critical role to help develop a stronger organization as we grow.

“I’m excited for this new and challenging opportunity,” said Waskiewicz. “I’ll be pulling from my sports business background to lead the Flagship Niagara League into new endeavors while supporting their initiatives. It’s a great organization with a lot of potential.”

The Flagship Niagara League conducted a national search with the assistance of J.L. Nick and Associates and board president Timothy Goldsmith said the League was pleased to find the most qualified candidate right here in Erie.

About the Flagship Niagara:

The Flagship Niagara is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and is operated by the Flagship Niagara League, Inc., a private 501-c3 non-profit organization. The Flagship Niagara is inspected by the US Coast Guard as a Sailing School Vessel and operates as such in the summer months only. The ship is available for public viewing year-round at the Erie Maritime Museum unless she is underway on a training mission or visiting another port during the summer.

The vessel’s hull is 123 feet long (198’ overall length) and has overnight berthing for 18 professional crew and 22 trainees. There are several ways the public can sail on board: as a daysail student, a for-credit high school or college student, or a live

Calling all Men and Women Ages 18-25! The Flagship Niagara invites you to sail for three weeks of adventure and enrichment this summer...sign up yourself of give this gift of a lifetime for Christmas. Our season is jam packed in 2012, so space (right now) is limited to May 31-June 19. Note: there is some time in Sept avaiable for non school age individuals. Email us for more info: sail@flagshipniagara.org

Looking for a little Adventure this Summer?

The Flagship Niagara has now entered into Open Enrollment season for our three signature programs in 2012: College-level Social Science; College-level Natural Science; and High School-level history/science. All three programs offer credits that count towards a student’s graduation. Each voyage lasts three weeks.  The list of participating schools has grown too long to list.
The programs have been extremely successful with students reporting extremely positive feedback on their evaluations!
 If you are student or you know a student who might be interested, please contact us today:

cpifer@flagshipniagara.org

814-452-2744x223
Space is limited.

Erie Maritime Museum Speaker Series Features Lake Erie Shipwrecks

Georgann and Mike Wachter have been diving around the world since the mid 1970’s, but nowhere else in the world have they discovered the kind of pristine and perfectly preserved shipwrecks that lie in the fresh waters of the Great Lakes.  On Saturday, October 15, 2011, at 2:00 p.m., in the Hirt Auditorium, they will present a photo tour of newer Lake Erie shipwreck locations.  Their talk, “The Dynamic Dozen – 13 Lake Erie Shipwrecks”, is part of the Erie Maritime Museum Speaker Series.

The Wachters passion for shipwrecks resulted in three “Erie Wrecks” books which they researched and co-authored, as well as numerous articles and presentations inspired by their diving experiences.  Wrecks featured in the “Dynamic Dozen” include two historic sidewheel steamers, a steamer involved in the third worst disaster on the open waters of the Great Lakes, and a pristine schooner, totally intact under 60 feet of water.  Diving sites range from sport depths to technical.  Along with images of the wrecks, the Wachters share stories and the facts surrounding the wrecks.

 “The Dynamic Dozen” is open to the public free of charge, sponsored by Diver’s World of Erie, Inc.  You learn more about Georgann and Mike’s wreck dives at their website, www.eriewrecks.com .

 

“Fortune and Fury” Author to Share Discoveries
About Commercial Fishing Industry in Erie
click to view flyer

The Erie Maritime Museum opens its 2011-12 Speaker Series with local author and Bayfront historian Jerry Skrypzak on Saturday, September 24, 2011. At 2:00 p.m. in the Hirt Auditorium.  Mr. Skrypzak recently co-authored the book Fortune and Fury, A History of Commercial Fishing in Erie with David Frew.
 
A life-long student of Erie’s waterfront, Jerry has collected and personally photographed a tremendous number of images related to Erie’s docks and commercial fishing industry.  Many images from his collection are published for the first time in Fortune and Fury.  His presentation for the Speaker Series will follow his trail of discovery as he and Dr. Frew brought this most comprehensive study of Erie’s fishing industry together.  There were still a few surprises out there, and new information to be found, even for these local experts!  Jerry will share this new information as a part of his presentation. 
 
Jerry Skrypzak’s talk is open to the public, free of charge.  Signed copies of Fortune and Fury will be available in the Museum’s Gift Shop after the talk.
 
The Erie Maritime Museum and the Hirt Auditorium are located at 150 East Front Street, Erie, PA 16507.