It is the end of February and ice is covering Suttons Bay and the Lower West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay.  But spring is just around the corner, and I see I only have five weeks to get through my "to do" list  before fit-out, which begins on April 4th.  The crew will then be back to work getting the ship ready for Spring Schoolship.

And a busy Schoolship season it will be, as we currently have 87 classes signed on, with more pending.

I have just returned from the Chicago Maritime Festival where I presented a talk on Inland Seas' invasive species education programs for young people.  It was a wonderful day, and it made me look forward even more to our 4th Summer Festival with lots of music, activities for kids and adults, and good food and friends.  And the 5 K race, which they didn't have in Chicago (too much traffic and slush). 

While in the Chicago area I visited a couple of potential Asian Carp hotspots, including the O'Brien Lock and the outlet of the Portage Burns Waterway.  I have posted some photos on the ISEA blog at http://schoolship.blogspot.com/ if you would like to take a look.

See you on water soon!

Tom Kelly, Executive Director