The Great Lakes supports more boating activity than any other body of freshwater in the world. This heavy recreational and commercial marine traffic, however, can take its toll on the lake's ecosystem. Responsibility for the health of the Great Lakes is split between several states, and of course between the United States and Canada, causing a host of jurisdiction issues. But what about the responsibility of the locals who enjoy these great bodies of water? Well Tom Kelly decided about twenty years ago that it was time to educate the younger generations about the Great Lakes, instilling a feeling of stewardship and responsibility.

The Michigan resident first got the idea in the mid-1980s after experiencing the Clearwater program. Founded by folk singer and activist Pete Seeger in 1969, Clearwater is a non-profit organization of volunteers dedicated to the defense and restoration of New York's Hudson River system. Their principle tool is public education, and the educational program's centerpiece is a 106-foot sailing sloop modeled after a Dutch sailing vessel aptly named Clearwater. Seeger reasoned that if the public could learn to care for one ship and one river, they could learn to care about all the waterways. The idea inspired a core of dedicated people and the Clearwater program continues to flourish today.

Kelly brought the Clearwater concept home to the Great Lakes in 1989, launching the Inland Seas Education Center (ISEA) in Suttons Bay, Michigan. Similar to the Clearwater program, the centerpiece of ISEA is a 77-foot, gaff-rigged schooner, Inland Seas. The Inland Seas is a fully equipped floating laboratory able to carry up to 32 passengers for research expeditions in the Great Lakes and Grand Traverse Bay.

The school ship program is designed to encourage young people to pursue a career in the sciences, while educating and instilling a sense of stewardship for the Great Lakes. Since its formation, the organization has educated more than 61,000 students. ISEA offers a number of water-based educational experiences to students, adults and families including such diverse subjects as biology, sailing, celestial navigation, maritime history, astronomy and safety. Students learn by getting their hands dirty. For example, they get to set trawls, take bottom core samples, test water quality and even examine foreign species taking up residence in the Great Lakes system.

The ISEA program instructors are volunteers, and based on my experience, I found them to be overjoyed to share their knowledge of the Great Lakes ecosystem. New instructors experience an intensive training program that meets once a week for three months and they learn everything from science to maritime history.

Then it's time to go sailing. So what's a typical Inland Seas outing like? Each cruise accommodates up to 25 students and lasts for about four hours. After getting underway, the Inland Seas soon sets the first trawls and collects fish samples. The trawl runs for about 10 minutes after which the students recover the trawl and place the fish in the aquariums for later examination. As the ship proceeds to the area where bottom samples will be collected, the students receive instruction in meteorology. They learn to identify and interpret different types of clouds and understand what they mean to the weather system. They are also shown how to read barometric pressure and to measure wave height, which is very useful to the recreational boater as well.

Next the students learn to measure water clarity using a secchi disk. Water surface and bottom temperatures are taken and recorded and water samples are collected. The students test each water sample for pH and dissolved oxygen. Information gathered by the students is periodically forwarded to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality for further evaluation.

Other types of cruises are also available including visits to nearby islands to learn geology, maritime history, navigation skills and astronomy. There are even survival courses. During the spring and fall the cruises are geared mostly toward school students but programs are also available to groups such as families, senior citizens and others.

In addition to the Inland Seas, another fun program that appealed to me is the traditional boatbuilding workshop. Open to all ages, participants learn while doing. Several local Master Boatbuilders teach the course. George Powell heads up ISEA's boatbuilding program and, since the 1970's has operated his own shop building cruising sailboats and dinghies that are now located from Central America to Alaska.

David Dean, another instructor, produces and hosts the popular "Boat Shop" television series and has spent a lifetime building boats of all sizes, shapes and materials. Bruce Lehman has a long association with boatbuilding and currently skippers the Ralph Winslow designed sloop Aquilo. If this impressive staff wasn't enough to get you excited about a boatbuilding class, these masters are backed up by highly skilled instructors Rod Jones, Mark Pleune and John Kinker.

Novice boatbuilders can sign on to build a 12-foot canoe, an 8-foot pram, a 12-foot skiff or a Shellback dinghy. The best part is that after the course is over, students get to take the boat home. ISEA also offers courses in building oars and spars and for those students who are really new to woodworking, a course in keeping your tools sharp.

With new facilities, ISEA is able to offer classroom courses as well as the shipboard experience. The extensive land-based laboratory facilities allow students to take the materials and information they have harvested on board and continue the research on land. In addition, the complex provides a magnet for Great Lakes researchers and is a major focal point of the community.

ISEA's programs and facilities provide a truly remarkable opportunity for everyone who loves the Great Lakes to appreciate these fragile waters and understand what it takes to preserve them.

If you would like more information on the ISEA programs, becoming a volunteer instructor or discovering ways to support this worthwhile effort, please call ISEA directly at (231) 271-3077 or check one of their comprehensive websites at www.inlandseaseducation.org; www.schoolship.org.