Recent Events
Since information
on most of our Recent Events are posted on our Facebook page, we only "list" the events here. For information
and photos, please click on the link to the right side of the page.
Training Hike
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Aman Park, Michigan
17 (and a 1/2) adventurers gathered from a New Year training hike. A 3 and 5 mile loop were
available for hiking. It was a great time and we are all looking forward to the next conditioning hike. Our youngest
adventure was 9 months old and she put 3 miles behind her.
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Ham in a Day
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
19 people will receive a Technicians Class FCC Amateur Radio License through the Ham in a Day program. No
prior studying was needed, they just show up for the class, studied the material and took the test. The HAM radio
has become a necessary tool for our expeditions to keep teams in contact with each other, basecamp or the mainland. All expedition
leaders are now required to have their license.
Congrats!
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Manistee
River Loop Trail - Pack and Paddle
October 15 - 16
Red Bridge to Hodenpyl
Dam and Back (between Cadillac and Manistee)
14 Expedition Members, updated on Facebook
Photography
Here
Rain, cold, fall leaves, and then sun. The hike was overcast but a great time. The gathering
around the fire was a good time with a few stories. The paddle down the Manistee was during beautiful weather.
Lots of lessons learn and only a hint of hardship. Congratulations to Tim Hower and to his promotion to a full
time Expedition Leader!
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Fundamentals
of Search and Rescue®
and SARTECH II®
Certification
Given by the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR)
Sept 16th to 18th and 23rd to 25th (course and certification are both weekends)
Kent County, Michigan
Sponsored by Kent County Search and Rescue
A tough course. This course is an
optional course to fullfill the basic skills requirement for our professional expedition leader certification. Students participated
in over 55 hours of training with 11 participants and 11 graduates! In addition to the SARTECH II graduates - FBET boasts
a new NASAR SARTECH Evaluator who was promoted during the certification process. The class performed very well, with the highest
scores ever in the class for the Buckeye Emergency Response Training School. The graduates from this class represent a 50%
increase in the number of nationally certified search and rescue personnel in the state of Michigan. From a rainy overnight
exercise to mantracking, the class was challenged and performed very well. Congrats to everyone for a well deserved certification!
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Pirates of the Archipelago
Garden Island Expedition
July 2011
Expedition to the remote Garden Island
in Lake Michigan.There were 20 expeditioners. The Expedition met in Charlevoix, Michigan and took the Emerald
Island Ferry to Beaver Island. From Beaver Island, the expedition sailed a charter boat to Northcutt Bay where we off
loaded into the water and continued to shore. From there the expedition set up base camp and explored the island including
historic structures, approximately 25 miles of trails, DNR research/emergency cabins, an active Native burial ground,
settlers graves, and a remote research station with 15 residents. The evenings had a roaring shore line campfire, swimming
on a perfect beach, and lots of other activities. The expedition was tracked, posted on Facebook. Reports were filed
with the DNRE. Congratulations to Expedition Leader, Andy Kursch, for a successful expedition.
Photos Here
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Advanced
Land Navigation Course (LN-4) Night Navigation
June 25th, 2011
Yankee Springs Recreation Area
This course is designed to evaluate the navigation skills of Fortune Bay Expedition Team Senior Members and of Search
and Rescue Personnel. The course will consist of 6 control points over a distance of 2.5 kilometers. The course will be a
night navigation course. To show navigational skill flexibility, participants must record the UTM coordinates of their location
by using a GPS receiver. This is an evaluation and participants should be very familiar with land navigation and have
stong navigational skills.
8 participants - 5 graduates
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Land Navigation and Orienteering (SAR Focused)
Lecture Only.
(Public
Welcome)
Kent County Sheriff's Department, Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 15th, 2011
This is only the Lecture Portion of our popular Land Navigation and Orienteering Course for Search and Rescue
Personnel. While this course is well suited for SAR, it is invaluable to anyone who pokes around the out of doors.
No matter what you do outdoors, this class is for you. Hunting, fishing, hiking, adventure racing, geocaching, kayaking,
bird watching; any outdoors person can find this class useful. This is an in depth study of land navigation from an experienced
navigator.
18 graduates
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Land Navigation
and Orienteering
(for Search and Rescue Personnel)
May
7th, 2011
Kent County Sherriff’s Department & Townsend Park, Michigan
This course was designed specifically for Search and Rescue and Rescue application.
The course exceeds requirements regarding land navigations skills for most national standards, including the National
Association for Search and Rescue and the Kent County Search and Rescue Team. This is our standard basic land navigation
course with 4 hours of lecture and 4 hours of field training and evaluation.
The teams (Fortune Bay Expedition
Team and Kent County Search and Rescue) jointly graduated 32 students!
Survival and Improvisation Course - 5 April 2011
Given under the authority
of Kent County Search and Rescue. The course covered basic survival skills utilizing the items normally found in a standard
search and rescue ready pack. 17 graduates.
Land Navigation Field (Training and Evaluation) - 29
March 2011
4 hours course designed to build upon and test the skills learned in the LN1 Lecture.
Students participated in a pace count course (level open terrain, bush), Azimuth course, small navigation course, 9 point
600 meter land navigation course. Students are evaluated for proficiency in each skill. 21 graduates.
Land Navigation (Lecture) - 22 March 2011
Comprehensive lecture covering Navigation concpets,
earth mapping, coordinate systems, maps and map features, compass, compass use, declination, calulating bearing and distance,
the Global positioning system. 32 graduates.
Man Tracking and Search Technology - 17 March 2011
Basics of man tracking (step by step method), sign cutting, tracking team, rescue systems, rescue technology,
search technology. Designed as an awareness level course. 16 graduates.
Water Rescue - Awareness
- 15 March 2011
This course covered basic water rescue techniques for the first responder. Including
personal protective equipment, water features and hazards, self rescue, throw rescue, and tag line rescue. - 11 graduates.
White Pine Trail Mountain
Bike Marathon
September 11-12, 2010
80 miles - Sand Lake, Michigan to Paris, Michigan
and back.
We intended Cadillac - made it to Paris due to the hours of hypothermic Rain.
Click here for more information
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Solo Tri-Expedition 2010
The Solo Tri-Expedition (300
miles of kayaking, mountain biking and hiking) has been successfully completed.
Click Here for the results.
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Advanced Outdoor Skills Course
April 17th, 2010
This course was designed for outdoor enthusiasts that would
like to explore expedition and leadership skills. This was a hands on course.
The outing provided students with hands on application for navigation, ropework, shelter, fire, food, hiking, and negotiating
wilderness obstacles. Graduates from the "Outdoor Skills Workshop" were able practice previously introduced
skills and learn more advanced skills. The Simulated Local Expedition and 2-day Kayak Trip will round out a students
skills so they may participate in more advanced expeditions.
Adventure Tour 887
May 30, 2009
An
Adventure Race is a competiton, an "Adventure Tour" is just like an adventure race without the pressure.
This event does not have the competition element. It is like a bike tour (as opposed to a bike race).
The Adventure Tour 887 was attended by 6 highly capable teams who achieved excellent time. The event was
top notch all the way around. The participants biked 8 miles, Yaked or Canoed 8 miles and Hiked the North Country Trail
7 miles. For a total tour distance of 23 miles. It was a great and fun event!!
Congrats to all the teams who participated and acheived excellent times.
Click here for times and photos.
Outdoor Skills Course
3 courses in 2009 - This course was an
8 hour introduction to Outdoor skills including, map and compass reading, firebuilding, cooking, setting up camp, knot tying,
rappelling, ascending, and tyrolean traverse (rope bridge). It was an excellent class - with great students. Provided
through Lowell Community Education.
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Manistee River
Trail Hike and Kayak
March 27-29, 2009 - Under threat of 8 new inches of snow, we gathered at the
"Institue of Leisure Arts" for a couple of nights of fun and comraderie. Our hike and kayak was suppose
to be two days, but because the participants were all of hearty stock, we finish the 26 total miles in one day.
It was a good day and a great time!
Nobody brought a camera!!!
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Geocaching Course
Feburary 21, 2009 - A course designed
to introduce families to Geocaching, the global treasure hunt. We spent a couple hours indoors and then braved the winter
storm to find a few caches. We found them all!!!
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Ice Hikes
Various Saturdays - Winter 2009 - Winter storms slumber in and out. The
bitter lake wind stings the face and frozen sand collects around the eyes. Perfect hiking enviroment. Just a social
time of exercise and talk. Occasionally, you have to get the wind goggles out and hook up to each other so you don't
disappear. Great views and great hiking!
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Click here for more past events and Expedition Reports (from our old webpage).
