CHIEF WAWATAM

My Grandfather took several photos of ships around the Straits, here is another I have identified.

Named for the Ojibwa Chief Wawatam who saved the life of English fur trader Alexander Henry after the Massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. The CHIEF WAWATAM operated as a railroad, passenger, and car ferry between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, Michigan. It began operation in 1911 for the Mackinac Transportation Company to haul rail road cars across the Straits of Mackinac. She was coal fired and had three triple expansion engines, two in the stern and one in the bow to power a propeller for ice breaking. Aside from carrying rail cars, CHIEF WAWATAM was used as an ice breaker during the winter months until 1943 when the Coast Guard cutter MACKINAW was put into service. The rail business declined by half in the fifties but the Chief kept on working. During the 60's the Mackinac Transportation Company petitioned the ICC to abandon the service, but was refused. The state of Michigan began to subsidize the Chief in 1976. In 1984 the dock at St. Ignace collapsed and spelled the end of ferry service across the Straits.

Photo by Duane Bastian

Although efforts were made to preserve her, the Chief was sold to Purvis Marine in 1988 to use as a barge. She was stripped down. Some fittings were given to local museums. One of the engines was restored and is in a museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Purvis Marine recently donated another engine to CHIEF WAWATAMs home port of St. Ignace. If you are taking a Soo Lock Boat tour, when you get up to the Algoma Steel Mill, keep your eyes open for a nearly 100 year old flat decked barge with the name CHIEF WAWATAM.

LOA 338'

Beam 62'

The Andree Family Canoe

It was fresh out of the mold when we picked it up from a shop in south St. Louis in 1964. It had no gunwales, thwarts or even seats. It was 17 feet of a bare canoe shell. Dad fashioned the seats from plywood cradled on aluminum tubing with 3 inch styrofoam bolted to the bottom. The thwarts were the same aluminum tubing that held the seats. The gunwales were wood tucked up under a fiberglass lip along the shear and screwed into place. It was our family yacht.

Abandoning ship at an Indian Guide campout at Lake Pomme de Terre

My love affair with boats and the water began when we took it out on its maiden voyage. My parents launched the canoe in the Big River in Cedar Hill, Missouri, about twenty miles from our house. I wore a Mae West life jacket that nearly swallowed up my six year old head. I stared in wonder at the minnows in the stream, the grasses growing up through the water, and the water rippling over the rocks.
The first time I was allowed to take the canoe out without an adult was with my friend Dave. We were at Lake Pomme de Terre on an Indian Guide campout. I sat in the back and Dave sat up front. We thought we had it all figured out. We pushed out into the water and proceeded to paddle in circles. We couldn't get it to go straight at all. All of my watery adventures began in that canoe.

Getting ready to leave Grandma and Grandpa Andree's house at " Dead End"

It was finally stolen from the banks of the Huron River in Ypsilanti, Michigan in the early 80's. From trips on the Big River to Sturgeon Bay, the Meramec River to Kentucky Lake it was a workhorse that took us safely on our adventures.

2008 Top O' Michigan Marathon Boat Race

The Top O' Michigan Marathon Boat Race is truly unique. Its course runs across the top of the lower peninsula on the Inland Waterway. It covers three lakes and three rivers and lasts two days.

The first day is 47 miles. The race starts at the public beach in Indian River. The racers head out into Burt Lake, after rounding a buoy they go down Indian River, across Mullet Lake, up Cheboygan River then they return the same route.

The second day the racers go up Burt Lake to Crooked River, around Crooked Lake, back to Burt Lake, Indian River, Mullet Lake and back.

The drivers like the race because its more than going around in circles. Its all out, flat wide open outboard racing at its best.

No, That's not Tony Stewart. Its Shane Venier and Tina Honeysette

Eric Meyers and Kevin Smelter

This year we watched the race from my sister Jeanne and her husband Steve's safety patrol boat on Indian River. We got a close up view of the action. Our duty was to assist any boat that needed help, to check off the boats as they came down the river and check them again on their return. Fifteen boats failed to make it back due to breakdowns. A good place to see the race is along Indian River. Hang around afterwards to watch the spectator boats parade up and down the river. If you like to boat watch, this is the place.

ROANN

I was fortunate to attend a seminar on steambending wood at Mystic Seaport during the 2007 Woodenboat Show. The seminar was held in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard on the grounds of the museum. I have a little boat shop, so it was fun to see a real working shipyard. ( And learning that even real boat shops can be a little cluttered.) We learned techniques and got tips on building steamboxes, making heat sources, creating boilers, and bending wood. Sitting majestically above us was the partially restored ROANN. ROANN is an Eastern-rigged dragger. An Eastern-rigged dragger is identified by a small aft pilothouse and the fact that the gear is worked off the side. She was designed by Albert Condon and built for Roy Campbell. Christened by his wife Ann on May.21,1947 ROANN is a combination of both their names. She is carvel planked 1 3/4" oak on steam bent frames. The round stern is designed not to catch lines off the back. During her 50 years of fishing, she was safe and profitable and was admired around the fishing fleets. Mystic Seaport acquired her directly from her last trip in 1997. After 7 years as a static display she was showing signs of her age. It was decided to restore her to fishing condition.

In 2004 the process was begun, she was carefully disassembled and documented. Each piece, no matter how deteriorated, was saved. Over the next four years she was rebuilt from the keel up.

On May 17, 2008 as some of the old crew, old owners, and the grandaughter of Albert Condon watched, she was gently set in the Mystic River. Condons grandaughter Beth Van Stads presented the lead shipwright with one of Condons hand built backing-out planes. Her pilothouse, rigging, and spars have yet to be installed. She is expected to be finished this fall.

LOA 61'

Beam 16'9"

Depth 9'

Fish Hold Capacity 55,000 lbs. iced fish

The CAPTAIN LARRY DON

My brother Shaun's band, Frontrunner, was playing a gig on the CAPTAIN LARRY DON at the Lake of the Ozarks. The night was dark and stormy, the waves were crashing on the windows behind the band.The old tub was rocking and rolling, literally. When they began to play Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again", a 200 pound dancing drunk fell on me. There were no injuries, except maybe to his pride. Its something we still laugh about. It was always fun watching the band on the CAPTAIN LARRY DON. The CAPTAIN LARRY DON is one of those party barges on steroids that ply our lakes and rivers where Saturday night is party night and the beer flows freely.
The LARRY DON was built in 1948 at the Lake of the Ozarks. The hull was fabricated in St. Louis and shipped to the lake in four pieces. It was originally a WWII landing craft. She was named for the owner Lawrence Fry's son Larry Jr. and brother Don, who died in the war. Tex and Mae Bemis operated the boat in the 50's and 60's. She is powered by two Cummins 220 diesels with twin 32 inch propellers. Its decks have been modified over the years from it's original two decks to three with a pilothouse. CAPTAIN was added to the name in the 1960's. The CAPTAIN LARRY DON can still be found at Casino Pier near Bagnell Dam in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
LOA 65'

Beam 24'
Passengers 240