MADONNA CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS 9.0

The entire forward half of the Madonna's hull is plated over now,
and seams are being welded tight. (Hoyt Purinton photo)

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

December's middle days bring us continuation of wintry weather.  Another six inches of snow in the past week, and not much settling or melting of the 10-12 inches already on the ground.  Homeowners become attentive to their roofs, mounds of snow to be cleared above icy gutters, in order to expose shingles to sunlight.  Detroit Harbor remains partially frozen, since Thanksgiving, with ice cover to Snake Island's south end.  It looks like winter's here to stay, with single digits predicted for tomorrow, Wednesday, Dec. 18.

There are daily deliveries of cards and letters, bills and catalogs to our mail box at the post office. Most impressive.  We've done our Christmas shopping by internet recently, and what follows is an abundance of cardboard boxes delivered daily by ferry from Northport, then sorted and set into piles at the Ferry Office for recipient pick-up in late afternoon.  There is no parcel home delivery on Washington Island for either Fed Ex or UPS (as there is by U. S. Postal rural delivery), and so auto traffic steadily streams to the Ferry Terminal building in the very late afternoon, and again the following morning, as customers retrieve their retrieve packages.

There have been full deck loads of vehicles, and sometimes more than one ferry runs to accommodate traffic leaving the Island.  Return trips in the late afternoon from Northport are equally busy, as Islanders return from a day of shopping, medical appointments and errands.  Soon enough there will be the imposition of vehicle reservations (starting Dec. 20th), a management tool that helps ensure those who intend to travel will have a vehicle space onboard.  Reservations become extra work for the Ferry Line office staff, and it's awkward for travelers, too, but auto reservations smooth out the loading process when vehicle slots are limited and ice prevents use of a ferry other than the icebreaker.

Looking at the transom, the flat stern of the Madonna. New shell plating is added each day.
Turnover of the two halves is still scheduled during January's first full workweek.  

Inside Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding's large fabrication building in Sturgeon Bay, work continues on the new ferry Madonna.  Today's photos again indicate substantial progress toward hull completion, the welding of plating seams, the addition of new shell plates to the stern half of the vessel, and continued finish steelwork on the pedestal piece that will provide structural support and access for the upper passenger decks and pilot house.  (Starts lead to a mid-level, mezzanine cabin, in addition to the uppermost open passenger deck, not dissimilar to the Arni J. Richter's design.)   Photos shown here were taken Monday, Dec. 16 by Hoyt Purinton.

Heavy keel plate runs fore and aft along hull centerline.
View here is of the bow, looking aft. 

Pedestal with aft stairway leading to second deck, 
positioned on the port side, with one auto lane outboard
and three lanes to starboard.  View looks forward.

Shell plating on port side near stern is
bent inward to follow the designed hull curvature,  
just forward of the transom.

 -  Dick Purinton