MAY IS LOOKING UP

Treasure Seeker,  former C. G. Richter, recently
photographed moored in St. Marten harbor.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Our foreign correspondent and his wife were recently vacationing on St. Marten Island, where he took this picture of the Treasure Seeker.   Other than her hull still floating, there wasn't much to indicate she ever left the mooring in Philipsburg Harbor.   Locals said the Treasure Seeker had been stationed there since some time in November.  "Maybe awaiting a gold shipment from South America to Europe" was how our correspondent interpreted the situation.

We can imagine the salt air and salt water are by now taking their toll on the old girl.  Keeping up with pockets of rust had become a standard spring activity during the last years here, in fresh water, even long after the last trips as a ferry.  Time and the elements are not kind to vessels, despite lack of daily service.

Water levels continue to rise

Our Lake Michigan water levels are up nicely over last spring, and a rather wet week with strong easterly winds knocked out the last of the bay and harbor ice in addition to contributing moisture to the lake.

According to the Army Corps, Lakes Michigan and Huron are now about 11 inches above last year's level, with another expected rise of at least five inches over the next month.

With the harbor ice gone and danger of ice en route being eliminated, the ferry Robert Noble made its first trip of the season May 1.  The Arni J. Richter, which began winter service back on December 10, 2013, was sidelined for cleaning and routine maintenance, some of it deferred during that period due to the daily need for availability during the period of ice.   With so much ice in the bay this winter, and the potential for problems during breakup, this year's process nevertheless went quite smoothly, with only one day's interference during a heavy snowstorm three weeks back when a large field came against Plum Island.  From then it was smooth sailing, and the bay ice melted, more or less, in place.

Saturday, May 3, the ferry schedule bumped up to 11 daily round trips, one per hour through the heart of each day.   We hope adequate traffic will soon follow.

Dredging progress

Since resuming the Detroit Harbor channel dredging project in April, the Roen crew has made good progress, edging the 80% mark by last week's end.  The rig with backhoe and crane moved into the middle section of the channel, as the WDNR requires with three designated "fish windows."  Foth Project Manager Ken Aukerman now believes they are on track to complete this project by the middle of June.  This is good news for everyone, in that the trucking and the resulting mess on the roads will settle down in time for the start of the heaviest tourism season.

Dredging in fog April 30.

The Town's gravel pit, the receptacle for the dredge spoils, is fast filling up.  Much of the material in the past weeks has been exceptionally sloppy and mucky - easy to dig and transfer, but not particularly easy to truck, or to contain on site.   This, too, should change as the rig works its way further out the channel, where higher stone content has in the past been found.

This has been a big project, and while it stirred up commotion in terms of truck traffic, road damage and so forth, none of that comes as unexpected.  One positive is that, perhaps in late August, brand new asphalt paving is expected for those trucking roads, in addition to other roads the Town of Washington and Door County designate for paving.   Six months from now, we should see many, excellent miles of newly paved roads.

Currently, with temperatures pushing to edge above the 50 degree mark (it was 33 degrees yesterday morning), it's hard to believe that Cherry Train tours begin in two weeks, and that we'll entertain Memorial Day guests with an Island that is now only partially awake from a long winter.

-   Dick Purinton

TOMATO SPOTTED IN CARIBBEAN PORT

Treasure Seeker on a balmy St. Thomas day.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Yesterday I received two pieces of email with information on the former island ferry C.G. Richter, now mored alongside a harbor boulevard in Charlotte Amalie Harbour, St. Thomas as the Treasure Seeker.  It was spotted by Washington Island property owner and cruise ship passenger Charlie Imig who forwarded the above photo.  Charlie recognized the Walter Haertel designed hull under disguise of pirate facade and tomato-red paint.  The other pertinent email came from David Wright in Washington state, who forwarded a link with photos of the Treasure Seeker from a different angle.

Ten years ago, this ferry was snorting diesel and bucking February ice in the Door passage, making the necessary trip to the mainland and back.  The single Cummins K-19 (500 hp) that powers the Treasure Seeker today worked hard to keep the propeller turning through chunks of ice, maintaining way through fields that sometimes were sliding toward the open lake.   Inside the cabin, passengers visited elbow-to-elbow as the boat sometimes ran freely in open water and other times slowed in deep, rugged ridges, or stews of fine, compressed ice.   Nostalgia comes in many forms, and anyone who thinks of the good old days on board the C.G. Richter will also recall there were many trips that either took hours, or were cancelled, due to overwhelming ice conditions.

Well, you can relive such days in your short sleeves if you sign on to one of the Treasure Seeker's cruises around the harbor to drink rum and cokes and play pirate before going back to the comfort of your cruise ship.  The Hixon family, after fits and starts and a Bahamian grounding that took off the rudder and anchor, motored the final leg in late 2011 from the Puerto Rican shipyard, where repairs were undertaken, to St. Thomas.  (See photos in blog link below.)

Arni, if he were still around, would caution about the exposure to the concrete quay and apparent lack of large fenders.   Its a tough hull, and so we'll wait for more follow-ups to learn how its doing, both pier side and underway with would-be pirates in charge.  It's big, it's red and it's waiting for the next cruise ship to pull in with customers for a pirate ship ride.

For more photos, including some shots of the former Washington Island ferry sitting on blocks in the Puerto Rico shipyard, use this link:
              http://kerryhucul.com/2011/11/17/treasure-seeker-in-st-thomas/

Meanwhile, here's what it looked like a decade or more back in time.  -  Dick Purinton

Life as a ferry:   A load of groceries for the
 island on board  Mann's Store truck.