| Intern at Ferry Line |
Nathan Andersen, a senior at Washington Island High School, is an intern at the Ferry Line this school year. After spending time at several island businesses including the Ferry Line during the spring of 2009 while still a junior, Nathan was employed through the summer as a deckhand. He’s now chosen to return to the Ferry Line for the afternoon sessions of his senior year.
A broad goal at the Ferry Line is to introduce Nathan to a variety of job skills in a closely supervised fashion, that might channel him toward either advanced training or a career path.
Nathan’s daily activities vary greatly depending upon what’s happening on a given day. He was invited along for the “last cruise” on the C.G. Richter, and he’s visited the Washington while in dry dock at Bay Shipbuilding, accompanying Rich Ellefson and Hoyt Purinton. He had the opportunity to help navigate the Washington several weeks ago as they followed the peninsula’s coastline on transit to the Sturgeon Bay shipyard. |
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Nathan Andersen visited Bay Ship as
part of his student internship. |
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Nathan writes:
During my internship with the Washington Island Ferry Line I have learned a lot about the boats. I now know how to operate most of the systems on the boat and how to troubleshoot them in case something doesn't work properly. Richie Ellefson, Ken Berggren, and Bill Crance have all taught me about mechanics and their tricks of the trade.
I have also done a lot of prep work on the boats so they could get painted. The prep involves going over the area looking for rust spots and bubbled up paint. We then use an angle grinder with a wire wheel to remove the rust spots.
For primer we use a special kind of paint. It’s an epoxy two part mix.
My internship with the Ferry Line has been a positive experience the whole way through. This program has helped me to decide what I want to do for a career, and this is to go to school to become a diesel mechanic and work for the Washington Island Ferry Line. |
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| Stav – USA Today |
Washington Island’s Stavkirke, located along Townline Road in the wooded property north of Trinity Lutheran Church, was recently named to the USA Today’s list of “10 great places with international flair.” The article appeared on the USA Today website, and in the physical newspaper of Friday, October 23, 2009.
This surprising nomination on the Travel page of a national newspaper appeared following a visit by journalist Kathy Baruffi, who joined 15 other professional travel writers on a press tour to the island in mid-October. The descriptive paragraph noted the Icelandic and Scandinavian influence. A quote of Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Center for the Living City, stated: “The church is an anchor for their cultural identity. It’s a reminder of what was, while providing a sense of possibility of what can be carried forward.”
Thousands of visitors walk the Prayer Path and experience the Norwegian-styled Stavkirke every year. Construction, care and maintenance of the Stavkirke has been managed through donations and memorials. |
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C.G. Richter Leaves Island
The C.G. Richter, a ferry that served the island well since 1950, recently departed under new ownership for St. Petersburg, FL. The Hixon family plans to remodel the C.G.’s appearance to the likeness of a pirate ship and rename it TREASURE SEEKER. When these modifications are complete and the Coast Guard approvals are in order, the Hixons plan to sail their new vessel to St. Thomas where it will provide daily pirate ship excursions.
Arni Richter was on hand when the ferry prepared for departure.
The Hixons and crew posed briefly prior to leaving the island. Days later, Connie Essig and Dorothy and John Gay met the C.G. as it passed through a set of locks at Marseilles, IL. The total estimated trip time is three to four weeks.
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Arni Richter, 98, observed the C.G. Richter,
59, prior to its departure. |
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Washington
The ferry Washington will remain at Bay Shipbuilding through November for a 5-year Coast Guard hull inspection and extensive reconstruction. CAT diesels will replace the original Cummins K-19 motors and Twin Disc gears installed when the ferry was new in 1989. The old engines and gears have been already pulled, foundations modified, and the new motors and gears are set in place. Besides repowering, a dozen other tasks are in progress involving keel coolers, fire pumps, new gauge panels, deck coatings, rudder pintles and a new bearing, refurbished propellers, and so forth. Due to rapid progress, the Washington may be sea trialed and back home in early December. |
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Engine foundations were modified to fit the dimensions
of new propulsion motors and gears (shown being lowered left through the deck opening. |
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Traffic
Traffic in general is up slightly for the year, a good trend and one we hope to build on for next season.
A part of the overall success for Door County and Washington Island tourism can be credited to a current, ongoing, renewed marketing effort. Both tourism organizations have reexamined the dollars being spent and the manner in which they are spent. While an individual business may not observe an increase (or a loss) during the past season, a total tourism meltdown seems to have been avoided during this economic recession. Our island has the capacity to do more business, and we look forward to the prospect of more business. One benefit of a tight, recession economy is learning to use community and business assets in ways that will deliver longterm benefits.
Quite noticeable in various parts of the island are the many and considerable volunteer efforts to restore structures, preserve history, improve public facilities, and place the island in a better light. The list of improvements is quite long, ranging from the Jacobson Museum to School House Beach, from the airport to Jackson Harbor, from the light on Rock Island to the efforts just now getting underway to stabilize Plum and Pilot Island structures. It’s an immense picture employing the talents and support of hundreds of persons, many of whom are neither residents or property owners. Such quiet community efforts generally go unnoticed, but they are there.
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