- [Anna] Coming up on Great Lakes Now...

Sailing Lake Huron in a work boat designed centuries ago.

- This lake can get incredibly rough.

The thought of people sailing this thing from port to port seems a little terrifying to me.

- [Anna] Bringing a historic passenger ship back to its former glory.

- Almost three and a half years of dust accumulated inside.

And so it was a huge effort just to clean the ship.

- [Anna] And news from around the lakes.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] This program is brought to you by The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at Detroit PBS, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(calming music) - Hi, I'm Anna Sysling.

Welcome to Great Lakes Now.

Over the years, people have navigated the Great Lakes in everything from birch bark canoes to thousand-foot freighters.

Yet one distinctive type of boat, a genuine Great Lakes original, has nearly vanished.

Thankfully, there are dedicated enthusiasts pushing to bring it back.

We sent our own, Ward Detwiler, to Tawas City, Michigan on the Lake Huron shoreline to learn more.

(bright upbeat music) - [Ward] As a natural harbor of refuge, Tawas Bay has always been attractive to sailors on Lake Huron, but I'm here to visit Heritage Coast Sailing and Rowing in Tawas City.

Founding members, Dave Wentworth and Leo Chartier, helped start the group more than a decade ago.

In 2012, they built their first Mackinaw boat, and this is it.

(gentle instrumental music) (indistinct chatter) - Ward, this is the Waabizii.

Waabizii was the first boat we built and the first Mackinaw boat.

- [Ward] This is beautiful.

- She's a 12 strake, lapstrake Mackinaw.

- So the 12, that means how many- - [Dave] 12 boards, yeah.

- [Ward] planks you have to put together here?

So this is a historic boat for the region, for the area.

- [Dave] Yes.

- [Ward] Now, how would they have used this boat?

What was the purpose of these back in the day?

- I think primarily fishing boats at the start, but they became pocket freighters that carried goods between towns, carry passengers.

Somewhere in my files I've got a picture of one with a cow in it.

(upbeat music) - [Ward] Mackinaw boats were workhorses of the Great Lakes and a common site in the two centuries before the combustion engine replaced many sailboats.

They were equipped with mast for sailing and oarlocks for rowing, and they featured a broad bow to accommodate nets, fish and freight.

The origins of the design have been debated, but the development likely goes back to the 1700s.

It proved to be an ideal vessel for the shallow waters and unique conditions of the Great Lakes.

And by the mid 1800s, they would've been a common site on Tawas Bay, and around the Great Lakes up through the Straights of Mackinaw.

As Mackinaw boats gained in popularity, they became commercially available.

But one of the appeals of the design was that it could be easily built and maintained by the boat's user, who often customized it for their exact needs.

(gentle upbeat music) - Why a Mackinaw boat?

Of all the different kind of boats you could build?

- We didn't know what kind of boat we were gonna build.

We knew that we wanted to build a boat and we looked at all kinds.

About that same time, US-23 was being converted to the heritage route.

Then we said, "Well, let's do a Mackinaw boat."

That was a local boat and we'll do a 23-foot and we'll call it the Heritage 23 because we live on US-23 and it all kind of fit together with the heritage route and the Mackinaw boat.

(bouncy music) - [Ward] Traditionally, Mackinac Boats reached about 35 feet.

The team built the Waabizii to be a smaller-scale, 20 foot replica.

- Dave, tell me about the name Waabizii.

Where does that come from?

- Waabizii is a native american word that means swan.

It was named after an early Mackinaw boat, whose owner chose not to use tannin tea to preserve his sails.

So instead of the tan sails that most boats had, Waabizii had white sails and a white hull.

So, as it came back to harbor it looked like a swan.

- Have you thought about building one of these at full scale?

- We actually have the plans and the drawings to go a full scale Mackinaw boat.

We thought it would be a nice addition, making the community more attractive as a tourist destination to have our own indigenous tall ship.

- Looks like you've got your next project here.

- Yeah, well as you look in the shop, we've got a lot of next projects.

(upbeat music) - [Ward] But Heritage Coast Sailing and Rowing does more than build Mackinaw boats.

They've grown into a dedicated community that comes together to mentor youth, teach the art of sailing and share the maritime legacy of the Great Lakes.

(upbeat music) In the shop where they were repairing boats for the youth sailing school, I met with Leo and Kurt Fogelslonger to learn about the group's activities.

- We have really three missions for Heritage Coast.

One is a sailing school, one is basically to build boats with at-risk kids and one that we just started is an ROV program.

- Once we got the boat building going, we said we want to give back to the community, we want to make it available to kids.

So we started this and we love to see the kids enjoying it and coming back and hopefully the sport will grow.

- So this is their first introduction to sailing.

- [Leo] This is usually their first introduction into sailing and they know nothing.

They come out there the first day, they're excited, they're nervous, and then all of a sudden we get them in the water and we teach them how to rig the boat.

So every morning they come and they rig it and they de-rig it and we get them out on the water.

Usually the first day we're out on the water.

- Part of our mission is to preserve the heritage of sailing and it's a maritime ritual, you know, that we just don't see nowadays.

(calming bouncy music) - [Ward] I was curious about the involvement of at-risk youth in the boat building.

I got the chance to ask Dave and Leo at their other workshop in Dave's garage.

- Was it your intention when you started this to involve the at-risk youth?

- That hadn't even crossed our mind.

It turned out to be a very rewarding and productive activity for us.

- A lot of these kids come from backgrounds that are kind of tough.

They, maybe they're in trouble with school, they're in trouble with their parents and they're just in trouble and they're lost and we kind of give them some direction.

Building boats gives them a focus.

- You're learning a lot more than just how to build a boat.

- Life lessons, right?

And that's what we try to teach them.

We want 'em to leave here knowing that they can do something.

- It's incredibly rewarding to see the kids the way that they start and the way that they finish, their evolution.

'cause the boat build from the scratch is, you know, a life lesson in itself.

Small steps to get where you're going with ending up with something that's beautiful and serviceable.

That lesson doesn't escape them.

(bouncy music) - [Ward] The next morning I woke up excited because today we are sailing.

(upbeat music) I met the group at the East Tawas dock, where another of their handmade Mackinaw boats was moored.

This is The Indigenous.

Dave explained that the name honors the origin of the Mackinaw design.

- Mackinaw boats are the product of early French boat builders working with First Nation people in Canada to create boats that looked like this.

Truly the merger of European boat building and Native American canoe building.

It's from here.

It was developed on the Great Lakes and is therefore indigenous through the Great Lakes.

- I've been out on this lake a ton, this lake can get incredibly rough.

The thought of people sailing this thing from port to port, you know, bringing loaded down with fur and whatever they're carrying around seems a little terrifying to me.

- [Dave] Well, interestingly enough, it turned out to be a really seaworthy boat.

A lifesaving station here, they preferred to take a Mackinaw boat out, just pull people out of the water.

It intrinsically is a good rough water boat.

- Well, I'm really excited to get out there and and go sailing.

- [Ward] It was time to relive history.

We cast off from the dock and set sail.

(upbeat music) I wasn't sure what to expect from a centuries old design that was intended to act as a cargo vessel.

But I was surprised at just how well it sailed.

It was balanced with a ton of feel, and even the slightest puff of breeze was transited right into my fingertips.

It was a pure joy to sail.

Sailing something so simple and spartan with historic roots just has soul to it.

It made me remember why I love sailing.

As The Indigenous cut through Tawas Bay, I thought of the conversation I had with Dave and Leo the day before.

They said that there's more to sailing than meets the eye.

It's about setting goals, navigating challenges, embracing the unpredictable, and perhaps most importantly enjoying the journey.

(soothing upbeat music) - Why do you guys think this is such an important thing to pass on?

- 'cause I think it's life.

It's ever changing, you don't know what to expect.

When you go into a job you may think you know it, but there's always evolution.

- [Ward] Heritage Coast Sailing and Rowing is doing more than preserving maritime history.

They're bringing it to life and sharing their passion with the community.

They're on a mission to encourage others to raise their sails and explore the uncharted waters of life.

- [Leo] So it prepares you to accept what comes.

I think that's good and healthy for young people and old people.

- [Dave] It's an incredible joy, just a wonderful experience and everyone should be able to share in that.

- For more about Sailing on the Great Lakes, visit Greatlakesnow.org.

In the early 1900s, lavish cruise ships were a way to traverse the lakes and the world in comfort and style.

Today, only one of these Edwardian era passenger liners remains.

It's here in the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario, and it's been given a second life as a museum.

- [Laura] Kingston's newest museum attraction, the SS Keewatin, is the sole surviving Edwardian era passenger liner in the world.

As part of the Canadian Pacific railway fleet operating in the Upper Great Lakes in the early 1900s, it's fitting that she finally found her forever home in Canada's museum capital.

Doug Cowie is the manager of the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston, which now owns the Keewatin.

- The ship was built in Glasgow's Scotland, at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering company.

It came over under its own power.

- [Laura] Knowing the Keewatin would be too large to fit through the St. Lawrence Seaway canals and then later the Welland, bulkheads were designed into her hull so she could split into two pieces when she reached Montreal.

- It was riveted together.

They took out all the rivets, it was pulled apart and then it was towed in two halves or two sections through the canal system and put back together again in Buffalo.

- [Laura] In 1907, the Keewatin was put into service to transport passengers from Georgian Bay westward and return from Lake Superior with grains for export.

After World War I, she was primarily used as a cruise ship.

Dan Rose is the coordinator of collections and programs at the Great Lakes Museum.

- Early on, passengers traveling onboard the Keewatin were kind of a mishmash.

Canadian Pacific was one of the first companies to try and sell Canada to Canadians by promoting Canadian tourism.

They were encouraging folks to take their tour on the ship, pass through the beautiful natural scenery of the Great Lakes, and of course end up at one of Canadian Pacific's fine luxury hotels.

- [Laura] By the 1960s, trains, planes and automobiles became the preferred method of travel.

And steamships like the Keewatin were decommissioned and sold for scrap.

The Keewatin's fate looked bleak.

It would take no less than three miracles for her to find her way to Kingston, Ontario.

The first one took the Keewatin to Douglas, Michigan.

- This ship was basically in the scrap yard when this gentleman, this American from Michigan, bought it, took it down, and had it in his marina as a museum.

- [Laura] That American was RJ Peterson, a community leader, history buff, and owner of Tower Marine.

The Keewatin remained a feature of the Saugatuck-Douglas community until 2012, when Peterson retired at 85.

Once again, the Keewatin's future looked dire, until Skyline Investments purchased her and towed her back to Georgian Bay.

- Then another miracle that it found another home.

- The ship was run by The Friends of Keewatin.

And they did a great job of preserving the ship all those years until COVID came along in 2020.

COVID shut the ship down.

- [Laura] When the pandemic eased, the labor required to reopen the ship was beyond the capabilities of The Friends Group.

Once again, the Keewatin's future was in doubt.

And once again, she was acquired by a new owner.

This time, the Great Lakes Museum.

- The museum acquired the ship in 2023 when it was donated by Skyline Investments.

This is the third miracle that it arrived here.

- [Laura] But the journey to Kingston wasn't easy.

Over two dozen Friends of Keewatin volunteers worked seven days a week for nearly two months to secure the ship and pack all its historical contents.

- [Doug] The ship was towed down to Hamilton out of Georgian Bay, then out into Lake Huron, down through the St. Claire River, through the Detroit River into Lake Erie, and then all the way through the Welland Canal and up to Hamilton.

(upbeat music) - [Laura] By April of 2023, the Keewatin had been a museum exhibit for almost as long as she'd been a working vessel sailing the Great Lakes.

Time had taken its toll and she needed a lot of work.

- We're at the Heddle Shipyard in Hamilton to have some major repairs done to it that we don't want to get involved in, in Kingston.

Things such as sandblasting the tall funnel, the smokestack to some people.

The two masts were also sandblasted and painted along with all the davits that hold the lifeboats.

We also had the wooden fir deck, which was two and a half inches thick, completely removed because it was in pretty bad shape.

It took like a crew of shipyard workers to work on it.

(upbeat music) - [Laura] By the fall of 2023, the shipyard repairs were done and the Keewatin was ready for her final voyage to Kingston.

A dedicated crew of volunteers eagerly awaited her arrival in Kingston where months of labor were still required before the ship would be ready for public tours.

- Almost three and a half years of dust accumulated inside and then you had a whole summer of activity in the shipyard, of workers going up and down.

And so it was a a huge effort just to clean the ship at all deck levels.

You can't make a project like this work without the volunteers.

You can't hire people to do all the work that they're doing.

A lot of volunteers over its history have really connected with the ship.

The hours are unbelievable.

- [Laura] The final step before opening, carefully unpacking all the ship's artifacts and putting everything back on display.

- [Doug] A core group of the Friends of Keewatin came down to help us stage the ship, which was another big operation that we had never done.

- [Laura] Today, visitors can choose between two 40-minute guided walking tours.

- [Doug] They all have headsets on, and the docent speaking through a microphone so that everybody isn't straining to hear.

It gives them some space to spread out and look into different cabins and so forth and wander around in little nooks and crannies.

- The engineering experience is much more focused in the actual science and engineering of how a high pressure steam ship was able to operate.

In the early years of steam power experimentation, there was all manner of disasters that occurred.

These boilers would often become so compressed and so sensitive that it's very easy for them to explode.

So that tour was more focused on the science of this, whereas the passenger experience is focused on what life was like for those who were actually traveling on board.

- [Laura] The Keewatin was not as large or as grand as the Titanic.

But the design of their engines, grand staircases and dining parlors was the same.

As was their adherence to the rigid class structures of the time.

- This is an Edwardian ship by virtue of its elegant details from the fine wood trim that you'll find throughout the vessel to even elements of the design of the ship itself.

The smokestack, for example, is set at an angle to make it look as though it's going faster.

Those of the serving class were meant to be seen when they were serving and then not seen otherwise.

So believe it or not, the promenade was partially designed to allow crew to pass through different sections of the ship without being spotted by the passengers.

The plates were actually heated in a warming drawer inside the kitchen.

The tables would actually have been sprayed.

The tablecloth, specifically by the waiters.

When the hot plates met with the tablecloth, the liquid tension would meet with the plate to actually secure it to the tablecloth so that it wouldn't slide around while the ship was in transit.

It's special to know that you're on a ship that many traveled across in order to get to new homes and new beginnings.

- [Laura] More than 4,000 steam ships were built during the Edwardian era.

Of all those vessels, the SS Keewatin is the last.

- It's crazy to think that there were ships that were larger, faster, more impressive, more historically significant.

But despite it all, Keewatin is the only one that survived.

(gentle upbeat music) - To learn more about travel in the Great Lakes, visit Greatlakesnow.org.

And speaking of travel, every year people come to our region for its natural beauty and rich history.

On this edition of The Catch, we thought we'd share a couple of new attractions that you can visit.

- [Anna] The aquarium of Niagara has opened a new expansion dedicated to animals native to the Niagara River and the Great Lakes region.

We spoke with the aquarium of Niagara President and CEO, Chad Fifer, about the new attraction.

- Great Lakes 360 is the first ever expansion of aquarium of Niagara.

It is an entirely separate building from our main aquarium experience, and it's focused on species that call the Great Lakes home.

It's not just fish, it includes invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, but really trying to connect people to the animals that live in the Great Lakes and around us, specifically in the Niagara River.

- [Anna] Great Lakes 360 opened its doors on July 12th and is located in the former Niagara Gorge Discovery Center.

The expansion has 16 new exhibits.

Each one spotlighting different species of Great Lakes wildlife.

- You'll see things like catfish and Gar and some of those species that you would catch if you were out fishing.

But we also like to extend things into some of the insects and invertebrates you might find as you're exploring the woods around the lakes.

We have lamprey as well, which are always a unique experience for people to both see and realize that they also call the Great Lakes home, and then some species of turtles, salamanders, and frogs and toads.

- [Anna] Fifer says that Great Lakes 360 is an immersive experience, giving visitors the chance to get up close with some of the creatures, including Lake Sturgeon.

- I can tell you from just being open a few weeks, the most exciting part of Great Lakes 360 anecdotally for our guests has been the sturgeon encounter.

Having the experience of getting up close to one and hopefully having a chance to touch it, is something that is truly memorable.

- [Anna] At the end of the day, Fifer hopes that Great Lakes 360 gives visitors a new appreciation for the native wildlife of the Great Lakes.

- Aquariums are really good at connecting people to habitat that they may never have been to before and that are found all over the world.

But lots of us tend to take for granted the species that are in our own backyard.

And we made a concerted effort with Great Lakes 360 to focus in on what we're calling the locals.

This is an ecosystem that is incredibly special and unique to anything else in the rest of the world, and we should be celebrating those species in our own backyard.

(bouncy music) - [Anna] The Great Lakes are home to three National Marine Sanctuaries, each of them dedicated to preserving the cultural history of the region.

The latest sanctuary in Lake Ontario was designated in 2024.

We caught up with Russ Green, Superintendent of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast, to learn more about the National Marine Sanctuary system.

- The National Marine Sanctuary System is a network of underwater parks and marine protected areas that really stretch across our nation, from the Florida Keys to Boston to American Samoa to the West Coast.

And we protect iconic cultural and natural resources from coral reefs to humpback whales to here in the Great Lakes cultural resources that are really historic sites that tell our nation's story.

- [Anna] Lake Huron's Thunder Bay was the first National Marine Sanctuary in the Great Lakes and was designated in 2000.

The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast is in Lake Michigan and it was designated in 2021.

And the newest sanctuary in Eastern Lake Ontario was just designated in 2024.

All three sanctuaries are home to historic shipwrecks and sites spanning centuries of Great Lakes history.

- The Great Lakes were and still are an economic engine for North America, and that's been true through the 1800s to the present day.

So, there's many nationally significant historic sites that are beneath the waters of the Great Lakes.

- [Anna] Although historic preservation is a major component of the National Marine Sanctuaries, Green says that their work also supports research, conservation, and recreation.

- The cool thing about all three of these places is although our management is on cultural resources, we really have a big canvas to work with.

So, from mapping the Great Lakes to installing real-time weather buoys for public safety and for fishermen to use, we really try and play on this much bigger stage.

- [Anna] The sanctuaries also provide unique opportunities for students and educators looking to learn more about the history and science of the lakes.

- One of the really cool things about national marine sanctuaries is they are living classrooms.

Here in Wisconsin, we've recently done on-water education programs on a research vessel out of The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

And it turns out what we hear from educators is that's a really distinctive experience.

So, I think using the sanctuary as an on water classroom and getting students and educators engaged to learn about it, but also leverage the sanctuary to do teaching in the classroom is really important.

- [Anna] The new Lake Ontario Sanctuary is home to 41 known shipwrecks as well as historic sites along the American shore of the lake.

The designation was announced in June, 2024 after a years long process that included a nomination and input from local communities.

In Lake Erie, that process is underway to designate a fourth sanctuary in the Great Lakes region.

To Green, that community involvement is a fundamental part of the National Marine Sanctuary system.

- You know, in my mind, the reason the sanctuary system is so special, particularly in the Great Lakes, is the way that we manage these places in conjunction with communities.

There are places that you can visit, that the public can engage in.

So, I think the key thing for the public is there's multiple ways to benefit and engage in national marine sanctuaries in the Great Lakes.

(gentle upbeat music) - Thanks for watching.

For more about any of our stories, visit Greatlakesnow.org.

When you get there, you can follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter to get updates about our work.

See you out on the lakes.

(bouncy music) (bouncy music continues) - [Announcer] This program is brought to you by The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at Detroit PBS, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you!

(gentle upbeat music) (cheerful piano music)