Maritime Heritage Alliance’s Mackinaw boats maintain legacy

By Sandra Serra Bradshaw

Sun contributor

A love of the significantly rich maritime history bestowed upon the Great Lakes region, and of traditional sailing boats working on these lakes, was—and still is—the very foundation of the Maritime Heritage Alliance (MHA). Since the early 1980s, its mission, to Preserve, Interpret, and Share the Maritime History of the Great Lakes, is ever at its forefront. A dedicated and growing core of volunteers have been avidly working on projects ever since.

The MHA’s first project was the 20-ft. Mackinaw-type boat, Gracie L, in 1983, which is still showcased at festivals and boat shows to this day. Their fleet also includes the iconic schooner Madeline, built almost entirely by volunteers, and the Champion, used primarily to teach sailing skills to youth. That boat was donated to the MHA by the late Henry Barkhausen of Harbor Springs. Now, this persevering group has taken under its wings the restoration of a Mackinaw boat, the 30-ft. Good News, one of the few of her kind still in existence today. This small vessel is another part of the Barkhausen’s family sailing legacy.

Barkhausen, a life-long lover of both wooden boats and their fascinating history, was a principal founder of the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History (aglmh.net), which was started in 1984. The organization is composed of individuals from all over both Canada and the United States. Barkhausen lived much of his life in the Chicago area, embarking on building wooden boats there around 1952. He named each of his projects as tribute to a Great Lakes schooner. But it was back in the late 1930s when he fell in love with the Mackinaw-type vessel Butcher Boy, one of his first boats. When he retired at age 67, he decided to build a replica of the Butcher Boy and christened her Good News.

Ask most boat people to explain just what is a “Mackinaw Boat,” and most likely you will get many different answers. It has been—and still is—a popular term today, and is a fascinating, albeit lengthy subject of Great Lakes regional history.

“The term Mackinaw boat covers a range of styles,” said Bob Core of Traverse City, one of MHA’s co-founders. “Many different types of ships and boats have been named after the Mackinac region.”

In the broadest sense, a Mackinaw boat is a small (usually around 20 ft.) open crafted vessel, with a retractable centerboard to keep the boat stable in the oft-rough waters in the Great Lakes. The earliest documentation of building such a vessel fitting a Mackinaw boat was that of Wabesi, built at St. Ignace, Michigan, in 1845. In a sense, they were a take-off of the Native American Indian canoe.

Today, why is there an important historical significance attached to these boats? In their heyday they operated as if “in the shadows” of the much larger sailing ships—small potatoes sailing alongside the sizable and seemingly much more glamorous schooners, with their lovely white sails billowing in the wind. These little boats—although much needed to help the larger boats navigate, especially in small quarters—were always in the shadows of their much bigger sister ships. Sadly, if wrecked or lost at sea, even with all hands on deck, little was mentioned in the newspapers. Quickly forgotten, overlooked, and underappreciated, this is why much of the actual history of these Mackinaw boats is lost to us today and why so many today appreciate its part in our maritime history.

It is thought that these boats were likely “perfected” for use in the fur trade sometime in the 18th century. Later, they became the design-of-choice for trade fishermen operating on the Great Lakes in the 19th century. They were found to be affordable to both fishermen and the common everyday man. They did everything the big ships couldn’t do and they could sail everywhere the big boats couldn’t go.

“Mackinaw boats were the pick-up trucks of their day,” Laura Quackenbush, a MHA co-founder and Great Lakes historian, explained to me many years ago.

These relatively small Mackinaw boats are also one of the most difficult vessel classes for historians to document and describe. Much of their activity is largely absent from 19th century literature. Due to their small size, they could not compete with the schooners and set no records for the fastest passage or the largest tonnage carried, nor were they usually owned by wealthy men. “These were family affairs type of boats,” explained Heather Jankens, MHA’s Executive Coordinator. “Just like schooners they were a working man’s boat—in the fishing business mainly,” she said.

“Though the Mackinaw boat of the Upper Great Lakes was a practical utility vessel, there is no doubt they were also beautiful in their practical application,” wrote Quackenbush in an in-depth article for the Great Lakes History Trail.“Today we admire their place in Upper Great Lakes maritime history and visual beauty documented in the photographs that illustrate the graceful lines of the hull and wind-filled sails of these boats.”

Their important place in Great Lakes history is showcased in watching the volunteers at MHA hard at work now on the Good News. “She was the last of an era,” explained Jankens. “She will be returning to Harbor Springs this spring. Maintenance is always a constant to keep our boats and dreams floating… there is always something to work on,” she said with her effervescent laugh. “We are always learning from one another!”

The ongoing maintenance of the MHA fleet includes the aforementioned Gracie L. “MHA struggled to come up with a name for our new Mackinaw boat,” explained Rich Brauer.  Besides being a well-known filmmaker, Brauer is co-founder of MHA as well as past president several times through the years. ”It was the fall of 1982, and Bob Core told me he was keeping it a secret, even to me,” he added.

Apparently only two people knew the name-to-be of the boat: Core and the sign painter. “My daughter, Grace Louise and I would bring cookies (from Tom’s Mom’s Cookies in Traverse City) down to Clinch Park to the men, where they were working on the boat,” Brauer continued. “She was always with me. I was quite shocked.” Braur explained that it took a few years for Grace to understand the significance of the boat’s name, and now Grace’s own four children think that “it is pretty great!”

This spring the Maritime Heritage Alliance—along with the community—will be celebrating the 30th birthday of their flagship boat, the tall ship Madeleine. “Over the pandemic, we redid her foremast, removed the old deck, milled all of our own wood for it, and replaced it,” explained Jankens. “We then caulked and pitched the seams. It was a huge project,” she stressed. “We are still not quite done, as we are waiting on warmer weather.” Then there is Witchcraft, built by Northport Shipwright Bill Livingston. “She has undergone extensive renovation over the years and has had several incarnations,” said Jankens.

Not to forget Sandpiper, a 16’ Marshall Catboat. “She makes sailing the big boys more approachable.  She sails a LOT,” Jankens stressed. “And in the summer and every year we varnish and repaint her.  By the end of the season, she is pretty beat up.” Last summer the Bateau (a light flat-bottomed boat used by early fur traders on rivers in Canada and the northern U.S.), was completed and christened the Robert C. (for Bob Core). “We have taken her out on Cedar Lake and are looking forward to having her out again next summer. She is primarily a rowing craft,” Jankens explained.

The many who volunteer do it gladly, out of their desire to do so. And not all are sailors. “This is what we like to do,” said MHA member Howard Bridges. “It is enjoyable and gets me out of the house.” Not only are these men and women freely giving of their time, the time is well spent as it benefits the entire community. Doing so is keeping Great Lakes maritime history alive, up close, personal, and, in action.

“We are working on a legacy,” said MHA member and volunteer Jim Adair of Traverse City.

Crew Training open

The Maritime Heritage Alliance (MHA) has scheduled its Basic Crew Training course for 2022. The class is open to both newcomers to sailing and those with experience. The successful completion of the course allows you to sail on the vessels in MHA’s fleet. The course includes two Zoom sessions on Sat., March 26 from 10am to Noon, and Sat., April 9 from 10am to Noon. Other spring sessions include on-site skills practice and participation in spring rigging and preparation. On-board training sessions will be scheduled for June. A training fee of $50 is required to cover cost of the operations manual and materials.

In 2022, MHA will resume full operations of its in-water fleet of traditional watercraft docked at Discovery Pier in Traverse City. This includes special activities related to the Schooner Madeline’s celebration of 30-plus years on the Great Lakes. The Sail Champion Program resumes in May. “We are completely built by, maintained by, and crewed by volunteers. The completion of the course allows our volunteers to sail our fleet in a variety of experiences on our boats,” said Heather Hankins.

The Maritime Heritage Alliance’s 36th Annual Boat Auction will be on Sat., June 4. Viewing begins at 9am and the auction starts at 11am. Watercraft donations are now being accepted. Boats are not auctioned off in numerical order, so plan accordingly. We have many new items and things coming in daily. Unfortunately, all items may not get posted to the website prior to the auction day.

The Maritime Heritage Alliance is located at 13268 S. West Bayshore Drive in Traverse City, Michigan. Visit the MHA website at maritimeheritagealliance.org. For information contact: Heather Jankens, MHA Executive Coordinator, at (231) 946-2647or email heather@maritimeheritagealliance.org.