You really know who your family and friends are when you get into deep water or need a little help. Time and again, when such situations arise for communities on Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula, two businesses rise to the occasions, sending aid and contributions … or perhaps we should say they “sail” to the occasions.
Madeline Island Ferry Line and Apostle Islands Cruises reflect all successful rural businesses along the Lake Superior shores in that they serve their clients well.
But these two operations also have grown to become integral parts of their communities through attention to local folk, donations to local causes and, when needed, willing aids during times of crisis.
The ferry line has been called into service 24/7 to transport ailing island residents to mainland medical facilities or even arrested individuals to mainland jails.
In the middle of a September night last year, the Superior Princess of Apostle Islands Cruises switched from tour boat to search boat when it joined the hunt for a missing family off Michigan Island.
Such above-the-call responses show a good-neighbor mentality of these business owners.
“The ferry line does lots of things that community never hears about,” Lisa Potswald, La Pointe town administrator, says of town’s lifeline to the mainland, the Madeline Island Ferry Line.
“Basically the ferry line ties together two communities – the island and the mainland,” agrees Robin Trinko Russell, who with her husband, Gary, owns the ferry service. “That’s the focus for the ferry lines and other businesses being part of the tourism community – we’re all in it together; we will live and die together.”
Robin and Gary know of what they speak; they live on the island. Robin gushes like a tourist – a very knowledgeable tourist – when talking about her home area. “We’re so lucky to have the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore here … to enjoy the outdoors and think about the history.”
Water transportation has always been part of this area, but ferries began between La Pointe, the only town on Madeline Island, and Bayfield on the mainland about 100 years ago. La Pointe actually was established before Bayfield and once served as the county seat of what was then LaPointe County. Residents frequently traveled to and from the island for county business until the counties shifted – Bayfield as the seat of Bayfield County and Madeline Island configured into Ashland County, where the county seat is farther down Chequamegon Bay.
Still, by the 1890s, Madeline Island had grown into a desired destination hosting celebrations that attracted 1,000 to 2,000 people at a time.
According to the Madeline Island Ferry Line website, Captain John Pasque of Bayfield at first did much of the ferrying on his 35-passenger steam yacht, Slyph, charging 25 cents a crossing and later investing in a 35-foot naptha launch to establish an actual ferry route in 1901. He was joined by several others in the early 1900s, and the first local ferry built to carry cars – one at a time – arrived in the early 1920s. Ferry services dwindled by the 1940s to just a couple, creating a ferry competition between the Seeberger and Russell families and, with the death of the Seeberger patriarch, between the Nelson and Russell families.
The two ferries became one in 1970 with the merger of Nichevo Ferry Line (the Nelsons) and the Apostle Island Ferry Service (the Russells) into what today has become the Madeline Island Ferry Line.
The merged line got its first new ferry in May 1984 with the christening of the 90-foot Madeline, the line’s largest ferry at the time and with more than 100 people contributing to its construction at Washburn Marine on Chequamegon Bay. In 1999, the line bought the MV Charlotte from Lake Champlain Transportation Company and did renovations to the vessel in the Toledo Shipyard before renaming it the Bayfield. This summer, the line added its newest boat, La Pointe, a former Texas ferry that’s 102-feet long. At the Fincantieri shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, it got a complete makeover, including new pilothouse, passenger accommodations, engines, generators, mechanical equipment, hydraulic ramps and state-of-the-art electronics. The double-ended ferry (with engine, propeller and rudder at both ends) does not need to turn around sailing between island and mainland. At 44 feet wide, it can carry up to 22 vehicles and 149 passengers. The ferry line also features the Island Queen and Nichevo.
Asked about things the ferry line does to help residents in need – such as free or reduced fares for islanders requiring frequent medical treatments, donations to fundraisers and promoting island activities, Robin modestly shrugs that off. “We don’t talk about that stuff because it’s just what good neighbors do. You see somebody needs help and you just help them.”
Lisa points out that Madeline Island Ferry Line has agreed to pay half the local match for a state Harbor Assistant Program Grant to build a new dock at La Pointe. The business also promotes the island’s Chefs Expo, she says, and offers numerous contributions of money and free fares and sponsor events like the Pointe to La Pointe swim, golf tournament, garden tours and Fourth of July fireworks.
“Obviously, they’re very important to the community,” she adds, “because we couldn’t get back and forth without them.”
Part of being a good neighbor, Robin believes, means being a good steward of the land and water. “We try to be as green of an operation as we can – we’re part of Travel Green Wisconsin.” When the ferry line recently reroofed its Bayfield passenger terminal, solar panels were attached extending almost the whole length of the building. The panels are practical, she says, and “can save money on utilities, reduce load on the grid – it’s a win-win situation.”
Robin says as a ferry company on Lake Superior, she and Gary are very aware of climate change and how it’s affecting their company and community.
“More weather and wind – that along with the high water – can wreak havoc with the shoreline and our docks,” she says, plus the downtime for the ferry during ice-over has been seriously reduced. That makes it harder to do repairs since the ferry is needed more months, sometimes taking off only two weeks in a year or not at all. Every year, the service coordinates with the island’s windsleds and around whether an ice road might be usable.
Being the island’s only ferry puts pressure on the company to be available, but they also have a free fare day for residents and visitors.
“We try to provide the best service we can,” Robin says, “not just for the visitors but for the people who live here all the time.”
Visitors and residents are also considered by Apostle Islands Cruises, even though its mainly a tour boat operation.
In 2010, Dan Boucher and John Madigan bought Apostle Islands Cruises, operated for years by local captain Dave Strozk as Apostle Islands Cruise Service.
Dan, a native of Munising, Michigan, already knew a lot about Lake Superior boat tours when he bought the Wisconsin company. Trained as an engineer, he had been working in Virigina and trying to find a way to return to the Upper Peninsula when the opportunity to partner with John on Pictured Rocks Cruises came up. He jumped at the chance to come home. After working with the Pictured Rocks Cruises for a number of years, Dan knew what to expect with the Wisconsin counterpart.
Both cruise services hold concessioner contracts, awarded through a competitive process with the National Park Service. Lynne Dominy, superintendent at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, says Apostle Islands Cruises serves an important role by giving visitors the chance to see what the park offers “even if they’re not able to go in a sail boat or kayak or happen to own their own boat.”
Dan loves taking out visitors and locals, who learn about the wonders of the Apostle Islands, just as he did when he first bought the cruise service.
“This park, unlike Pictured Rocks or some other places, this park is in the Lake,” Dan says. “A lot of people don’t know it’s out there, a lot of historic things that happened out there. It’s pretty exciting.”
In 2010, Apostle Islands Cruises had two boats, Island Princess and Ashland Bayfield Express. Dan and his partners added the Superior Princess, a glassbottom boat built in Alabama. When that Alabama shipyard went on the market, Dan (remember, an enginner) and his partners bought it, too. Last year, that shipyard custom- built a new catamaran, made to Dan’s specifications and Lake Superior’s needs. The Archipelago started cruises at the end of last season. It more than doubles the top-deck capacity from 37 passengers to 92 and its higher speeds reduced by 45 minutes the old three-hour, full Apostles tours, Dan says. “It’s been a big plus for us this year.”
While touring visitors is the primary function of the cruise service, the tour boats often end up being the rescue boats of first resort. “We know that they’ve provided some assistance with kayakers in trouble,” Lynne says. “Some of the time they are the first ones out there.”
Last September, the cruise service helped in a tragic situation that unfolded near Michigan Island, where a family of four capsized their kayak and with poor cellphone service and no emergency beacon, their plight was not noted until the mother’s text to her sister was received. That meant the parents and three children spent hours in the frigid water.
Sherman Edwards, one of the captains for Apostle Islands Cruises, also helps the volunteer fire department. He got the call late at night about the lost family. He headed to the docks while contacting Dan for permission to fire up the glass-bottomed Superior Princess to join the search. Dan gave the go-ahead, but since the boat was not scheduled to refuel until morning, an out-of-town worker from Superior Petrol had to bring in fuel.
By that time Bryce Albrecht and Kevin Dietel, also with the cruise service, came on board along with EMTs and firefighters. They joined the U.S. Coast Guard, the research vessel Kiyi and many others in the search, heading into 2- to 3-foot seas. They found a swamped kayak, but not the family, who were found after midnight by others. The mother was rescued but the father and children died from drowning or hypothermia, though all were wearing lifejackets.
Despite the sad outcome, it still felt good to see the full community response, Sherman notes, and he felt proud to work for a company willing to go out in the middle of the night for others.
Most opportunities for community service are not so dramatic or life threatening. Still, Apostle Islands Cruise, like the Madeline Island Ferry Line, is known for generosity with sponsorships and donations.
“They sponsor a lot of local events, like the Point to La Pointe Swim and Lake Superior Tall Ships, Big Top Chautauqua, Music in the Park, Book Across the Bay and golf tournaments,” Lynne notes.
The cruise service has also given free tickets and tours for Make a Wish, the Ashland Police K-9 unit, the local maritime museum … and the list goes on.
Like Madeline Island Ferry Line, Dan offers a locals-ride-free day on Apostle Islands Cruises. That’s a win-win in Dan’s mind, giving residents the chance to enjoy the beauty of their island park, while also planting the seed of what they can do with visitors to their home. “Spreading the word is kind of the philosophy,” Dan says.
Spreading the word about how these two local businesses have created success and community is why we’ve chosen them both for our 2019 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award.