SS Badger kicks off 70th year of sailing Thursday
A sense of pride and excitement filled the air Thursday morning at the Lake Michigan Carferry dock as the 410-foot SS Badger set sail for Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Crew and staff were on hand early to welcome the nearly 200 riders with smiles and friendly banter as the carferry embarked on its 70th year of crossing Lake Michigan.
The Badger, captained by Bernard Robertson aka “Bunny,” made her maiden voyage from Manitowoc to Ludington on March 21, 1953. On board the ship Thursday was Robertson’s daughter, Audrey Boals.
Boals had a hard time expressing her feelings Thursday at the carferry dock.
“I just can not explain how good my heart feels,” she said.
Boals first rode the Badger when she was 7-years old. Now 77, she said it feels so good to be back.
“I can still picture how the Badger used to be, because I spent a lot of time traveling with my dad,” she said. “To see the transformation to the ship being more about fun and relaxation (is good). It was not a whole lot of fun for people in those days, it had a real business feel in those days, shipping products like the train cars.”
Boals said today the ship is surrounded by a fun atmosphere.
“So much more fun than it was back in 1953.”
Boals said once she is on board her memories of the ship will probably transport her back to her childhood and the many memories of her father and the crew members.
Boals said one of the best memories for her is hearing the ship’s whistle and looked forward to hearing it again Thursday.
She also remembers her father calling out on the ship’s phone when the ship was about 20 minutes fromport.
“WE78, 78, carferry Badger is bound for Ludington in 20 minutes,” she said. “I do not think they even have the phone up in the wheelhouse anymore.”
Ken Ottmann from Milwaukee, was another rider on Thursday.
Ottmann and his family drove around the lake on Wednesday and stayed with former Badger Captain Greg Anderson in order to take the Badger across the lake on Thursday.
“Anyday I get to ride the Badger is a good day,” he said.
Ottmann has ridden the Badger more than 100 times throughout his life starting when he was four or five years old.
“I rode her in 1953 when I was young,” he said. “I have memories of that first trip. I just don’t remember what day.”
Ottmann said his mother did not drive and his father was too busy with work to travel much so he would drive he and his mom to the docks and put them on the Badger.
“She would visit relatives in Manistee and Free Soil and travel back and forth on the Badger.”
His experience on the Badger at a young age has led to a lifelong passion for carferries.
“I got hooked,” he said, wearing his SS Badger hat and carferry shirt. “It is a chronic disease that has no cure. It can be managed, but there is no cure.”
Throughout the years Ottmann, and his passion for carferries, has made many friends in the industry, both on the Badger and other carferries.
“Many of the crew members has become more like family members to me over the years,” he said.
Ottmann said he enjoys riding the ship and tries to any chance he can.
“It is history, it is tradition,” he said. “Every trip across the lake, no matter how similar it might seem, it has unique characteristics to it. I just love to ride the carferries.”
Nick Veine, a local musician, played on the ship for the first time on Thursday.
“It is an honor to be asked to play,” he said. “It seems to be almost a tradition or right of passage for local musicians.”
Thursday’s kick-off to the 70th sailing season included every type of rider from the more experienced to first-time riders.
In a release from Lake Michigan Carferry, the Badger will be bringing back the night crossing in June, according to Sara Spore, general manager.
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