Tall ship makes stop at local harbor

Rogers City marina staff rolled out the red carpet for the all volunteer crew aboard the tall ship Madeline. The ship docked overnight from Monday to Tuesday, before resuming her trip to participate in Bay City?s annual Tall Ship Festival.

?We came down from St. Ignace yesterday,? said captain Ken Stepnitz of Traverse City, who has been at the helm for eight years. ?We sailed to about Cheboygan, then the wind went really light. We ended up having to motor the rest of the way down.?

STEPNITZ KNOWS the Rogers City marina is a really nice place to stop, since he?s the cap

tain of the armed sloop Welcome as well. The Welcome was brought in for the 2009 Nautical Festival. ?It?s a good marina ? friendly people.? ?Tonight we are going to have an over night sail,? said Stepnitz, as his crew prepared to ship out Tuesday morning.

There was an original schooner Madeline which sailed the waters of the Great Lakes about 140 years ago. She was built in 1845 in Fairport, Ohio to carry freight. Volunteer members built the reconstructed version between 1985 and 1990 in Traverse City. Her mission is to serve as a floating center for the interpretation of Great Lakes maritime history.

UPON RETURNING to Traverse City, she?ll be pulled from the water for work on her hull. She will be laid up for about a week, before continuing her summer journeys. The present day Madeline is 55 feet in deck length with an overall length of 92 feet. Her beam is 16 feet with a draft of 8 feet. Her masts are 68 feet and 71 feet and are presently rigged with 1,539 sq. ft. of sail. Her gross tonnage is 50 tons. Stepnitz has a 50 ton masters license. He is also a certified American Sailing Association instructor.

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