Noon August 14
2 pm August 14
Noon August 28
2 pm August 28
Noon September 1
And since I missed her departure that day, here’s a few seconds later than the previous photo.
All photos by Will Van dorp, who has a sense sense that SS Badger is a dinosaur in a number of ways as a car and people ferry.
tugster: a waterblog 
3 comments
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September 9, 2018 at 11:31 am
George Schneider
Coal definitely has its problems as a fuel, but there’s one thing I really like about it. If you’ve been around when a ship takes bunkers, it’s an odyssey.
You need certified tankermen on both sides, who are willing to go to prison if something goes wrong. Both must inspect the hoses, valves, and a myriad of precautions that must be in place, and sign a “Declaration of Inspection” that specifies each of these precautions, and all the contingencies during transfer. The process takes hours, and is painfully regulated, all for good reason.
I witnessed the refueling of the BADGER. The vehicles were unloaded, then a coal truck backed in to the vehicle deck and over a hatch they opened. When it was lined up, it “took a dump” and left. They were taking on the next trip’s vehicles with less than 15 minutes lost to refueling.
September 9, 2018 at 3:27 pm
Lee Rust
The Badger was almost forced out of operation around 2013 because their long-standing habit of discharging boiler ashes into the water mid-lake was challenged both by environmentalists and by their diesel-powered catamaran competitor, Lake Express. This resulted in a lot of public pushback and quite a bit of penalty paying, foot dragging and political maneuvering on the part of Lake Michigan Carferry.
The problem was eventually resolved in early 2015 by the installation of expensive systems that retained the ash onboard until the end of each day. This required the sacrifice of some cargo space and the nightly services of a bobcat loader so that the ash could be carried ashore for disposal.
We stayed onboard the Badger overnight after a crossing in late 2015 and can attest that the loader was busy for several hours.
Details:
http://archive.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/ssbadger16-b99500581z1-303891681.html
September 10, 2018 at 7:58 am
George Schneider
There’s a happy ending. That ash, so I’m told, is of a quality that it brings payment from a steel factory. The payment has made it a win-win, but I hadn’t heard the part about the space and manpower it took to facilitate that change.