Schooner MADELINE
Gracie L ~ MADELINE ~ WELCOME ~ Herreshoff 28 ~ WITCHCRAFT
Richardson ~ WEE MAC ~ WEE SCOT ~ CHAMPION
BUILDING OF THE MADELINE
Between 1985 and 1990, 165 volunteers gave 40,000 hours to create the Schooner MADELINE, a 92-ft twin-masted replica of an 1840's commercial vessel. She served as the first schoolhouse in the region during the winter of 1850-51, and later carried settlers to Beaver Island. When not on tour at Great Lakes ports, The MADELINE is berthed at Elmwood Township 'Coal Dock' (Heritage Harbor)- West Bayshore, just south of the Elmwood Township Marina. Map of Heritage Harbor, Traverse City, The Madeline is open to all visitors.
HISTORY OF THE MADELINE
The Schooner MADELINE a reconstruction of a mid-19th century Great Lakes schooner and one of the State of Michigan's official tall ships. She was built between 1985 and 1990 in Traverse City, Michigan by volunteer members of the non-profit group the Maritime Heritage Alliance. Her mission is to serve as a floating center for the interpretation of Great Lakes maritime history. She is open to visitors in her home port of Traverse City and travels to other Great Lakes ports under local sponsorship. MADELINE's financial support comes entirely from people who are interested in preserving Great Lakes history. This includes MHA members and others around the Great Lakes who believe in what we are doing. We do not receive any governmental funds.
There was an original schooner MADELINE that sailed the waters of the Great Lakes about 140 years ago. She was built in 1845 in Fairport, Ohio to carry freight. The story of the original MADELINE is special for the residents of the Grand Traverse area because for one winter, that of 1851-52, MADELINE served as the first non-Indian school in the region. Five young men, the captain and his crew, realized they need some book learning to become successful so they decided to devote the winter months, when the lakes were frozen, to their education. Their plan was to take MADELINE to a secluded harbor so they would not be distracted from their studies. So MADELINE was sailed into Bowers Harbor, north of Traverse City, on the Old Mission Peninsula. Stephen Wait, a 17 year old, was hired as a teacher and the five spent the winter learning reading, writing and arithmetic in the mornings and cutting firewood doing other chores and having snowball fights in the afternoons. The school must have been a success for all the young men went on to successful careers on the Great Lakes. The Captain and his brothers, were named Fitzgerald. One of their grandchildren headed an insurance company which named and owned another famous boat: the Str. EDMUND FITZGERALD.
Schooners were the most popular type of sailing boat on the Great Lakes. It is estimated that 120 years ago, there were more than 2,000 on the Great Lakes although few were built after 1870. Great Lakes schooners were different from schooners that sailed the oceans. Their rigs were adapted to sail closer to the wind and were more easily maneuvered. The shape of the hull was boxy to accommodate the maximum amount of cargo and to travel in the canals (the Welland and the Soo). The original MADELINE was very small schooner at about 52' on deck. The largest Great Lakes schooners were several hundred feet long and had 3-5 masts. The present day MADELINE is 55' in deck length with an overall length 92'. Her beam is 16' with a draft of 7'. Her masts are 68' and 71' and is presently rigged with 1,539 sq. ft. of sail. Her gross tonnage is 50 tons.
MADELINE is made of the same kinds of wood that were used in the original Great Lakes schooners. Rot-resistant White oak, common to the forests of the Great Lakes was used for the keel and frames, and planking. The masts and other spars (bowsprit, booms) are made of White pine which were especially harvested for MADELINE. Red pine was used as planking on MADELINE however it was pressure-treated with preservatives. (like the Wohmanizing(r) process). This would not have been a wood used a century ago.
MADELINE was built using both new and old technology. The square nails that hold her planks to the frames are the same type that have been used for centuries (show sample), the builders caulked the hull with cotton using traditional irons and mallets, we make our baggywrinkle out of rope made from natural fibers. The builders also used modern paints, electric tools and bedding compounds.
We do not know very much about the original MADELINE except where she was built and her original dimensions. There are no photographs or drawings of her. The design used to build this boat was based on other schooners of the same size and period. At that time MADELINE was built (184 5) there were many schooners were being built all over the Great Lakes, some in commercial shipyards and some right on the beaches. Many schooners were virtually undocumented (few records were made or survived).