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Work on the superstructure continued into the spring of 1969. The Lake George Steamboat Company runs three different ships from their dock adjacent to downtown Lake George and Fort William Henry. The boat you are put on varies by day and the tour that you take.
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Unlike predecessor vessels, the Minne-Ha-Ha offered hour-long cruises several times a day. Five years after the maiden voyage, a steam calliope was added to the top deck. Whatever her uses, the Minne’s ultimate value is her importance to the people who board her for a cruise, said Patricia Dow, steamboat company owner and manager. Three weeks later the Sagamore was refloated and towed to Baldwin for repair, but the old Drydock couldn’t handle the Sagamore’s size and weight. After spending 5 years tied up in Baldwin, she was finally dismantled and sold for scrap in 1937. We are very proud of our history as well as the ships that sail and have sailed under our company’s flags.
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The James Caldwell was built in 1817 at a cost of only $12,000. Approximately 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, she was constructed of wood and weighed 120 tons. Constructed in the same shape as the canal-boats of the time, she had two long boilers and a brick smokestack.
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Each subsequent summer, a small crew of men worked in framing and plating the hull. A bow-thruster tunnel and unit was installed in the bow section, as were propulsion shafting, rudders and propellers in the stern section. Her hull was launched in September of 1987 and towed by the Mohican to the Steel Pier in Lake George Village for installation of her engines, completion of her superstructure and general outfitting. The Great Depression of the 1930s drastically reduced the Lake George passenger business and the advent of World War II brought the boat business to its knees. The Delaware & Hudson scrapped the Sagamore in 1937, and then the Horicon. The Company’s remaining vessel, the Mohican, was sold to Captain George Stafford and ran a limited summer schedule during the war years.
Thus plans were set in motion to construct a sternwheel steamer in the mold of the Mississippi Riverboats. Due to the difficulty of bringing a ship overland into the lake, it was decided that the Company would undertake the construction using its own men and facilities. The 190 foot long Lac du Saint Sacrement is the largest cruise ship on the inland waters of New York State. She offers two-hour sightseeing, luncheon and dinner cruises. On Sundays, a Champagne Brunch cruise is also offered and is a real favorite! Entertainment and narration are both included aboard our Saint Sacrement meal cruises.
Mr. Robert Simons, a noted marine architect, was retained and he produced an extremely attractive design for the 189 foot 6 inch vessel (the largest to sail on the inland waters of New York State). The calliope works off the same steam that powers the boat. The boiler on the Minne-Ha-Ha is actually for a steam locomotive which Dow says complicates things when the water is rough because it's not designed to be knocked around from side-to-side. If the water shifts too drastically, the boiler shuts off and can take hours to restart.
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In the later 1990’s it was apparent that the Minne Ha Ha needed to be changed, her hour long trip was really gaining in popularity and the numbers riding her reflected that. Something would have to be done in order to accommodate the growing number of people wanting to ride her trip. In 1996 it was decided that the Minne would be lengthened by 34 feet as well as a couple other changes to her super structure. On September 10, 1997 the Minne Ha Ha was dry docked and then cut exactly in half and had her 2 halves separated by 34 feet. Then the crews started to add deck plates and other various parts in the center to connect the two halves. The crews also reshaped the bow of the Minne to make it more pointed and hydrodynamic.
The Captain (E.S. Harris) braved the flames to reach the emergency steering system in the stern of the ship. He was blinded by smoke and he steered the ship into a large exposed rock which sent the boat to careen out into the lake. As the fire spread the passengers jumped into the lake to escape the flames. The ship then sank into the depths of Lake George to the south of the Cook’s Island at Temple Knolls. The only deadly accident in the company’s long history had claimed the lives of 6 people. The John Jay’s remains, although badly decayed, can still be seen today.
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The decision came that there needed to be another ship in the fleet to accommodate all these people, and thus in 1869 the Ganouskie was completed.The Ganouskie was the smallest ship ever to sail in the Company’s 199 year history. She was only 72 feet long and weighed 67 tons (the Mohican weighs 200 tons). This propeller was initially fired by a wood burner boiler, but then in 1877 new grates were made so she could burn coal instead.The Ganouskie’s job was to carry up to 50 people southward while the Minne Ha Ha (I) carried them northward.
The engine room, with auxiliaries, is in a sunken area three feet below the main deck aft. The area is surrounded by glass through which passengers may watch the equipment operate and the engineer respond to bell signals from the pilot house. These bells were removed from an old Hudson River sidewheeler built about 1910.
On July 1, 1927, however, the captain got it wrong and collided head on with the rocky cliffs of Anthony’s Nose (a mountain at the northern end of the Lake). Her steel hull was split severely and immediately began to sink. This bought him enough time to make it into shallow water, where she sunk in only 18 feet of water. She was 145 feet long and 20 feet wide and she drafted 8 feet while weighing 250 tons. On Tuesday July 29th, 1856 a fire broke out on the ship and burnt through the steering cables.
The two forward stacks were removed and replaced a larger, single stack. A propeller and an auxiliary engine and an elevator for handicapped access were added in the process. It will fall near another anniversary – the day in June twenty years ago when the Minne hosted a party to celebrate her reconfiguration and extension by 34 feet.
Along the way, the captain offered a bit of narration about the history of the region, the geology of Lake George, and what we were seeing from the boat. Unfortunately on the day of my visit, the weather was quite poor. However, despite this, I still had a fantastic time touring the lake and enjoying its beauty.
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