Queen Done For the Season

[hooky]

The Queen canceled for the second day in a row this morning and called it season for trips to the island. In an emotional speech this morning, Ben and John let us all know that due to some needed repairs, the Queen can't sail in small craft advisory. The decision was made after conferring with the park and coast guard that they couldn't take anyone else to the island this year and their focus was going to be on getting the 100+ folks still there off the island.

My heart goes put to everyone involved in their family business. Ben was choked up at times as he spoke. You could tell they were genuinely upset about the decision. Only one group was unreasonable about things and that happened in the parking lot. I kind of migrated that way as they were cursing John after he told them of the situation. He handled it well, despite being accused of being everything under the sun. Glad it diffused and he didn't need any help getting out of a jam. Class group of people.

Currently in Houghton eating breakfast before making a run to pictured rocks to get the last 4 days of vacation in.

[Ingo]

Sounds like they'll make a few more trips to bring folks home, as weather permits? Imagine there would be a serious risk of stranding folks if they continued to bring folks out--a small craft advisory is extremely limiting, esp this time of year.

[treeplanter]

Their post from the Isle Royale Facebook page:

"It is with the heaviest of hearts that we must announce the cancellation of the rest of our 2022 season. There is a minor hull repair that needs to be done on the Isle Royale Queen IV. Under United States Coast Guard restrictions, we are unable to sail until this repair is completed.
If you have a reservation with us, you have received an email about how refunds will be issued.
If you have a loved one on Isle Royale, rest assured that we are working closely with the National Park Service to get those folks back to the mainland. They should be able to get off the island fairly quickly.
It is beyond difficult to have to cancel our season early, but we must put the safety of our crew and passengers above all else. We thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you all in 2023."

Isle Royale Line, Inc.

[Redbad]

I had heard that the Queen lost an engine and hit the RH dock hard last Friday. This was all second hand information from passengers on the Ranger who were dropped off at Mott because the RH dock was occupied by the Queen.

There is not a lot of excess capacity to transport passengers at this time of year. The last scheduled Ranger passenger crossing from ISRO to Houghton is the 14th, and I imagine that the Ranger will be full with previously ticketed passengers Saturday and Wednesday...

The Greenstone Grill was also running out of beer this past Tuesday...

[hooky]

https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/09/isle ... -hull.html

Not much additional info.

[omarkoup]

After having to cancel an 11 night trip in August with my wife because of some family health issues taking the Queen, I was super excited to book a solo trip from 9/16 until 9/23 on the Queen. While I am disappointed I will not make the Island this year things happen. Cursing someone out over something that they can not control is not acceptable!

[Ingo]

They put some Queen IV passengers on the Ranger II (from RH to mainland) this morning and have chartered a bus to take them from Houghton to Copper Harbor when they get in. The Queen IV went out early this morning and just arrived at RH (9 am) to bring a load back, and plans to make a second run this afternoon, weather permitting. You can track the location of the boats at marinetraffic.com.

I'm speculating that the crack in the hull (apparently minor) is well above the waterline, and thus the determination that it's safe for her to go in calm weather, but not allowed in any kind of seas.

[hooky]

They put some Queen IV passengers on the Ranger II (from RH to mainland) this morning and have chartered a bus to take them from Houghton to Copper Harbor when they get in. The Queen IV went out early this morning and just arrived at RH (9 am) to bring a load back, and plans to make a second run this afternoon, weather permitting. You can track the location of the boats at marinetraffic.com.

I'm speculating that the crack in the hull (apparently minor) is well above the waterline, and thus the determination that it's safe for her to go in calm weather, but not allowed in any kind of seas.

Not sure where the crack was, but John did say that they were granted permission to sail unless it was SCA or above.

He said he stood by the repair and it's safety, but the USCG required it to be made by a certified marine welder. They were going to have it done in dry dock in Wisconsin at season's end.

So does anyone know if everyone got off the island Saturday?