A second effort to bring a tall ship to St. Ignace for daytime sail cruises is underway, and the St. Ignace Harbor Authority has given motel owner David Swope support for docking a vessel at the marina pier, St. Ignace Dock #2, if he can find a ship to bring here. Through a letter of intent signed at a special meeting Wednesday, February 16, the Harbor Authority has agreed to give Mr. Swope a five year moorage lease at $2,000 a year, free parking at the marina, and free use of a building for office and ticket sales.

Mr. Swope told the authority, “I’ve always looked for a niche that would spark this town.”

Several local businessmen, he said, have agreed to support the non-profit venture, and funding could be channeled through the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce, which may actually be the lessor in name. The Chamber, he added, already had written a letter of support for his project.

“It won’t cost them a penny,” he said of the Chamber of Commerce, “but they’ll be helping the community. They’ve done things like this before. The Visitors Bureau has also earmarked some advertising dollars to help us out.”

Mr. Swope, who owns the Budget Host Inn and chairs the Visitors Bureau, said that if the project is realized, he would like to hold a fundraising dinner this summer, either on the dock or at a nearby restaurant.

He said he is negotiating a lease for an 80-passenger schooner, but declined to name it.

If he is successful, the ship would be moored where the museum buoy tender, Maple , now lies, on the north side of the city marina. That ship is for sale.

The Maple’s owner, Chris Bloswick, “said he feels it will be sold by May,” said Mr. Elmer. “If not, we’ll work with him to put it somewhere temporarily. He fully supports the project.”

Mr. Swope said he hopes to offer sailing tours from mid-May to mid-October. A lease proposed in the letter of intent would be for five years, but renewed on an annual basis. The $2,000-a-year moorage fee is the same rate the Harbor Authority was planning to charge Mr. Bloswick this year. Mr. Swope would also need a $1 million liability policy, on which the City of St. Ignace would be named as co-insured, and any improvements made to the pier would be at his own expense.

Mackinac Tall Ship Company owner Bob Schafer was also at the meeting and expressed a variety of concerns with the new project, while touting his own, which includes building wooden boats and offering tall ship tours at the Railroad Dock.

He had told the Mackinac Economic Development Corporation Tuesday, January 11, that he had acquired a ship for day sails, but in a Monday, February 7, meeting with the same group, he said that ship was “unsafe” and that he is pursuing another vessel.

“The reason our project will be successful, I believe, is that we know the industry, we know boats, and we would not bring in anything that would be a liability for the city,” he said, a reference to the schooner he has rejected, the same one Mr. Swope is now negotiating for.

In response to Mr. Schafer’s concerns, Mr. Swope assured the authority that all inspections would be made and precautions taken, and noted that the scenario would be no different than if Mr. Schafer or anyone else brought in a tall ship. Also, Mr. Swope has no plans to construct anything and, by plugging into the Maple site, he said he has avoided a lot of the complications associated with mooring a ship at the Railroad Dock.

“The city has been looking for a tall ship to come here,” said Mr. Elmer. “The two projects could complement each other.”

Mr. Swope said in the 12 years he’s been back in St. Ignace, he and his father, Jack, has have been looking for a project that could help the tourist economy here. He said Mr. Schafer’s ideas have been an inspiration to him since early 2004, when Mr. Schafer was considering a Mackinaw City location. He said he has supported Mr. Schafer’s plan, and still does.

“When I first heard about it in Mackinaw City, I thought, what a great idea that would be in St. Ignace,” Mr. Swope told the Harbor Authority. “Then when he came here, I got involved in it with him. What has happened, though, is I just didn’t see things moving as fast as I thought they should to get a ship here this summer, not that something still couldn’t happen. But when I got a call from one of the owners of this ship, I said, ‘Why not look at this?’

“This won’t provide all of the answers, but it could help,” he added. “We have a uniqueness about this town, but we’re not bringing in as many people as we need to.”

Of his plans for a tall ship, he said, “It’s not a done deal yet. There are still some hurdles to overcome.”