New Foundation Seeks To Promote Mackinac Straits Maritime Tourism
Bart Huthwaite Leads Effort To Tap Economic Potential of History, Resources
By Ryan Schlehuber

Rob Fraser, owner of Maverick Construction in St. Ignace, stands before the Bernida, a 32-foot yacht that won the inaugural Bayview Yacht Club Mackinac Island yacht race in 1925.

Wouldn’t it be fun to learn how to sail, especially when you live next to such a large body of water? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see and learn about the restoration of a yacht that won the inaugural Bayview Yacht Club race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island in 1925?

It is ideas like these that may become reality in St. Ignace and Mackinac Island as soon as this summer, owing in part to a new foundation seeking to raise funds to use and promote the Straits of Mackinac’s maritime resources. Its efforts and mission is to help boost the area’s boating and tourism economy and teach locals and visitors about the area’s rich maritime history and culture.

The new Mackinac Straits Maritime Foundation, spearheaded by Mackinac Island Yacht Club Commodore Bart Huthwaite, wants to tap the economic potential of the area’s maritime resources, its history, and it culture.

The Mackinac Straits Maritime Foundation should not be confused with the Mackinac Maritime Foundation, which is a title owned by Bob Schafer of St. Ignace, who is focusing on bringing in and building tallships for the area.

Mr. Huthwaite’s foundation is raising funds to support two projects, including restoring the historic yacht Bernida (pronounced Ber-NEE-dah) and implementing a sailing training program at the St. Ignace Marina that would eventually include a fleet of nine small sailboats.

Other projects include creating a Web site for the foundation and putting together a colorful coffee table book about the maritime history of the Straits. The book would include the importance of canoes and other boats to Native American living, the French voyageurs and the importance of the Great Lakes waterways to the American fur trade industry, today’s modern waterways industry of shipping goods and materials by freighter, and the history of recreational boating, including the history of Mackinac Island’s two traditional yacht races from Port Huron and Chicago, held each summer.

The idea to find ways to promote the area’s rich maritime culture began three years ago on the porch of the Mackinac Island Yacht Club, said Mr. Huthwaite, when members believed the club should extend its support beyond the porch and into the wide region of the Straits of Mackinac. Mr. Huthwaite hopes to involve boating organizations and clubs throughout the Great Lakes to help support the foundation’s projects.

“The idea was to focus on the maritime community, on the Straits itself, its maritime history,” said Mr. Huthwaite. “There is a gigantic hole, a void in terms of having available sailing and the maritime history of the Straits on hand for visitors and surrounding communities.”

The foundation has begun the first phase of its projects, calculating the costs for each project, forming committees, and seeking out potential supporters and sponsors. Island resident Kim Kolatski has also been hired by the foundation to assist in organizing the foundation and its projects. Foundation member David Lesh will be creating the new Web site.

The foundation hopes to begin its sailing training program as early as Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, with the purchase of three 18.5-foot-long Precision 185 sailboats. Each one can hold up to four adults and costs about $10,000.

Mr. Huthwaite hopes the foundation can interest area schools in the training program for their students.

A deadline is set for summer 2006 for the completion of the Bernida restoration project, which will take an estimated $225,000 to complete. The foundation’s goal is to have the Bernida and a crew ready to run in the 2006 Port Huron-to-Mackinac yacht race, sponsored by the Bayview Yacht Club.

The 32-foot boat won the first Bayview race in 1925, beating 11 contenders during a blustery 261-mile contest from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, finishing in 49 hours and 50 minutes.

The Bernida may also be used as a promotional tool for preservation and education of Great Lakes maritime history, traveling by truck to schools and yacht clubs and other venues.

This ship-out-of-water “will be a museum on wheels, a museum that will come to the people,” Mr. Huthwaite said last fall.

Another idea is to offer sailing and maritime history programs to area students aboard the Bernida , which, in the summers, will be at home in the water.

Mr. Huthwaite purchased the prized boat in Frankfort last fall for $20,000. It was shipped to St. Ignace and had rested outdoors until Mr. Huthwaite received a call at the beginning of April from Rob Fraser, owner of Maverick Construction in St. Ignace, who was interested in being a part of the boat’s restoration project. Keeping the boat restoration at a local indoor facility and hiring a local company to do the work was something Mr. Huthwaite could not have planned better.

“It’s a good fit,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with Rob. This is what we are looking for, local support.”

Mr. Fraser, who built the new Mackinac Island Medical Center and has been the general contractor for Grand Hotel, said once funding is available, the restoration project could be completed in six months.

“This is going to be a fun and challenging project for us,” said Mr. Fraser. “We are always looking for a challenge like this. We have some talented people who excel at intricate woodwork.”

Mr. Fraser will have access to a copy of the boat’s original blueprints, provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Maritime Museum.

The Mackinac Straits Maritime Foundation is tentatively scheduling a regatta and other related fundraising events for the weekend of August 19 through August 21. The race course will be held in the Straits, but other details have yet to be determined.