Welcome Can Be Seen at Traverse City

Armed Sloop Welcome, an 85- foot replica of a 1775 merchant vessel, has been refitted and can be seen in Grand Traverse Bay or berthed at the Energy Dock on M- 22, reported David North of Traverse City, formerly of St. Ignace.

The original ship plied the Straits of Mackinac with a cargo of furs for the wealthy Frenchman John Askin.

The replica was built by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and launched in 1982.

In 1992, she was placed in the stewardship of the Maritime Heritage Alliance in Traverse City.