Volunteers Add A New Chapter to Steamboat Minnehaha Story

On Saturday, May 7th, I drove out to Excelsior, Minnesota, to photograph the launching of the steamboat Minnehaha. It was a perfect Minnesota spring day: sunny skies, cool morning air and the trees beginning to bud.

A crew of 25 volunteers gathered at 8:15 a.m. and, after coffee and donuts, started the process of moving the Minnehaha from her barn to a slip in a marina a quarter of a mile away. There, the crew carefully slid the old girl into the chilly waters of Lake Minnetonka. By 11:30 the Minnehaha was moored to the dock and the process of wetting the hull timbers begun.

All winter, while the Minnehaha sat in the barn, her hull planks had slowly dried out and hairline gaps formed. When she slipped into the lake her hull immediately began to leak. This was expected and extra bilge pumps sat on the dock, ready to assist the Minnehaha's own pumps with the job of keeping the her afloat. Over the next 24 hours, the oak timbers absorbed water, swelled, and formed water tight seams. An overnight vigil monitored the bilge pumps and followed the progress of the swelling timbers. In time, the Minnehaha was floating high and dry.

While the Minnehaha was being eased in to the water, other volunteers fired up a grill and laid out food. The annual spring launch wouldn't have been complete without the smell of grilling brats and burgers.

The air was alive with bird songs, the rumble of the truck that had pulled the boat to the water, and history as the volunteers told each other about their experiences working on or riding in the Minnehaha.

The Minnehaha had begun her 16th season on Lake Minnetonka: a fresh chapter in her 105 year story.

The Minnehaha begins her regular trips from Excelsior and Wyazata May 28th. For more information http://www.steamboatminnehaha.org