  Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 71 Registered: 11-2005 |
I had forgotten about this thing until it was brought up in a post a few days ago. (story that was linked to is: http://continuouswave.com/boat s/aquarama) For those of you interested in the Aquarama, she is still in Buffalo, N.Y., rusting exactly where they left her 11 years ago when they towed her from the Detroit River. Photos: http://www.pbase.com/kjosker/a quarama http://www.celebratethewaterfr ont.com/aquarama.html They want to turn her into a floating missionary ship or something. No word if they're looking for conquistadors: http://www.marinestar.org/ | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3026 Registered: 10-2003 |
Amazing story. I kinda sorta think I remember her sitting on the Windsor side. That high out of the water look is really distinct. Great find Rhymeswithrawk. One sentence struck me as it sounded so much like a paraphrase of those who despised Detroit's great ruins, "Former Windsor harbor master Rod Beaton was delighted to hear the Aquarama will no longer grace Windsor's riverfront. "It looked like hell, and right now it's the ugliest pile of junk," Beaton said." | ||
Walkerpub Member Username: Walkerpub Post Number: 99 Registered: 12-2003 |
Here she is in all her glory.  | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 314 Registered: 12-2005 |
I remember getting to see the Aquarama up close as it steamed past Bob-Lo Island. This would have been in the early 1960's and it was quite a sight! The turquiose color scheme and it's high profile gave it a unique appearance and I asked my dad about it. That is how I learned its name and that it traveled back and forth between Detroit and Cleveland. My brother and I would play near the water's edge on the upstream side of the dock on the island while we waited for our return boat to arrive (under our parent's watchful eyes). It was great fun to watch the water rush away from shore as a vessel approached - only to return with a vengeance as the ship glided past. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 79 Registered: 11-2005 |
Its story, with all of its failed rehab plans and being left to rot, sounds like it should have been stored in Detroit, not Windsor. I'm amazed Buffalo, N.Y., has let it sit there for 10 years. I've never been there, though, so maybe there's a lot of aqua blight in Buffalo. This story is similar to the plight of a ship in the news when I lived in Seattle: the Kalakala. It was similar to the Boblo boats but not nearly as old or historic: http://www.kalakala.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K alakala http://www.speakeasy.org/~duch ess/kalakala.html (Message edited by rhymeswithrawk on September 26, 2006) | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 2854 Registered: 08-2004 |
As a child I remember in the 1960's waiting at Riverside Park near the Ambassador Bridge with my family. A huge boat pulled up from Cleveland, and my mother's cousin and family got off the boat for about 2 hours. Then they returned to the boat, and took off for Cleveland again. I do believe this was that boat! I always thought that it reminded me of an ocean liner, and this certainly does resemble one. Thanks for digging up the memories! | ||
Wilderness Member Username: Wilderness Post Number: 22 Registered: 09-2006 |
Here's another link: http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/moncbr.htm I've also uploaded a photo (which was the cause of recollection of the ship some 18 months ago) from the July 20th, 1949 Harness Horse magazine. And Maumee's one-time Fort Miami racetrack. Text read: A bevy of Aquarama queens present the trophy to driver Mural Trout following the victory of Peter Chief in the special event honoring the Aquarama, Toledo's ten day civic and sports festival.  | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 680 Registered: 10-2003 |
The Lansdowne, Aquarama, both Bob-Lo boats. There's a trainwreck quality about rotting boats that seems to be morbidly attractive. BTW, Rhymeswithrawk the Silver Slug (Kalakala) is still rotting. Pops up on the news every so often..... | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1390 Registered: 11-2003 |
Good point, Douglasm. Interesting observation, too. But it's still sad to see them just sit and deteriorate. Those pictures I have of the SOUTH AMERICAN rotting in Philadelphis with decks falling in on each other are enough to make a grown man cry, especially as we remember how she looked during her running career. Same for the grief the COLUMBIA went through, and the passenger liner UNITED STATES is experiencing ( also in Philadelphia, I believe). Next to go is the ferry TRILLIUM out of Toronto harbor and now sitting in Ramey's Bend in the Welland Canal. She will probably sit a few years, look like hell, and then be cut up right there for scrap. At least that's the word I get. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1311 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have good friends in buffalo that I visit often, I have seen the ship with my own two eyes moored next to the grain silos in some of those pictures, however, sometimes the ship isn't there, dunno if its towed somewhere else or moves under its own power, but it has not been sitting idle for the entirety of the last 11 years | ||
Sailor_rick Member Username: Sailor_rick Post Number: 140 Registered: 02-2004 |
Say Rock, Will you be at the GLHS banquet Sunday? You can't miss me, (if you do, back up and try again) I really am 6'6". I'm of no burly sailor mold though, more of the schlepping bespectacled Howard Stern-Joey Ramone type. I'm looking forward to some rousing sea-chanteys and grog. | ||
Ptero Member Username: Ptero Post Number: 42 Registered: 12-2005 |
Fond memories here of the Aquarama. We took it to and from Cleveland a few times. Dad used to have to go to Cleveland for a weeks' worth of work a few times a year. He would drive and we (Mom, Bro and I) would float down and meet him there when he was done. Then we'd all come home in the car. It was a fun summer outing that didn't cost him vacation time. One thing I remember is the pinball machines in the arcade. Hey, I was 10 or so. Good times... | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1391 Registered: 11-2003 |
sailor-rick--- Yes, we will be there, but I think you mean the GLMI banquet at Blossom Heath in SCS rather than the GLHS meeting? I no longer belong to GLHS but I am a Life Member of GLMI. Pat Labadie, former ass't curator of the Dossin back in the early 60's is the guest speaker. I have not seen Pat in several years, not since he went to Duluth. It should be a great program. I will look for you if we are talking about the same dinner this Sunday. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 681 Registered: 10-2003 |
Rock.... ....one has to admire those people that try to hold on to these things hoping something big will happen. In some cases it has. I understand The Milwaukee Clipper in Muskegon offers tours, as does The City Of Milwaukee in Manistee, not to mention all the lakers stuffed and mounted in places like The Soo and Duluth. Who knows, something may actually happen to the Aquarama besides scrapping. One can only hope. In the meantime, book your passage between Ludington and Manitowoc on the S. S. Badger now..... | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1394 Registered: 11-2003 |
We had a very enjoyable passage on the S.S. Badger a couple of summers ago. And when I was a kid, we were aboard her when she carried freight cars first and passenger cars second! My son was aboard the City of Milwaukee just last weekend, and as a kid we took a couple of trips on the Milwaukee Clipper out of Muskegon to Milwaukee. I have not been aboard the Valley Camp in the Soo in several years, but I understand it is still doing pretty well as is the Snyder in Cleveland in her new berth. Know your Ships (2006 edition) lists a fair number of "museum ships" still active in and around the Great Lakes. Hate to admit it, but I remember when the old J. T. Wing was open to the public on Belle Isle! Who knows, maybe there is still life in store for the Aquarama. But the proposed maintenance costs/refurbishing costs must be astronomical by now. We will see ( and hope.) | ||
Sailor_rick Member Username: Sailor_rick Post Number: 141 Registered: 02-2004 |
Rock, Yes, I meant the GLMI banquet this Sunday. A couple of workmates and I took the Badger on a motorcycle trip this summer. That's the closest I've been on a "real" ship in five years. Her gentle rocking and wheeze of an air compressor had me napping soundly in the "Quiet Room." | ||
River_rat Member Username: River_rat Post Number: 239 Registered: 02-2006 |
Museum ships...don't forget the S. S. Keewatin in Sagatuk, MI. It is open for tours all summer and is the last of the lake passenger / packet ships. For 100 years old the ship is looking fairly good. Don't miss it. | ||
Bob_cosgrove Member Username: Bob_cosgrove Post Number: 370 Registered: 03-2005 |
One of the great trips aboard the Aquarama was weekly during the day when they went to Sarnia to refuel in the 1960's. With the almost complete absence of passenger boats across Lake St. Claire and up the St. Clair Rive, it was thrilling to have the opportunity to see the shorelines on both side of the border. The Aquarama, a converted ocean ship, was famous for its wake. I recall going across the St. Clair Flats and the wake removing all the water along the shoreline so you could see the bottoms of the reeds there. Bob Cosgrove |
