Jun. 27—ELKHART — The third time's the charm for the Elkhart River Queen cruise ship that finally broke water Tuesday afternoon, over a week overdue.
It took the support of many volunteer groups to get the up and running again after numerous engine malfunctions last summer.
One of the many volunteers and companies River Queen Project Manager Tom Shoff was Elkhart Area Career Center Welding Teacher John Kraus, who he asked for help retrofitting the housing unit for new, smaller, and more powerful engines for the River Queen back in November.
"I've rode it twice in my life so I knew it was here and when the opportunity came around I was like 'Heck yeah, I'll do it' — I just had to convince some of my students," Kraus said.
Kraus worked alongside engine mechanics to develop a plan for a doghouse and stairs for the custom-built nearly 75-year-old boat and to get his students involved in an unparalleled learning opportunity.
"You don't have the time to do this in the classroom," Kraus said. "Our barbeque grills (a beginning of the year steel-based project) are probably the closest we come to something like this... They're doing it as a team and learning to work together and stuff like that, and they're learning to weld in different positions and it's a little bit harder but they learn to fabricate that from scratch."
Kraus explained that the welding program at EACC is compromised of a total of four different curriculum requirements educators must follow. The State of Indiana has its own curriculum requirements, as does the dual credit through Vincennes University, the American Welding for Society for student certifications, and Kraus' own unique curriculum from his background as a Navy jet engine welder where he teaches students to do the job right the first time even if it takes more time.
"The biggest problem we run into is (the students) always want to do internships and stuff like and the bigger problem with that is that employers won't let anybody come in and weld, because it's a hazardous area until they're 18," Kraus explained. "Most of my students are 16, 17 years old so they're waiting until they turn 18, and then by then they'll only have a month or two left of school, in which they're trying to finish up certifications, dual credit, stuff like that, so they're going to learn more from me in those two months than they would in that short internship."
Just under half a dozen students jumped at the opportunity to learn from the project, even though they weren't being paid for it. A mostly weekend and Spring Break project, Austin Smith, 19, Mishawaka, didn't have a car at the time but wanted to be involved. Another student would pick him up and they'd ride together to Elkhart to work on the job.
"I like watching work stuff, I like hands-on learning," Smith said. "I thought I would do welding as a hobby, but I really started liking it."
The winter weather drug on and so it took until Spring Break to get the majority of the work done.
"Everything is a custom fit in this boat," Kraus said. "We've had some pontoon boats brought to our shop and we've welded on them — quick fixes. This is actually fabricated. Most of our other stuff has just been repair work. The biggest thing about it is, normally in welding, if we're building something on our floor or in the shop, we use a square on it, and we put a level on it. Well, you can't put a level anywhere on this boat because it's on these stands and the boat isn't level."
With only four owners in its lifetime, the River Queen came up for sale eight years ago. A nonprofit was formed for the purchase and revitalization of the ship, and Shoff was asked to head it.
"I would follow the River Queen in my jon boat as a 6, 7-year-old, with my four-horse motor, I'd follow this thing alongside her, and I'd watched her go by my whole life, and the fact that I ended up run it is amazing to me," Shoff said. "She looked a lot different back then."
Built by Red Macumber in 1948, the River Queen has been a staple of the St. Joseph River for nearly 75 years. The engines were the original 1955 Hercules Chris Craft engines which Macumber salvaged off two vessels from the bottom of Lake Michigan. Macumber also found a pair of boilers sitting outside the hospital waiting to be hauled away in 1945 and asked to take them and made them into the pontoons that are the haul of the boat today.
Following the revitalization of the ship, Shoff said the new nonprofit continued to have nonstop mechanical issues with the original engines.
"We had four times last summer where we had the boat full, ready to go, and the engine konks out," he said.
They decided it was finally time to invest in new engines and other much-needed work. The new engines were purchased from Mercury Marine, custom order Chris Craft engines, a local Godfrey Marine mechanic volunteered to do the installation, and students from the Elkhart Area Career Center handled the welding of the engine housing and new custom stairs and railing.
The boat was initially scheduled to set sail last Monday, but problems with the engine caused leaking almost immediately when it hit the water and it had to be pulled back out for more repairs. Unfortunately, that also meant having to cancel a cruise for a bus tour from Canada coming to take a tour on the River Queen. It's a difficult situation for the nonprofit because the project cost $375,000 and the crane that can lift the boat into and out of the water is $25,000 to rent each time it's needed.
River Queen Project Manager Tom Shoff said the week out of the water wasn't a total waste though as it did give volunteers more time to get some other work on the boat done including some painting on the main level. On Monday, the crew planned for a second time, to put the boat into the water, but a malfunction with the crane left waiting one more day.
There are no intentions of bringing the River Queen back out of the St. Joseph River anytime soon. Traditionally, the boat also stays in the water throughout the winter.
"They put bubblers around it during winter so ice doesn't form, like what's in a fish tank," EACC student Smith explained.
Two private reservations are scheduled for this week, and several more throughout the summer. If all goes according to plan, the River Queen will leave at 11 a.m. for a community Independence Day Flotilla Saturday. Boarding will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the gangway will close at 10:45 a.m. The imminent weather day will be Sunday.
