Maritime Boathouse

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The USLSS built the boat house in 1901. A wooden ramp with metal rails leads from the front of the boathouse down to a slip at the water's edge. Surfmen pushed the surfboat on its metal carriage down the ramp and into the harbor. From there, they could row or sail to ships in distress.

The boathouse contains two of the open surf rowing boats used for open water rescues. It also holds the carriage and the small cannon-Lyle Gun-used to launch a projectile with attached line to a ship within 400 yards for a breeches buoy rescue. In addition, it holds many of the accessories (breeches buoys, megaphones, rope gathering and coiling equipment, etc.) used by the lifesaving team for their practices and work.

The main qualification for a surfman was the ability to row an open boat in a storm. The surfmen were ranked by skill, the best man being #1, while the least experienced would be #6, #7 or #8, depending on the size of the crew.

A wayside entitled, Equipped for Rescue ," features three black-and-white photos of uniformed surfmen performing ship rescues.

Life-saving equipment

Surfmen had a variety of life-saving equipment at their disposal. According to regulation, if one method of rescue failed surfmen were required to attempt all other available forms of rescue. Weekly drills ensured that all surfmen became proficient at using life-saving equipment. Their hard work paid off-the USLSS had an overall 99% success rate.

Boats
Generally, the USLSS used two types of rescue boats-the lifeboat and the surfboat. The lifeboat was an English invention adopted by the USLSS. Lifeboats were self-bailing and self-righting. They could be sailed or rowed. Lifeboats were long and heavy; some measured as long as 40 feet and weighed up to 4,000 pounds! Other advantages of this boat included its stability, sturdiness, and ability to handle heavy seas. However, the weight also made the boat almost impossible to haul down the beach; instead, it had to be launched from the boathouse directly into a sheltered harbor. Later models of lifeboats were lighter and even motorized. With the addition of a motor, surfmen could travel to wrecks farther away and get there faster and with much less energy than rowing required.

Surfmen also used surfboats, an American invention. Surfboats were smaller, lighter, and faster than their English counterparts. These boats sat on a carriage that surfman could haul down beaches and over dunes in order to get as close to a wreck as possible before launching directly into rough surf. The Keeper steered and the surfmen rowed. Surfboats could also carry more shipwreck victims than lifeboats, anywhere from 10-15 victims. One disadvantage was that the first surfboats were not self-righting, only self-bailing. Like the lifeboat, later models were also motorized.

Eventually, most USLSS stations had both a lifeboat and a surfboat. Surprisingly, in many instances boats were not the surfmen's preferred method of rescue. Instead, surfmen and station Keepers often preferred to use breeches buoys and lifecars to rescue shipwreck victims. These methods of rescue both relied on one of the only guns designed to save lives-the Lyle gun.

Lyle Gun
The USLSS recruited Lt. David Lyle, an Army Ordnance officer, to design a gun that would aid in shipwreck rescues. Lyle invented small, bronze cannon that sat on a wooden carriage. Depending on size, the cannon and carriage together weighed about 160 pounds. The Lyle gun and other rescue equipment were stored on a cart that the surfmen could pull down the beach, close to the wreck. Surfmen tied a line to an eye bolt screwed onto the end of a cast iron projectile and then loaded it into the cannon. A charge of black powder, up to 8 ounces, shot the projectile and line 250 to almost 700 yards. The goal was to shoot the line over a wreck so that it could be used to haul a series of other lines from the beach. Shipwreck victims attached the heaviest of these lines, the hawser, to the mast (or the sturdiest part of the wreck) while surfmen back on the beach propped up the line with a crotch. Next, surfmen could attach a breeches buoy or a lifecar to the line and haul it out to the wreck.

Breeches Buoy
Once the surfmen set up the hawser line, they could attach a breeches buoy and send it out to the wreck. This was also referred to as the beach apparatus. The breeches buoy itself was a life preserver with a pair of canvas breeches, or shorts, sewn onto the bottom. One by one, shipwreck victims would climb into the breeches buoy and the surfmen on the shore would haul on the line, pulling them over the waves and back to shore. This was the preferred method of rescue because the surfmen stayed on the beach and because the breeches buoy was lighter and easier to haul over the beach than the heavier lifecar.

Life car
Several designs of lifecars existed as early as the 1840s. The United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) commonly used Joseph Francis' 1847 lifecar. This iron-covered lifeboat included a deck hatch in the top used by shipwreck victims to climb inside to safety. There was room for four passengers inside this iron life-saving device. Early models were so small that passengers had to lie on top of each other in order to fit; later models were taller so that passengers could sit upright. Once the hatch was closed, the lifecar was water-tight. Two rings on top of the car allowed the heavy hawser line to pass through and surfmen could haul the lifecar to and from the shore. Small holes at the top of the lifecar let air inside. However, it would have been a dark, bumpy, uncomfortable ride.

Like the breeches buoy, the lifecar had some advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage was that instead of only being able to save one victim at a time, the lifecar had room for 4 or 5 passengers. Passengers were also protected from weather, debris, and waves. However, the weight of the lifecar was a major issue. This 550 pound vessel had to be loaded into the already heavy beach cart and hauled through the sand. Surfmen were totally exhausted by the time they reached the site of the wreck, and they still had to fire the Lyle gun, ready the lifecar, and then haul on the line that pulled it out to the wreck and back.

Shipwreck!

During the heyday of shipping on the Great Lakes, the Manitou Passage served as a busy highway. Faster and safer than sailing around North and South Manitou Islands, this passage acted as a shortcut and also provided access to the deep harbor at South Manitou. Thick fog and bad storms led many ships to seek refuge in South Manitou's harbor. Lighthouses on South Manitou, North Manitou, fog signals, a lightship, and a shoal light helped guide mariners through the passage. However, the passage was also dangerous because of shallow shoals where ships could run aground. The surfmen of the United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) and later the United States Coast Guard (USCG) responded to hundreds of ships in distress. Read more about some of these incidents below.

Walter L. Frost
On November 4, 1903 a night thick with fog, the steamer Walter L. Frost sounded distress signals when it ran aground on the southwest end of South Manitou Island. The island's USLSS crew launched their surfboat and made their way to the wreck where they attempted to free the boat by removing some of her cargo. When that failed, two tug boats attempted to tow her out, which also failed. Finally, worsening weather made freeing the steamer too dangerous and the 21 member crew abandoned her and took refuge at the Life-Saving station. The steamer and most of her cargo of corn and general merchandise were a total loss.

Congress
On October 4, 1907, the surfmen at the USLSS station on South Manitou Island received a telephone call from the island post office stating that a steamer loaded with lumber was on fire. The Keeper and his crew launched a surfboat and rowed out to the Congress. They were able to tow the steamer away from the dock and save some of the cargo, but were not able to put out the fire. The steamer continued to burn and sank later that night.

Three Brothers
The steamer Three Brothers was bound from Boyne City, MI to Chicago, IL with a load of lumber when it began taking on water during a storm. On the night of September 27, 1911 the captain ran her aground off of South Manitou Island. All thirteen aboard were saved and spent thirteen days at the South Manitou Island station. Most of the lumber aboard was salvaged, but the damage to the steamer was too expensive to repair, so she was abandoned. Eventually, shifting sand covered the Three Brothers and she became buried shortly after being abandoned. Then in 1996, the sand over the wreck washed away and exposed her for the first time in nearly 85 years! Today, the wreck is a popular dive site and is protected by the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve.

Fransisco Morazan
On November 29, 1960, the Liberian freighter Fransisco Morazan ran aground at the south end of South Manitou Island during a blinding snowstorm. The freighter was bound from Chicago to the St. Lawrence Seaway in order to reach Holland. The crew remained aboard the stranded ship until December 4th, when they finally abandoned her and were taken to Traverse City by the USCG. The captain never returned and today the wreck sits in about 15 feet of water.