The ferry that many rely on for transportation to and from Beaver Island to the mainland is having a choppy start to the season. Currently, the boat is out of commission after the most recent test run revealed issues with the chockfast.
Earlier this month, President of the Beaver Island Boat Company, Tim McQueer announced the ferry was stationed at a drydock in Escanaba to have both engines and transmissions rebuilt. While the engines were rebuilt, they were disconnect from the shafts. To reestablish function the engine and shafts have to be realigned within very tight tolerances. When things were put back together, they were just outside of those tolerances and the operators determined it is not worth risking a mechanical failure later down the line.
A few days later the transmissions were realigned and vendor and crews worked around the clock to sort the issue. The next step was to wait for the chockfest.
“Chockfast is a grouting epoxy that holds large machinery in place. With water temperatures cold it keeps the hull steel pretty cool and it takes approximately two days to cure. If we rush this process and don’t allow it to cure completely, we would have to start over,” McQueer said.
The Emerald Isle took its first test run on Wednesday, April 17, in which the engines and transmissions performed well, but further problems were revealed in the chockfest.
“While we were prepping the Emerald Isle to head back to Beaver Island more issues arose with the chockfast. These issues have caused us to have to continue the delay for the start of our season,” McQueer said.
The additional problems is causing distress for customers and operators.
“These issues have caused us to have to continue the delay for the start of our season. I know this has been extremely frustrating and inconvenient for so many of our customers and we are truly sorry this is happening. We have been doing everything in our power to get the Emerald Isle running for the season; working day and night and it seems just when we think we are ready, we hit another road block,” McQueer said.
The company says customers have been very understanding and are willing to do what they can to continue services they’d normally provide. Customers can have non-perishable freight dropped off at the dock that is already scheduled and the company will store it if needed. Vehicles scheduled to go to the Island can be parked in boat company lot and they will valet them down when they are back up and running.
For more updates customers can visit www.bibco.com/ferry-schedules/.
