Steamship draws visitors to Moosehead Lake Locals celebrate vessel’s anniversary

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GREENVILLE – Capt. Ron Macomber’s arms were draped comfortably around the large wooden wheel in the steamship Katahdin as if he were greeting an old friend.

With a sneakered foot planted between lower spokes on the wheel to help steady the course and a black sailing hat perched on his head, Macomber scanned the horizon for errant boaters on Maine’s largest lake.

The Greenville man was on his umpteenth trip guiding the steamboat back and forth on Moosehead Lake, first when it was a towboat hauling booms of logs in the 1950s through 1970s and the last 10 years for the cruise ship ferrying passengers to the head of the lake and back.

“I enjoy running it, that’s why I do it,” Macomber said matter-of-factly about his stint at the wheel of the Katahdin. “It’s like an old friend.”

And an old friend it is to many people who, on Aug. 4, will help observe the silver anniversary of the historic cruise ship and the Moosehead Marine Museum, which operates the vessel. A moonlight cruise with entertainment and refreshments is on tap to celebrate the event.

Built in 1914 by Bath Iron Works for the Coburn Steamship Co., the 250-ton Katahdin or “Kate,” as it is affectionately known, was one of five vessels that provided summer transportation from Greenville to points around the lake, including the famed Kineo House. In addition to wealthy passengers, the ship also hauled horses, tractors and logging supplies to the lumber camps that operated around the 40-mile lake.

When lake transportation declined during the Depression, the Katahdin was taken over by Scott Paper Co. and was used to haul log booms from inlets to the Kennebec River outlet until 1976, when river driving was prohibited as a result of an environmental movement. The vessel was then discarded.

But even before the Katahdin was abandoned, a group of followers, including Louis Hilton and Duke McKeil of Greenville, were plotting the steamboat’s rescue. Their efforts were successful, and the same year the vessel was discarded, it was given to a nonprofit corporation organized specifically to obtain the vessel, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

That was the easy part; the hard part was securing the necessary funds to restore the steamboat.

The small donations, grants, and profits from cake sales over the years were not enough to keep the vessel in operation, let alone fund the Katahdin’s restoration, so a five-year, $500,000 fund-raising drive was initiated.

Helping to reach that goal was the late philanthropist Elizabeth B. Noyce, whose interests included marine preservation.

Since then, the hull has been replated, the drive shaft and propeller have been repaired, fiberglass has been applied to the second deck, the roof over the first deck has been restored, and a fire extinguishing system has been installed, among other projects. Still short $60,000 of the five-year goal, board members are working feverishly to secure the funds to repair the deck.

Today the steamboat remains the oldest floating vessel of BIW, and the last link to the steamboat era on Moosehead Lake.

“The boat is the symbol of tourism in the Moosehead Lake region,” said Duke McKeil, executive director of the museum and the Katahdin.

As many as 6,000 people a year cruise on the Katahdin, which is licensed for 225 passengers per trip. The Katahdin operates cruises every day except Monday and Friday. It also offers excursion trips for weddings and club functions.

“The heritage, the history – I think people love an old boat, and it’s the only way to get out onto the lake,” said McKeil, a retired college professor.

On sunny days, lines of people snake around the museum parking lot, spilling over onto the lawn and inside Greenville’s new gazebo. The passengers are welcomed aboard, often by McKeil in his trademark white shorts and colorful striped shirts, and by Capt. Macomber. After everyone is seated on board, mooring lines are released, and the ship is off with a blast of the whistle.

On a recent trip, Alma Larkin of New York said the Katahdin provided just the right transportation to see the lake and its surroundings firsthand.

Her eyes devoured the surrounding beauty of the hills and valleys while her fingers worked feverishly sketching the visions. On her first visit to the region, the elderly woman wanted to remember it all. She sketched passengers, the mountains, and the cormorants that stood sentry on some of the small islands dotting the lake.

“This is just lovely here,” she said to her three artist companions, who also were from New York state. As the boat quietly chugged through the pristine lake waters, Larkin chatted about the beautiful weather and the sights the group planned to see on the trip home. As passing boaters waved to the Katahdin, she would return the greeting.

Lynette Kane of Leavittsburg, Ohio, was intrigued with the old steamboat and everything on it including the bright orange lifejackets overhead, the display cases filled with artifacts from the region and the piles of woolen blankets ready to comfort passengers on a cool day.

She wandered about the boat, investigating its details, and checked once in a while on her husband, Joseph, who hit the snack bar early in the trip. The couple were among 154 people taking a recent three-hour cruise.

Kane said she had heard about the Katahdin from friends and wanted to take the trip.

“The scenery alone is just breathtaking – where I live we don’t have mountains; like they say, we’re flatlanders,” she said, with a hearty laugh.

The Ohio woman listened intently to Macomber as he occasionally broadcast tidbits of local history.

“That’s Burnt Jacket Point to the starboard side,” Macomber reported. According to legend, the name was given to the area after an Indian, who had stopped to build a fire to dry off, got too close to the fire and his jacket burned, the captain told passengers.

It’s a story he has retold many, many times, he tells visitors to the pilothouse. But unlike the Katahdin, which will continue to ply the waters for years to come, Macomber said he’s looking for his replacement.

“This pretty much ties up my summer and I want to do some other things,” he said.

But even after he turns the beautiful oak and maple wheel over to someone else, Macomber’s heart will still be with the Katahdin.

“It [the Katahdin] gets to you,” he said.