Steamboat Minnehaha Blog

On Jan 4th our Operations Manager, Brad Buxton, sent out the following email to members/volunteers:

“Greetings and Happy New Year.

Last year Tom R reordered some of the hats, I have them and will bring them to the Boat Barn.

Progress has been made and will continue. So far, the rub rails have been removed and one top side plank that needed replacement. The upper deck lifesaver boxes need some work and repainting. Bob and crew are getting the hull sanded and preped for painting, the Minnehaha pennant is being replaced, the engineers are making great progress on the engine & systems.

As always there is more to do. All in All things are going well, hope to see you at the Barn.

Brad

We will be there Saturday Jan 5th around 9:30″

Well I stopped by the barn today and We have the rub rail totally off the boat and will be installing a new one shortly. Also we are working on an getting a back up generator for the boat. For those of you who do not know the Steam boiler runs off of a generator at 240 volts. So what we are doing is figuring out how big of a generator we need to make the boat move if the BIG genset craps out. We are excluding all accessories just enough to get to port. Now as we do that we are trying to figure out what accessories we really need. We had the boiler feed water pump however we have a steam feed-water pump so that is actually not necessary - off the list. All of our lights and navigation systems are excluded As well as pumps that are not nessasery for a short trip to port.

What we are going to do is put a plug or 2 on the outside of the boat (so that the back up will not be stored on the boat at all). It is so that we can get the boat under its own power because it is easier to dock it than to tow it to shore. Also the probes for boiler water depth monitoring were installed today. I went around and consolidated a lot of books that were out of place. We are also getting ready for the boat show at the end of January. We hope to see you there. Also I would like to encourage all of you reading this blog to comment. It really is fun to read what you have to say. In fact, If you have a question about how something works or whatever feel free to send me an e-mail or blog it on the site. Hope this encourages some activity. Well I think that is good for today. Talk to ya’ll later! - Adam coloradosparkyred@yahoo.com

OK so I Figured out what the Mezzanine was.

We have 2 levels to work on the boat from. The ground allows us access to the hull and the Mezzanine allows us access to the cabin. The reason we are modifying it is because we are replacing the Rub rail, which takes the punishment when we run into the dock, with new wood. Currently I believe that it is Douglas Fir. We are going to replace it with white Oak because it is tougher and more durable. Also I am hoping to add a Wireless Microphone for the pursers to use. Currently the only person who is able to talk during a cruise is the Captain from the Helm. Some of our pursers are very bright in the history of the boat and Lake Minnetonka. Also Our Boiler has been inspected and after 11 seasons it is still in “Like New” condition. We are replacing some probes that watch the water level on the boiler and would trip it if the level went too low (as a precaution).

I will try to add pictures later. I got to go get some work done. Way too much stuff going on here.

Hey Everyone

I know it has been a while since I last posted. There is not a whole lot going on at the barn. We are working on removing the Rubrail (which is what touches the dock). The Rubrail keeps the ship’s paint from scratching! I think we are also modifying the Mezzanine. Not quite sure what that is but I will try to find out. I guess when I get busy it is hard to add to this blog all the time. I am hoping to get down to the boat soon like this weekend so I will try to have Pics and a post by Sunday!

Hope some of you come down to the barn!

Adam

That’s Correct We (MLM) took Christmas photo’s of the Minnehaha this year! We had some of our crew members and a special couple showed up as well. I will call him St. Nick, however you may call him Santa and Mrs. Clause! I have 1 picture that I uploaded to this blog. It is a fairly large file if you expand it. The reason for the night photo shoot was actually to enhance the characteristics of the boat. A neat little fact is that this was taken the night before we took the mistress out of the lake for the season. So what you saw was the last night of the Minnehaha in the water. The date that we actually did this was Mid October. I do not know if our advertising folks have sent this out yet so this is probably the first time getting out of the Museum. Also Now that we are out of the lake, we are starting our winter maintenance project. I will start talking more about that next week but if you are interested in volunteering during the winter and becoming a purser, engineer, or captain in the summer we could greatly use your help. Also if you want to donate money to help out our financial burden that would be wonderful just send me an e-mail and we can get you intouch with the right people. As I rap up this first of many Winter updates I would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you who took a trip aboard the Minnehaha or donated time or money of some sort because that is what keeps our organozation afloat. It is amazing that we are still getting donations so keep them coming because if they stop the Minnehaha may be making a big change in the Future. I hope to see all of the readers in the next season as the Minnehaha continues into its 13Th year of operation and turns 103 years old. Way to go!

If you want this in Higher Resolution I can give it to you I had to make it small for the blog.

Adam Steinmetz

Operations and Maintenance

Steamboat Minnehaha MLM

We are happy to have Adam - number one volunteer - narrate this blog. Please join in with comments and share your experiences of the Minnehaha with the world.