There’s a 1980s pop song titled “From a Distance” that has a place in explaining the shortened life of a $1 million dock on North Manitou Island, and why the National Park Service is forging ahead with construction of a look-alike dock for many millions more.
Both docks were deemed unsafe for ferry use by its intended primary user, Manitou Island Transit (MIT), which we consider a treasured legacy and an asset in telling the story of Sleeping Bear Country.
It’s the distant part, the concept that getting too close to a problem or project can blot out the ultimate mission, which relates back to the lyrics of the song. “From a distance, I just cannot comprehend what all this fighting’s for.”
For the Park Service and MIT, that mission is to provide the public with safe and reliable access to two of the most beautiful and intriguing places in America. MIT has fulfilled that mission since 1917; the Lakeshore was established in 1970.
It’s been frustrating to watch access to the Manitous deteriorate over the past four years. In 2020, ferry service to both Manitou islands was cut off when high Great Lakes water levels submerged the South Island dock and the North dock was not dredged. In 2023, the Park Service failed its mission once more when the North Manitou dock again clogged with spoils, cutting off ferry service. A temporary dock extension — all 1,000 feet and at a cost of $1 million — was put in place this summer.
But captains of the ferry Mishe Mokwa owned by MIT deemed the dock unsafe for everyday use because of its flow-through design. Weather conditions are fickle and at times dangerous in the Manitou Passage, whose personality shifts with the wind. So wave protection is essential in docking, says Great Lakes captain Jimmy Munoz, who has been safely delivering passengers to the Manitous for more than two decades. The temporary dock was installed with a two year life expectancy, but has already been pulled after one season due to a lack of use.
Construction of a new dock was bid with the same open-wave design. The owners of MIT say they won’t use it out of risk to its passengers. The Park Service says its engineers know better. The Interior Department told MIT, through attorneys, of course, that it’s in violation of its contract, which could be terminated.
The real kick in the pants came in a letter to MIT stating that ferry service will be discontinued over a course of at least two years during infrastructure work at both island villages. Cities don’t close for sewer projects. They find work-arounds. We find it hard to believe public safety is the only motive here.
We’re not engineers, nor are we Great Lakes ship captains. But we’re pretty good at understanding the best parts of Leelanau County. The history and lore of Manitou Island Transit, including the story of Tracy Grosvenor navigating pressure cracks in a Manitou Passage ice covering with a Ford Model T to get supplies and mail to South Manitou during a severe winter, are worth preserving. Remarkably, the company would be thriving through its fourth-generation of ownership — if the Park Service provided safe docking. A fifth generation waits in line.
One question to consider is whether any dock is needed on North Manitou, which unlike South Manitou has no natural harbor. Munoz and a business parter have been providing transportation though two landing crafts that comfortably beach and extract themselves on a sandy shore.
But the more immediate question is whether the Park Service cares enough about making the Manitou islands accessible to work through whatever disagreements it has with one of the oldest and most storied companies in Leelanau County.
That’s what it looks like from a distance.
