The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
PORT READY FOR RIVER TOURS
Captains practice for safety as season gears up
Lorain Port Authority staff have high hopes for Black River boat tours this year, building on the success of the 2016 season.
Private charters have started on the “Pride of Lorain” and “Lady Charleston,” and public boat tours will begin in June. Weather permitting, 155 planned trips will run until October.
The Lorain Port Authority in 2016 expanded the tour schedule, hoping to boost ridership and bring down the cost per trip, according to the plan by Economic Development Specialist Tiffany McClelland.
With a new combination of riders, ticket prices and availability, the river tours came close to breaking even last year.
If the Port provides a good service and people have a good time on the boat rides, word of mouth will keep spreading and more riders will come, said Port Executive Director Tom Brown.
New captains aboard
The 2017 season is one of transition. This will be the first year the river tours operate without Capt.
Thomas Kern, 76, who died in October.
Kern guided the Black River tour program from idea to reality, said Port Accountant Yvonne Smith. She credited Kern for teaching the boating business to her and retired Port Executive Director Rick Novak.
“He wanted to share his love of boating with everybody that he could,” Smith said about Kern. “His ideals and the Port Authority’s ideals merged into one.
“I don’t think we could have done the program without him, that’s how crucial he ended up being,” Smith said. “He really loved Lorain and he saw what we have. A lot of people don’t, still today. A lot of people that live right here have never seen the Black River, they’ve never been on a boat.”
This year Port Capt. Susan Scott, 53, and Port Capt. Scott Ross, 54, will take over Kern’s duties.
A lifelong boater, Scott, of Cleveland, works as a teacher when she is not on the water. Ross, of Berea, lived for years in Amherst and is a retired air traffic controller.They both spent years as recreational boaters before earning their captain’s licenses. Neither was familiar with the Black River until they contacted the Port Authority about piloting the river tours.
“One of the first runs I had was taking people out to the lighthouse and I was able to take a lighthouse tour with them,” said Scott, now in her second year as a Lorain captain. “Oh, my goodness, it’s spectacular. People don’t know the beauty that we have and such history. It’s very exciting.”
Ross, entering his seventh season leading trips in Lorain, said his family never made trips on the Black River when they were out on their boat. Years ago, his first river trip was a training run with Kern.
“I was kind of amazed,” Ross said, noting much of Lorain’s history sits on its riverbanks. “It was just a great opportunity to do it and the river turned out to be pretty amazing in many ways.”
Duty to stay safe
Scott and Ross are two of eight captains that will run trips this year. Their duties go well beyond just turning the ignition key on the boat.
Along with their certifications from the Coast Guard, the captains are trained in first aid and CPR.
Before leaving the dock, the captains have a checklist for the vessels, from bridge to hull to gunwales to engine compartment. Then comes practice. On April 26, an offshore wind was blowing 12 to 15 mph, gusting to 18 mph, as Scott headed out with Lorain Port Authority Capt. Corey Wisniewski. He also works for Miller Boat Line ferry service.
They were aboard the Pride of Lorain to practice “man overboard” and tiller steering drills. With Wisniewski at the helm, Scott explained the rescue procedure, then hurled a dock bumper into Lake Erie.
“Man overboard!” she yelled.
Wisniewski threw out a life ring and directed Scott to act as his spotter, keeping her eyes on the bumper and using her arm to point it out. He sounded five blasts on the horn, a distress signal to nearby vessels.
Turning the boat back to the “victim,” Wisniewski picked up the radio to simulate a mayday call to the Coast Guard.
When the boat got close enough, Wisniewski used a boat hook to retrieve the bumper, then pulled in the life ring.
The captains discussed the rescue procedure, then tried again. There is a reason for each action, Scott said, and captains use their judgment.
“So each situation you have to adapt,” Scott said. “It is to get to the victim in a timely manner, but not to rev your engine, fly over there and forget some of the important steps.”
On the tour
The training is necessary but the captains and port staff hope the passengers never see it on a trip.
There’s plenty of other things to see on a Black River tour, they said.
“The overwhelming reaction is positive and I would say that most of the time people are surprised because there’s something about the tour that they didn’t know,” Ross said.
At the mouth of the river, beyond the Lorain Lighthouse, people visiting Ohio are stunned at the size of Lake Erie.
Heading upstream, Lorain residents often are surprised at their own river, the captains said.
Steelworkers want to see the steel mill. Nature lovers look for cormorants, great blue herons, bald eagles and other birds.
Everyone is surprised that an industrial area sits next to a natural area that could be a park, Scott said.
“People can’t believe, right here in Lorain, we have such stark differences,” Scott said.
“I think that’s what really kind of what makes it the most fun,” Ross said. “People see something that they didn’t anticipate.”