Via Detroit FREEP
It’s not exactly spring on Mackinac Island. After the coldest winter in memory, spring is barely to be found on Mackinac, which usually welcomes its first tourists by May 1.
Not a single ferry is running. The horses are not back. There are 10-foot snowbanks on the island. And one ferry line, Arnold Transit, may not open for business at all.
It’s the latest spring Chris Shepler, president of Shepler’s Ferry, can ever remember. Usually, by mid-April, the island is bustling with preparations.
“I have never seen it like this before, and I am 51,” he said today.
Tourism is Michigan’s second-largest industry, and Mackinac Island is its premiere attraction. Without a warmup soon, Michigan tourism dollars will likely take a hit.
Seasonal ferry service usually begins by April 21, but the ice is so thick in Lake Huron that ferry companies need the U.S. Coast Guard to break ice — and that has not happened as of today. The icebreaker is due to arrive by 8 a.m. Thursday to help clear ice that is up to 3 feet thick in Lake Huron in spots between St. Ignace and the island.
“We can’t do anything till the icebreaker comes,” he said.
Meanwhile, every single thing for the resorts, stores and restaurants to prepare for tourism season must be flown in from St. Ignace, on a constant loop between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Normally, supplies are shipped by boat the short 5 miles from St. Ignace to the island — paint, wallpaper, food and construction supplies. Not this year. Even seasonal staff is being flown in.