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Jon Paul’s Maritime Diaries

Before the Ghost Ships Festival in Milwaukee last March I had the opportunity to visit Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin on the lakefront. Homeport for the S/V Denis Sullivan, Wisconsin’s flagship, it was first located at the old port authority building during the construction of the Denis Sullivan. The building was torn down and a new 120,000-square foot exploration center was built, which opened in the fall of 2006.

Painting of the schooner Challenge from the Wisconsin Historical Society.

One of the more unique interactive displays is a replica of the Great Lakes schooner Challenge. The replica is 85 percent of the original vessel’s size with about 20 feet of her midsection cut out and her topmasts cut to facilitate the size of the building.

The original schooner Challenge was built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1852. Designer and builder William Wallace Bates designed the vessel around three concepts – the nature of the trade and cargo to be carried, extent and depth of water to be navigated, and mode of propulsion adopted. The first concept of trade and cargo was wood; the lumber industry was booming and the greatly expanding cities of Chicago and Milwaukee consumed large quantities of lumber from northern ports. The second concept, extent and depth of water to be navigated, was shallow undeveloped northern ports to the deep waters of Lake Michigan on their trip down to the cities. The third concept of propulsion, led to the decision to make it a schooner rig. Square riggers (brigs and barkentines) were traditional at the time; however, the schooner rig with its fore and aft sail configuration offered many advantages on the Great Lakes.

The final product was an 85.83-foot long schooner with a 22.42 beam and 6.42 depth of hold at 110.31 gross tons. This vessel featured a cutwater bow that swept into a hard chine with a moveable centerboard and schooner rig. The cutwater bow allowed the vessel to cut through the waves rather than rolling over them increasing speed and maneuverability. The hard chine at the turn of the bilge allowed a larger hold and the moveable centerboard allowed the vessel to raise it to get into shallow ports and lower it again in the lake for increased stability. The schooner rig was easier to tack in the Great Lakes and needed less than one third of the crew needed to handle the large amount of sails required on the square riggers; it had a third advantage of allowing for a large deck-load of lumber on top of what she could carry in her hold. This would be the model for commercial sail craft for the next 80 years.

At a cost of $4,500 she drafted 3 1/2 feet empty and 5 foot 8 inches loaded. Her first owners, Platt & Brother, had a fast vessel once reaching 15 miles per hour and ran the vessel for the first two years with great success. Platts than sold the Challenge for $5,000, a $500 profit over her original cost. They sold the Challenge when Bates completed the schooner Clipper City for them, which was slightly larger than the Challenge.

The bow of the schooner Challenge at the Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin. Photo by Jon Paul Van Harpen.

The Challenge had a very successful career on the lakes with the occasional grounding and dismasting typical of sailing vessels of the time. In her 58th season on the lakes, she left Frankfort, Michigan with a cargo of cordwood. En route she developed a leak and sought refuge in Algoma to unload her cargo. She would then continue to Manitowoc for repairs and continued her voyage to Chicago. About 12 miles south of Sheboygan she developed another leak; as she headed for shore they ran into some pond net poles and began to leak even worse before hanging up on a sandbar on September 5, 1910. During the next 20 years, the age of commercial sail on the lakes would end.

Discovery World started building the replica off location in the fall of 2005. Master builder Rob Stevens, along with 16 volunteers, spent 20,000 hours to create the Challenge. 8,000 feet of lumber was needed to build the 65,000 pound, 114’-9” long model at a cost of 1.5 million dollars. It features a working windlass, centerboard winch, bilge pump and steering wheel. The model is a taste of what commercial sail life was like in the Great Expansion period of the Midwest after the Civil War. These working class schooners were the semi trucks of the Great Lakes and an image of what got us where we are today. The Challenge was built by a 25-year-old shipwright with an 8th grade education who influenced shipbuilding on the lakes from the time of her launch in 1852 to the last schooner launched in 1889.

Discovery World is a treat for young and old and the Challenge is just one of the many exhibits and aquariums. The fresh and saltwater aquariums hold 175,000 gallons of water and re-create the schooner S/V Denis Sullivan’s trip to her winter quarters in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Reef Exhibit holds 65,000 gallons of water. The acrylic tunnel with windows in the floor provides a 360-degree view. The Underwater Lab simulates an underwater research lab 60 feet below Lake Michigan. You can also explore a Great Lakes shipwreck using a ROV (remote operated vehicle) in the shipwreck aquarium.

The deck and cabin of the Challenge is open for exploration. Photo by Jon Paul Van Harpen.

Discovery World has six labs; the General Science Lab serves as a home base for studying and unlocking the principles of science that allow for innovation. Core concepts such as thermodynamics, material chemistry, water chemistry, physics and biology are explored.

The Techno Jungle has many interactive exhibits including an infrared light in the Vein Viewer makes the veins visible to a digital camera. Iris scanner uses a scan of your iris to identify you. 3D Facial Scanner registers surface colors of the human face into three-dimensional images. The infrared camera shows you what can’t be seen with the naked eye by detecting heat.