After an absence of thirty years, the sidewheel, double-ended ferry G. A. BOECKLING has returned to her longtime home port, Sandusky, Ohio. With enclosures around her passenger decks removed to show something of her original appearance, and with her name proudly displayed on banners hung over her paddleboxes, BOECKLING was towed from Sturgeon Bay on June 9 by the Gaelic tug WILLIAM A. WHITNEY. The voyage was uneventful and BOECKLING arrived safely at Sandusky at about 1:00 p.m. on Friday, June 11. She was greeted by a throng of cheering admirers, all ecstatic about the return of the vessel that, for so many years, ran the ferry service across Sandusky Bay to the Cedar Point amusement park.

The BOECKLING was built in 1909 at Ecorse and spent her entire active life on Sandusky Bay. She last operated in 1951 and, on July 10, 1952, was towed from Sandusky by the tug JOHN ROEN IV en route to Sturgeon Bay, where she had been used ever since as a floating parts warehouse by Peterson Builders Inc. She was recently acquired by The Friends of the BOECKLING, a Sandusky group, for the purpose of returning the historic steamer to her old home and restoring her to her previous glory. It had earlier been intended to drydock the BOECKLING at the Nicholson yard at Ecorse, but her hull was deemed to be in sufficiently good condition that this expense could be avoided. With G. A. BOECKLING now safely ensconced in the Jackson Street slip at Sandusky, work will begin on the restoration of the steamer.

The Friends of the BOECKLING, which is responsible for the entire project, still requires assistance with the financing of the restoration. We support the project and urge our members to consider lending their support as well. Those interested may contact The Friends of the BOECKLING by addressing correspondence to P.O. Box 736, Sandusky, Ohio 44870, U.S.A.

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Reproduced for the Web with the permission of the Toronto Marine Historical Society.