Ever since the invention of the boat, shipping has been a major industry. This was especially true before the invention of the automobile. Shipping was, and still is today, the only economical way to move massive quantities of material from one place to another. Yes, today's planes and trucks are able to transport materials, but not with the same efficiency or quantity as large ships or barges. Thus, due to the volume of shipping, the resulting shipwrecks and the loss of lives, a solution was needed to help decrease the number of deaths in the Manitou Passage. In the mid 19th century, large barges were used not only for shipping, but also for the transportation of people. Each ship had passenger cabins that were utilized by the public, much like the airplanes of today. If people wanted to travel long distances rather quickly, it was not uncommon for them to ride on a shipping vessel. This meant every time a ship sank or wrecked, civilian lives were also lost as well as that of the sailors. The passengers, and the families of the passengers on the ships, demanded that something be done about this because at the time the chances of surviving a ship wreck were nearly zero. Congress listened to the people and decided to enlist voluntary crews to save the lives of passengers and sailors when ships were in distress or wrecked. The shipwrecks often happened near shore, so life saving stations were placed along the beaches. In 1874, these volunteer crews finally started to get paid, and life-saving became a profession that opened the door to the modern day Coast Guard. The men who worked at these life saving stations were called surfmen. The life saving stations at Sleeping Bear point and South Manitou Island both were formed in 1901. Each boat house had 2 surf-boats, which were used to carry the surfmen to the sites of the wrecked ships. One boat was on a roller system so that it could easily be launched into the lake. The other boat was on a wagon in case the shipwreck was farther away from the boat house. Each boat could hold seven surfmen plus the eight to ten passengers.

CLICK FOR LARGER PHOTO This is a modern picture of one of the surf boats at the Sleeping Bear Point Life Saving Station The Boathouse

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