• Passengers can set sail around Traverse City on Manitou, a schooner owned by Traverse Tall Ship Co.
• The ship is a replica of an 1800s sailing ship and the largest traditional sailing vessel in Michigan
• Sailing on a tall ship was voted No. 3 on the Bridge Michigan summer bucket list

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TRAVERSE CITY — Newlyweds Noah and Allison Dobos were each holding one end of a ship’s wheel, steering a boat around Grand Traverse Bay on a picture-perfect evening. 

The captain of the ship, Jamie Trost, would occasionally give the couple directions like, “One to the right,” or, “Two to the left.”

After they had steered a while, Trost asked them, “When was the last time you were sailing a 77-foot schooner?”

“I’d say this is a first,” Noah Dobos replied.

• Watch: What it’s like to sail a majestic vessel on the Great Lakes

That is what happens on Manitou, a four-decade-old tall ship that typically sets sail from Discovery Pier in Traverse City. Passengers might get to steer the ship. They might get to help pull up the sails. 

Everyone on board gets a chance to get out on the water on a boat that harkens back to yesteryear. 

Manitou is one of a handful of tall ships — a boat with sails held up in a traditional manner — that depart from the shores of Michigan. Think the Mayflower or a pirate ship. 

Bridge Michigan readers voted a ride on one of those majestic vessels No. 3 on the Michigan Dreaming Ultimate Summer Bucket List.

Dressing the part

The skies were clear and it was around 80 degrees outside when a group of about 50 people began boarding the schooner Manitou for a two-hour evening cruise.

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With a rig height of 77 feet and a hull 114 feet long and 21 feet wide, Manitou is a replica of an 1800s ship and the largest traditional sailboat in Michigan. 

But you wouldn’t know it from the seating options. 

Passengers squeezed in a little bit like sardines, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on parts of the boat that served as benches. 

The horn blew four times — once long, and three short — as she motored away from the dock. 

“We’re gonna start setting some sail, because you came here to go sailing and not just motor around, right?” crewmember Emerson Jones asked.

“Right,” a muddled group of passengers responded.

Emerson asked for volunteers. A few people came forward. They were told that, when they heard the command “haul away,” they should pull hand-over-hand on the line with their thumbs facing forward.

“You don’t want your feet moving, or else we have an unfortunate game of sailor dominoes off the forward end, and nobody wants that,” another crewmember, Limb’rin Ostergaard, instructed.

Soon, the sails were up and everyone was still accounted for. Manitou was cruising smoothly through the Lower West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay in the direction of mansions off in the distance. 

A crewmember announced drinks and snacks available for purchase. The list included beer, vodka seltzer and local wine, as well as some non-alcoholic options. Snacks were chips, Oreos and granola bars.

Passengers Darcy Cleaver and Lauren Dowell sat next to each other, both wearing shirts with nautical stripes.

“We like to go matchy matchy,” Dowell said.

The married Louisville, Kentucky couple made the trip to Traverse City to go cherry picking and planned to wear homemade matching bonnets for that outing. The tall ship excursion came into play because Cleaver loves being out on the water.

“There’s a serenity, especially when you’re on a boat that has sails. It feels magical for me,” she said.

Robin Moore, of Wayne, and her husband moved up to the front of the boat, where they could talk to the captain and watch passengers try steering the ship. Moore, who is a flight attendant and on the side writes books with dad jokes, was quick to jump in after Capt. Trost started making pirate jokes. 

“What kind of phone do pirates use?” she asked the captain.

“I don’t know,” he replied

“An iPatch,” Moore answered.

“Why did the pirate bring a ladder to the bar?” Moore asked.

“Dunno,” Trost replied.

“Because he heard the bar was on the house.”

Big but not ‘too, too fancy’

Though she looks like a historic ship, the Manitou is relatively young. 

Still, the vessel is already on her second life.

She was born in 1983 under a different name, the Homer W. Dixon, and sailed multi-day cruises on the waters of Lake Champlain. In 1991, Traverse Tall Ship Co., a business offering trips on ships that looked like the ones sailing around the bay during the city’s late-1800s lumber boom, purchased her and renamed her Manitou. 

“It’s a very stable vessel that evokes the history of Traverse City without being too, too fancy,” said Trost, who, in addition to being senior captain, is also a co-owner of Traverse Tall Ship Co.

The company offers several sailing excursions, most a couple hours long, including a brunch cruise, an ice cream trip and one during which you can learn about birds of prey.

“It’s one of the coolest ways to get in touch with the gorgeous landscape of Grand Traverse Bay and really feel the wind, the water, the sunlight, everything that makes summertime in northern Michigan perfect,” Trost said.

Ostergaard, one of the crewmembers who helped passengers lift the sails, is in his second season on Manitou. He called the ship “very playful.”

“When the wind is up and there’s people aboard, she’s the happiest,” he said. 

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