Captain Bill Amaru at a recent Meet the Fleet.
By Bill Amaru
From 1983 to 2013 the “Maid of the Mist–V” operated as a 72-foot passenger boat that took guests for a tour among the swirling currents and numerous eddies that lie below Niagara Falls, New York. Some boat called the Maid of the Mist had been operating in the rapids below the falls since 1846.
You might be thinking, “What the heck does the Maid of the Mist have to do with Cape Cod and fishing?” Appropriate question. My wife did work for the Maid of the Mist Company when she lived in Lewiston, NY before we met in college. An indirect but significant connection.
This story concerns the engines that once powered the Maid as she navigated the mists at the bottom of the falls and the Niagara River gorge. Some years ago, the company that operates the Maid of the Mist built new vessels to take the place of their older boats. New engines were purchased and installed in the shipyard where the boats were built. Two old engines were still operational, although pretty worn out. A salvage yard bought the Volvo 122-TA, 355 hp engines and advertised them for sale on a web site.
My son, always staying abreast of happenings in the marine industries, found them for sale and they happen to be identical to the engine in his boat, the Joanne-A III (named after his mother). At the time I still owned the Joanne-A lll. He, being my crew, thought we should explore the possibility of purchase so we could have a backup engine in the event we ever had a catastrophic failure of our motor.
I agreed.
A meeting with the owner, a Canadian shipwright who lives and operates his salvage business from the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, was arranged. We headed into Canada through Niagara Falls International Port of Entry and drove 100 miles to Port Rowan, Ontario.
The engines had been in a storage container for two years as it seemed no one was interested in 20-year-old Swedish diesels used in commercial vessels. I instantly saw a great value in these motors. The one we own had 30,000 hours of operation on it, the equivalent of 3 million highway miles in a truck and was still running strong. These two engines, if still operational, represented a chance to have a stand-by engine ready to go in an emergency; the second motor would offer additional value.
A price was agreed and shipping arrangements set in motion to get the engines to Cape Cod. It took a while and a lot of paperwork to get them across the border but we persevered and the engines arrived at Nauset Marine for unloading and a test run.
The previous owner was not willing to start the motors for me before we shipped them. This was troubling to me but the deal was so good I took him at his word that the engines ran fine when removed from the boats. Ron DesChamps of Nauset Marine unloaded the two motors and his brother Dave immediately set them up for a test run.
It was a freezing cold January day, not the best conditions for starting aged diesels not run in years. By the way, these beauties weigh about five thousand pounds each. They are massive works of marine engineering. Volvo Marine didn’t fool around, they are built heavy, real heavy.
They were originally designed to operate generators for communities in the very northern most parts of Sweden, Norway and Finland, off the grid and remote. They were built to last and perform in the worst possible conditions.
These diesels sitting on the floor of Nauset Marine’s boat shop were hooked up to a fuel supply and heavy-duty batteries. Within an hour master engineer Dave DesChamps had them humming; the longer they ran, the better they sounded. We stored them in the shop for the winter and in spring they were both totally rebuilt at R. A. Mitchell & Co, Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
One of the engines went into a boat I purchased and re-powered. It performed up to expectations. The other sits in my son’s garage awaiting the day it may be needed. The original Volvo in Joanne-A lll now has 40,000 hours of running time. The work these marine diesels are required to do is extremely taxing. The fact certain ones can operate so long is a tribute to the manufacturer and the operators. Taking care of the engine through proper maintenance is key but the engine has to be built right to start with.
These older heavy duty, totally mechanical marine diesels are no longer being manufactured. Modern environmental regulations require diesel engines be computer controlled to comply with new air quality standards. Sunset provisions are ending the use of motors like the Volvo 122-TA. The new generation of marine diesels computer electronics are efficient but far more sensitive to the salt environment aboard vessels at sea and prone to break-downs.
The cost of repowering with a mechanical engine that cost $30,000 20 years ago is about $150,000 today, another reason making a living as a commercial fisherman is so challenging. One breakdown in the prime of the season could spell the end for many.
So now you know why the Maid of the Mist has a special place in my heart. Not only did a cute little girl named Joanne Earl work there in 1968, she would stand by and support me and our Cape Cod family — along with many engines — for 52 years and counting.
Bill Amaru writes about fishing and life from his fishing shanty in Orleans