Courtesy photo Captain Evelyn Petersen is seen onboard the Lady Michigan. Peterson is the new captain of the local vessel.

ALPENA — Evelyn Petersen, a science teacher at the Thunder Bay Junior High School, recently received her certification to be Alpena Shipwreck Tours’ newest captain.

Petersen will set sail this summer on Lady Michigan to provide tours for locals and visitors on the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS).

Petersen explained that she’s been teaching for nine years in Alpena and in her second or third year in the area was when she began working on Lady Michigan as a deckhand.

After Captain Spencer W. Cootware died in 2022, Peterson said that was when she started considering becoming a captain herself.

“They were just really struggling to have captains,” she added. “So, that’s kind of when the idea popped in my head … kind of ready for that next level of responsibility.”

Peterson said that she did her captain schooling online and used days aboard Lady Michigan to go towards her certification.

Peterson explained she is certified to captain 100 ton boats on the Great Lakes. To sail on the ocean, she added she’d need to complete 720 days “as well as work on the ocean.”

Because she is a full-time teacher, the most time she gets to be on Lady Michigan is during summer. She said that it was difficult to get her required time.

“I just barely squeaked out the 360 days,” she added.

Originally from the Ann Arbor area, Peterson said that she never had been to Alpena prior to her job interview for Alpena Public Schools (APS). She said that she appreciates the beauty of Northeast Michigan and enjoys being out on the water whenever she can.

“It’s beautiful up here … you don’t have the traffic and the noise and all the tourism,” she added.

She said her favorite aspects of the Alpena Shipwreck tour is being out on the water and engaging with the history of Northeast Michigan’s maritime industry.

“I get paid to go out in the summer, be out on the water, talk about the area around here,” she said. “It’s really fascinating history, learning about the boats … the shipping industry is interesting and hearing all the stories about the people on the boats.”

Peterson said that she thinks that the most challenging part this summer will be determining whether or not weather is suitable for tours.

“It’s making the judgment call for the weather that I think is what I’m most nervous about,” she said. “You can get out there and have three foot waves … it’s not overly too dangerous for the boat, but it wouldn’t make it enjoyable for some people.”

Peterson’s next goal is to acquire her scuba diving certification.

“After I had all my certification done for my captain’s license I was like, ‘Oh! I can start scuba diving,’ because I’ve been wanting to do that for several years.”

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.