The carferry and Ludington are symbiotic. The SS Badger is the symbol of our town and what it is known for. I will admit, I, like many others in our community, love the carferry. Even more so, I love the heritage of the carferries in Ludington (and anywhere along Lake Michigan). As a kid, I got to ride on the SS Badger, SS Spartan and SS City of Midland. In the ’70s those were the remaining three carferries to operate out of Ludington.

So, naturally as a photographer I take any opportunity I can do ride the big boat, as I did today. I am working on a project for Lake Michigan Carferry (the Badger’s parent company) to help promote the ship’s importance to Ludington and Manitowoc, Wis. Currently the Environmental Protection Agency is mandating the Badger stop dumping coal ash into the lake. To stop doing so means the ship stops operating. LMC has until the end of next year to come up with a solution. While the company is working on a solution (and a pretty darn good one at that) it needs more time. As a community we need to do everything we can to encourage our lawmakers to extend that deadline and save our economy!

Here is a sampling of some of the extra photos from Monday’s trip. I will post the project once it is completed, which should be soon.

– rob