Capt. Adam Knudsen, right, and Steve Lenhart
Fishing with the Moonlighter
This Great Lakes Boat Blog is a presentation of U-Win Motor Sports 2284 US 10/31, Ludington, and the Mason County Historical Society’s Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, ludingtonmaritimemuseum.org, located at 217 S. Lakeshore Dr., Ludington.
Aboard with Capt. Adam Knudsen
By Mark Varenhorst, MCP Contributor
LAKE MICHIGAN — On a beautiful sunny morning I went down by the Ludington Yacht Club to meet up with Capt. Adam Knudsen. Knudsen is owner and operator of the Moonlighter, a 33-foot Tiara operating out of Ludington and I found it tucked away at a dock east of the Yacht Club among many other charter boats. As I got there Knudsen and his mate Chase Kozlowicz were cleaning up the boat and putting things in order having just finished a charter that morning.
Adam Knudsen comes from a family I have known well over the years. Odd how you can live in a small town and know most people and their families and not run into them for years. Knudsen’s parents are Mike and Sherry Knudsen. Mike has been running Ludington Electric or connected with it about as long as I have known him. It’s in his family from brothers to parents. His parents Wendel and Elise owned it and ran it before him and his brothers. In years past I use to see Knudsen’s grandparents at the Elks when I would be there with my parents or in-laws. Everyone sort of ran in the same circles depending on where you worked or what clubs you belonged to. The days before social media, computers, all the TV options that now exist.
Knudsen is a teacher at Ludington Area Schools and West Shore Community College in theater and audio. He has also spent time in bands and is a DJ.
Chase Kozlowicz cleans the stern.
The charter boat thing is something he does in his off season from teaching. He mentioned that he was on a few boats before his license in 2012. I mentioned to him at some point going out with him on a charter if it could work out and I would not be in the way. I did mention my style of writing boat stories is to get on the boat and see how it operates and the crew operates, how it all flows together. Knudsen did not see a problem. He is up at 3:45 a.m. and at the boat at 4:25 a.m. Then does a morning charter usually running from 5 a.m. to about 11a.m. then clean up and then and afternoon charter from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., approximately. I saw a problem. At the boat at 4:25 a.m.? I was running through my mind 4:25 p.m. sounds much more inviting. But I expect that if invited, I would go when the opportunity if offered. But I kept thinking, ‘it’s not even light at 4:25 a.m.!
Knudsen is married and has two children. He said his wife Heidi is very understanding and supportive. If he is up at that time and out the door and gone that much she would indeed be a very understanding person. His children are Eli, age 6, and Lucy, age 9. I suspect they also have to help take care of the house when dad is so busy.
Knudsen mentioned that his boat can hold up to six passengers and it is a good sized boat, it would seem quite comfortable. I could see with all the rods posed in their stands around me that a big part of the mate’s job would be keeping those six people out of each other’s way as much as possible. Some sort of coordination of the activities.
Knudsen’s mate on the boat is Chase Kozlowicz. Kozlowicz is from Monroe and is a graduate of University of Michigan. Knudsen remarked that Kozlowicz comes from a family that runs a charter boat also and that was where he met Kozlowicz. The mate was a little boy running around the family boat at the time and here he was now on Knudsen’s boat all these years later!
While I was on board Knudsen took the boat to the Harbor View Marina for fuel. Jumping on board to help him was a friend and another charter boat captain, Steve Lenhart. Lenhart is from Petersburg, Michigan and owns and runs Wild Thing Charters.
We made our way to the fuel dock following another one of Knudsen’s friends who was also going for fuel and proceeded us to the dock. As we drove to the dock Knudsen said “the charter boats are like a big family. If you have a problem the others will jump right in to help you it’s just how it is”.
I could see exactly that as other guys on boats would yell out things as we went by or remark where another boat was. They all knew.
We pulled up to the dock. Knudsen said to the attendant: “140 gallons”. I believe that was the number. I remember running that through my mind as I stood watching the attendant put the fuel in,140 gallon? Now, I thought back to Knudsen mentioning the twin Chevy inboards that move the boat. Lots of power explained the 140 gallons. I top off my Jeep and get eight to 10 gallons sometimes. (you can tell by that I do not go far and like to keep it topped off).
As we waved goodbye to the fuel dock and moved back to his regular dock I was thinking, calm day, evening charter might be a very good idea to follow up with Knudsen and his crew. As long as I can stay out of the way of his paying customers. Knudsen parked the boat with an ease showing much practice, and with a little help from his charter boat family of friends he was tied up and dockside in no time. Just a tad bit heavier. The amount of gas, 140 gallons, kept running that through my head. These guys had to work hard just to be able to cover their fuel expenses. As I walked away from the dock I was thinking of all the small fishing boats soon to clog the harbor and channel. I remembered one of the marine deputies remarking “we have no issue with the charter boats it’s the small boats that usually aren’t paying attention. Best of Luck Adam, watch out for the small boats!
U-Win Motorsports, 2284 W. US 10-31, Ludington; (231) 757-8946
The Mason County Historical Society is a non-profit charitable organization that was founded in 1937 that does not receive any governmental funding. It owns and operates the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, Historic White Pine Village in Pere Marquette Township, and The Rose Hawley Archives and the Mason County Emporium and Sweet Shop in downtown Ludington.
The Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, located at 217 S. Lakeshore Dr., Ludington, is currently open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Tuesday, May 27 when it will be open Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Wednesdays through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about donating to and/or joining the Mason County Historical Society, visit masoncountymihistory.org.
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