The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will be unable to sail its tall ship, Friends Good Will, up to Holland for the Tulip Time Festival next week due to a low water level in South Haven Harbor.

The museum’s Brent Paige tells us it’s a tradition for the 109-foot vessel to sail up to Holland for the festivities, but unfortunately, it will have to be skipped this time.

“They’re not able to get out of our harbor in a safe manner, and we always want to err on the side of caution and safety for passengers, crew, and the vessel itself,” Paige said.

Paige tells us the harbor can’t be dredged on time this year due to the schedules of contractors that travel around the coast performing those operations. The Maritime Museum pays to dredge around its own dock, while the city of South Haven dredges the harbor, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges the channel out to the lake.

“We’re not unaccustomed to this. We dredge most springs around our docks to make sure that we have safe and easy access out and back into our port.”

Paige says it’s a shame Friends Good Will can’t take its message of brotherly love up to Tulip Time this year because it’s always good marketing for the museum. However, the news isn’t all bad. Since the 1810 replica sloop is stuck at its own dock, the museum can offer more public tours of the vessel.

Paige also isn’t expecting the regular sailing season for the ship to be affected as he believes dredging will happen in time for that.