What do you say?
 

Recently, some island friends were gathered and someone spotted the Mt Washington Cruise Ship in the distance… After a round of: “First to see the Mount”, “Spotted It” and “Hosie. I got it!” – we realized there were many different exclamations for this same game. Out of curiosity, what do you and your family say when you see the Mount Washington?

We have no special saying but it never fails to amaze me how tiny it looks from across the Broads.

I had my mom convinced for a moment that it sank a couple of weeks ago as we viewed it from the Minge Cove area. It was going from Wolfboro toward Center Harbor and my mom spotted it while it was east of Parker Island. When it went behind Parker (which blends perfectly with the shore from that distance) I said "look again, it sank!" She was freaked for few seconds.

Here Comes Mother
 

Is probably what most often comes out, or My turn...

Just about every time I see it, I wonder how they stay in business with almost no one on board. It passes a close 100 yards from my spot on the lake at Buoy 3. You know the Mount business was sold to a new owner last winter. And, if it had been all that good a biz, would the previous owner have sold it?

I think a daytime cruise now costs 20 dollars. It wasn't too long ago that it cost 12. For 20 dollars for a 2 hour cruise, it's too expensive for lots of us regular work'n folks. Hey, for just three dollars, you can go to Ellecoya State Beach and build sand castles all day and go fishing in the big feeder creek

Time to remember the big two masted sailboat, the Queen of Winnipesaukee', and the Winni Water Taxi. Both....no longer on the Big Lake.

Here comes Mother? Is this a reference to it being the Mother ship of Lake Winnipesaukee?

That's right on the money.

What do you say?
 

My granddaughter and I like to watch the Mount come into Wolfeboro dock, both during the day and on Wednesday evening. She always referred to it as "the Wash Mountain", and continues to do so to this day.

Now, in answer to FLL regarding the price of riding the Mount, I will offer up this scenario:

TICKETS for the ride - $25.00 adult/$12.00 child
SNACKS & trinkets - too much $$$
The RIDE on the Mount - priceless
with my granddaughter

We Are Home
 

When we first see the Mount, we say "We are Home"

When we hear the 9:00 Horn Blast, we put our heads back under the pillows because of the night before..........

When my daughter was growing up we would stay at my inlaws place at the old Chanticleer Shores. All of the kids would watch for the Mount to go by & the first one to spot her would yell, "Mount One!" the next one to see her, "Mount Two!" & so on. We still do it to this day when we are visiting the lake & spot her in the distance. I've been known to sing out "Mount One" when I see it go by one of the webcams on this site, particularly Bear Island.
Old habits die hard.

When I see the Mount.......
 

Hummm well what do I say.... it all depends on where I am in relationship to her.... from across the broads....it generally " hey there is the Mount".... if she is pulling in or out of port and I am around in my boat the comment generally becomes "which way are you going baby" so that I can stay plenty clear of her.... And last when she passes at full steam in front of me and I know I have to cross her wake......" yippeeee.. hang on all and grab a life jacket its going to get bumpy" ..... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

All in all I enjoy seeing the Mount.... it really helps me put the size of the lake in perspective....

This summer
 

My husband seemed to be the one who always spotted the Mount first, so his phrase became "You're going to kill me, but...I see the Mount." But he was trained by Uncle Sam's Canoe Club (aka, the Navy) to look for subs, so I think he's got an unfair advantage.

The Mount!
 

When she rounds Echo Point we say here comes the Mount! Back in the olden days she made more trips and ran every day into Alton Bay. When the Mount came past Sandy Point it signaled LUNCH TIME! The horn sounded BOOOOOOOOOOP!


GO SOX!!!!

I'm with Chattypatty: "Mount one, mount two etc."

We learned it at Lake Shore Park.

Just curious, Chattypatty: did your family join the migration from LSP to Chanticleer, e.g. with the Greeleys?

Mount
 

We play a game and keep score. Each sighting scores a point. First one to call Mount get the point. The little ones don't feel the vibration of the motor before it comes into view. And I'll never tell!!!!

I think we had this discussion last year, didn't we?

My kids and I yell out "the Mount" every time she goes past - and she goes past many times each day. Usually, one of us will say it and the rest will repeat "the Mount," one after the other.

Actually, it is my belief that the best time to sell is when business has been doing well. Sell high, buy low as they say.

When we were kids.....first one to spot it would say "I spy"

"Oh! wook! at dat! BOAT!"

(I live with a 2 year old - can't cha tell...)

ownership
 

To correct a misconception from FLL:

The Mount was not quite "sold to a new owner" last winter. It was the ownership mix that changed. One of the part owners sold his interest and two new part owners bought in. Several local papers covered it accurately at the time.

I'm not sure what FLL was looking at or when, but his view at light #3 is certainly a limited view of the operation. The Mount passes that light in the daytime only on Mondays while going from Center Harbor to Meredith. She also passes every day in July and August only on her 3:15 cruise and again on the evening dinner cruises. I have a hard time with FLL's assumption of poor business when he's able to see only about 40% of the business even if he looks all the time!

How does the Mount stay in business?
 

Just my observation, but it doesn't seem that there are enough passengers to pay for the fuel; never mind the crew and fixed expenses. Is the operation of the Mt .Washington subsidized by government? Is there a business relationship between the Mt. Washington and the ports it visits?

I'm all for the Mt. Washington, at any price. It's a cherished icon, and if it takes a government hand-out (not that I have any knowledge of such things) to keep it afloat, so be it.

Mr V: Yes my husbands family did join that migration to Chanticleer Shores from LSP. Actually it is my ex-husband, but I have sent him the link to check out the history of LSP on this site. He got a kick out of it (yes, we are friendly). His grandparents had a cottage at LSP & left there when they could no longer see the water. His grandfather was a paralyzed vet from WW I, & watching the people, boats & things was one of his great joys. When the park got so built up, they built a place at Chanticleer right on the water where they remained until they passed away. They left it to their son, who, with his wife stayed there until 2 years ago when they sold it also. I will always miss it as will they.

When we see the Mount my Mom always says, "where's my camera"? She has the world's largest privately held collection of Mt Wasington snapshots. :)

The Mount does seem to need very few passengers to pay the bills, I've seen her running quite empty especially weekdays in the spring and fall. There used to be rules for common carriers, they had to run their routes and schedules even when empty. I don't if such rules still exist and if they apply to her.

I'd rather see them fix their business model, if needed, than see government subsidies. I can't understand why they don't run the 3:15 cruise all season and skip an earlier one during slow times. A lot of people don't get up early on vacation. They have theme parties which seem to attract a good crowd on weekend nights. Maybe a similar idea would work during slow times.

I look at the price of a cruise this way (and since we just went last weekend I'm reminding myself of this a lot). For $62 I took my family out on a 2-1/2 cruise around the lake. Since we are pretty busy people, I figure that $62 a few times a year beats a payment on a boat we wouldn't use much more than that.

Life at the Weirs guy house comes to a stop as we all turn to the lake after the first spotter calls "Here comes the mount!". We do the same for the 2 littler girls too.

Now as a question, am I the only one who still shines a spot light at her at night (from shore, up on a hill, on my porch by a street light so I won't be mistaken for a boat) in hopes of a returned spot lighting?

spotlights
 

Hi WeirsGuy,

Since you brought it up - you're definitely not the only one who flashes lights to say hello to the Mount and we enjoy the friendly exchanges as we go by. The corridor between Rattlesnake and Sleepers is particularly active!

- BUT! -

Folks who flash porch lights, dock lights, etc. are fine, and we're pleased to acknowledge them if we see them. Folks who shine a powerful spotlight directly at the wheelhouse are not fine. It does get our attention, but even at relatively long range, it disrupts night vision. We will not reply and would like to discourage the practice. It's very much like the people in boats who randomly search all about with a spotlight or ride around thinking their docking lights are headlights.

BTW - Glad you and your family enjoy cruising with us!

The Mount
 

I grew up on the Lake and the Mount has been and always will be very special to my family and I. In my family we have an unofficial contest, who ever sees the Mount first, yells "There's the Mount" and we all turn and look and keep a mental note of who saw it first and how many times that day they saw it. My kids like Mondays the best, because her route takes her close to our island and we can get a good look at her and wave to the passengers. My 6 year old son is our Mount expert and usually is the first one to spot her cruising by the island, or coming up the broads. He also is planning on becoming her Captain some day. He'll make a good one!

"two if by sea"??
 

I like to think that Pine Island has a strong “flashing” contingent as the Mount passes by us. Starting with my Mother at the South end of the island, who at age 89 still gets a thrill out of the spotlight flash back at her and SkprBob (and the others), coming out of the wheelhouse to wave to her. Then past our house at light #4, and then our neighbors to the north who usually have the grandkids out banging on pots and pans to get the passengers attention!

May the tradition live on!!!

PIG

island friends
 

Pine Island Guy - You're right! It's always fun to go by the Light #4 shore of Pine Island. There's always a friendly wave or flash from your Mom's dock and then the percussion chorus. There's lots of spots where folks wave, kids band together and holler "honk your horn!!", porch lights flash, etc. It's nice to hear from you and others on this thread that the Mount is such a positive thing for so many. We appreciate it and hope it goes on for a long time to come.

What we say...
 

My family always says, "Mount up!" or "Mount down!" Up means she is on her way toward Center Harbor, and down means she is headed down the lake to The Broads.

As a kid, riding in Dad's boat, my cousins and I would shout "MOOOUUUNNT!!" in hopes that Dad would use its wake to give us a mini-tsunami... the highlight of our summer day as 9-year-olds.

So skpr bob, if the Mount only passes fl-3 on Mondays at 3:15, and everyday in July & August, then how come it passed today, a tuesday, at about 3pm. Was I seeing a ghost ship version of the Mount, today?

On Sandy Island, the staff say "Mount first!!!!" However, the staff cabins on the west side often hear it before they see it if there's a party going on.

When we bought our place we were talking to the previous owners and they said, here comes the mount several minutes before she appeared. It took us a while but we can now preform the same parlor trick. The sound is quite unique.

Fll
 

I will entertain your question. Likely it was a charter. Most are a 2-3 hour affair, captains choice as to route, many times its north up to 3 mile and then south as far as possible before making the turn for home

Hey, it's bad karma for me to 'dis' the Mount. Everyone luvs the Mount, so I think I'll just let this follow-up slide.

Hey, isn't this Saturday night the Halloween costume ball from 7-11; four hours of good food, three bands on three decks of party-hardy, costumes all dancing as the big boat glides along thru the silvery waters.

That will be me all by me lonely self, Count Dracula, with his head stretched out over the lower deck's bow railing, watching the silvery waters reflecting the scattered moonbeam and slipping away next to the iron hull of the big boat.......

strange trip
 

FLL - Yesterday, normally a Wolfeboro day, was unusual due to insufficient passengers. Instead of the usual two trips to Wolfeboro, the Mount made a 12:30 round trip with no other stops. Thus she ended up going through the Light #3 channel. That was not the normal Tuesday trip. As a matter of fact, you should see her again today for the same reason. She will also be by again this evening as she takes a charter as described by WeirsBeachBoater.

Thank you
 

Thank you for your response to the question :)

Thank you
 

Thank you for your response to the question and for sharing a nice memory :)

Thank you
 

I am guessing this is a dive thing :) Thank you for your response to the question.

Thank you for your response to the question and for sharing a Pine Island tradition with us 

Thank you Camp Island Girl for sharing your family's tradition. We hope your son's dream comes true :)

What a great “Mom” story… What is the vantage point of your Mothers photo collection?

Thank You
 

Thank you for your response to the question. There is nothing like life through the eyes of a two year old :)

Thank You
 

I like it! Thank you for your response to the question.

Thank You
 

Your response is appreciated :)

Thank You
 

Is this a daily score or a seasonal score? Thank you for your reply.

Thank You
 

Thank you for sharing... So nice to hear that you are loving life on the lake :)

Thank You
 

Thank you for your response.

Thank You
 

Thank you Chattypatty for your reply. It's also nice to know where this exclamation originated.

Thank You
 

Absolutely - Go Sox! Thank you for your response :)

Thank you
 

Your response is appreciated - And a big salute to Uncle Sam's Canoe Club!

Thank You
 

Thank you for your reply... "Party On"!

Thank you
 

Captain Mischief... Your mother sounds a wee bit tortured! Thank you for your response :)