POST FALLS — After eight weeks in dry dock, the Mish-An-Nock returned to the waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene on Saturday morning.

Significant upgrades were done in order to stay aligned with strict regulations put in place by the Coast Guard, Hagadone Marine Group President Craig Brosenne said.

The $250,000 project included replacing 280 square feet of plating on the vessel’s bottom, sand blasting, rudder replacement and other fine-tuning critical to the longevity of the ship.

“It’s a lot of things that passengers don’t necessarily see but are important to the safety of the entire fleet,” Brosenne said.

There’s one dry dock in particular that Lake Coeur d’Alene Cruises has long trusted with its boats.

“Finney Boat Works is the premier dry dock on this lake in building, servicing and maintaining our cruise boats for over 50 years,” Brosenne said. “It’s the safest dry dock on this lake.”

The over 300,000-pound vessel was built in 1969 and has been part of over 100 years of the history of cruise boats on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Lake Coeur d’Alene Cruises sees around 3,500 cruises annually and expects to carry more than 200,000 passengers this year.

Now, the Mish-An-Nock has returned to its home port — just in time for the holiday season.

Journey to the North Pole Cruises set sail Nov. 15 and run through Jan. 1. The Mish-An-Nock and its fellow cruise boats will complete nearly 500 such cruises.

“It’s a great day to see the Mish-An-Nock back in the water,” Brosenne said.

    The Mish-An-Nock is carefully launched into the Spokane River on Saturday after eight weeks in dry dock.
  

    The Mish-An-Nock returns to the waters Saturday after getting eight weeks of upgrade work from Finney Boat Works in Post Falls.