O'Kane leaves Mt. Washington Steamship Co.

As the crew of the Mount Washington Steamship Company gets the big boat ready for another season, they'll do so with a slight change in the company's ownership. Sean O'Kane, former commissioner of the state's Department of Resources and Economic Development, has sold his minority interest in the company back to the other owners, after about a year of serving as president of the company.

Jim Morash, the boat's captain as well as a minority owner, said yesterday the ownership structure hasn't changed with the exception of O'Kane's departure. Ed and Ingunn Gardener continue to be the majority owners of the company.

O'Kane had assumed his position on Jan. 1, 2007, and said he divested himself of the company a year later.

Aside from that, Morash said there isn't much new to report regarding the big lake's biggest boat. The first public cruise is scheduled for Mother's Day, May 11, as it has been the tradition. Sometime prior to that, the boat will sail for its annual "shakedown cruise," to ensure that everything works properly.

Although the lake looks to be a long way from ice-out — the point at which the ice has receded enough for the boat to sail from The Weirs to Alton Bay to Wolfeboro to Center Harbor, and back to The Weirs — Morash said he's not concerned. Historically, the lake surface melts on or around April 21, and that's what the veteran captain thinks will happen again this year.

Morash started working for the company in 1979, as a deck hand during summers, while he was getting a degree in business management from a college in Vermont. His family, he said, had been coming to vacation at Winnipesaukee's Bear Island for generations. For a young man who loved the region, liked boats, and had an interest in business, he "stuck with it" and finds himself where he is now.

Morash said the owners are "cautiously optimistic" about the coming tourist season, and think that the tight economy and increased travel expenses will work in their favor. "People stay a little closer to home," in times like these, Morash said. He noted that many of the ship's guests come from Massachusetts or closer, and the area might see even more visitors from nearby this year as the price of gasoline will persuade them to find what Morash called the "diamonds in their own backyard."