Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Boblo boats Columbia, Ste. Claire land role in “Transformers 4” movie

7/28 - Detroit, Mich. – Two Boblo boats have landed a role in “Transformers 4” movie. The S.S. Columbia and her sister the S.S. Ste. Claire, both docked in River Rouge, Mich., are being used as props.

The Columbia ferried people to the island amusement park from 1902 to 1991. The Ste. Clair did so from 1910 to 1991.

The Columbia's shi keeper, Sam Buchanan, said the St. Clair has "a prominent role" in the movie while the Columbia's appearance is "minor."

"When the movie folks are in town, they’re always looking for unique place to shoot so these boats came into play," Buchanan said. "They’re moving right along. They’ve been shooting primarily at night. I don’t know how much more is going to be going on there but they’re not nearly finished."

The City of River Rouge confirmed filming took place Wednesday and Thursday night.

"There were a lot of helicopters flying around," city clerk Sue Joseph said.

The steamships were put on the U.S. List of National Historic Landmarks in 1992. Producers have added a second smokestack to the Ste. Clair.

"It was unique looking because both Boblo boats only had one smoke stack. They added a second one for some sort of explosion in the movie," Buchanan said. "It won’t harm the boat any. The boats won’t be harmed in any way, but they’re making their big Hollywood debut."

The S.S. Columbia was put into service in 1902 and cruised the Detroit River until 1991.The S.S. Columbia was put into service in 1902 and cruised the Detroit River until 1991. (S.S. Columbia Project/Facebook)

Both are scheduled to be restored. The Columbia is owned by a not-for-profit group, the S.S. Columbia Project. The end goal is to have the ship eventually give tours along the Hudson River in New York.

Richard Anderson was the man behind the group. He died in January. But according to the organization's website and Buchanan, his dream is still alive.

"The board has undertaken a thorough review of the condition of the SS Columbia, the challenges involved in bringing her to N.Y. and the Hudson River, the adventure of restoring her, and the practicality of her operating up and down the Hudson," the organization posted on its Facebook page last month. "We expect to have announcements shortly about the next steps for the SS Columbia Project, who will be taking those steps, and how you can help."

Buchanan said complete restoration could cost "more than $10 million." In 2011, Anderson estimated a bill of $13 million The Ste. Clair, meanwhile, is owned by a Michigan doctor who wants it restored. It was most recently used as a dockside haunted house.

An added bonus about the filming is that the Ste. Clair had to have its decks replaced for safety's sake. "It’s looking pretty good and at least it’s safe," Buchanan said.

Although he's seen some of the work done, Buchanan hasn't watched any of the filming.

"I'm going to wait for the film. I think Detroiters and folks from Windsor will like seeing their boats [in the movie]. Everybody in this area were very close or have a very good memory or experience going to Boblo riding on those boats," Buchanan said.

"Boblo is one of those things that everyone in this area misses." Boblo ran as an amusement park from 1898 to 1993. It's now a residential development.

CBC News Windsor



Remembering Chicago’s killer seiche of 1954

7/28 - Chicago, Ill. – Chicagoans love their lake. It cools the hot summer winds, and it provides a watery playground for swimmers, fishermen and boaters. But last week's warnings of rogue waves reminded residents that Lake Michigan can be a dangerous neighbor, even in the warm months.

Deadly rip currents, boating accidents and drownings take numerous lives every year. There's also another danger – the seiche.

A seiche (pronounced saysh) is formed when a high-pressure system pushes lake water ahead of it, much like a storm surge. When the storm front passes through, the water rushes back into place. On June 26, 1954, those atmospheric ingredients resulted in a deadly tragedy.

Chicago was suffering through a stifling heat wave that June. Friday, June 25, saw a record high of 100.3 degrees, but Saturday broke a bit cooler. Many fishermen headed for the lakefront that morning but the lower temps and an ominous line of clouds on the horizon kept most of the beach crowd at home — the only break the city would get that day.

Though the squall line swept in from the north, the rain never came. The fishermen, some of whom had packed up and started leaving as the storm advanced, returned to their favorite spots at the North Avenue jetty and the Montrose Avenue harbor when the clouds passed on to the south and the skies began to clear. The lake was calm.

About 9:25 a.m., the seiche hit. A 1985 Tribune reconstruction described it as a "monstrous, hump-backed sea beast." The surge first lapped over the edge of the Montrose Avenue pier and wetted shoes, but immediately after — so fast that few who ran were able to make it to shore — a wave towering an estimated 8 feet high swept up the shoreline from North Avenue to Wilmette. About 50 people at Montrose Harbor were caught on the breakwater.

It would take more than a week to find all the bodies, eight in all, including a husband and wife who had planned to renew their marriage vows at their son's upcoming wedding, A 16-year-old boy lost his father in the wave but survived because he just happened to be at a nearby boathouse.

Such sudden, violent waves have hit Chicago before and since, though the 1954 incident was the deadliest reported by the Tribune, possibly because the offending storm failed to scare off the beach-goers and fishermen enjoying a respite from the heat. While an August 1960 storm produced a seiche, heavy rain, high winds and a seiche warning from officials cleared the area. One elderly man still was killed.

In July 1980, a "seichelike wave" threatened Chicago's beaches. Luckily, while 10 people had to be rescued, nobody was injured or killed. An Oak Street Beach lifeguard described what he felt when the lake showed its dark side: "It was just like the water was attacking you."

Chicago Tribune



Plan to ship radioactive material to Sweden cancelled

7/28 - A plan to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River for recycling in Sweden has been cancelled after delays caused by public opposition.

An agreement was reached in 2009 between Bruce Power in Tiverton, Ont., and Swedish company Studsvik but company president Duncan Hawthorne said they delayed the plans to allow further discussion with First Nations, Metis and other groups.

The move has been strongly opposed by aboriginal groups, the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP and a number of community organizations over the past two years.

Emma Lui of the Council of Canadians says there are many concerns but the “big one” is the possible threat to the Great Lakes if something went wrong with the shipment.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission had issued a transport licence and certificate to Bruce Power after determining the risk to the health and safety of the public and the environment was negligible.

Bruce Power spokesman James Scongack said the nuclear facility “did not seek to renew” the licence after it expired early in 2012 but that the company remains committed to finding a way to recycle its waste.

“This is by no means an indication that our position has changed on the importance of the reduce, reuse and recycle principle related to managing our waste,” he said.

Back in 2011, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said shipping the used generators through the Great Lakes was not the right thing to do. “We think it’s an unnecessary environmental and health risk to transport them,” she said at the time.

Lui says she would prefer for the radioactive material to stay on site so it could be monitored instead of shipping it overseas.

Bruce Power has said about 90 per cent of the metal in the steam generators can be decontaminated, melted down and sold back into the scrap metal market. The rest will be returned to the Bruce Power site for long-term storage. Each steam generator contains 100 tonnes of steel but less than four grams of radioactive substances.

But Lui says there was concern “about whether or not the radioactivity could actually be removed from the material.”

Studsvik announced the agreement to ship the 16 giant steel cylinders — around the size of school buses — from their Tiverston plant to Sweden had been cancelled in an interim report released last week.

Scongack says the cancellation is just a commercial position to recognize the fact that the original timetable for moving the steam generators had changed. While he says there are currently no official agreements with Studsvik on another plan, any future plans will move forward with transparency.

“If we do ever decide to proceed, we will be the first to let people know,” he said.

But for opponents to the plan like Maude Barlow, national chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, the cancellation of the plan is good news.

“This is a huge victory for communities around the Great Lakes,” she wrote in an email. “The Great Lakes belong to everyone and communities have a right to say ‘no’ to any projects that will harm them.”

Canadian Press




Today in Great Lakes History - July 28

On July 28, 1973, the ROGER M. KYES (Hull#200) was christened at Toledo, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. by Mrs. Roger Kyes for the American Steamship Co. Renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

B.A. PEERLESS (Hull#148) was launched July 28, 1952, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for British American Transportation Co. Ltd. Renamed b.) GULF CANADA in 1969, and c.) COASTAL CANADA in 1984.

The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON was delivered on July 28th to the Buckeye Steamship Co. (Hutchinson & Co., mgr.), Cleveland. The HUTCHINSON was part of a government program designed to upgrade and increase the capacity of the U.S. Great Lakes fleet during World War II. In order to help finance the building of new ships, the U.S.M.C. authorized a program that would allow existing fleets to obtain new boats by trading in their older boats to the Government for credit. The vessel was the ninth Maritimer and fourth of the six L6-S-Al types delivered. "L6" meant the vessel was built for the Great Lakes and was 600 to 699 feet in length. The "S" stood for steam power and "Al" identified specific design features.

On 28 July 1854, BOSTON (wooden propeller, 134 foot, 259 tons, built in 1847, at Ohio City, Ohio) was bound from Chicago for Ogdensburg, New York, with pork, corn, whiskey and produce. On Lake Ontario, about 20 miles off Oak Orchard, New York, she collided with the bark PLYMOUTH and sank in about 20 minutes. No lives were lost. The crew and passengers made it to shore in three lifeboats. The boat that the captain was in sailed 50 miles to Charlotte, New York.

In 1900, the freighter PRINCETON (Hull#302) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

On 28 July 1862, CONVOY (2-mast wooden schooner, 130 foot, 367 tons, built in 1855, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing downbound on a dark night on Lake Erie with 18,000 bushels of wheat when she collided with the empty bark SAM WARD and sank quickly in 12 fathoms of water. Her wreck drifted along the bottom and during the shipping season several vessels collided with her.

1922 – The wooden passenger and freight carrier CARIBOU went aground in the North Channel of Georgian Bay near Richards Landing.

1923 – The wooden steamer W.J. CARTER, enroute from Oswego to Cobourg with a cargo of coal, began leaking and sank in Lake Ontario 20 miles south of Point Peter. Nine crewmembers were rescued by the KEYPORT.

1929 – The newly-built canaller C.H. HOUSON was in a collision with the collier WABANA off Cap au Saumon on the St. Lawrence in heavy fog. The investigation of the accident was critical of the operation of both vessels. The former served in the Misener fleet, becoming b) PAUL MANION in 1949, and was scrapped at Deseronto, Ontario, in 1961.

1949 – NORMAN J. KOPMEIER was holed by an underwater obstruction entering Muskegon with a cargo of coal from Chicago. The vessel had to be beached and almost capsized. It was later refloated and repaired. The ship last sailed as e) PINEDALE in 1976 and was scrapped at Hamilton in 1981.

1961 – After loading a cargo of scrap steel for Japan on its first visit to the Great Lakes, the Greek freighter MIHALIS ANGELOS ran aground leaving Toronto harbor. The ship had been one of the “Empire Class” ships of World War Two, being built as a) EMPIRE MASEFIELD. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as f) GLORIA on December 6, 1967.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Hornbeck Offshore Services Sells Tank Barge Fleet to Genesis Marine

7/29 - Hornbeck Offshore Services announced on July 22 that they are selling their "downstream" fleet of nine tugs and nine double-hull tank barges to Genesis Marine for $230 million. Genesis Marine is an affiliate of Genesis Energy, which owns a fleet if inland river tank barges. Hornbeck will continue to operate its "upstream" fleet of offshore drilling supply vessels.

Hornbeck's tank barges have been a common site on the Lakes over the past 8 or so years, although none of their vessels has traded on the Lakes so far in 2013. The tug Huron Service and barge Energy 6506 spent most of the 2011 and 2012 seasons trading on the Lakes. Three of Hornbeck's tank barges (Energy 11103, Energy 11104 and Energy 11105) were built at the Toledo and Sturgeon Bay yards of Marinette Marine and fitted out at Marinette. And four of their tugs were named in honor of the Great Lakes (Erie Service, Huron Service, Michigan Service and Superior Service.)

Reported by Tom Hynes, with information from Tim Colton's Maritime Memos !!!



Great Lakes Ports Association elects new leadership

7/29 - Washington, D.C. – Members of the American Great Lakes Ports Association (AGLPA) elected new leadership at their annual summer meeting held this year in Oswego, New York.

The new president is William Friedman, President & CEO of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. Dean Haen, director of the Brown County Port & Solid Waste Department in Green Bay, will serve as vice president. The secretary-treasurer position will be held by Paul C. LaMarre III, port director at the Port of Monroe (Michigan). The term of office is two years.

Friedman became president and CEO of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority in June 2010. He has more than 25 years of experience in port management, real estate development, international supply chain and multimodal distribution. He served as vice president of ports and logistics for Duke Realty Corp. from 2004 to 2009. Friedman was CEO of the Ports of Indiana from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that position, he served 10 years with the Port of Seattle in a variety of management roles. Friedman holds two degrees from Indiana University a bachelor’s degree in history, and a masters degree in public administration with a concentration in urban and regional planning.




Today in Great Lakes History - July 29

OTTERCLIFFE HALL cleared Lauzon, Quebec, July 29, 1969 on her maiden voyage as the last "straight deck" Great Lakes bulk freighter built with a pilothouse forward.

While at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co. for general repairs and engine overhaul, the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 caught fire on July 29, 1971, destroying her cabin deck and rendering her useless for further use. The blaze was caused by an acetylene torch, and caused over $1 million in damage. She was not repaired. The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 was sold to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne, Ontario, for scrapping.

On July 29, 1974 the W.W. HOLLOWAY grounded in Lake St. Clair off the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club while running downbound with stone. Lightering into the J.F. SCHOELKOPF JR was necessary before she was freed by four tugs on July 31st.

ENDERS M. VOORHEES departed Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, on her maiden voyage July 29, 1942, bound for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore. She was the second of five "Supers" for the Pittsburgh fleet to enter service.

July 29, 1974 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 was towed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to be reduced to a barge.

The steam barge MARY ROBERTSON burned near Mackinac on 29 July 1872. Her crew escaped to a schooner-barge they were towing.

The MATERIAL SERVICE foundered in a heavy summer gale in 1936, off the South Chicago lighthouse. She was a canal motor barge not designed for open-lake use.

The side-wheel river steamer DOMINION burned to the water's edge at her dock in the Thames River near Chatham, Ontario, on 29 July 1875. She was built in 1867, at Wallaceburg, Ontario.

1912 – REPUBLIC stranded at Point Louise in the St. Marys River and sustained bottom damage.

1930 – The sandsucker GEORGE J. WHALEN capsized and sank off Dunkirk, N.Y., in heavy seas and 15 sailors perished. Only 6 were rescued and taken aboard the AMASA STONE.

1942 – The first PRESCODOC was torpedoed and sunk by U-160 off Georgetown, British Guiana, with the loss of 15 lives. The bauxite-laden steamer went down quickly, bow first, while enroute to Trinidad and only 5 were saved.

1943 – LOCKWELL and KEYBELL collided above Bridge 11 of the Welland Canal. The former was repaired at Port Dalhousie with $13,450 in damages.

1946 – TEAKBAY went aground on Featherbed Shoal off Carleton Island in the St. Lawrence while bound for Montreal with a load of coal. This member of the C.S.L. fleet was released, with the aid of tugs, the next day and proceeded to Kingston for repairs.

1971 – While undergoing a major refit at Manitowoc, fire broke out aboard the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 destroying the top deck and accommodation area. The damage was listed as between $450,000 and $700,000 and the vessel became a total loss. It was towed to Castellon, Spain, for scrapping.

1979 – The Cayman Islands registered QUIDNET came through the Seaway in 1978 but sank, in a collision with the SEA TIDE at Mamei Curve in the Panama Canal while enroute from Callao, Peru, to Trinidad. The hull was abandoned as a total loss and had to be cut in two before being towed away to a dumping ground. The ship had also been a Great Lakes visitor as b) LUDMILLA C. in 1968.

1993 – The second FEDERAL SCHELDE to visit the Great Lakes was built in 1977 and came inland that year on its maiden voyage with sugar for Montreal and Toronto. The ship received major bow damage after striking the ARARAT in the Orinoco River of Venezuela. It went to Hamburg, Germany, for repairs and resumed service. It became b) TRIAS in 1994 and continued Seaway service until 1999. The ship arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on December 12, 2000.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Walter J. McCarthy Jr.: Ex-CEO of Detroit Edison, who led nuclear energy efforts, dies at 88

7/30 - Walter J. (Mac) McCarthy Jr. was a leader in the field of nuclear energy, taking a career path that led him to the top spot at Detroit Edison. Mr. McCarthy, also known for his philanthropic work, died Wednesday in a hospital following a fall at his home in Carmel, Calif. He was 88. His namesake, the 1,000-foot vessel Walter J. McCarthy Jr. is a familiar sight on the Great Lakes.

Mr. McCarthy was the CEO of Detroit Edison, now DTE Energy, from 1981 until his retirement in 1990. A hallmark of his tenure was overseeing the development and the beginning of commercial operation of the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant near Monroe. He guided Detroit Edison both through growth and difficult financial times, said Caren Byrd, a friend who worked with Mr. McCarthy at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. “He was one of the most respected CEOs in the industry” and a pioneer in the field of nuclear energy, she said. “He had a national, worldwide reputation, particularly for his strong leadership and integrity.”

Mr. McCarthy’s grandson Jordan Haedtler said his grandfather worked hard to ensure that Fermi 2 complied with stringent new standards put in place following the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster.

Mr. McCarthy was a lifelong advocate for safe nuclear power. He served as chairman of INPO, a group formed after Three Mile Island to monitor nuclear plants. Byrd said Mr. McCarthy was also instrumental in forming the World Association of Nuclear Operators.

Mr. McCarthy had a special fondness for New York City, where he was born in 1925.

“He knew every inch of New York. His father and grandfather owned the ferry that was replaced by the George Washington Bridge,” said his wife, Linda McCarthy.

Mr. McCarthy graduated from Cornell University in 1949. He married Alice Ross that same year and moved to Birmingham. Later, in 1988, he wed Linda McCarthy.

Haedtler said that in 1952, his grandfather was picked to head the nuclear and analytic division of the Enrico Fermi Breeder Reactor Project, which explored nuclear energy’s potential. Mr. McCarthy was also involved with the development of Fermi 1 nuclear power plant and helped manage a partial core meltdown there. He joined Detroit Edison in 1963.

Mr. McCarthy was chair of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1987. In the early 1980s, he was one of the founders of the Distinguished Clown Corps, a group of corporate and community leaders who donate money to march down Woodward Avenue in clown suits during America’s Thanksgiving Parade.

Mr. McCarthy moved to Carmel when he retired. He served as president of the Monterey Symphony.

Along with his wife, Mr. McCarthy is survived by daughter Sharon; sons Walter, Dave, Jim and Bill; stepdaughters Carrielynn, Laura and Lisa, and 14 grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra or Youth Orchestra Salinas. A memorial service is planned for Aug. 10 at the Church in the Forest in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Detroit Free Press




Today in Great Lakes History - July 30

July 30, 1996 - CSL's self-unloader H.M. GRIFFITH, which was off Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior, and bound for Nanticoke, Ontario, with a load of 22,775 tons of western coal, had a spontaneous combustion fire in her number 2 cargo hold. Water was used to cool the fire and the GRIFFITH used her unloading boom to dump 3,000 tons of coal into Lake Superior. After an inspection by the USCG at the Soo the following day, revealed only minor damage, the vessel was cleared to proceed on her journey. Reconstructed and renamed b.) RT HON PAUL J. MARTIN in 2000.

This "News Page" on this site was "launched" in 1996, reporting the coal fire aboard the GRIFFITH.

GORDON C. LEITCH (Hull#36) was launched July 30, 1952, at Midland, Ontario, by Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. for the Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. Ltd., Toronto, Ontario.

The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker C.C.G.S. ALEXANDER HENRY entered service July 30, 1959. Since 1985, the HENRY has served as a museum in Kingston, Ontario.

On 30 July 1871, the 162-foot bark HARVEY BISSELL was carrying lumber from Toledo to Tonawanda, New York. When she was on the Western end of Lake Erie, she sprang a leak. Although the crew worked the hand-powered pumps constantly, the water kept gaining at a rate of about a foot an hour. The tug KATE WILLIAMS took her in tow, intending to get her to Detroit to be repaired, but this proved impossible. So the BISSELL was towed close to Point Pelee and allowed to sink in 14 feet of water. The WILLIAMS then left for Detroit to get steam pumps and other salvage equipment. On returning, they pumped out the BISSELL, refloated and repaired her. She lasted until 1905.

On 30 July 1872, the Port Huron Dry Dock launched SANDY, a lighter. Her dimensions were 75 feet x 20 feet x 5 feet.

On 30 July 1873, George Hardison of Detroit announced the beginning of a new shipyard in Port Huron, Michigan. It would be located above the 7th Street Bridge on the Black River on land owned by J. P. Haynes, accessible by River Street. Within 30 days of this announcement, the new yard had orders for two canalers three-and-aft rig for delivery in the spring of 1874. Their dimensions were to be 146 feet overall, 139 feet ¬keel, 26 foot beam and 11 foot 6 inches depth.

On 30 July 1866, CITY OF BUFFALO (wooden propeller, 340 foot, 2,026 tons, built in 1857, at Buffalo, New York as a side-wheeler) was unloading 72,000 bushels of wheat at the Sturgis Elevator at Buffalo, New York, when arsonists set fire to the complex. The fire destroyed the wharf, the elevator, several businesses and the ship. The arsonists were caught. Incidentally, the CITY OF BUFFALO was converted from a passenger side-wheeler to a propeller freighter during the winter of 1863-64. After the conversion, she was dubbed "the slowest steam-craft on the Lakes".



National Great Lakes Museum in Toledo expected to open next spring

7/30 - Toledo, Ohio - The National Great Lakes Museum will open on the Maumee River in Toledo next spring, the culmination of a 10-year push to create a place where people can learn about the local and national importance of the five interconnected bodies of water.

The museum was supposed to open this summer but was delayed by several factors, including the complexity of the exhibits, said Chris Gillcrist, executive director of the Great Lakes Historical Society.

But he said visitors will be thrilled by the society’s $12-million project, which includes the museum, a park and a restored freighter, the Col. James M. Schoonmaker.

“There will be no other museum like this,” Gillcrist said. “The focus is national in that it tells stories how the Great Lakes has dramatically impacted the history of the country.”

The impact ranges from the Battle of Lake Erie, in which the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British Royal Navy, to Prohibition, when more alcohol was transported across the lakes than in any other place in the United States, he said. The 2.5-acre park opened this month and the society will add artifacts including ships' wheels and propellers, he said.

The freighter’s restoration is nearly complete but it is open only for special events until the museum is completed, he said.

The historical society had operated the Inland Seas Maritime Museum in Vermilion since 1953 but it only accommodated about one-tenth of its artifacts, officials said.

The society also publishes a quarterly journal, conducts underwater archeology, offers educational programs and maintains a maritime research library.

After considering moving to Lorain, society officials announced in 2010 that it had reached an agreement with the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority to open a museum in the Toledo Maritime Center, which was built in 2008 as a passenger ferry terminal.

The biggest obstacle was moving the S.S. Willis B. Boyer, now re-christened to its original name as the Schoonmaker, he said. The ship is owned by the city of Toledo and had been docked near the Anthony Wayne Bridge.

The river had to be dredged of thousands of cubic yards of muck to create a slip that is 16-feet deep, 650 feet long and 80 feet wide. Sheet piling also had to be installed.

The society was able to use a $4.9 million Ohio Cultural Facilities grant that had been awarded to Toledo for improvements to Toledo’s marina district for the project, he said. The ship was moved in October, 2012.

Museum exhibits will include areas on exploration and settlement, expansion and industry, safeguard and support, and shipwrecks and safety. The building can still be used for ferry service if it is established.

The costs for the project include $2.8 million to dredge and install the sheet piling, $1.2 million to build the park, $1.2 million to restore the freighter and $3 million for building renovations and exhibits, Gillcrist said. The value of the building is about $3.5 million. The society has sold its Vermilion property to that city for $1.65 million and the deal should be finalized by the end of this year, he said. The society expects to raise the money to cover the cost of the museum by the time it opens.

The museum, below the Interstate 280 bridge and near Interstate 75 and the Ohio Turnpike, will primarily draw those who live within 200 miles, he said. Tickets will average about $10 per adult, with discounts for seniors and children.

For more information visit inlandseas.org. The Cleveland Plain Dealer






Maiden voyage: State-of the-art laker visits the Twin Ports

7/30 - Duluth, Minn. – Two down, two to go. Brand new lakers, that is, for Canada Steamship Lines.

That’s how many new, self-unloading cargo ships the Montreal-based shipping company is adding to its Great Lakes fleet this year as it prepares for its next 100 years of working the Great Lakes.

“It positions us to run a more sustainable fleet,” said Daniel McCarthy, the company’s vice president of marketing. “It’s positioning ourselves for a better environmental footprint.”

The newly-built ships are part of the company’s new state-of-the-art, 740-foot Trillium class of vessels. The first, the award-winning Baie St. Paul, made its first stop in the Twin Ports in April. The second, the Whitefish Bay, completed its maiden voyage on the Great Lakes last week with some fanfare after it arrived in Superior for its first load of dry bulk cargo.

Before departing on Friday from the Midwest Energy Resources Co. terminal, bound for Quebec with a load of low-sulfur coal and a crew of 19, officials showed off the Whitefish Bay to visitors. They emphasized its latest engine technology and hull design that reduces air pollution and increases fuel efficiency.

“It’s amazing,” said Capt. Kent Powell as he stood in full uniform on the sleek new bridge. “It’s a wonderful opportunity. I’m enjoying it immensely. And it’s great to have all the tools to do my job to the best.”

The new technology includes an integrated bridge system with all the monitors together, including thermal imaging equipment. The technology includes electronically controlled main engine and generators, real-time exhaust gas and fuel monitoring systems and improved thrusters, pumps and fans. The 600-foot self-unloading tunnel is remotely controlled for faster and more precise operation.

“It’s a tremendous step forward in efficiency,” McCarthy said.

Added safety features include a remote camera system and a watertight door between the engine room and the self-unloading tunnel that sounds an alarm if open.

Besides Canada Steamship Lines’ expansion with four new lakers for the first time in 27 years, it also is adding two new bulk carriers by next year. It has no plans to scrap its 20 older vessels, which get routine updates.

It’s all part of a major expansion occurring among Canadian Great Lakes fleets in general. Fednav Limited, also based in Montreal, is in the process of adding 27 new ships, including 14 lakers, to its fleet.

Like the Baie St. Paul, Canada Steamship Lines’ Whitefish Bay was built in Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. Each took about a year to build.

“Vessels like this don’t get thrown together quickly,” McCarthy said.

The repeal of Canada’s 25 percent duty on ships built abroad opened the door for the Canadian fleet expansions, he said. That coupled with a stronger Canadian dollar and lower shipbuilding costs in China to make the time right.

“It was an aligning of the stars,” he said.

But why build them in China?

“It’s a value proposition,” McCarthy explained. “We have a long relationship with a shipyard in China, and the capability exists in China to build these vessels. They have been building for more than 40 years for international and lake fleets.”

Reminders of the Whitefish Bay’s construction in China can be found in floor mats with Chinese writing on them and a plaque that hangs in the stairwell to the bridge that says “Whitefish Bay” in Chinese script.

There’s also indication of its two-month saltwater voyage from China in some peeling paint and rust already visible on the ship’s deck. McCarthy explained that’s from crossing the salty ocean, a problem vessels don’t have on the freshwater Great Lakes.

Mickael Medvedev of Montreal was part of the crew that brought the Whitefish Bay from China through the Panama Canal to Montreal. In the long, narrow engine control room on Friday, he watched as visitors took in the sight of the many shiny new controls and monitors overlooking the ship’s two-story, 8,000-horsepower low-speed diesel engine.

“It’s interesting,” he said of working with the latest technology. “There’s lot of new equipment which is interesting to work with. It’s satisfying.”

Two more Trillium-class self-unloading lakers will follow this year: the Thunder Bay and the Baie Comeau. Like Baie St. Paul and Whitefish Bay, they are named after bays and cities in the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Besides coal, the vessels will carry other dry bulk cargo, such as iron ore, salt, limestone, wheat, corn and soybeans.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Duluth says bon voyage to the tall ships

7/31 - Duluth, Minn. – Nine tall ships set sail from Duluth Thursday, and they continued to turn heads even as they departed.

The five-day festival drew more than 200,000 people to the city’s waterfront, according to Terry Mattson, CEO of Visit Duluth. A final tally remained unavailable Sunday, but Mattson estimated that somewhere between 200,000 and 250,000 admirers came to take in the spectacle of Duluth’s largest tall ship festival yet.

Rob and Carole Sanderson came all the way from their home in Hot Springs, Ark., to attend Tall Ships Duluth 2013 and do a bit of fishing in northern Minnesota as well.

While rainy weather kept the Sandersons away from the tall ships Saturday, they were lured out Sunday as the sun poked through the clouds.

“We’re so glad today turned out to be beautiful,” Rob Sanderson said as he waited in line to tour the SS Sørlandet, visiting all the way from its home port of Kristiansand, Norway.

Sanderson said he wasn’t put off by the lines Sunday. “We thought it would be crowded,” he said.

While Carole Sanderson said she was impressed by the ships, she expressed disappointment that all of the vessels were reproductions rather than originals.

As sailing aficionados, the Sandersons said they have visited a number of seaside and maritime communities, but Rob Sanderson remarked that he was impressed with what he’d seen of the Twin Ports. “Duluth is a really cool town,” he observed.

Visit Duluth presold tickets to visitors from all 50 states and every province in Canada, Mattson said. He predicted ticket revenue should be sufficient to cover Visit Duluth’s investment in the event. During the festival’s four days, Mattson said, he expects that more than 100,000 people will have paid for admission to the festival. He estimates that at least an equal number of people came to watch the procession of tall ships without buying a ticket.

Seven of the nine ships that took part in the festival set out at noon Tuesday, when the vessels begin the next leg of the Tall Ships Challenge, racing between Duluth and the Soo Locks.



Waterspouts on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie Tuesday morning

7/31 - The updrafts in the lake effect clouds Tuesday morning were strong enough to produce small waterspouts. Waterspouts were observed near Sodus and southwest of Buffalo over Lake Erie. They have since dissipated.

Waterspouts are small tornado-like vorticies that form under intense updrafts in clouds over water.

Around the Great Lakes, they are generally not damaging but can be an issue for boaters. The funnels sometimes make their way on shore and can be a problem for shoreline property owners as the winds in these small circulations can be strong enough to blow things around.

Waterspouts over the Great Lakes are most common in the late summer and early fall when the water is at its warmest and the air, especially at higher altitudes starts to cool down. Heat from the lakes causes strong rising currents of air that support the updrafts necessary to build the clouds and the waterspouts.

You can find out more about waterspouts on the Great Lakes and the research going on about them by going to the International Center for Waterspout Research website.



CCGS research icebreaker sails on 2013 Arctic mission

7/31 - The Hon. Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, wished bon voyage to Canadian Coast Guard crew members and scientists aboard the CCGS Amundsen who will participate in the 2013 research mission in the Canadian Arctic.

"This year marks the 10th anniversary of the CCGS Amundsen, a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary research icebreaker," said Minister Shea. "In addition to being the only Canadian icebreaker to have navigated the Arctic in the winter, the CCGS Amundsen has distinguished itself by supporting major international scientific missions in Canada's Far North."

The CCGS Amundsen is one of the few Canadian icebreakers to have a dual purpose. In winter, she is assigned to the CCG icebreaking program whereas every summer, she is chartered by ArcticNet, a scientific consortium. This year, the CCGS Amundsen will navigate the Labrador Sea, Baffin Bay, the Northwest Passage and the Beaufort Sea to study the impact of climate change and modernization on the arctic marine ecosystem.

Thanks to her skilled crew and highly sophisticated equipment, the CCGS Amundsen can at all times be deployed to take part in search and rescue, pollution control or any operations that support the security and the accessibility of Canadian waters.

Marinelink




Today in Great Lakes History - July 31

On this day in 1948, in a total elapsed time of 19 hours, the JAMES DAVIDSON of the Tomlinson fleet unloaded 13,545 tons of coal at the Berwind Dock in Duluth and loaded 14,826 tons of ore at the Allouez Dock in Superior.

On this day in 1955, Al A. Wolf, the first Chief Engineer of a Great Lakes freighter powered by a 7,000 hp engine, retired as Chief Engineer of the WILFRED SYKES. Chief Wolf started as an oiler on the POLYNESIA in 1911, became Chief Engineer in 1921, and brought out the SYKES in 1948.

Sea trials took place for the JAMES R. BARKER this day in 1976. She was to become Interlake's first 1000 footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third thousand-footer to sail on the Lakes and the first built entirely on the Lakes.

On July 31, 1974, the Liberian vessel ARTADI approached the dock at Trois Rivires, Que. where she damaged the docked GORDON C. LEITCH's stern.

The CEDARBRANCH was damaged and sunk by an explosion on July 31, 1965, several miles below Montreal, Quebec resulting in a loss of one life. Repaired and lengthened in 1965, she was renamed b.) SECOLA in 1978, and c.) KITO MARU in 1979, and scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 1985.

On 31 July 1849, ACORN (wooden schooner, 84 foot, 125 tons, built in 1842, at Black River, Ohio) was struck amidships by the propeller TROY near West Sister Island in Lake Erie. She sank quickly, but no lives were lost since all hands made it to the TROY.

On 31 July 1850, AMERICA (wooden side-wheeler, 240 foot, 1,083 tons, built in 1847, at Port Huron, Michigan) suffered a boiler or steam pipe explosion while sailing on Lake Erie. The explosion immediately killed nine persons and scalded others who died later. The vessel was repaired and sailed for three more seasons.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - August 1

On 01 August 1862, UNION (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 163 foot, 434 ton, built in 1861, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was sold by the Goodrich Line to James H. Mead and J. F. Kirkland for $28,000. This was $9,000 more than Goodrich had paid to have the vessel built just the previous year.

On August 1, 1982, the Canadian tanker L’ERABLE NO 1 entered service. Renamed b.) HUBERT GAUCHER in 1982. Sold foreign in 1996, renamed c.) RODIN and d.) OLYMPIC PRIDE in 2000.

August 1957 - The PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1911 was sold to Luria Brothers, Chicago scrap merchants, along with the PERE MARQUETTE 14.

On 1 August 1871, the construction of the canal through the St. Clair Flats was finished at a cost of $365,000. It was the first real channel built to help ships through the shallow waters where the St. Clair River empties into Lake St. Clair and where there are seven mouths or passes. It took the Canadian contractor John Brown three years to dig the channel that measures 300 feet wide and 8,421 feet long. The water was 18 feet deep. It was protected on most of its sides by piers and dikes. The new channel was considered too small even as it was being dug. At only 300 feet wide, tows of log rafts were encouraged to sue the old shallower channels. Within 20 years, plans were made to deepen the channel to 20 feet.

On 1 August 1849, CHICAGO (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 95 foot, 151 tons, built in 1842, at Oswego, New York) burned in Buffalo harbor. No lives were lost.

1911 – Seven lives were lost when the wooden passenger ship SIRIUS capsized and sank in the St. Lawrence 8 miles from Massena, N.Y. There were 75 passengers on board headed for a picnic when the accident occurred. Apparently, many passengers had rushed to one side of the ship to see a woodchuck as the ship was turning in the current and this led to the ship going over.

1951 – The first SAGUENAY to sail for Canada Steamship Lines was built at Govan, Scotland, in 1913 for service between Quebec City and Saguenay River ports. It left Canada for the Far East as b) KIANG YONG in 1946 and became c) YANGTSE PHOENIX in 1949. The vessel dragged her anchors while riding out a typhoon near Tai Po, Hong Kong, on this date in 1951, went aground and was wrecked.

1969 – The British freighter HOPERIDGE made two trips to the Great Lakes in 1959. It sank on this date in 1969 as b) BETHLEHEM due to a collision with the SHOWA MARU while about 30 miles from Singapore. The ship was enroute from Tokyo to Aden and 7 of the crew were lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lake Superior water level surges in July

8/2 - Lake Superior posted its third-straight month of above-normal water-level increases, rising 5.5 inches in July compared to the usual 1.5-inch increase for the month.

The International Lake Superior Board of Control reported Wednesday that the big lake is 2.3 inches below its long-term normal and is 6 inches above the level of Aug. 1, 2012.

Lake Superior had its second-highest monthly increase in May and rose more than usual in June, thanks to well-above-normal precipitation across much of its watershed. The big lake continues its trend back to normal water levels after several years of below-normal levels.

Meanwhile, the levels of Lakes Huron and Michigan also are moving back toward normal. The level of those lakes was stable in July, as usual, and is 2 inches above the level on Aug. 1 last year. They remain about 19 inches below the long-term normal, although that gap has been cut in half in recent months.

Duluth News Tribune









Lake Express out of operation due to engine repair, should be back running by Aug. 3

8/2 - Muskegon, Mich. – The Lake Express high-speed ferry service between Muskegon and Milwaukee has been out of operation since Monday, July 29, due to mechanical issues, ferry officials said.

The Lake Express is anticipated to be back in service by Friday or Saturday, according to marketing and sales Director Aaron Schultz. The ferry service has been in contact with customers who have booked reservations for this week, keeping them up to date on progress in making repairs to one of the four jet-boat’s diesel engines, he said.

“We realize that our situation and decisions unfortunately affect a lot of people and we do not take that lightly,” Schultz said. “But we want to make sure that the fixes are done right and with safety in mind so that we can continue for the balance of our season.”

Schultz said that persistent engine problems shut the Lake Express down for about two days the week of July 22. Those problems caused the ship to be docked beginning on the third crossing of Monday, July 29. The fixes are being made with spare equipment on Lake Express docks in Milwaukee, company officials indicated.

As to when the Lake Express will be back in operation, Schultz said the company cannot say exactly but it would probably be Friday or Saturday, Aug. 2 or 3. The exact return to service will depend upon various inspections and sea trials and those with reservations will be informed of the progress, Schultz said.

The Lake Express website has shut down reservations through Friday, so as not to give any false information to the sailing public, Schultz said.

Before the engine problems that plagued the Lake Express the past two weeks, the overall season has been strong, Schultz said. He said Lake Express officials expect to continue its solid ridership when the ship returns to service.

The Lake Express provides three round-trips a day between Muskegon and Milwaukee on a 192-foot catamaran ferry that carries 46 vehicles, motorcycles and 250 passengers. The 80-mile trip across Lake Michigan takes two and half hours dock-to-dock.

The Lake Express carries more than 100,000 passengers each year but the company does not give exact numbers for competitive reasons. The ferry service is celebrating its 10th anniversary year.

Mlive





Port Reports - August 2

St. Marys River
Traffic Thursday included the downbound Roger Blough, CSL Laurentien and Great Lakes Trader. Upbounders included Algolake and Algoma Discovery. Several of the tall ships were downbound in the river.

Cedarville, Mich.
Wilfred Sykes loaded most of the day for Port Inland and Indiana Harbor.

Manitowoc, Wis.
The training vessel Manatra, out of Chicago, visited Manitowoc Thursday morning after sailing from Mackinac Island. The vessel is a US Naval Sea Cadet training platform on its 2nd seven-day sail of the season. There are 12 Sea Cadets aboard from across the country. Underway the cadets will steer, navigate and supervise during life-saving drills and are given instruction throughout the cruise by the professional crew and staff of Manatra. Many of these young adult, high school-aged cadets have applied for the available slots aboard the vessel with the hope of furthering their education of sea-going life and an eventual maritime or naval career. They moored just east of the museum vessel Cobia The vessel will depart on Friday morning.



Muskegon, Mich. - Tyler Fairfield
The American Mariner came in early Thursday morning and unloaded coal at the B.C. Cobb Plant. The tug Samuel De Champlain and barge Innovation remained at the Mart Dock and are expected to depart in the coming days.

South Chicago - Brian Z.
American Steamship's American Mariner loaded coal at KCBX in Chicago on Wednesday for Muskegon Michigan.

Marblehead, Ohio - Jim Spencer
Interlake Steamship's barge Pathfinder and tug Dorothy Ann continued to load Thursday evening at the Lafarge aggregate dock. The pair arrived early in the day. Waiting its turn, the Manistee lay quietly at anchor in South Passage amid periodic rain showers under leaden skies.

ED. NOTE Last nite Ppat and I took a spin into Manitowoc with the model T and as soon as we croosed the 8th street bridge, I yelled out "check that out!" Ppat hadn't seen it so I surprised her when we pulled up in front of the COBIA and there was the MANATRA. Capt Tom Bohling was lounging on a bench when we pulled up and gave him one long and one short on the ahooga horn. FWIW... I kept the Hatt Trick at his house in Chicago for a year. 75 years old and sharp as a tack. He sure was happy to se us!! ws



Watch for pleasure craft in the locks on Saturday

8/2 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – Saturday will mark the start of the 23rd biennial running of the Trans Superior International Yacht Race. The 326-nautical-mile race from Sault Ste. Marie to Duluth, Minnesota, is organized by the Duluth Yacht Club in conjunction with the Algoma Sailing Club.

Both crewed and single-handed boats are registered for this year’s race. Bondar Marina will house the majority of the fleet with some of the boats also on the Michigan side of the border.

The boats will be arriving to the Sault over the next few days in anticipation of Saturday morning’s start to the race. The Trans Superior has been held every odd year since 1969. The race is also part of the Lake Superior Yachting Association off-shore series and is the longest point to point fresh water race held biennially.

The race was first organized by Duluth sailor Jack Soetebier and Dr. John Pierpoint from White Pine, Michigan. The two men set up the race as a challenge to themselves and other Lake Superior sailors.

Race festivities will begin with a skipper’s meeting on Friday, August 2 at the Algoma Sailing Club with the race starting at 1 p.m. from Gros Cap on Saturday, August 3.

Prior to the start, on Saturday morning, the fleet of yachts will lock thru the Soo Locks on their way to the start line. The event ends with an awards dinner in Duluth on Thursday, August 11.

Presently there are 27 yachts registered for the event. The fleet also includes entries from Minnesota, Thunder Bay, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and even the United Kingdom.

Soo Today




Today in Great Lakes History - August 2

On August 2, 1991, Paterson's 1961-built lake bulk carrier CANADOC, which had been in lay-up in Montreal since April 6, 1990, and sold for scrapping, cleared the port in tow of the Netherlands Antilles tug DALMAR SPIRIT, bound for Mamonal, Columbia, arriving there on August 26, 1991.

On this day in 1880, the new Goodrich propeller CITY OF LUDINGTON was launched at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The CITY OF LUDINGTON was 170 feet loa x 35 feet x 11 feet, had 44 staterooms and a salon. She was built at a cost of $90,000. The CITY OF LUDINGTON was partially dismantled at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1930-1931, and the hull was towed to Big Summer Island, Lake Michigan in 1933, for use as a breakwall.

On the morning of 02 August 1869, Deputy U. S. Marshall Insley sold at auction the scow AGNES HEAD to pay for debts incurred when she was repaired that spring by Mr. Muir and Mr. Stewart. Bidding started at $500 and ran very lively. Mr. John Stewart of Detroit purchased the vessel for $1,050. The AMERICAN MARINER (Hull#723) was launched on August 2, 1979, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Co. for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., (American Steamship Co., Buffalo, New York, mgr.). She was to be named CHICAGO, but that name was removed before launch.

The U.S. Coast Guard's report on the sinking of the EDMUND FITZGERALD was released on August 2, 1977. It cited faulty hatch covers, lack of watertight cargo hold bulkheads and damage caused from an undetermined source as the cause of her loss.

The BENSON FORD's maiden voyage was on August 2, 1924, with coal from Toledo, Ohio to Duluth, Minnesota and returned with iron ore to the Ford Rouge Plant at Dearborn.

On August 2, 1990, the Lightship HURON was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark. LIGHTSHIP 103 had been almost completely restored and was opened to the public in 1974, for tours and remains so at this time.

August 2, 1862 - John C. Ackerman was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At the time of his death in 1916, he was commodore of the Pere Marquette carferry fleet based in Ludington.

On 2 August 1877, GRACE A CHANNON (wooden schooner, 141 foot, 266 gross tons, built in 1873, at East Saginaw, Michigan) was bound from Chicago for Buffalo when she collided with the propeller tug FAVORITE and sank 12 miles south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The young son of the owner of the CHANNON lost his life in this accident.

In 1858, the wooden side-wheeler TELEGRAPH collided with the schooner MARQUETTE and sank 40 miles north of Cleveland.

1909 – GLENELLAH of Inland Navigation struck the east breakwall at Port Colborne, damaging both the ship and the structure. The vessel joined Canada Steamship Lines in 1913 becoming b) CALGARIAN (ii) in 1926. It was broken up at Hamilton in 1960.

1915 – KENORA went aground off Flat Point, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, enroute from Montreal to Sydney. The C.S.L. canal ship was operating on saltwater due to the demands of World War One and was soon refloated.

1931 – The RAPIDS KING took out the gates of Lock 2 of the St. Lawrence Canal at Montreal and SASKATOON was one of 7 ships left on the bottom of the channel.

1967 – The West German freighter JOHANN SCHULTE and the new Canadian self-unloader CANADIAN CENTURY brushed each other in the Welland Canal near Thorold. The former hit the bank and was holed but made it to the tie-up wall before settling on the bottom. The ship was travelling from Duluth-Superior to Poland with wheat. The 4-year old vessel was refloated August 5 and went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs. It was scrapped in China as d) SINGAPORE CAR in 1984-1985.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Uncertain future for Presque Isle Power Plant

8/3 - Marquette, Mich. – Will it soon be lights out for the Presque Isle Power Plant in Marquette? It's a possibility according to We Energies after their largest customer, Cliffs Natural Resources, decided to purchase power from a new source.

Starting September 1, Cliffs will begin buying electricity from Integrys Energy Services out of Chicago. A switch, their spokesperson says, will save them tens of millions of dollars annually.

Around 170 jobs hang in the balance at the Presque Isle power plant after Cliffs Natural Resources announced it is enrolling in Michigan's electric choice program, allowing the company to purchase deregulated power for the Tilden and Empire Mines. Under Michigan's Utility Choice Law, customers using more then 10 percent of a utility's sales weren't able to switch suppliers. But a change in 2008 exempted mines from the cap.

We Energies says it's unsure why the decision came five years after the change, but losing its largest customer will result in an uncertain fate of the plant and its employees.

"We're mitigating our options for this loss of load for 2014 and beyond," said Gale Kappa, We Energies CEO. "We simply have to look at the future of the Presque Isle Power Plant."

A Cliffs spokesperson says the decision comes after three rate hikes in five years, an increase of 110 percent.

"What we're looking at now, using deregulated power, being able to reduce the cost to the mines in the magnitude of tens of millions of dollars annually. Roughly 17 to 26 percent," said Dale Hemmila, Director of Public Affairs for Cliffs.

Rates for WE Energies are regulated by the Michigan Civil Service Commission. The MCSC says the energy company has filed three rate increase applications since 2008. The rate increases are to recover costs for newer power generating facilities in addition to environmental compliance costs with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cliffs says the savings will support the viability of both mines and their 1,600 employees.

"That allows us to keep our costs lower and maintain the employment levels that we have and the production," Hemmila added.

We Energies has approximately 21,000 customers in the Upper Peninsula, but 80 percent of the power produced is for the Tilden and Empire mines. Cliffs argues they will still produce power for a grid that supplies 15 states and a Canadian province and should not impact the power plant.

We Energies says prices for its existing customers will remain the same for 2013, but they are uncertain what will happen for 2014 and 2015.

Upper Michigan’s Source


Canal boat replica stops in Lockport before a three-day stay at Canalside

8/3 - Buffalo, N.Y. – The history of Buffalo is written on its waterways, from the expanse of Lake Erie where world powers once vied for control of nascent America during the War of 1812, to the long stretches of the Erie Canal – some intact, some buried, some en route to restoration – along which mule-drawn barges transported every commodity imaginable to the city in its heyday.

A piece of Buffalo’s nautical past will come to life this weekend as the Lois McClure, a replica canal schooner from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Basin Harbor, Vt., arrives at Canalside for three days of public tours, part of a four-month, 1,000-mile voyage commemorating the War of 1812 Bicentennial and the age of water-born commerce it ushered in.

“The City of Buffalo grew out of the interface of the canal and the Great Lakes,” said Art Cohn, museum co-founder and one of the dozen-odd historians, sailors, and volunteers living aboard the Lois McClure or its tugboat escort as the schooner winds it way from Lake Champlain to Lake Erie and back again. The ship set sail in May and is scheduled to return home in mid-October.

As the crew prepared for a public showing at Upson Park in Lockport on Friday evening, one of dozens of scheduled stops the ship is making in Vermont, parts of Canada and across New York, Cohn explained why vessels of this kind had such a big impact on the growth of Buffalo and other settlements along the canal.

In a pre-railroad era, Cohn said, canals enabled goods to travel farther and faster than ever before, linking existing commercial centers in new ways and creating entirely new ones along their lengths. “These guys revolutionized the world they lived in,” he said, calling them “the Internet of their age.”

Case in point: in 1823, there were two houses in the area now known as Lockport. By 1825, the year the Erie Canal officially opened, there were 500, Cohn said.

With its flat-bottomed oak hull and its 88-by-14½-foot dimensions, the Lois McClure is “typical of hundreds of boats that would have gone right by here,” Cohn said. The schooner’s sails made it uniquely suited to traverse the integrated system of lakes and canals that linked the Northeast from Buffalo to as far as Quebec City.

But Cohn explained that vessels of this type never actually sailed on the canal. Like the barges tugged by Sal the Mule in the canal-era classic “Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal,” they relied on animal power to navigate the narrow waterway and pass under its many bridges.

The schooner’s masts are kept on wooden racks above deck when not in use, and will be lowered while at Canalside.

The green and white-striped schooner, which is behind schedule after flooding in the Mohawk Valley closed the canal for a time, is tugged along at five miles per hour – a sluggish pace by modern standards, but still twice as fast as mules could have dragged the craft. To pass the time, Cohn said the crew read, talk and enjoy the scenery.

Cohn, who has been on every one of the McClure’s nine voyages since it set sail in 2004, said he doesn’t mind the slow pace. “I find personally that watching the world go by at 5 miles per hour is very relaxing,” he said, adding that driving a car afterwards takes some getting used to.

The Lois McClure is modeled after two shipwrecks the museum spent decades studying on the bottom of Lake Champlain. Built in 1862 and sunk by storms, the vessels were subject to hundreds of photographs and thousands of measurements as divers from the museum prepared for their recreation. Cohn said the museum instructed its hired shipwrights to stay as true to the original design as possible in order to capture the original character of the crafts, said to be examples of a forgotten class of canal boat. The Lois McClure was named in honor of a museum donor.

Like the families – moms, dads and kids – who Cohn said operated the crafts back in the day, the crew of the McClure lives, sleeps and eats on board the ship. Some crew members sleep in small beds tucked into alcoves in the cramped family quarters, which includes such period-appropriate amenities as a cast-iron stove and a chamber pot – for display purposes only, thankfully. Daily chores include swabbing the decks with canal water hauled up in a bucket.

In addition to making for a reunion of 19th century replicas, the McClure’s arrival at Canalside marks another remarkable historical convergence. Captaining the ship is Roger Taylor, a distant descendent of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, whose role in the War of 1812 earned him the nickname “Hero of Lake Erie.” Taylor, 81, called it a “thrill to come to Buffalo” and commemorate his ancestor’s victory on Lake Erie, 200 years after the fact.

The schooner, which was in Buffalo once before in 2007, can be toured free of charge from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and from 3 to 6 p.m. on Monday after the crew hosts local youth groups.

The goal, Cohn said, is to “invite the public to come on board, step back in time, and experience history.”

The Buffalo News




Night boats once plied Lake Ontario's water and beyond

8/3 - During the 19th century and well into the first half of the 20th century, night boats traversed the waters of the East and West coasts of the United States, as well as the major rivers, bays and the Great Lakes.

So popular was this form of travel that Tin Pan Alley soon introduced “On the Old Fall River Line” and “The Girl on the Night Boat,” only two of a number of songs of the era mentioning night boat travel. A musical comedy from 1920 called The Night Boat (on the Hudson River), with music by Jerome Kern, enjoyed great success.

Lake Ontario had several night boat lines at various times. The first night boat, built in 1899 for the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company (1870s to 1913) by the Bertram Engine Works Company of Toronto, was christened the Toronto and had 330 berths. It ran the Toronto-Prescott route on Lake Ontario, stopping at Rochester and Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands.

A larger, twin stack boat followed in 1901, built by the same company. Named the Kingston, it was a side-wheeler, as was the Toronto. The added size allowed for 400 passengers and 365 berths. Both of the handsome boats carried their names painted across the side wheel guard covers.

The Toronto or the Kingston made twice-weekly runs from Toronto. Leaving in late afternoon, they docked at the Genesee River in the early evening. On boarding, the passengers would find a salon fore and aft, with grand stairs leading to the upper deck. Cabins ran along the outer perimeter on both of the salon’s two levels. The interior was lavishly decorated. Lounge chairs, tables and potted foliage plants filled the ample salons. A dining room with linen tablecloths, crystal glassware and fine china was provided. The boat departed at sunset, heading east.

After retiring to your reserved cabin, the rhythmic swish of the two paddlewheels and the low throb of the steam engines could waft you off to slumberland. Early morning found you awakening to a short stop at Kingston, Ontario. Quickly, it was off for a leisure cruise through the Thousand Islands, stopping at Alexandria Bay. Then it was on to Prescott and Brockville, Ontario. Connections there could be made with the steamers Rapids King or Queen, and a trip through the Lachine Rapids, west of Montreal.

At Montreal, additional boats traveled to Québec City or farther east to the Atlantic coast. Connections were available at many of the stops for return passage back to Kingston, Rochester or Toronto on other boats of the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation line. This boat line merged to become part of the huge Canadian Steamship Lines in 1913. At its height, the CSL owned 155 boats on the Great Lakes.

After World War I and the rise of automobile ownership, travel on all boat lines suffered somewhat. But the Kingston and Toronto were still very popular into the late 1920s. The Depression and new laws concerning aging steamboats hampered ridership in the 1930s. The Toronto was taken out of service in 1938 due to its wooden decks and aging steam boilers. The slightly younger Kingston continued on until the late 1940s, but its regular schedule and special tours were greatly reduced.

It might have continued on for short while longer, had it not been for a tragic fire on the steamship Noronic, moored at its dock in Toronto Harbour. Fire broke out during the night of Sept. 17, 1949, and within minutes engulfed the entire boat. It was on its final run from the upper Great Lakes for the season. On board were 512 passengers and a crew of 170. The final tally of loss of life was 119.

As a result, more stringent fire codes were implemented by both the Canadian and U.S. governments. The outcome was that the Canadian Steamship Line ended all passenger service on Lake Ontario. The proud Kingston side-wheeler was scrapped in 1951, one of the last vestiges of an outmoded way to travel.

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle





Today in Great Lakes History - August 3

On this day in 1960, EDWARD L. RYERSON, new flagship of the Inland Steel fleet, successfully completed her sea trials.

Under tow, the AVONDALE, a.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS of 1908, in tandem with former fleet mate FERNDALE. a.) LOUIS R. DAVIDSON of 1912, arrived at Castellon, Spain for scrapping in 1979.

CANADOC left the St. Lawrence River on August 3, 1991, in tow bound for Mamonal, Colombia, for scrapping.

August 3, 1946 - The third officer of the ANN ARBOR NO 6, drowned while painting her draft marks. He had apparently leaned too far and fell out of the rowboat.

On 3 August 1900, FONTANA (wooden 2-mast schooner-barge, 231 foot, 1,164 gross tons, built in 1888, at St Clair, Michigan as a 4-mast schooner-barge) was carrying iron ore in tow of the steamer KALIYUGA. The FONTANA sheared off and collided with the big schooner-barge SANTIAGO and settled in the mouth of St. Clair River in the St. Clair Flats, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. After salvage was given up months later, she was dynamited several times to flatten and reduce her wreckage. Although officially no loss of life was reported, local newspaper reported that one crewman was drowned. The FONTANA was owned by Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.

On 3 Aug 1857, R.H. RAE (3-mast wooden bark, 136 foot, 344 tons, built in 1857, at St. Catharines, Ontario) capsized and sank in a "white squall" off Duck's Creek on Lake Ontario. She went down slowly enough for her people to abandon in her small boat. They were later picked up by the propeller COLONIST. There was a big effort to salvage her the next summer, but to no avail. She was a total loss of $20,000. She was reportedly built for the trans-Atlantic trade and looked more like a seagoing schooner. Some sources give the date of the loss as 4 August 1857. The wreck is in very good condition. The Cousteau organization lost a diver on her in 1980.

On 3 August 1915, ALEXANDRIA (wooden sidewheel passenger/package freight, 174 foot 863 gross tons, built in 1866, at Hull, Quebec, formerly a.) CONSORT, was carrying foodstuffs in Lake Ontario when she was blown on a bar in a storm and fog. She broke up by wave action under the Scarborough Bluffs, east of Toronto. Lifesavers worked for hours and rescued the entire crew. GARDEN CITY was caught in the same storm as ALEXANDRIA. This ship sustained smashed windows and a hole in the hull but was able to reach safety.

1920 – The wooden steamer MAPLEGROVE sank in the Welland Canal. The vessel was salvaged and sold for further service as JED. It had been built at Marine City in 1889 as CHEROKEE.

1927 – The bulk canaller CASCO of the Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. went aground at Pipe Island in the lower St. Marys River and required lightering before floating free and proceeding for repairs.

1962 – MEDINA PRINCESS, a former “Empire ship,” first came to the Great Lakes under British registry in 1959. It made 5 trips through the Seaway but went aground on a reef near Djibouti while enroute from Bremen, Germany, to China. The hull was refloated August 31 but was laid up at Djibouti. It remained idle until breaking loose and going aground on September 4, 1964. The hull was a total loss and, at last report, the wreck was partially submerged.

1978 – The French freighter JEAN L.D. made 37 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1967. It was sailing as c) CAVO STARAS when the engine room become flooded during a voyage from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the overnight hours of August 3-4, 1978. The vessel was towed to Dakar, Sierra Leone, on August 14 and sold to Spanish shipbreakers, via auction, on May 8, 1979. It arrived at Barcelona, under tow, on June 18, 1978, and scrapping began July 5 of that year.

2010 – SIDSEL KNUTSEN lost power due to a fire in the engine room and went aground off St. Clair, Mich. It remained stuck until August 9 and was then refloated and cleared to proceed to Montreal. It was operating in Canadian service at the time under a special waiver.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Low water level causes deep problem for Great Lakes shipping industry

8/4 - Cleveland, Ohio – Great Lakes shipping industry executive Jim Weakley isn't waiting anymore for water levels to come back.

"I've stopped using the word cyclical, because cyclical implies it's going to return to where it was," said Weakley, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander who is now president of the Lake Carriers Association. "If you're 14 years below the long-term average, that's not cyclical."

Weakley's group represents the U.S. freighters that move bulk materials between Great Lakes ports — things like iron ore for steel production, coal to sustain the Midwest's electrical grid as well as the cement that is a foundation of the construction industry.

The low water, coupled with a harbor dredging backlog, has drastically affected the big boats' ability to float these materials. The official depth of the deep-draft navigation system is supposed to be 27.5 feet. The actual depth in some shallower harbors, rivers and channels this spring was closer to 25 feet.

This is big trouble for the shipping industry; for every inch that a 1,000 foot ship has to sail light, it must shed about 270 tons of cargo or risk running aground.

Weakley arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for the March 25 opening of the shipping season to lobby a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers general and regional politicians to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to restore depth to the lakes' navigation channels.

The group climbed aboard the first ship of the season to sail through the Soo Locks — the 1,013-foot-long Paul R. Tregurtha. It is longer than three football fields and can tote nearly 70,000 tons of coal — enough, Weakley says, to power the entire Detroit region for a day.

But the Tregurtha and other large freighters in the U.S. fleet started the shipping season sailing about 10% under capacity.

Weakley wants the Army Corps to bring its muscle into the Great Lakes and tackle a $200 million dredging backlog greatly exacerbated by the shrinking lakes.

Channels and harbors naturally fill in with sediment and the Army Corps is supposed to conduct regular maintenance dredging using revenue generated by taxes on the value of shipped cargo.

The federal government in recent years has collected about $1.6 billion annually in these fees nationwide but is spending only about half that, according to the Great Lakes Commission.

Weakley sees the low water problem on the lakes as more political than natural — the money is there to do the dredging to ensure ships can sail with full loads; Congress just needs to spend it.

"People talk about lake levels," Weakley said. "I talk about navigation depth."

Roger Gauthier, a retired Army Corps hydrologist, said the problem of low water is deeper than shallow shipping channels. He agrees more dredging is necessary, but says it won't solve the problems long-term.

Due to low water, he said, ports across the Great Lakes are suffering from crumbling and rotting navigation infrastructure such as breakwalls, piers and jetties that are in some cases more than a century old.

"Almost every one of the harbors has wood structures that are now exposed to aerobic decomposition, and they are starting to fail," he said.

"I'd argue those losses are in the billions of dollars, but nobody has ever quantified them."

David Wright, chief of operations for the Army Corps' Detroit district, said he has no idea how much money it would take to maintain or restore the more than 104 miles of navigation structures the agency is responsible for in the 139 federally maintained commercial and recreational harbors in the Great Lakes. But he agreed the aged timber that is the foundation for so many of those structures is suffering from the low water.

"As water drops, wood that's been preserved underwater for a long time is now is being exposed to decay," he said. "And if you get a failure of foundations, you get a failure of structures."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



Sunken warbird emerges from Lake Michigan in time for EAA AirVenture

8/4 - Oshkosh, Wis. – William Forbes didn't like cold water. An unexpected swim in Lake Michigan in late December will do that to a guy. Especially a 20-year-old who grew up in sunny California.

But on Dec. 28, 1944, Forbes powered up the engine of a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat and took off along the deck of a ship converted into an aircraft carrier for naval pilots to practice carrier takeoffs and landings. Just as he reached the end of the deck, the engine quit. And the Wildcat, with Forbes strapped inside, plunged off the ship.

Forbes survived; the Wildcat did not. The aircraft sank in 200 feet of water — where it stayed, slowly becoming encrusted with rust, algae and zebra and quagga mussels until December when it was hauled from the depths of Lake Michigan.

Among the gleaming, lovingly restored World War II planes on display at EAA AirVenture this week is Forbes' Wildcat, its wings and tail dismantled and lying behind the fuselage on a flatbed trailer. Despite the fabulous old warbirds nearby, the rusted Wildcat hulk is drawing large crowds entranced by the exposed mechanical gear and the story of the resurrected flying workhorse.

Just how the Wildcat ended up in Lake Michigan is due partly to the nearby training facility. With the Navy's aircraft carriers on war duty, officials came up with an ingenious idea to train the 17,000 naval pilots who passed through Glenview Naval Air Station in Glenview, Ill., by turning a couple of former passenger liners in southern Lake Michigan into floating flattops.

Taras Lyssenko and his Michigan-based company A&T Recovery have pulled up from the depths dozens of World II planes over the years.

The Wildcat on display at AirVenture is mostly intact with a ripped-off tail that had settled near the plane's wreckage.

"I don't know how the pilot survived. It was about 15 degrees outside. It looks like the ship ripped the tail off as the plane went into the water," said Lyssenko, who has never displayed a plane he recovered at AirVenture before. "He probably went down with the aircraft knowing the ship was running over him, and he probably held his breath and then popped out in the freezing water.

"He was either the luckiest pilot that day or the most calm, composed pilot that day," Lyssenko said.

As a kid growing up in Fresno, Calif., Forbes was fascinated by aviation. And when he enlisted in the Navy, he trained to fly fighter planes like the Wildcat that was integral early in the war, especially at the Battle of Midway.

"He didn't talk a whole lot about the war, but we heard many stories regarding that incident," his daughter, Chris Smith, said of the Lake Michigan crash. "The few words all of us kids remember was that he had never been so cold."

All of the sunken World War II aircraft are still owned by the Navy and permits to retrieve the planes are issued by the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Though Lake Michigan's cold, dark water is a great storage facility, the quagga mussels that have invaded the Great Lakes are slowly degrading the World War II planes. In a race for time, Lyssenko estimates he has eight to 10 years to retrieve more warbirds until they disintegrate.

Forbes died of cancer in 2008 at the age of 85. After the war, he returned to Fresno, earned a law degree, worked as a lawyer handling adoptions and contracts, got married and raised three children.

He never piloted a plane again, telling his family that after the excitement and danger of war, flying a private plane just wouldn't have provided the same thrill.

Had he lived to see the plane that landed him into the icy cold water of Lake Michigan pop back up like a wayward cork, Forbes would have been shocked.

"I could just see the smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye," said Smith. "He would have been flabbergasted. And so proud."

The World War II FM-2 Wildcat recovered from Lake Michigan will be displayed in the Warbirds area of EAA AirVenture through Sunday.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




SS City of Milwaukee Annual Meeting

8/4 - Car ferry and coast guard enthusiasts will join for the Annual Car Ferry Reunion Weekend aboard the SS City of Milwaukee at Manistee, Michigan on Saturday, August 10, 2013. The day starts with a 10 a.m. meeting of the Michigan Association of Rail Passengers. Lunch is available at noon, followed at 1 by presentations on the history of the cutter Acacia; the Grand Trunk carferry history; and a slide show by Art Chavez featuring rarely seen glimpses of carferry interiors. A Silent Auction will run Noon - 5 p.m. Click here for details




Today in Great Lakes History - August 4

On this day in 1896, the whaleback COLGATE HOYT became the first boat to transport a load of iron ore through the new Poe lock. The man at the wheel of the HOYT, Thomas Small, was also at the wheel of the PHILIP R. CLARKE when the second Poe lock was opened to traffic 73 years later.

On this day in 1910, a mutiny occurred aboard the Pittsburgh steamer DOUGLAS HOUGHTON when a deckhand was confined for peeping into the cabin window of 5 female passengers (relatives of officers of the United States Steel Corporation). It required one hour for Captain John Parke, loaded revolver in hand, to quell the mutiny, confine the ringleaders, and clear away the broken furniture.

On the clear, almost perfect night of 4 August 1902, the SEGUIN (steel propeller freighter, 207 foot, 818 gross tons, built in 1890, at Owen Sound, Ontario) collided with the CITY OF VENICE (wooden propeller freighter, 301 foot, 2,108 gross tons, built in 1892, at W. Bay City, Michigan) abreast of Rondeau, Ontario on Lake Erie. The CITY OF VENICE, which was loaded with iron ore, sank and three of her crew were drowned. The U. S. Marshall impounded the SEGUIN for damages

Two favorites of many boatwatchers entered service on August 4 – WILLIAM CLAY FORD on August 4, 1953, and EDWARD L. RYERSON on August 4, 1960.

Paterson’s ONTADOC, built in 1975, sailed to the Netherlands with a load of bentonite from Chicago on August 4, 1979. Renamed b.) MELISSA DESGAGNES in 1990.

The E. J. BLOCK was laid up for the last time at Indiana Harbor, Indiana on August 4, 1984. The E. J. BLOCK was sold for scrap in late May 1987.

The D.M. CLEMSON left Superior on August 4, 1980, in tow of Malcolm Marine's TUG MALCOLM for Thunder Bay, Ont., where she was dismantled.

HOCHELAGA (Hull#144) was launched August 4, 1949, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd., Montreal, Quebec.

On a foggy August 4, 1977, POINTE NOIRE went hard aground near the entrance to the Rock Cut in the St. Marys River and blocked the channel. After her grain cargo was lightered by Columbia Transportation's crane steamer BUCKEYE, POINTE NOIRE was released on August 6. She was reloaded in Hay Lake and continued her downbound trip. Repairs to her bottom damage were completed at Thunder Bay. Ontario.

August 4, 1935 - The only time the ANN ARBOR NO 7 had the full limit of passengers when she ran an excursion from Frankfort, Michigan around Manitou Island and back with 375 passengers on board.

LYCOMING (wooden propeller, 251 foot, 1,610 gross tons) was launched on 4 August 1880, at West Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #7) as a 2-deck package freighter. She was rebuilt as a single deck bulk freighter after she burned in 1905. She was one of the few bulk freighters that still carried her arched hog-braces visible above deck.

HIRAM W. SIBLEY (wooden propeller freighter, 221 foot, 1,419 gross tons) was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan on 4 August 1890. She only lasted eight years. While carrying 70,000 bushels of corn from Chicago for Detroit, she stranded on the northwest corner of South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan during blizzard on 26 November 1898. The tugs PROTECTOR and SWEEPSTAKES were dispatched for assistance but the SIBLEY re-floated herself during high water the following night, then was stranded on the southwest side of North Fox Island to prevent sinking. She broke in half; then completely broke up during a gale on 7 December 1898.

1985 – REGENT TAMPOPO, enroute from Japan to the Great Lakes with steel, was heavily damaged in the Pacific after a collision with the MING UNIVERSE. The vessel, which first came through the Seaway in 1982, was towed to Los Angeles but declared a total loss. It recrossed the Pacific under tow in 1986 and arrived at Hong Kong for scrapping on October 26, 1986.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Cargo ship collides with tugboat in Port of Montreal

8/5 - Montreal, Que. – The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has sent a team of investigators to Montreal after an incident Saturday night where a cargo carrier ship, the M/V Heloise, collided with a tugboat, the Ocean Georgie Bain, in the Port of Montreal.

The collision happened at 9 p.m. and there were no injuries and no spills, said a spokesperson with the TSB. The investigators will “gather information and assess the occurrence,” the spokesperson said.

The Heloise is a 186-metre cargo ship built in 2010, it flies the Panamanian flag.
There was no word on injures but emergency services were not required.

Montreal Gazette






Today in Great Lakes History - August 5

On 05 August 1958, the tug GARY D (steel propeller tug, 18 tons) was destroyed by an explosion and fire near Strawberry Island Light on Lake Huron.

The RICHARD M. MARSHALL, later b.) JOSEPH S. WOOD, c.) JOHN DYKSTRA, d.) BENSON FORD, and finally e.) US265808, entered service on August 5, 1953. From 1966, until it was retired at the end of 1984, this vessel and the WILLIAM CLAY FORD were fleet mates. There is only one other instance of two boats being owned by the same company at some point in their careers with as close or closer age difference. The CHARLES M. BEEGHLY (originally SHENANGO II) and the HERBERT C. JACKSON.

The aft section of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716), was float launched August 5, 1976. She was American Steamship's first thousand-footer and the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding Co. She was renamed b.) WALTER J. MC CARTHY in 1990.

The G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS of 1907, was sold outright to Columbia Transportation Div. (Oglebay Norton Co.), on August 5, 1971, along with the last two Tomlinson vessels, the SYLVANIA and the JAMES DAVIDSON.

On 5 August 1850, ST. CLAIR (sidewheel steamer, passenger & package freight, 140 foot 210 tons, built in 1843, at Detroit, Michigan) was reported as lost with no details given whatsoever. The report of her loss was published 3 days BEFORE she was enrolled at Detroit by J. Watkin.

The motor vessel BEAVER ISLANDER completed her maiden voyage to Charlevoix in 1962. At the time, she was the largest, fastest, and most advanced ship built for the run. She served as the flagship for 37 years, a record, until the EMERALD ISLE arrived in 1997.

August 5, 1907 - A female passenger dived off the deck of the PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1902, on a dare. Two of the 18's officers leapt over to rescue her. One of the officers nearly drowned and was rescued by the passenger.

On 5 August 1866, AUTOCRAT (2-mast, wooden schooner, 345 tons, built in 1854, at Caltaraugus, New York) was carrying 15,000 bushels of corn and was lying off Chicago, waiting for a storm to die down. Just before dawn, the schooner J S NEWHOUSE was also seeking shelter when she ran into AUTOCRAT, sinking her in 7 fathoms of water. The crew was rescued by the tug UNION.

On 5 August 1869, LAURA E. CALVIN (3-mast wooden schooner, 130 foot, 216 tons, built in 1863, at Garden Island, Ontario as a bark) sprang a leak during a storm and foundered 10 miles off Braddock's Point on Lake Ontario. No lives were lost.

1954 – A sudden blanket of fog descended on a section of the St. Lawrence near Waddington, N.Y., resulting in the two ships SELKIRK and DUNDEE losing their way and going aground. The former, a C.S.L. package freighter, was turned part way around by the current and was stuck until September 2. The latter was a British ship and was also spun by the current. The proximity of the rapids made salvage a challenge. The newly-built DUNDEE continued Great Lakes visits to the end of 1962. It foundered in the Mediterranean as g) VLYHO on September 15, 1978, following an engine room explosion.

1955 – FALCO, a pre-Seaway trader, hit a bridge at Montreal. The vessel later visited the Great Lakes as c) LABRADOR and was scrapped at Piraeus, Greece, as f) BONANZA in 1978

1972 – MANCHESTER VENTURE was built in 1956 and was a regular Great Lakes trader from 1956 to 1961. An explosion in the cargo hold as c) BAT TIRAN on this date in 1972 resulted in a major fire. The damaged hull was refloated in September and scrapped in Turkey in 1973.

1980 – The Liberian freighter BERTIE MICHAELS had been a Seaway trader in 1971 and had returned as the Greek flag c) DIMITRIS A. in 1976. It departed Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on August 4, 1980, for Belize City and reported her position on August 5. The vessel was never heard from again and was believed to have been a victim of Hurricane Allen that was in the area at the time. All 27 on board were lost.

1994 – The recently completed French freighter PENHIR began Great Lakes trading in 1971 and returned as b) MENHIR under Liberian registry in 1979. It arrived off Tolognaro, Madagascar, on this date in 1994 with hull cracks as d) WELLBORN and abandoned as a total loss

[yachtsmanwilly]

Three charged for riding Welland Canal's Allanburg Bridge

8/7 - Port Colborne, Ont. – Police have charged three males after the Seaway was closed for about three hours early Tuesday, when a ship crew member noticed them on the Allanburg Bridge while it was in the raised position.
At around 1:30 a.m., Niagara Regional Police received the report from a ship passing through the Welland Canal in Thorold.

Media officer Derek Watson said the three males decided to stay on the bridge as it was being raised. "They rode the bridge up," he said.

The Seaway was immediately closed as several agencies responded, including police, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Thorold fire department and the Niagara Falls high angle rescue team, which climbed up the bridge and ensured the males were secured as the bridge was lowered.

"We didn't want to put the kids in anymore danger," Watson said.

The three males, all from Thorold, were charged with mischief over $5,000, which Watson said is related to the estimate by the Seaway of the financial impact of having to close down the canal four about three hours.

Police are reminding people that signs are put up to alert people of dangers and that disobeying such signs puts lives at risk.

Niagara This Week


Union rejects final contract offer from U.S. Steel

8/7 - U.S. Steel workers in Nanticoke have again rejected a final contract offer from the company.

The 1,000 members of the United Steelworkers voted 71 per cent against the deal Wednesday. The final offer vote was requested by the company and supervised by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Bill Ferguson, president of Local 8782 of the United Steelworkers, said the rejection is a percentage point higher than the 70 per cent negative vote an earlier version of the offer received in April, just before the gates of the Nanticoke plant were locked.

The plant is served by Great Lakes vessels such as Frontenac and CSL Tadoussac, which have been laid up in Sarnia since the labour dispute began.

With the company's latest offer rejected, Ferguson said new efforts will be made to get the union and company bargaining teams together for real negotiations.

"We're going to get our negotiating team together now and try to form a response," he said Wednesday evening after the vote results were announced. "We're going to sit down and work it all out." "We will contact the provincial mediator and see if we can get together with the company as soon as possible," he added.

In an emailed statement, U.S. Steel Canada spokesperson Trevor Harris said "Unfortunately, the employees of Lake Erie Works have made the choice to reject our final contract offer. Obviously the results are disappointing.

"Over the past few weeks, we have been very clear that the choice in front of our employees was black and white — end this labour dispute and return to work, or face the likelihood of a prolonged lockout and an uncertain future.

"In the coming days, we will take the opportunity to reflect on all of the options available to us as a company. As has always been the case, we seek nothing more than a fair and balanced contract that will protect the long-term competitiveness of Lake Erie Works."

The Lake Erie Works production workers were locked out of the plant late in April to back company demands for contract changes. U.S. Steel has said the Nanticoke plant is a money-losing drag on its operations and contract changes are needed to make it competitive with other U.S. Steel plants.

Hamilton Spectator




Today in Great Lakes History - August 7

August 7, 1789 - President George Washington signed the ninth act of the first United States Congress placing management of the lighthouses under the Department of the Treasury. August 7 in now "National Lighthouse Day".

On 07 August 1890, the schooner CHARGER (wooden schooner, 136 foot, 277 gross tons, built in 1868, at Sodus, New York) was struck by the CITY OF CLEVELAND (wooden propeller freighter, 255 foot, 1,528 gross tons, built in 1882, at Cleveland, Ohio) near Bar Point near the mouth of the Detroit River on Lake Erie. The schooner sank, but her crew was saved.

The JAMES R. BARKER was christened August 7, 1976. She was to become Interlake's first 1,000 footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third 1,000-footer to sail on the Lakes and the first built entirely on the Lakes.

On 7 August 1844, DANIEL WHITNEY, a wooden schooner, was found floating upside-down, with her crew of 4 missing and presumed dead. She was six miles off mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Lake Michigan.

August 7, 1948 - Edward L. Ryerson, chairman of Inland Steel Company announced that the new ore boat under construction for Inland will be named the WILFRED SYKES in honor of the president of the company. Mr. Sykes had been associated with Inland since 1923, when he was employed to take charge of engineering and construction work. From 1927, to 1930, he served as assistant general superintendent and from 1930, to 1941, as assistant to the president in charge of operations. He became president of Inland in May, 1941. He had been a director of the company since 1935. The new ship was to be the largest and fastest on the Great Lakes, having a carrying capacity in intermediate depth of 20,000 gross tons. The ship will be 678 feet long, 70 feet wide and 37 feet deep, and will run at 16 miles per hour when loaded.

While lying at the dock at the C & L. H. Railroad Yard in Port Huron on 7 August 1879, the scow MORNING LARK sank after the scow MAGRUDER ran into her at 4:00 a.m., MORNING LARK was raised and repaired at the Wolverine dry dock and was back in service on 20 September 1879.

1912 – A collision in heavy fog with the RENSSELAER sank the JAMES GAYLEY 43 miles east of Manitou Light, Lake Superior. The upbound coal-laden vessel was hit on the starboard side, about 65 feet from the bow, and went down in about 16 minutes. The two ships were held together long enough for the crew to cross over to RENSSELAER.

1921 – RUSSELL SAGE caught fire and burned on Lake Ontario while downbound with a load of wire. The ship sank off South Bay Point, about 30 miles west of Kingston. The crew took to the lifeboat and were saved. About 600 tons of wire were later salvaged. The hull has been found and is upright in 43 feet of water and numerous coils of wire remain on the bottom.

1958 – HURLBUT W. SMITH hit bottom off Picnic Island, near Little Current, Manitoulin Island, while outbound. The ship was inspected at Silver Bay and condemned. It was sold to Knudsen SB & DD of Superior and scrapped in 1958-1959.

1958 – The T-3 tanker GULFOIL caught fire following a collision with the S.E. GRAHAM off Newport, Rhode Island while carrying about 5 million gallons of gasoline. Both ships were a total loss and 17 lives were lost with another 36 sailors injured. The GULFOIL was rebuilt with a new mid-body and came to the Great Lakes as c) PIONEER CHALLENGER in 1961 and was renamed MIDDLETOWN in 1962 and e) AMERICAN VICTORY in 2006.

1964 – CARL LEVERS, a pre-Seaway visitor as a) HARPEFJELL and b) PRINS MAURITS, had come to the Great Lakes in 1957-1958. It had been an early Great Lakes trader for both the Fjell Line from Norway and the Dutch flag Oranje Lijn. The ship was cast adrift in a cyclone at Bombay, India, going aground on a pylon carrying electric wires off Mahul Creek and caught fire on August 24, 1964. The vessel was released and scrapped at Bombay later in the year.

1970 – ORIENT TRANSPORTER first came through the Seaway in 1966. It arrived at Beaumont, Texas, on this day in 1970, following an engine breakdown. The 1949 vintage ship was not considered worth repairing and was broken up at Darica, Turkey, in 1971.

1972 – The small Canadian tanker barge TRANSBAY, loaded with liquid asphalt and under tow of the JAMES WHALEN for Sept Iles, sank in a storm on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There were no casualties.

1989 – CLARENVILLE, a former East Coast wooden passenger and freight carrier, came to the Great Lakes in 1981 for conversion to a floating restaurant at Owen Sound. The restaurant declared bankruptcy in May 1989 and a fire, of suspicious origin, broke out on this date. It was a long and difficult blaze to control and the ship sank. It broke apart during salvage in September 1989. The bow was clammed out in December 1989 and the stern removed in April 1990 and taken to the city dump.

1991 – FINNPOLARIS first came through the Seaway in 1985. It struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic off Greenland and sank in deep water the next day. All 17 on board were saved.

1994 – GUNDULIC came inland under Yugoslavian registry for the first time in 1971. The ship caught fire as c) PAVLINA ONE while loading at Mongla, Bangladesh, on this date and was abandoned by the crew on August 8. The blaze was extinguished August 9 but the gutted and listing freighter was beached and settled in shallow water. The hull was auctioned to a local demolition contractor in 1996 but was still listed as a hazard to navigation in 1999.


Coast Guard rescues man from sinking boat in Saginaw Bay

8/6 – Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard rescued a man off of a sinking boat in Saginaw Bay Monday after attempts to dewater the boat were unsuccessful.

At 9:40 a.m., a watch stander at Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Mich., was contacted with a report of a man aboard an 18-foot boat sinking in the Saginaw Bay while it was being towed by another boat. The caller was concerned that both boats might sink.

A rescue boat crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium launched from Station Saginaw River. Once scene, a member of the RB-M crew boarded the sinking boat with a portable dewatering pump and attempted to dewater the boat.

The man said his boat began taking on water and his bilge pumps kept turning off, so he had a friend attempt to tow it to safety but could not keep up with the flooding. The man was transferred onto the RB-M.

Once the dewatering pump appeared to control the rate of flooding, the RB-M crew took the boat in tow and began making way to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources boat ramp.
Twenty minutes into the tow, the 18-foot boat began taking on more water than could be maintained by the pump, and the rescue boat crew had to cut it loose. The boater was transferred aboard his friend’s boat.

A commercial salvor arrived on scene and pulled the boat from the bay and transported it to shore.

Ninth Coast Guard District



Stamp commemorates Battle of Lake Erie

8/5 - Washington, D.C.- The U.S. Postal Service continues its commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with the issuance of a Battle of Lake Erie stamp.

The battle produced an American naval hero, Oliver Hazard Perry, and helped the United States take back territory lost to British forces in the opening months of the war. It also introduced two familiar sayings, “Don’t give up the ship” and “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

The War of 1812: Battle of Lake Erie stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp, meaning it is always equal in value to the current first-class mail one-ounce rate.

For the stamp art, the Postal Service selected William Henry Powell’s famous painting, “Battle of Lake Erie.” The oil-on-canvas painting, completed in 1873, was commissioned by the U.S. Congress and placed at the head of the east stairway in the Senate wing of the Capitol. It depicts Oliver Hazard Perry in the small boat he used to transfer from his ruined flagship, the Lawrence, to the Niagara. A 19th-century engraving of Perry by William G. Jackman (after John Wesley Jarvis) is shown on the reverse of the stamp pane.

Greg Breeding served as art director and designer for the stamp.