Today in Great Lakes History

[skycheney]

This place is dead today. Where is everybody?

[captddis87]

it has been dead everywhere. My cell phone has been silent.

[yachtsmanwilly]

I haven't even gotten the usual DICKSTENZO or Viagra ads today! Its all part of the government shutdown (slowdown) of communications. Just watched "7 days in May" yesterday with Kirk and Burt, where the military is conceiving a Junta that fails (well, its foiled anyway).
Better read the vacation story before the stars align and global-comm shutdown occurs! I know for a fact that the macdonalds JIHAD has ordered a million mickey D flags to burn...I guess they don't serve moozlim favorites; "un-happy meals"?? ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

Get ready for the Battle of Lake Erie

8/29 - Sandusky, Ohio – During the War of 1812, when British “Redcoats” invaded Ohio, the British invaders carried guns and were hostile to the new nation and the brand-new state.

Later this week, there will be a new invasion. But officials holding “Battle of Lake Erie” events in Put-in-Bay, Port Clinton and Kelleys Island look forward to a friendly army of tourists who will come carrying “green,” as in tourist dollars.

Months of preparation will culminate in a Labor Day re-enactment in Lake Erie near Put-in-Bay of the Battle of Lake Erie, the American navy’s defeat of the British fleet.

Oliver Hazard Perry led the Americans to victory on Sept. 10, 1813, wiping out a British fleet and sending back his famous message, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the War of 1812 will be celebrated in Put-in-Bay, Port Clinton and Kelleys Island. On Monday, the battle will be re-enacted.

The events will kick off on Thursday, when tall ships re-enacting the battle are scheduled to arrive in various local ports, including Put-in-Bay, Middle Bass Island, Port Clinton, Catawba Island Club, Pelee Island and Kelleys Island. Some of the Put-in-Bay ships are expected to be visible from the three live video feeds offered by Stone Laboratory, from cameras mounted at Cooke Castle on Gibraltar Island, the South Bass Island Lighthouse and the Stone Lab Research Building on South Bass Island.

Put-in-Bay is getting several of the tall ships, including a replica of the Niagara, the ship Perry transferred to in the middle of the battle. There will also be numerous other activities in town, which also offers the Perry Memorial. Day sails and on-board tours will be offered on the ships, while DeRivera Park will feature a variety of historical demonstrations, vendors, and concerts.

The battle re-enactment is Monday afternoon. People on the tall ships, and on boats registered to anchor nearby, can watch the battle unfold.

Officials in Port Clinton and Kelleys Island say they’ll have similar events that’ll be easier for tourists to reach. Port Clinton will have two tall ships, the Pathfinder and Playfair, and its celebration in the downtown area will be in conjunction with the annual Knights of Columbus Peach, Perch, Polka and Pierogi Festival, which will be conveniently nearby in the Knights of Columbus Hall, 109 E. Perry St.

Port Clinton’s “Battle of Lake Erie” celebration will have cannon demonstrations, re-enactors, storytellers and vendors.

Kelleys Island has a tall ship, too, the Appledore IV, and local organizers believe they’ll have events that are just as good as Put-in-Bay’s but easier to get to, said Steve Merkel, the events organizer.

The Kelleys Island Ferry will run constantly from Marblehead. Visitors won’t need transportation once they’re on the island, because a free “Tall Ship Tram” will ferry them to the eight locations offering fun and history tidbits.

Sandusky Register




Latest Lake Erie U.S. Steel offer not endorsed by union committee

8/29 - Port Dover, Ont. – It's an improvement, but not a great one. That's the verdict Lake Erie steelworkers passed on U.S. Steel's latest offer to end the bitter four month lock out at the Nanticoke plant.

The package, negotiated in Pittsburgh recently under pressure from the international headquarters of the United Steelworkers, was presented to members in a series of meetings Wednesday. It is not being recommended by the union negotiating committee.

"This is still a concessionary package," said Bill Ferguson, president of the Local 8782 of the United Steelworkers. "We're bringing it to the members because we feel it's time for them to tell what they feel."

Union members, who have been locked out since late April, have twice rejected company offers by votes of 70 per cent. Ferguson said the company has made some improvements to previous packages, but changes have not been extensive.

"There have been some moves by the company," he said. "We don't recommend this, but we're taking it to the members because we are not going to make unilateral decisions that affect the lives of 1,000 people."

The chief improvements to this offer over previous company packages include adding strong language protecting workers from having their jobs contracted out, restoring a signing bonus to $2,500 after an earlier offer reduced it to $2,500, dropping demands for increased co-payments for prescription drugs and adding lump sum payments of $500 for each year of a five year term.

On the negative side, the package does not include a base wage hike, it continues to demand changes to the cost of living allowance that trigger payments only when inflation hits three per cent and caps vacation entitlements for current and future employees at five weeks. (Workers who already have more than five weeks vacation keep that entitlement.)

Ferguson said getting the job security language members wanted was an important step, but the economic side of the agreement remains a disappointment.

"We still have all the economic issues so it's still a concessionary contract," he said.

Outside the meeting workers were not excited by the package and predicted a close vote when it is presented for ratification on Friday.

"It's better than the last one, but I'm going to have to think about it some more," said veteran worker Alan Laufs. "I think it will be a close vote."

"Maybe we can do better, but just don't know right now."

Many predict a vote divided by age with veterans like Laufs, who is mortgage free and three years from retirement, tempted to hold out for a better deal while the cadre of younger workers with mortgages and growing families voting for a pay cheque after four months of $200 a week in strike pay.

"There's more at stake here than just having a job, but a lock out like is hard to take," said one worker who refused to give his name. "It takes a long time to recover from something like this."

The Lake Erie plant workers were locked out for eight months in 2009-2010 as the company backed demands for radical changes in its pension plans. U. S. Steel has said repeatedly it needs further changes in the labour agreement to make the plant "competitive."

A ratification vote on the package will be held Friday from 8 am to 8 pm at the union hall in Nanticoke.

Hamilton Spectator



Red Cliff Band will raise more munition barrels from Lake Superior

8/29 - Duluth, Minn. – There are nearly 1,500 barrels in at least three dump sites between Duluth and Knife River, Minnesota. The Army Corp of Engineers was ordered by the Department of Defense to dump the barrels between 1958 and 1962 because they held secret munitions parts.

Last year, contractors for the Red Cliff Band raised 25 barrels. They discovered that 22 of those 55-gallon drums held 15,000 cluster bomb detonators, each about the size of a USB flash drive. Because these still-live explosives could go off, contractors wrapped each barrel in over-packs and returned them to Lake Superior’s bottom.

Now, Red Cliff representatives say, the group will remove those barrels so they can examine their contents. In a news conference last March, Tribal Chairwoman Rose Gurnoe-Soulier said this recovery is part of their mission to protect the ceded territory, including western Lake Superior: “We feel dedicated to do that. Dedicated to the cause of things in those barrels, seeing if it’s harmful to our lake, to the environment, to the wildlife, to our eagles and just to people who recreate on the lake, if they ingest water.”

In a recent email to Wisconsin Public Radio, Red Cliff Band says a preliminary report shows that the three non-hazardous barrels recovered show no threat to the water or fish consumption, but a final report won’t be ready until next May. There is no current plan to remove other barrels, but they say that may change.

So far, the DoD has paid Red Cliff $3.3 million to locate, remove and study the barrels.

Wisconsin Public Radio News



Pet coke piles along Detriot River cleared away

8/29 - Detroit, Mich. – Remaining mounds of petroleum coke have been removed from the Detroit riverfront ahead of a city-imposed deadline, but more time is needed to haul construction materials away from the sites, according to a storage company.

Mayor Dave Bing, citing concerns about the health of people living near the piles, set Tuesday as the deadline for Detroit Bulk to get rid of all the petroleum coke it was storing.

“Detroit Bulk has removed its inventory of petroleum coke at the request of the city,” said company spokesman Daniel Cherrin. “Detroit Bulk has however, not been able to remove all of the other aggregate there and have been in contact with the city regarding their plans for the removal of limestone aggregate.”

Limestone aggregate often is used to help build roads. Cherrin said a construction project using the limestone was to start this week and that the company anticipated having all of the aggregate removed by early next month.

“Detroit Bulk has asked the city for the additional time in ensuring the proper removal of the limestone,” he said.

Petroleum coke, also known as pet coke, is a black, rock-like substance produced by the petroleum industry and used as a fuel.

The piles in Detroit resulted from Marathon Oil’s refining exports from oil sands in Alberta, Canada. Freighters have been taking the piles from the Detroit riverfront to Ohio.

U.S. Rep. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township has said an open drain allowed runoff from the piles to seep into the Great Lakes watershed during storms.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in April issued a report stating that the piles themselves don’t pose an immediate threat to human health. Then, in June, Michigan U.S. Rep. Gary Peters called for a further investigation after MDEQ acknowledged that dust from the mounds appeared “to be an issue during the loading of material onto freighters.”

Brad Wurfel, MDEQ spokesperson, said concerns about pet coke “have been exaggerated,” adding that the substance ”is being managed like any other aggregate material.”

The pet coke is now trucked to Toledo and shipped out by freighter.

WWJ




Today in Great Lakes History - August 29

August 29, 1996 - The NICOLET, which had been sold for scrap, left Toledo under tow of the McKeil tug OTIS WACK, arriving in Port Maitland, Ontario during the early hours of the 30th. Last operated in 1990, the NICOLET was built in 1905 by Great Lakes Engineering Work at Ecorse, Michigan as the a.) WILLIAM G. MATHER (25), b) J. H. SHEADLE (55), c) H. L. GOBEILLE. The vessel spent the first 60 years of her life in service for the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company. After 1965, her ownership was transferred to the Gartland Steamship Company and eventually American Steamship Company.

On this day in 1974, unsuccessful negotiations on a major shipbuilding contract resulting in Litton Industries terminating operations at its Erie yard. The Litton yard had built the first 1,000-foot boat on the lakes, the STEWART J. CORT, and the 1,000-foot tug-barge PRESQUE ISLE.

It is not often that a schooner tows a tug, but on 29 August 1882, the tug J. A. CRAWFORD was towing the big schooner JAMES COUCH to Chicago when the wind picked up and the schooner passed the tug. Captain Gorman of the CRAWFORD cut the engine and allowed the COUCH to tow him until the got close to the harbor. Then the schooner shortened sail and the tug finished the job of towing her into port.

On August 29, 1942, the A. H. FERBERT entered service for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

On her maiden voyage August 29, 1979, the INDIANA HARBOR sailed for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor, Indiana. In August 1982, INDIANA HARBOR became the first U.S. flag laker to receive satellite communication.

On August 29, 1972 the lightship HURON was placed in an earth embankment at Port Huron's Pine Grove Park along the St. Clair River and was opened to visitors on July 13, 1974.

Canada Steamship Lines' ATLANTIC SUPERIOR returned from Europe on August 29, 1985, with a cargo of gypsum for Picton, Ontario.

On 29 August 1871, GEORGE M. ABEL (2-mast wooden schooner) broke up on a reef near Port Burwell, Ontario.

On 29 August 1858, CANADA (3-mast wooden bark, 199 foot, 758 tons) was carrying a half-million board feet of lumber to Chicago in bad weather when she settled just north of downtown Chicago. The next day during a salvage attempt, she blew southward, struck a bar off the old waterworks, broke her back, then broke up. She had been built in Canada in 1846, as a sidewheeler and was seized by the U.S. in 1849, and rebuilt as a bark in 1852.

August 29, 1998 - The BADGER was designated a spur route on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.

1906: The wooden bulk carrier CHARLES A. EDDY caught fire in Lake Huron enroute to Cleveland with iron ore. The ship later arrived at Port Huron, under her own power, with a salvage crew.

1967: LINDE, a Norwegian flag freighter, first entered the Seaway in 1965. Two years later, on this date, it sank the ARISTOS in dense fog in the English Channel 17 miles off Beachy Head. All on board were rescued. LINDE later stranded as d) ZEPHYR outside of Dunkirk, France, on January 13, 1981, after anchoring due to bad weather. The hull was broken up for scrap where she lay.

1984: A fire in the cargo hold of NANTICOKE broke out while the ship was unloading in Quebec City and damaged the self-unloading belts and electronic components.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Battle of Lake Erie to be re-enacted on Monday

8/30 - Put-In-Bay, Ohio – Casual boaters who wander into the water off Put-In-Bay on Monday could find themselves floating into a war zone circa 1813.

No worries, though. All those tall ships and folks decked out in 200-year-old soldier’s gear are just re-enactors engaging in an epic reproduction of the Battle of Lake Erie celebrating Oliver Hazard Perry’s defeat of the British during the War of 1812.

The elaborate re-enactment featuring at least 15 ships will take place on Labor Day from noon to 2 p.m. The best way to see the “battle” will be to either be on one of the tall ships or on other watercraft that will be kept at a distance from the action.

The Coast Guard has announced that it will enforce a 500-yard safe zone around the re-enactment area and the tall ships.

The event is one of dozens that are taking place off the lake islands this weekend. Events will be at Put-In-Bay, Kelley’s Island, Port Clinton, and Sandusky.

Among the activities will various band performances, historical speakers, movies, and musical performers, including Grammy-nominated Iris Dement Saturday night at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial.

For a full list of activities, go to www.battleoflakeerie-bicentennial.com.

Toledo Blade



Andrew J not the first tug to sink in Lock 4

8/30 - The recent sinking of the tug Andrew J in Lock 4 west of the Welland Canal was not the first time such an incident happened.

The tug Grand Bank was built for the U.S. Army in New Orleans in 1940 as ST 1923. It came to Canada as for McNamara Construction Company as Grand Bank in 1957 and sank in Toronto in March 1959 after a collision with a dredge

After being re-floated and repaired the tug sank again in Lock 4 of the Welland Canal on July 4th, 1959 while pushing a scow. The 44 gross ton vessel became flooded in the lock and the captain was lost when the tug went down on its starboard side.

Five others jumped to the safety of the scow. Grand Bank was salvaged and later went to the west coast for the Lions Gate Tug and Barge Company. It was later named Nanaimo Clipper in 1988, Salvage Warrior in 1991, Grand Bank again in 1997 and at last report was based in Delta B.C.









East Chicago, Gary launch competing ports proposals

8/30 - East Chicago is vigorously pursuing its proposal for a new $400 million shipping port on Lake Michigan, just as Gary hopes to get a hearing its own proposal for Buffington Harbor.

The two proposals have raised the stakes for a Sept. 12 hearing by a legislative joint study committee charged with studying the feasibility and economic impact of adding a second Indiana port to serve Lake Michigan.

"It would create jobs, respectable, good-paying jobs," East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland said of his city's proposal. "It gives us an opportunity to work with residents and industry and, bar none, this would be economic development at its highest."

The port would be located on the east side of the peninsula jutting out into Lake Michigan, where many of ArcelorMittal's steel-making facilities are located, Copeland said.

The project has the support of the steelmaker, which provided valuable advice as to its location and use, Copeland said. To eventually move forward, the port also would need the backing of the Ports of Indiana, he said.

Right now, the only Indiana port on Lake Michigan is the Port of Indiana at Burns Harbor. Everyone agrees no lakefront port project of any size could be built without the support of the Ports of Indiana, which also operates ports on the Ohio River.

Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, the chairman of the Joint Study Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is promising a fair hearing for the two port projects, only one of which could be built given the limited funding and shipping traffic that may be available.

The Joint Study Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has invited Gary, East Chicago and representatives of industry to present plans at the committee's hearing Sept. 12 at the headquarters of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, according to Soliday.

Gary officials are expected to testify about a proposal for a port at Buffington Harbor. Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson had a big hand in crafting the legislation calling for the study committee to determine the feasibility of the second port on Lake Michigan.

The Gary mayor's spokeswoman emailed a statement in response to a Times inquiry Tuesday.

"The mayor has indicated that the city of Gary will be an active participant on the State Study Commission for the port. Once that body has met, she will be able to give more of an update," the statement said.

The East Chicago RDA grant request differs from some others already approved for lakefront cities in that it focuses on job creation at major industrial employers to benefit residents, Copeland said. The RDA has previously granted $118.2 million to six lakefront park projects.

East Chicago has sought to get the ball rolling on its port project, with a request for funding submitted to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority in July.

Funding for a feasibility study for a port is only one part of that $38 million request, according to SEH director of economic development Matt Reardon, who is advising East Chicago on the project. The application also asks for more money to keep the port project moving during following years and includes an ambitious plan to reconnect North Harbor neighborhoods and residents with the lakeshore. If a new port is eventually built in East Chicago, the bulk of the funding would come from private industry, which has a stake in the port because of the proximity of the BP refinery, ArcelorMittal steel mills and other industry, Reardon said.

BP and ArcelorMittal currently use shipping facilities located in the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal for transporting cargo. BP ships asphalt out by barge and ArcelorMittal takes shipment of iron ore and other steel inputs.

Northwest Indiana Times





Muskegon port development could mean a river barge terminal linking farmers to Gulf Coast

8/30 - Muskegon, Mich. – Development of the Port of Muskegon has been all the rage as a West Michigan economic development tool, promoted by public officials, community leaders and business owners.

But until Michigan Agri-Business Association President Jim Byrum stepped forward, all of that talk had been well ... just talk. Byrum puts some meat on the port development bones with a specific idea for Muskegon.

The head of what he calls the “chamber of commerce of Michigan agriculture” says that Muskegon is a perfect location for a river barge terminal, connecting Michigan farm communities to Gulf Coast export opportunities through Chicago and the Mississippi River barge system.

“Muskegon on the west side of Michigan is the only deep-water port,” said Byrum, who has headed the Lansing-based trade association for the past 17 years. “In every other port, there are issues with depths and drafts. Muskegon has railroad and highway connections that are key and so much is happening here. There is so much energy with the people and development.”

Byrum said that some of his 500 members – everyone from large agricultural corporations such as Monsanto to local grain elevator operators – have been exploring a river barge terminal operation on the east end of Muskegon Lake. Muskegon officials working on port development are investigating the idea through organizations such as the Muskegon County Port Committee.

How often the Michigan farm industry would use river barges out of Muskegon to ship corn, soybeans and wheat to the Gulf Coast for export is not known, Byrum said.

“In the last 50 years, interest in moving agricultural products in our state by water has been missing,” he said, but added that the economics of water transport might provide plenty of business for a Muskegon-based river barge terminal. Right now, much of the grain shipped out of the state for export goes by rail, he said.

“That could be a game-changing switch,” Byrum said of water-based transportation. “Moving it that way might all of a sudden allow us to better compete.”

MABA also is looking at potential barge terminals on the east side of Michigan in ports such as the Saginaw River and Port Huron, Byrum said. The proposals become even more economical if outbound barges full of grain could return to Muskegon or other Michigan ports with farm products such as fertilizer, seed or equipment, he added.

Byrum and MABA were introduced to Muskegon through Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center, which hosted a renewable energy seminar sponsored by MABA in late July.

Byrum said besides exploring water-based transportation, his members are interested in alternative energy and global climate change – the later which could add an additional 400,000 acres of productive farmland in Michigan in the next decades as temperatures rise.

But it is the river barge terminal concept that has Muskegon and West Michigan economic developers the most excited. Another long-discussed port development would be a container shipment terminal where cargo containers on rail or the highways would be shipped in bulk from Muskegon to Milwaukee, eliminating the need to pass through congested Chicago on the south end of Lake Michigan.

The river barge development has some Lake Michigan shipping regulatory issues through the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping.

“If we can get past the federal issues, I think this is low-hanging fruit for us in developing the port,” said Ed Garner, president of Muskegon Area First, the local economic development agency. “This serves some current needs right now. The container development is probably more long term.”

GVSU energy center Director Arn Boezaart said that Muskegon and West Michigan officials are taking note of the MABA interest in Muskegon’s port.

“People see this as a highly desirable activity for port development that should be pursued,” Boezaart said. “I’d love to see a trial run using assets that are already in Muskegon.”

One company that could help move the project forward is Andrie Inc., the Muskegon-based marine transportation company, Boezaart said. Andrie Specialized President Phil Andrie said his company would be interested in exploring a limited test of the river barge connection in Muskegon.

How to exploit the agricultural and food processing industries in West Michigan for job creation and economic development is on the minds of those who have created the West Michigan Economic Partnership between Muskegon and Kent counties.

The partnership recently had a day-long seminar on developing a regional agricultural and food processing “cluster” that would be interested in Muskegon’s port, according to The Right Place’s Rick Chapla. Grand Rapids-based Right Place has joined with Muskegon Area First, Muskegon County, city of Muskegon and local governments in Kent County to form the partnership to move regional economic development projects forward.

Muskegon’s main asset in the partnership is providing water-based transportation options.

“The logistics opportunities that could result in an active port operation in Muskegon could save millions of dollars for the farmers and food processors in West Michigan,” Chapla said.

The city of Muskegon has established a port development zone on the east end of Muskegon Lake and with the likely closure of the B.C. Cobb plant in 2015 or beyond, a major Muskegon dock used to bring coal to the plant might be available, local officials have pointed out.

“This barge operation could be more port activity as we move forward on redeveloping the east end of the lake from the current Verplank (Trucking Co.) docks to B.C. Cobb,” said Cathy Brubaker-Clarke, the city’s planning and economic development director.

“This area of the lake is privately owned but the port operators have been working together on such ideas,” Brubaker-Clarke said, adding that the city and community leaders will work long-time port operators like the Sand Products Corp. with its Mart Dock operations on the downtown Muskegon Lake shoreline.

Muskegon County Commissioner Terry Sabo – who heads the county’s port development committee – said that a river barge terminal development being suggested by MABA is going to have to be a regional effort to succeed.

“Our goal all along is economic development,” Sabo said. “We have to use the natural resources that we have and this port is unique in West Michigan. We need to do anything we can to create West Michigan jobs.

“But this is going to take time; it won’t happen overnight,” Sabo continued. “We have to keep getting this message out.”

Mlive






Today in Great Lakes History - August 30

On this day in 1964, the retired Bradley Transportation steamer CALCITE was awarded the National Safety Council Award of Merit. The CALCITE accumulated a total of 1,394,613 man-hours of continuous operation over 17 years without a disabling, lost-time injury. The CALCITE was the first Great Lakes vessel to ever receive this honor.

On 30 August 1893, CENTURION (steel propeller freighter, 350 foot, 3,401 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#100) at W. Bay City, Michigan. The name was a pun to celebrate the ship as Frank Wheeler's 100th hull.

The CHARLES E. WILSON was christened August 30, 1973, at Bay Shipbuilding Co., for the American Steamship Co., and completed her sea trials on September 6th. She was renamed b.) JOHN J. BOLAND in 2000.

On August 30, 1942, the A. H. FERBERT ran aground in the St. Marys River, just a day old. The vessel returned to the builder's yard in River Rouge, Michigan for repairs.

On August 30, 1988, the WILLOWGLEN, a.) MESABI, made its first visit to Duluth-Superior under that name. She loaded grain at Harvest States in Superior, Wisconsin, arriving early in the morning and departing in the early evening the same day. Her last visit to Duluth before this was in 1981 under the name c.) JOSEPH X. ROBERT.

The H G DALTON entered service on August 30, 1903, for Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. Later b.) COURSEULLES in 1916, c.) GLENDOCHART in 1922, d.) CHATSWORTH in 1927, e.) BAYLEAF in 1942 and f.) MANCOX in 1951.

On August 30, 1985, the tug CAPTAIN IOANNIS S departed Quebec City with MENIHEK LAKE and LEON FALK, JR. in tow, bound for Spain to be scrapped.

On 30 August 1873, CAMBRIDGE (3-mast, wooden schooner, 162 foot, 445 tons, built in 1868, at Detroit, Michigan) was bound from Marquette, Michigan for Cleveland, Ohio with a load of iron ore. In rough seas, she was thrown onto the rocky shore near Marquette where she broke up. No lives were lost.

On 30 August 1900, thousands of people gathered at the Jenks Shipbuilding Company near the Grand Trunk Bridge on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan to watch the launching of the large steel steamer CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON. Superintendent Andrews gave the word and the blows were struck simultaneously at the bow and stern. Slowly the vessel started quivering slightly from deck to keel and then with a mighty rush, slid sideways into the river. Her stern stuck in the mud. Mrs. Thomas Wilson christened the ship.

1892: The two-year-old steel bulk carrier WESTERN RESERVE foundered about 60 miles above Whitefish Point with the loss of 26 lives. There was only one survivor.

1903: PITTSBURGH burned at the dock in Sandwich, Ontario. The oak-hulled passenger and freight paddle-wheeler had been built in 1871 as MANITOBA. The hull was towed to Port Dalhousie for scrapping later in 1904.

1942: NEEBING (i), a former bulk canaller that dated from 1903, left the lakes for war service about 1915. It survived the initial conflict and continued in saltwater service into the Second World War. The ship was torpedoed and sunk as c) JAN TOMP in the eastern Black Sea enroute from Poti, Georgia, to Novorossiysk, Russia.

1952: The iron-hulled paddle-wheeler HAMILTONIAN burned at Hamilton. The cause was believed to have been a carelessly discarded cigarette butt in the women’s washroom. The remains were scrapped at Hamilton in 1953.

1975: B.A. CANADA came to the Great Lakes beginning in 1966 after early work for British-American tankers between Venezuela and North America. The ship was sold and returned inland under Liberian registry as b) DIMITRIOS D.M. in 1969 and ran aground in the Panama Canal on this date in 1975. The damaged hull was laid up at Jacksonville, FL and arrived at Panama City, FL. for scrapping on March 10, 1976.

2001: MARLY, a Seaway caller in 1981, began flooding in #2 hold as d) BISMIHITA'LA and developed a severe list. The crew abandoned ship and 25 sailors were picked up by the MURIEL YORK. Three were lost when their lifeboat drifted into the propeller. The ship was 500 miles off Capetown, South Africa. It was taken in tow by the tug SUHAILI but the 25-year old freighter had to be scuttled at sea on September 17, 2001.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Aug 28, 2013 18:05:02 GMT -5 skycheney said:

This place is dead today. Where is everybody?

Looks like piscal is throwing a big free barbeque with naked dancers (probably boys!) Hope Angela is cooking at least... ws

www.samsmarine.com/forums/index.php




Tall ships take over Lake Erie

8/31 - It's history that happened in our own backyard, 200 years ago. It was September 10, 1813, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry hoisted the flag with his battle slogan "Don't give up the ship" and led 557 men against the British on Lake Erie. When his ship the U.S. S. Lawrence was crippled, Perry took the flag and the remaining crew through a hail of shots to the Brig Niagara. Amazingly, they reached the ship unscathed. The Niagara broke the British lines, and one by one, the opposing ships surrendered. In the wake of the victory, Perry famously reported to General William Henry Harrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." The battle was the first ever US Naval victory over the Royal Navy, a turning point in the war and the reason we are all Americans today.

This weekend thousands have packed into places like Put-In-Bay and Port Clinton for the battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial. The huge celebration has drawn people and tall ships from all over North America. They held an opening ceremony in Port Clinton this morning.

There are 17 different tall ships that have sailed in for the bicentennial. Over the weekend they'll be docked in nine different Canadian and American ports including Port Clinton. Monday they will hit the open waters of Lake Erie to re-enact one of the most critical battles in American history.

The waters of Lake Erie are filled with sailing tributes to American history this weekend. People lined up in Port Clinton to climb aboard two of the tall ships that are here for the bicentennial celebration.

The Brig Niagara is the ship that Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry sailed to victory. A replica of the flagship is docked at Put-In-Bay. It will of course be the focal point of the battle re-enactment on Monday.

The two tall ships docked in Port Clinton for the weekend are Canadian vessels and of course we were fighting against the Canadians in the Battle of Lake Erie, but we've of course come a long way since then. Colin Burt is the Captain of the Toronto based tall ship Pathfinder, "Captain you have a bit of a different take on the outcome of the war of 1812? We won it. You did? Well I guess that depends on who you ask!"

The Pathfinder will play the role of one of the tall ships that was part of the battle. Captain Burt says it's hard to imagine what life was like for the men on board those ships 200 years ago, "We sail with our sistership a lot, so we are constantly chasing one another, but I can't imagine what it would be like if they were trying to shoot us!"

The ships will fire on each other during the re-enactment but they will of course be blanks. The tall ships will all stay docked at the various ports through Sunday. They will be at Put-In-Bay harbor on Monday and that morning they'll sail to the original battle site for the re-enactment.

If you can't get to Put-In-Bay for the festivities, The Toledo Museum of Art is also offering a special exhibition on the historic battle. Now through November 10th, check out prints, sculptures, artifacts, letters and music celebrating the naval victory. The display also features a portrait of Perry done by one of the most famous portrait artists of all time, Gilbert Stuart. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

13 ABC



Obituary: Edmund B. Fitzgerald

8/31 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Edmund B. Fitzgerald, who led Cutler-Hammer for 15 years and was a key player in bringing major league baseball back to Milwaukee, died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Nashville, Tenn., his family said. He was 87.

Fitzgerald was sometimes called "young Ed" to distinguish him from his father, an influential civic leader and former chairman of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

His name — and his father's — also was synonymous with one of the most famous shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, the 1975 sinking of the iron ore ship Edmund Fitzgerald in a nasty storm on Lake Superior. Commissioned as part of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s holdings, the massive carrier bore the name of the company's president. The tale of the storm that took the lives of 29 men was made famous by a Gordon Lightfoot ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in 1976.

In a 1970 news story, "young Ed" was identified as one of four men who led the long fight to get another baseball franchise for Milwaukee. One of the other four, Bud Selig, was Brewers president.

Fitzgerald was by then Brewers vice president. His Milwaukee roots, the story noted, ran deep: One grandfather was pioneer shipbuilder William E. Fitzgerald; another grandfather, Frank R. Bacon, founded Cutler-Hammer.

Fitzgerald was chairman and chief executive officer of Cutler-Hammer, the electrical products manufacturer, when the firm was purchased by Eaton Corp. in 1979.

A news story a few years later described Fitzgerald as "a casualty of sorts in the great American takeover game." Fitzgerald had fought to keep Cutler-Hammer an independent company, and resigned less than six months after Eaton took over.

After working for a year as a consultant, he was tapped in 1980 to lead Northern Telecom, a Canadian telecommunications company that became a multibillion-dollar global leader in its field. As for the legacy of the shipwreck — it was never far from his mind. The launch of the ship was the happiest day of his father's life, he once said. And the day of the wreck was "probably the worst day of my father's life."

Fitzgerald ran into Lightfoot, the singer, at a dinner hosted by the Canadian prime minister in the 1980s.

"I told him what my name was, and he looked rather surprised," Fitzgerald recalled in 2005, on the 30th anniversary of the wreck. He called the artist's 1976 hit a "fine song."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



U.S. Coast Guard plucks two from burning boat

8/31 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – A Thursday morning fire on the St. Marys River left one boat completely destroyed and triggered a large response from emergency personnel on both sides of the river.

Local fishing guide Al Tipton, owner and operator of River Cove Charters, said he was pre-fishing on the northwest side of Sugar Island just below the ferry dock when another vessel approached.

“I was just in there jigging,” said Tipton, recalling the incident. “This couple comes in from upriver into the bay and their engine explodes.”

Tipton said he immediately called in a “mayday” and contacted the U.S. Coast Guard as the couple fought a losing battle against the flames with their on-board fire extinguisher.

Chief Matthew Henry of the U.S. Coast Guard reports the initial call came in at 9:06 a.m. Thursday and a 25-foot vessel, which was already on the water in the midst of a training exercise, immediately responded to the call. A Response Boat Small — commonly known as an RBS — was also dispatched.

Coast Guard personnel rescued the two people on board, a 78-year-old male and an 83-year-old female.

Firefighters from both sides of the river were also called to the scene with the Sault Ste. Marie Ontario Fire Department, according to Chief Henry, extinguishing the flames.

The 17-foot Lund, believed to be powered by an older-model two-stroke engine, was carrying approximately 15 gallons of fuel at the time of the fire. Coast Guard personnel monitored the area and determined that the burning vessel did not pose a serious pollution hazard as the fire evidently consumed most of the fuel.

The aluminum hull of the badly-burned Lund was towed away once the flames were extinguished after drifting in the river current below Three Mile Road and the Rotary Island complex. There were no injuries associated with the incident.

Soo Evening News




Today in Great Lakes History - August 31

August 31, 1852 - The U. S. Congress passed an act requiring the president to appoint three officers from the Navy, three engineers from the Army and two civilian scientists to constitute the new Lighthouse Board. The Bureau of Lighthouses succeeded the Lighthouse Board in 1910.

On August 31, 1977, the BELLE RIVER entered service, departing Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for Superior, Wisconsin. Renamed b.) WALTER J. McCARTHY, JR in 1990.

In mid-August 1987, a peregrine falcon that had disappeared from Regina, Saskatchewan, two weeks earlier landed on the deck of a lake freighter on Lake Huron. The bird was captured and taken to a bird sanctuary in Vineland, Ontario. The vessel name is unknown.

In mid-August 1985, the Belgium salty FEDERAL THAMES loaded 25,400 tons of low-concentrate chrome ore at Duluth's Hallett Dock and was bound for Sweden. This ore dates back to World War II when it was mined in Montana. Other shipments were to have been made later as well.

On 31 August 1906, CAVALIER (3-mast wooden schooner, 134 foot 268 gross tons, built in 1867, at Quebec City as a bark) was carrying cedar lumber when she struck a reef off Chantry Island in Lake Huron and sank. Her crew was rescued by the Chantry Island lightkeeper. She was bound from Tobermory for Sarnia, Ontario.

On 31 August 1869, the schooner W. G. KEITH was launched at the Muir & Stewart yard in Port Huron, Michigan. She was named after her skipper/owner. Her dimensions were 126 foot X 26 foot X 8 foot 6 inches. She was built for the Lake Michigan lumber trade.

On 31 August 1900, efforts to free the newly-launched steel steamer CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON from the mud in the Black River at Port Huron, Michigan continued throughout the day. The launch had been watched by thousands the previous day and the vessel's stern stuck in the mud. On this date, the tugs BOYNTON and HAYNES tried to pull her free but were unable to do so. Finally 14 hydraulic jacks were used to lift the vessel and at 6 p.m. she was ready to be pulled by tugs. After a 15-inch hawser was broken in the first attempt, the tug PROTECTOR finally pulled the vessel free.

In 1982, the sandsucker NIAGARA made its last trip through the I-75 Bridge with a cargo of sand for the Chevrolet Saginaw Metal Castings plant.

In 1975, ALGOCEN stranded on South McNair Shoal in the St. Lawrence off Ogdensburg, N.Y. The ship was released and, after unloading at Port Cartier, sailed to Port Weller Dry Dock to spend from September 14 to October 10 on the shelf while a 600-foot section of the bottom of the hull was repaired.

[yachtsmanwilly]

BOATNERD is off the air today! ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lake Erie lockout ends on razor-thin union vote

9/2 - Hamilton, Ont. - U.S. Steel's third Canadian labour dispute is over. Workers at the company's Lake Erie plant in Nanticoke voted Friday by a thin margin to accept a third version of the company's final offer.

Workers voted 57 per cent in favour of a package they had rejected twice before by margins of 70 per cent.

In a note posted to its Internet site, leaders of Local 8782 of the United Steelworkers said 790 of the union's nearly 1,000 members voted.

"The Committee would like to thank USW Local 8782 members for their large turnout to all the information meetings and the votes," the note added. "Thank you for your support through these trying times."

In an email exchange, U.S. Steel Canada spokesman Trevor Harris welcomed the end of the dispute.

"Today, the employees of Lake Erie Works expressed their desire to put an end to this labour dispute and return to the business of making steel," he wrote. "We are pleased to be in a position to begin the recall of our workforce in the coming days. We anticipate that all employees will return to work in the next 30 days.

"While it is unfortunate that circumstances led both parties into this labour dispute, we are pleased that we are emerging with a fair contract that will help to make Lake Erie Works sustainable and competitive in both the Canadian and global marketplace for the next five years," he added. "At U.S. Steel Canada, we are looking forward to our future and working with our employees to deliver the high quality steel products our customers demand."

Work on scheduling the restart of the complex starts Saturday, union president Bill Ferguson said. The plant's blast furnace is expected to take three weeks to restart, but the coke ovens could take six to eight months to restart because the company currently has a surplus of coke on the ground at its Hamilton and Lake Erie facilities.

Workers whose departments are not restarting immediately will be assigned other duties.

U.S. Steel locked the gates of the Nanticoke plant in late April to its latest package of contract changes it said were vital to making the plant "competitive."

The latest package was negotiated in Pittsburgh recently in meetings arranged by the international headquarters of the United Steelworkers. The local union negotiating committee did not recommend accepting the deal and members interviewed after union information meetings on Wednesday were generally cool to it.

The package included the strong language protecting workers from having their jobs contracted out members had demanded; restored a signing bonus to $2,500 after an earlier cut to $2,000; dropped demands for increased co-payments for prescription drugs and adding a lump-sum payment of $500 for each year of a five-year term in lieu of a wage increase.

On the negative side, the package continued to demand changes to the cost-of-living allowance that would trigger payments only when inflation hits 3 per cent and capped vacation entitlements for current and future employees at five weeks. (Workers who already have more than five weeks' vacation keep that entitlement.)

Workers currently average around $65,000 a year or $31 an hour. Union members have been locked out since late April. U.S. Steel has said it needs changes in the labour agreement to make the plant "competitive."

Since taking over the former Stelco in 2007, U.S. Steel has twice before locked out Canadian workers Lake Erie from August 2009 to April 2010, and Hamilton from November 2010 to October 2011.

Hamilton Spectator





Today in Great Lakes History - September 2

On 02 September 1902, the White Star Line’s TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) hosted President Theodore Roosevelt when he came to Detroit, Michigan, to speak to Spanish American War veterans. The vessel took the president and his party on a sightseeing tour up and down the river while flying the president's blue and gold flag from the main mast.

The BROOKNES (Hull #1177) was launched on September 2, 1970, at Glasgow, Scotland by Lithgows Ltd. for "Langra" Schiffahrsges G.m.b.H. & Co., Hamburg, Germany. Brought to the Lakes in 1976, converted to a self-unloader and renamed b.) ALGOSEA. She sailed most recently as c.) SAUNIERE.

ROBERT KOCH's first trip was on September 2, 1977, up the Welland Canal bound for Buffalo with cement.

The W. F. WHITE was one of the earliest ships built as a self-unloader on the Great Lakes. On her maiden voyage September 2, 1915, the WHITE loaded coal at Erie, Pennsylvania, and sailed for Menominee, Michigan. She was the largest self-unloading bulk carrier on the Lakes at that time with a cargo capacity of 10,500 tons.

The RALPH H. WATSON departed light September 2, 1938, from Detroit, Michigan, upbound to load iron ore at Duluth, Minnesota. She was built as part of a fleet modernization plan for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, of four new "GOVERNOR MILLER' class bulk carriers, the other two were the JOHN HULST and the WILLIAM A. IRVIN. The WATSON was only the fourth steam turbine powered vessel on the Lakes

HUBERT GAUCHER ran aground in the lower St. Lawrence on September 2, 1988. It took three tugs to free her; repairs took place at Quebec City.

ZIEMIA TARNOWSKA lost her engine while docking at Pier 24, in Cleveland, ramming the dock and caused about $100,000 in damage on September 2, 1988. The Polish vessel had minimal damage to her bulbous bow.

On 2 September 1851, BUNKER HILL (wooden sidewheeler, 154 foot, 457 tons, built in 1835, at Black River, Ohio) burned to a total loss at Tonawanda, New York.

The COLONEL ELLSWORTH (wooden schooner, 138 foot, 319 gross tons, built in 1861, at Euclid, Ohio as a bark) was beached on Whitefish Point in Lake Superior the entire winter of 1895-96. She was repaired and put back into service late in the summer of 1896. Then, on 2 September 1896, the newly rebuilt vessel collided with the schooner EMILY B. MAXWELL about 6 miles from White Shoals on Lake Michigan and sank at about 4:00 a.m. Her crew escaped in the yawl and was picked up by the MAXWELL.

1905 The large wooden schooner PRETORIA, which cleared Superior with ore under tow of the VENEZUELA, hit a fierce storm and the steering gear failed. The vessel fell into the trough after the tow line snapped and the barge broke up off Outer Island. Five crew were rescued and another five were lost.

1905 IOSCO and the schooner OLIVE JEANETTE foundered off Huron Island, Lake Superior, with the loss of 19 lives on the former and another 7 on the latter. Both were downbound with iron ore and were last seen near Stannard Rock. Also, the SEVONA stranded on a reef in a Lake Superior storm and broke in two as a total loss. Seven drowned from the bow section when they tried to come ashore on hatch rafts. The wreck was dynamited in 1909 after the boilers had been salvaged.

1914 THOS. R. SCOTT became waterlogged and sank during a storm in the deepest part of Georgian Bay off the east coast of the Bruce Peninsula. The ship was swamped in a storm while carrying lumber from Cockburn Island to Owen Sound and all on board were saved. The hull was located using sidescan sonar in 1994.

1926 BURT BARNES, a wooden three-masted schooner, foundered in Lake Ontario while carrying 210 tons of coal from Sodus Point to Picton. The crew abandoned the ship in the yawl boat near Picton and were blown across the lake and came ashore safely 12 miles west of Rochester.

1972 The Cypriot freighter AEGIS WISDOM and the Italian vessel LIBRA collided in fog on the St. Lawrence near Les Escoumins. The former, which had been launched in March, was on her first trip outbound from the Seaway and was heavily damaged aft. The vessel was towed to Lauzon for repairs and survived until scrapping at Alang, India, as d) ANGELIKI II following arrival on January 14, 1997. LIBRA, dated from 1965 but did not come to the Great Lakes until 1975. It was scrapped in Mainland China as b) DEPY in 1986.

1975 CHICAGO TRIBUNE, enroute from Thunder Bay to Collingwood with grain, went aground in Georgian Bay and had to be lightered by the CHARLES W. JOHNSON, working with the tug ROD McLEAN. After being released and unloaded, the ship went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.




Port Reports - September 2

Alpena, Mich. - Ben & Chanda McClain
The Yorktown arrived in the Thunder Bay river around 11 a.m. on Saturday. Passengers were able to leave the vessel and do some sightseeing in the area. The Yorktown departed the river at 4 p.m. The tug Defiance and barge Ashtabula was at Lafarge on Sunday, unloading coal. The Alpena is expected to return on Monday.

Toronto, Ont. - Jens Juhl
The saltie Lyulin departed early Sunday morning. The English River departed and cleared the east gap at 6:15 p.m. that evening. An hour later the Federal Margaree arrived and tied up at terminal 52.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Baie Comeau, last of new Trillium self-unloaders, enters Seaway

9/3 - Baie Comeau, the fourth and final new Trillium-class self-unloading vessel built in China for CSL, has entered the St. Lawrence Seaway system for the first time. Baie Comeau had an ETA for the St. Lambert Lock at approximately 9:10 p.m. Monday evening. The vessel's first stop will be in Windsor, Ontario, where she will unload ballast stone that was used to help assist in her transit across the oceans. While in Montreal, the ship also had additional fittings and supports removed before commencing Great Lakes/Seaway service. After unloading in Windsor, Baie Comeau is expected to load her first Great Lakes cargo, coal from the Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. From there the ship will then travel the length of the St. Lawrence Seaway and unload her cargo in Quebec City, Quebec.

Denny Dushane




Port Reports - September 3

St. Marys River
Traffic on a grey and blustery Labor Day included the upbound Philip R. Clarke, Burns Harbor, American Century and, later in the day, American Century, Tim S. Dool, American Mariner, Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 and Indiana Harbor. Algomarine was upbound in the lower river in the evening, but headed east to Bruce Mines. As night fell, the Clarke went to anchor for weather in the lee of Whitefish Point, with Edgar B. Speer on the hook south of Ile Parisienne waiting for more favorable water levels in the lower river. There was no downbound traffic for most of the day, however Arthur M. Anderson and Edwin H. Gott were downbound in the evening. As night fell, the Gott went to anchor in the Nine Mile anchorage until water levels in the Rock Cut improved.

Cedarville, Mich. - Denny Dushane
Joseph L. Block is expected to arrive on Wednesday during the early afternoon.

Port Inland, Mich. - Denny Dushane
Manitowoc was scheduled to arrive in the early evening on Labor Day to load. Wilfred Sykes is due early in the morning on Tuesday. Calumet is also due in on Tuesday in the early evening. Joseph L. Block wraps up the Port Inland dock lineup with a late evening arrival on Tuesday.

Calcite, Mich. - Denny Dushane
The tug Defiance and barge Ashtabula loaded and were expected to depart at 8 a.m. on Labor Day. H. Lee White was anchored outside of Calcite to load after the Ashtabula was finished. Buffalo and Great Republic are due Tuesday morning. Due on Wednesday are the tug Leonard M and barge Huron Spirit in the early morning to load at the North and South docks.

Stoneport, Mich. - Denny Dushane
Lewis J. Kuber was expected to arrive at Stoneport around suppertime on Labor Day to load. Joseph H. Thompson is due on Tuesday afternoon. Cason J. Callaway and the barge Pathfinder are due in to load Wednesday.

Saginaw River - Todd Shorkey
Recent traffic included:
8/23 - Olive L. Moore/Lewis J. Kuber - Essexville Wirt Sand and Stone dock & Saginaw Wirt Dock
8/24 - Manitowoc - Bay City Wirt Dock
8/25 - Olive L. Moore/Lewis J. Kuber - Bay Aggregates Dock.
8/26 - Calumet - GM Dock
8/26 - American Integrity - Consumers Energy Dock
8/27 - Olive L. Moore/Lewis J. Kuber - Bay Aggregates Dock
8/30 - Olive L. Moore/Lewis J. Kuber - Bay City Wirt Dock & Saginaw Wirt Dock
9/1 - Olive L. Moore/Lewis J. Kuber - Bay Aggregates Dock

For the month of August, there were 21 commercial vessel deliveries on the Saginaw River. This was up by six over the same period last year and on par with the five-year average of 21 passages for August. For the year to date, there have been 84 vessel passages. This is only one passage less than the same period last season. Compared to the five-year average it is two passages less. It appears shipping traffic has leveled out on the Saginaw River after the continual decreases year after year. While it is encouraging, the deliveries are still a far cry from what they were just 8 to 10 years ago.



Michigan woman sells lamps from 1920 yacht Delphine, owned by Dodge family

9/3 - Detroit, Mich. – A Waterford Township woman is about to part with two lanterns she says once adorned a yacht owned by auto baron Horace Dodge.

The lanterns from the S.S. Delphine are among thousands of items to be sold by Ellen Kelley at an auction Sept. 7 in Otter Lake, according to The Oakland Press. Kelley said her family acquired the lanterns through friends of the Dodge family, who lived in Grosse Pointe Farms.

“They were like an extension of my dear friends who knew the Dodge family,” Kelley, 68, told the newspaper. “They’re like a part of my history, not just a part of local history.”

The 258-foot Delphine was built for Dodge in 1920 and launched after his death in 1921. The Delphine burned and sank in 1926 near New York. It was acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1942, restored and converted into the flagship U.S.S. Dauntless, serving in the Pacific Fleet during World War II.

Auctioneer Tim Freese of Otter Lake said he plans to ask for $250 for each lantern. Kelley said she knows she has to let go of the lanterns and other family heirlooms she has collected over the years.

“I’m turning over a new leaf,” said Kelley, a retired teacher. “I feel like I can actually retire now that I’m letting that stuff go.”

The Delphine is still around and now harbored off the North Africa coast in Tunisia, the newspaper reported. It is listed for sale on yachtworld.com for $39 million.

Dodge had three yachts, said Joel Stone, senior curator at the Detroit Historical Society.

“But this was the largest and the largest private yacht in the world at the time it was built,” Stone said. “His son, Horace Junior, also raced boats and started his own boat-producing company.”

Detroit Free Press



Interior welding slows Grand Haven lighthouse project

9/3 - Grand Haven, Mich. – Although the unofficial end of summer is just a couple of days away, a project aimed at refurbishing Grand Haven’s lighthouses is far from over.

Preservation crews have been inside the inner lighthouse, working to complete structural repairs using special steel plates to support the structure, City Manager Pat McGinnis said. Forty of these have been placed around the inside perimeter of the inner light to fortify the seam and guarantee permanent structural stability, he said.

According to McGinnis, the plates have been welded around the inner seam of the lighthouse using a specialized welding method recommended by structural engineers, a civil engineer, the project manager and the contractor on the job.

McGinnis noted that the issues inside of the lighthouse were discovered when crews were sand blasting them. When the metal was blasted, the corrosion around the first seam was worse than expected, he said. Over the past three weeks, engineers, managers and contractors have been discussing alternatives to a solution that would allow for the final coating of the inside and outside of the structure.

Once the repair work is completed, preservation crews can begin to work on the next part of the project. A final coat of primer can be added, and then a fresh coat of red paint.

Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy’s Marci Cisneros noted that the painting is dependent on good weather. The hope is to have the process move along fast enough to get everything done before the winter, he said.

Grand Haven Tribune




Grand Haven Tribune





Battle of Lake Erie 200 years later

9/3 - Put-In-Bay, Ohio - There were plenty of differences between the pivotal Battle of Lake Erie on Sept. 10, 1813, and its bicentennial re-enactment this afternoon.

About eight miles off Put-in-Bay, hundreds of costumed volunteers used diesel engines, radars, GPS and other modern tools to supplement the sails and compasses of 200 years ago.

They fired blanks instead of cannonballs. They wove their tall ships among Coast Guard ships, police boats, a ferry, a fireworks barge and an estimated 2,000 pleasure boaters. They sailed on Labor Day beneath planes, with power plants in sight on distant shores.

As of yore, though, participants hoisted sails, climbed tall rigs and felt the isolation of life at sea.

"I like the independence and self-reliance," said Marcia Flynn, who helped sail the Friends Good Will, a replica ship from the Michigan Maritime Museum. "You didn't have the modern conveniences. Your entire world was on deck or aloft in the rig."

Among the contemporary touches, the re-enactors included women. "Thank goodness things have changed a bit," said the Goodwill's captain, Adele Arlitt.

Two hundred years ago, despite heavy losses, some 557 Yankees led by Oliver Hazard Perry stunned the British navy in a pivotal battle of the War of 1812. The victory made two slogans famous. Perry flew a flag that said, "Don't give up the ship." Afterwards, he reported, "We have met the enemy, and he is ours."

The re-enactment climaxed a five-day bicentennial celebration staged by the Lake Erie Heritage Foundation. Thousands of visitors saw a re-enactment village and ships from as far as Norway with rigs up to 126 feet tall. They caught music by the Ohio State University marching band and other performers and took in Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.

Six ships restaged the battle and 11 others carried spectators. The ships left port at noon and were scheduled to fight shortly after. But it took them until nearly 2 p.m. to reach their positions in crowded waters.

Before the battle, the weather was breezy and murky, with moments of drizzle, and the waves were a foot or two high. But the battle brought bright sunshine and more wakes than waves.

At the height of the battle, a Perry impersonator rode a longboat from a disabled Yankee ship to a sound one to help secure the victory.

On shore, Michael and Rebecca Cooper of Wilmington, O., camped out for four days in 1813-style clothes in the re-enactment village.

Michael, who belongs to a historical group called the United States Regiment of Riflemen, said, "The War of 1812 really put the United States on the international map. It developed the national anthem and a national sense of identify. It wasn't just individual states any more. It was a unified nation."

Cleveland Plain Dealer




Hornblower vows appeal as judge upholds state's no-bid agreement with Maid of the Mist

9/3 - A state supreme court justice from Niagara County has dismissed a competitor's legal challenge aimed at reopening a contract currently held by the Maid of the Mist Corp. to operate boat tours at the base of the Falls.

In a decision issued Thursday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Catherine Nugent Panepinto ruled that state officials, including New York State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey and New York Power Authority President and CEO Gil Quiniones, acted appropriately and within the law when they agreed to modify the terms of a 2002 agreement between the state and the Maid to cover plans for the conversion of the state-owned Schoellkopf Power Station site into storage facilities for the company's fleet.

Hornblower Cruises, a California-based firm that will begin offering boat tours of its own from the Canadian side next year, had challenged the legality of the process that led to the signing of the 2012 memorandum of understanding that altered the terms of the Maid's original tour operation deal with the New York state. The company's attorneys argued that state officials entered into the modified agreement without seeking competitive bids for service as required by law.

In her ruling, Panepinto noted that the court is compelled to "exercise a high degree of judicial deference to the involved state agencies" and that the court may also "recognize other reasonable interpretations of the work described in the amendment." Panepinto determined that it was "not irrational" for the New York State Comptroller's Office to conclude that the docking facility "does not alter the identity or main purpose of the original contract." Her ruling describes the state comptroller's conclusion that public bidding was not required prior to construction as "reasonable."

"This is just another confirmation that everything was done properly," said Maid attorney Brian Gwitt. "From the Maid of the Mist's standpoint, they believed they did everything properly and this is just confirmation."

Richard C. Jacobs, vice president and general counsel for San Francisco-based Hornblower, said his company is "deeply disappointed" with Panepinto's decision and plans to appeal.

"We don't think it reflects the requirements of New York state public bidding laws," Jacobs said. "We will undoubtedly be appealing this case."

Gwitt said Hornblower's attorneys have 30 days to file an appeal. For now, Gwitt said, Panepinto's decision clears the way for work to continue on the Maid's storage facility, which is currently under construction. If all goes as planned, Gwitt said the company will have its facility completed in time to allow for Maid of the Mist boats to be removed from the water and placed into storage before winter.

"Everything is expected to be in place before fall," Gwitt said.

Completion of the project would allow Maid of the Mist boats, which have been ferrying passengers along the lower Niagara River since 1846, to continue offering trips from the American side next year, and beyond. Hornblower has acquired exclusive rights to storage facilities located on the Canadian side of the river under an agreement with the Niagara Parks Commission. The company will launch its fleet next year.

At least one other legal challenge remains for Maid's endeavor on the American side. The Niagara Preservation Coalition, a local group that maintains state and federal agencies failed to protect the integrity of the historic Schoellkopf site during the storage facility's construction, has asked a federal judge to intervene on its behalf. The group filed its federal lawsuit after having several similar cases dismissed at the state level. The case is still pending.

A temporary restraining order that temporarily halted the construction project was lifted on procedural grounds in state supreme court in April. The coalition also filed a request for a preliminary injunction in June after members of the group took pictures of steel girders from the site being loaded into bins destined for the scrap yard. A panel of judges in the state supreme court’s appellate division denied that request.

Niagara Gazette




Today in Great Lakes History - September 3

September 3, 1919, the WILLIAM A. McGONAGLE loaded a record 15,160 tons of soft coal at Toledo, Ohio for delivery to Gary, Indiana. The record lasted less than 24 hours as the D. G. KERR, Captain Harry Harbottle, loaded 15,532 tons of coal at the same Toledo dock for delivery to Gary.

September 3, 1942, the 250-foot STEEL VENDOR, Captain G. L. Kane, sank at 3:45 a.m. on Lake Superior with a cargo of 3,000 tons of iron ore. The lone casualty was Oiler John N. Sicken. Twenty-two survivors were rescued by the CHARLES M. SCHWAB, Captain Alfred Drouillard, and 2 survivors were rescued by the WILLIAM G. CLYDE, Captain David M. LeRoy. Other boats standing by were the B. F. AFFLECK, ELBERT H. GARY, JOLIET, and EUGENE P. THOMAS.

September 3, 1957, the HARRIS N. SNYDER of the Boland & Cornelius fleet, Captain Elmer Murray and Chief Engineer Frank Mc Cabe, rescued 2 from the waters of Lake Michigan. Not only did the crew rescue Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Colby, but the crew used the unloading boom to recover their sailboat and place it on the deck of the SNYDER. The entire maneuver only required 55 minutes.

On September 3, 1899, the Great Lakes Towing Company's RED CLOUD (wooden propeller tug, 62 foot, 40 gross tons, built in 1883, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing on Lake Erie for Lorain, Ohio, when a storm forced her to head for port at Cedar Point, Ohio. However she was thrown on a reef and broke in two - a total loss. The crew made it to Sandusky, Ohio.

On September 3, the BELLE RIVER (now WALTER J. McCARTHY, JR.) set a then Great Lakes record for coal when it loaded 62,802 tons of coal at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal on its maiden voyage. This record has since been surpassed many times.

At Lorain, Ohio keel-laying ceremonies for the 437-foot bow section of the ROGER BLOUGH (Hull#900) took place on September 3, 1968, and was float-launched December 21, 1968, less ballast tanks because the existing dry dock wasn't wide enough to accommodate her 105-foot width.

SOODOC (Hull#210) of 1976, on her maiden voyage from Collingwood, Ontario, loaded salt at Goderich, Ontario, on September 3, 1976. Renamed b.) AMELIA DESGAGNES in 1990.

U.S. Steel's SEWELL AVERY was laid up for the last time September 3, 1981, at Superior, Wisconsin. She was towed to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 1987, where the superstructure was removed and the hull was sunk for use as a dock.

THOMAS W. LAMONT was laid up for the last time at Duluth’s Hallett dock #6A on September 3, 1981. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 1987.

H. H. PORTER sailed on her maiden voyage for the Brier Hill Steamship Co. (Pickands Mather, mgr.) on September 3, 1920, light from Lorain, Ohio, to load iron ore at Two Harbors, Minnesota. Renamed b.) WALTER E. WATSON in 1957 and c.) NATIONAL TRADER in 1973. She was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 1978.

On September 3, 1985, PHILIP R. CLARKE plowed into the Drawbridge Cove Marina in Lorain's Black River, damaging 5-10 small craft and sinking one at the steel dock. CLARKE managed to stop before hitting the Route 6 drawbridge.

On September 3,1887, BULGARIA (wooden propeller, 280 foot, 1,888 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, by J. Davidson, as their hull number 16.

September 3, 1910 - The MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO 2 (Hull#450) was launched in Cleveland, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co. for the Marquette & Bessemer Dock & Navigation Co. She was the replacement for MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO 2 of 1905, (Hull#428), which foundered on Lake Erie, December 7, 1909.

On September 3, 1869, the 167-foot wooden propeller BOSCOBEL burned about two miles below St. Clair, Michigan. Three lives were lost. The ship was only about two years old and was in service of the New York Central Railroad, though owned by the Peshtigo Lumbering Co. of Chicago. The burned hulk was raised in 1876 and rebuilt as a schooner-barge at Algonac, Michigan. She lasted until 1909, when she sank on Lake Huron.

1905: The GEORGE STEPHENSON was blown aground at Pointe Aux Pins, Lake Superior and struck by her consort barge JOHN A. ROEBLING. Both were released and returned to service.

1942: DONALD STEWART, a canal trader for Canada Steamship Lines, was torpedoed by U-517 and sunk while in a convoy on the Gulf of St. Lawrence while carrying barrels of aviation fuel and bulk cement for the air base at Goose Bay, Labrador. Three members of the engine room crew were lost.

1944: LIVINGSTON, a former Great Lakes canal ship, was torpedoed and sunk by U-541 in the Atlantic about 80 miles east of Cape Breton Island. Fourteen lives were lost but another 14 were spared and rescued.

1965: The tanker EASTERN SHELL sank the small wooden goelette MONT BLANC in a collision blamed on fog about 20 miles from Trois Rivieres. All crewmembers of the pulpwood carrier were rescued.

1970: KENNETH made a single trip to the Great Lakes in 1959. It caught fire in the engine room on this date off the coast of Israel while enroute from Alexandria, Egypt, to Tripoli, Libya, as h) CHRISTINA MARIA. The ship was abandoned by the crew, towed into Haifa, Israel, September 6 and sold to Israeli shipbreakers later in the year.

1998: ORKANGER, a chemical tanker that first came through the Seaway in 1977, began leaking while inbound at Rio Grande, Brazil, as e) BAHAMAS with 12,000 tons of sulphuric acid and sank in the harbor. The hull was eventually refloated but never repaired although it had subsequent renames and was reported as broken up in 2003 as h) ORIENT FLOWER.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Algoma Equinox sea trials may be underway

9/4 - Algoma Equinox appears to be undergoing sea trials. She moved off the Nantong shipyard dock and anchored in the Yangtze River. Her destination was listed as Zhou Shan with ETA of 0800 on Thursday 9/5/13. Zhou Shan is a series of islands off China's east coast in the East China Sea.

Andy Torrence



Detroit’s West Jefferson drawbridge to remain closed until at least 2015

9/4 - River Rouge, Mich. – Work on the West Jefferson bridge that was damaged in May when it was lowered onto a passing ship isn't expected to begin in earnest for several months.

According to Cindy Nocerini Dingell, the deputy chief operating officer for the Wayne County Department of Public Services, the bridge probably won't be open for traffic until early 2015.

"The bridge was extensively damaged, " she said. "We've just received the consultant's report, now we're sifting through that,"

Dingell said eventually the county will have to solicit bids for design and rebuilding the bridge.

No one was injured because of the accident. The 45-year old operator allegedly was intoxicated when she lowered the bridge as the 670-foot freighter Herbert C. Jackson, carrying 23,000 tons of iron ore, was passing underneath. A foreman took the operator, a woman, for drug and alcohol testing before she was sent home. She was terminated in May after an investigation found her to be at fault.

Hydraulics and gears on the drawbridge, which connects the cities of Detroit and River Rouge, were heavily damaged on the north side of the bridge. There was minor damage to the ore carrier.

In the short term, repairs to the north side might need to be rushed in order to stop it from falling into the water. Motorists can use I-75 as a detour.

Another bridge over the river was already under construction when the West Jefferson Bridge was damaged. The bridge at Fort Street and Oakwood Boulevard in Detroit's Delray neighborhood is expected to be closed for about 18 months while it is repaired.

The bridge was originally constructed in 1922, and was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as a significant monument to early 20th century engineering. It is unclear whether that eligibility will be changed by any rebuilding or new construction caused by the accident.

The News Herald



Great Lakes water levels inching toward normal

9/4 - Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron continued a months-long move toward normal water levels in August, according to the International Lake Superior Board of Control.

Lake Superior started its annual fall-winter drop, declining about a half-inch in August, the normal amount for the month. The big lake sits 3.2 inches below normal, but 7.9 inches above the Sept. 1 level last year.

Michigan and Huron dropped a half-inch in August, a month they usually drop 1.6 inches. The lakes are 6.3 inches above the Sept. 1 level last year and 17 inches below normal.

Duluth News Tribune



Coast Guard helicopter crews to end operations at seasonal air facilities in Michigan, Illinois

9/4 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard's Great Lakes air stations closed their seasonal air facilities in Muskegon, Mich., and Waukegan, Ill., Tuesday following their annual assignment to support Coast Guard operations in southern Lake Michigan and the surrounding areas.

The air facilities operate during the traditional boating season, which runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, to provide enhanced search and rescue services due to the high volume of summer boaters off Chicago, Milwaukee and other southern Lake Michigan areas.

Both air facilities opened this year on May 24, prior to Memorial Day.

Air Facility Muskegon, which falls under the command of Coast Guard Air Station Detroit, is located at Muskegon County Airport, while Air Facility Waukegan, falling under Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., is located at Waukegan Regional Airport. Both air facilities are staffed by aircrews deployed from their parent air station and maintain two aircrews and one MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter to provide search and rescue services 24 hours a day during the summer.

Air Facility Waukegan responded to 19 search-and-rescue cases this summer, while Air Facility Muskegon responded to 14.

Both air stations operate under the direction of the 9th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Cleveland, to provide multi-mission capabilities in the Great Lakes region.






Port authority investing in infrastructure at Burns Harbor

9/4 - Portage, Ind. – Indiana's port authority has launched a few major construction projects at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor.

The Ports of Indiana Commission recently approved $1.7 million in spending on new rail and sewer infrastructure at the 600-acre port on the southern shore of Lake Michigan.

Burns Harbor-based Tranco Industrial Services Inc. was hired for $508,000 to reconstruct the main railroad line at the deep-water port in Portage. The project includes rehabilitating 2,500 feet of rail and replacing 1,000 crossties.

The reconstruction is aimed at updating the port's aging three-mile rail loop, which was built in 1980. The rail line circles the port, connecting the 500 or so ships and barges that dock there every year with the 30 port-based companies such as Feralloy and Leeco Steel. The loop hooks into the adjacent Norfolk Southern Rail Yard.

An estimated 13,000 railroad cars pass through the port every year.

Once the latest rail work is completed, about half of the line will have been rebuilt since 2010.

"It is important that we maintain the port infrastructure and keep it in top shape in order to provide maximum receipt and delivery flexibility for the businesses located here," port director Rick Heimann said.

The commission also hired Crown Point-based LGS Plumbing to do $1.2 million in sanitary sewer improvements at the port.

Workers will replace about 1,900 feet of sewer pipe that runs under the freight and commuter rail lines.

The rail line reconstruction is expected to take two months, and the sewer project will span three months once it gets started after Labor Day. An estimated 24 construction workers will be employed over the next few months on the various projects.

Maris and Son of Hobart also will replace the roofs of four buildings at the port, which handles more ocean-going cargo than any other Great Lakes port, as well as 15 percent of the U.S. steel trade with Europe.

The port is a major hub for steel processing, since it is home to 10 steel companies and near three steel mills.

Northwest Indiana Times







Today in Great Lakes History - September 4

On September 4,1889, the new steamer CHEROKEE (wooden propeller freighter, 209 foot, 1,002 gross tons) arrived in Port Huron, Michigan, from M. P. Lester's yard in Marine City, Michigan, for the Phoenix Iron Works in Port Huron to installed the engine and boiler. Her outfitting was completed by Carleton and Cole of Port Huron.

On September 4, 1876, CITY OF PORT HURON, a wooden steam barge, sank a few miles off shore near Lexington, Michigan, at about noon. She was heavily loaded with iron ore and sprang a leak at about 11 o'clock. Most of the crew managed to get on top of the cabin while two were in the forward rigging as she went down in 6 fathoms of water. The heavy seas washed over those on the cabin. Captain George Davis and two others floated ashore on wreckage while a fish boat picked up the five others. No lives were lost.

1921: The former laker RANDOLPH S. WARNER was cut in two to leave the Great Lakes during World War One. It was rebuilt with the pilothouse amidships and sank on this date about 40 miles off the Bosporus after reportedly striking an unrecovered mine.

1926: HARSEN, loaded with a cargo of sand, capsized and sank in a storm 3 miles northeast of the Pelee Passage Light in Lake Erie. The wooden-hulled vessel was a total loss.

1961: IMPERIAL HAMILTON caught fire while loading ethyl gasoline at Sarnia and sustained considerable damage. Six on board were injured.

1963: The Egyptian freighter SALAH ELDIN, a former Victory ship, caught fire in the crew quarters in Hamilton but the blaze was extinguished before it reached the cargo hold. The vessel almost capsized due to the weight of water but it remained upright. Two crew were injured and the Chief Steward died. The ship was towed out by GRAEME STEWART and JAMES BATTLE on November 22, 1963, for Quebec City and sold as is, where it became d) MERCANTILE VICTORY after a refit at Houston, Texas. Another fire on April 23, 1964, this time in the engine room on the Red Sea shortly after re-entering service in March 1964, led to an eventual resale to Spanish shipbreakers. The vessel arrived at Castellon for dismantling on May 10, 1965.

1967: The tugs MICHAEL McALLISTER and AMERICA towed the retired passenger ship NORTH AMERICAN through the Welland Canal enroute to a new career as a training ship for the S.I.U. at Piney Point, MD.

1972: NORSE CORAL was new when it entered the Seaway in 1962 and returned as b) TOTEM STAR in 1963. The ship opened the Seaway season on April 8, 1964, and returned to our shores as c) SILVERBEACH in 1965. It sustained heavy damage off Victoria, BC while inbound from Hong Kong to Vancouver on this date due to a collision with the C.E. DANT. The two ships were locked together. They were towed to Victoria the next day and then separated September 6. The damage was repaired and the former lakes trader survived until scrapping at Xingang, China, in 1986.