Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard, city of Two Rivers discuss changes to local Coast Guard operations

4/6 - Two Rivers, Wis. – Representatives with the U.S. Coast Guard, City of Two Rivers, and Two Rivers area response agencies met in Two Rivers recently to discuss a Coast Guard proposal to optimize its response capabilities by adjusting how it operates Coast Guard Station Two Rivers, starting in the fall of 2016.

Under the proposed plan, Station Two Rivers will remain staffed with response crews Friday through Sunday during the summer months, and will operate and respond from its parent unit in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on other days. Built into the plan is flexibility for the seasonal station to begin operating in early spring or into late fall when necessary, and to resume operations if needed during special events.

The Two Rivers facility will continue to be occupied year round by 10 Coast Guard members responsible for maintaining aids-to-navigation in the region. Separating the search-and-rescue and aids-to-navigation functions and personnel allows more specialization and proficiency and is the method used by the Coast Guard in most areas of the country. It is similar to having separate police and fire departments. These changes allow the Coast Guard to better staff, train and equip the boats and crews continuing to serve the Two Rivers area.

Station Two Rivers’ search and rescue operations will be fully staffed during the summer of 2016, and the proposed changes will be put into effect in the fall of 2016.

“We want the community to know that our crews will still be on the water in Two Rivers ready to respond to emergencies and enforce federal laws and regulations,” said Chief Petty Officer Christopher Zahn, officer in charge of Station Two Rivers. “Although response crews may not be operating from Two Rivers year round, they will continue to serve this area. We’re also very grateful for the relationships we have with our partners here, who we will continue to work alongside to ensure the public’s safety and security.”

USCG



Icebreaking today in Keweenaw Waterway

4/6 - At the request of local officials, the United States Coast Guard cutter Alder will conduct icebreaking operations in the Keweenaw Waterway. On Wednesday April 6.

Alder will make their approach to the waterway from the east and enter at Keweenaw Bay. The cutter will transit west through Portage Lake ending at the upper entry and the open waters of Lake Superior. All recreational users of the Keweenaw Waterway should plan their activities carefully, and use caution near the ice.

USCG


Port of Ogdensburg to get $2.6 million upgrade a year ahead of schedule

4/6 - Ogdensburg, N.Y. – A $2.6 million project aimed at expanding the Port of Ogdensburg and growing its agriculture import-export business will start a year ahead of schedule, according to Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton.

The project, which includes the addition of two grain storage bins, a new conveyor system and the rehabilitation of two rail bridges, was set to begin next year.

Ritchie says the state has moved its timetable at her request.

That new law will also allow improvements to proceed on the OBPA-owned Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, ensuring the link to Ottawa and northeastern Canada can continue for at least another 50 years. In addition, Ritchie says she secured $200,000 to fund a dredging project at the port to remove 30 years of silt buildup that had made docking more difficult, dangerous and costly.

“With its proximity to Canada, and its location as the last deepwater port for outward bound shipping from the Great Lakes, the Port of Ogdensburg can play a key role in growing our economy, and helping to create new jobs,” Ritchie said. “This project especially positions the port to better serve the needs of North Country farmers and agribusinesses by making it easier to move products to newer and bigger markets by both rail and water. I’m grateful to the governor and the state DOT for moving this project forward on a faster pace.”

North Country Now



06 April 1880 The GOSHAWK (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 180 foot, 501 gross tons, built in 1866, at Cleveland, Ohio) left Chicago, Illinois with a load of grain for Buffalo, New York on her first trip of the season. At dusk, sailor Frederick Cook fell overboard, off the boom of the mizzenmast. A plank was thrown to him and the anchor was dropped to stop the vessel. The lifeboat was launched with four men in it to rescue the sailor but they could not find him. The lifeboat got lost in the dark. The GOSHAWK waited through the night without any word of a rescue. At dawn, the captain decided to return to Chicago but the three men left onboard could not raise the anchor. Meanwhile, the lifeboat landed south of Chicago, flagged down a passing train and rode it to Chicago. The GOSHAWK flew the distress signal and a Chicago tug steamed out and towed her back into the harbor where the four rescuers got aboard. The GOSHAWK then resumed her journey. Sailor Cook was never found.

The KENNEBEC was launched on 06 April 1901, by the Jenks Ship Building Company (Hull #18) at Port Huron, Michigan, for Mssrs. F. B. & F. P. Chesbrough of Detroit. She lasted until 1921, when she sank off the coast of New Jersey.

ALGOLAKE (Hull#211) of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was christened April 6, 1977, she was the first maximum-sized ship of this type in Algoma's fleet with all cabins aft.

The a.) HON PAUL MARTIN (Hull#228), departed Collingwood April 6, 1985, on her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines to load grain at Thunder Bay, Ontario, bound for Quebec City, Quebec. She was the largest vessel built at Collingwood as a result of the new Seaway regulations that allowed increased hull lengths beyond the previous maximum overall of 730 foot to transit the lock systems. She sails the Lakes today as b.) ATLANTIC ERIE.

PRAIRIE HARVEST sailed on her maiden voyage in 1984. On April 6, 1990, Paterson's CANADOC of 1961, was laid up at Montreal, Quebec, never to sail again.

NOTRE DAME VICTORY, b.) CLIFFS VICTORY was delivered to Interocean Steamship Co., on April 6, 1945, under charter from the U.S. Maritime Commission.

The a.) LOUIS R. DAVIDSON (Hull#95) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works was launched April 6, 1912, for the American Steamship Co. Later renamed b.) DIAMOND ALKALI in 1932, c.) DOW CHEMICAL in 1939 and d.) FERNDALE in 1963. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1979.

April 6, 1931 - The CITY OF FLINT 32 set a world record sailing 101,000 miles in her first year of service.

On 6 April 1872, the schooner I.N. FOSTER was launched from the Fitzgerald & Leighton yard at Port Huron, Michigan. She was classified as a "full-sized canaller" since she was as large as a vessel could be to pass through the Welland Canal. Her dimensions were 143 foot overall, 26 foot inch beam, 11 foot 6 inch depth, 437 tons.

1942: The CANADIAN FARMER was Hull 65 of the Collingwood shipyard and it was launched there on December 27, 1919. The vessel was sailing as c) SHIN KUANG when it was sunk by Japanese surface naval forces on the Bay of Bengal.

1949: FORT WILLDOC of the Paterson fleet and the JAMES E. McALPINE of the Brown Steamship Co. collided in Lake Superior, above Whitefish Point, on this date. Both ships were damaged and needed repairs.

1972: The freighter STAR OF REWIAH had been built at Collingwood as Hull 105 and launched as the corvette H.M.S. COMFREY on July 28, 1942. The ship was later converted to a cargo carrier and was sailing under this sixth name when it ran aground off the Ashrafi Lighthouse in the Gulf of Suez and declared a total loss on this date in 1972. It was traveling in ballast from Suez, Egypt, to Safaga, Egypt, at the time.

1978: The self-unloader TARANTAU was blown aground due to the wind and shifting ice pack in Lake Huron above Port Huron and had to be freed by the tug BARBARA ANN.

1979: A violent spring storm found LABRADOC (ii) on Lake Erie where the cargo shifted and the vessel took on a precarious list. All on board were removed fearing the ship would roll over and sink. But it survived and was towed to safety eventually undergoing repairs at Port Weller Dry Docks. The vessel left Great Lakes service in 1988 and operated on deep sea runs as b) FALCON CREST until scrapping at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, in 1994.

1992: An explosion and fire in the tunnel of HALIFAX occurred while the CSL ship was upbound in the St. Marys River. One sailor was killed and two more injured while the ship sustained internal damage. It went to Thunder Bay for repairs.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/7 - Cleveland, Ohio – U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters moved 1,747,111 tons of cargo in March, more than double their total of a year ago. The March float was also on pace with the month’s 5-year average.

Iron ore cargos totaled 1,362,768 tons, again more than double the volume of a year ago. Coal cargos totaled 133,155 tons, basically a repeat of a year ago. Limestone cargos dipped slightly to 68,275 tons, but shipments of cement more than tripled the volume of a year ago, rising to 182,913 tons.

Year-to-date U.S.-flag carriage stands at 4,068,869 tons, an increase of 8 percent compared to the same point in 2015. Iron ore cargos are up 16 percent, but coal cargo have dipped 56 percent. Limestone cargos have increased 26 percent and cement shipments are up 71 percent.

Lake Carriers’ Association



4/7 - Marquette, Mich. – Lake Superior is approaching levels not seen since the 1980s according to the National Weather Service in Marquette County. They say there's currently no ice on Lake Superior.

Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows Lake Superior is at the same level it was a month ago. It's two inches higher from this same time last year.

Lake Superior water levels are expected to rise two inches over the next 30 days. Matt Zika with the National Weather Service says, "Really the lake levels are not that far off from where they were this time last year. Our precipitation has been pretty stable for the last year or so unless the overall lake levels haven't fluctuated a whole lot other than their typical seasonal decline and then their increases like we usually see throughout the winter season and now as we're headed into spring."

Lake Superior's outflow through the St. Marys River is projected to be above average for the month of April.

UPMatters.com

Lakes Pilots Association getting more pilots, new boat

4/7 - Port Huron, Mich. – A 12 percent increase in the rates Great Lakes pilots can charge foreign flag vessels means an additional three pilots for the Lakes Pilots Association in Port Huron.

The U.S. Coast Guard-approved increase went into effect Wednesday. The increase will allow for more American pilots across the Great Lakes, and possibly fewer ships waiting just north of the Blue Water Bridge for an American pilot.

“The Coast Guard realized finally that we need to be compensated fairly to attract new people,” said George Haynes, a pilot and vice president of the Lakes Pilots Association.

Haynes said Great Lakes pilots — based on the difficulty of their work and skill level required — have been the lowest paid in the country for his entire career.

The Lakes Pilots Association out of Port Huron is a private company that provides piloting services to foreign vessels entering the lakes from the ocean. Foreign vessels are required by both the U.S. and Canada to have an American or Canadian pilot on board since the foreign ship officers aren’t licensed in the U.S.

The American or Canadian pilot helps handle communication with other vessels and ports, or give ship crews advice on how to safely navigate the rivers and waterways.

The rate increase would mean those foreign vessels pay more to have an American pilot on board.

The rate increase applies to all Great Lakes pilotage rates, allowing for the hire of a total of nine additional pilots among the three companies that pilot foreign flag vessels on the Great Lakes. Lakes Pilots Association provides pilots on Lake Erie, the Detroit River, the St. Clair River and all the ports in between.

The rate increases and the change in the methodology to tally that rate would set each pilot’s target compensation at $326,114, according to a March 7 report from the U.S. Coast Guard.

It would increase the rates for about 126 foreign flag vessels by 12 percent – an about $1.86 million increase from 2015. The Coast Guard also authorized a temporary surcharge of $1.65 million to cover the costs of hiring and training additional pilots. The rates will be reviewed again next year.

The rate changes were prompted by complaints from the pilots and industry officials regarding revenue shortfalls that impeded “safe, efficient and reliable pilotage service,” according to the report from the U.S. Coast Guard.

“They said these shortfalls are the primary reason that the associations could not provide sufficient pilot compensations to attract, hire, and retain qualified pilots,” the Coast Guard report said.

“… Industry has agreed that there is a shortage of qualified pilots and said that the decay of association infrastructure jeopardized the pilots’ ability to ensure vessel safety and provide efficient, reliable service.”

Foreign flag vessels aren’t happy with the increase, which they feel will far exceed the Coast Guard’s 12 percent estimate.

Michael Broad, president for the Shipping Federation of Canada, estimates the new increase will be closer to 46 percent more than the foreign flag vessels paid in 2015. The Shipping Federation of Canada represents all of the foreign flag shipping lines entering the Great Lakes.

Broad said the Coast Guard’s final rule was dismissive of industry comments and relied on anecdotal evidence rather than hard facts.

“We tried to appeal to the Coast Guard’s sense of accountability but that doesn’t seem to have worked so I guess we’ll have to decide what to do moving forward,” Broad said. “We’re looking at all options, including legal action.”

Haynes said the additional pilots are sorely needed. In 2014, the Lakes Pilots Association employed 10 pilots, its lowest number of pilots since 1960.

He said the low rates authorized by the Coast Guard have not been enough to attract qualified and experienced pilots. The new pilots in Port Huron will increase the association’s numbers from 11 to 14, and total pilot numbers across the Great Lakes from 41 to 50.

“They would not have come here if we didn’t have that rate increase,” Haynes said. “Now, we’ll be able to service the ships without delays.”

The Lakes Pilots Association also is in the midst of building a new pilot boat used to transport pilots to and from freighters.

Haynes said, in 2013, the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority of Canada asked Lakes Pilots to provide a more reliable pilot boat in Detroit. Haynes said both pilot agencies and foreign flag vessels have pitched in to pay for the $1.6 million cost of the new pilot boat.

The 53-foot boat is being built by Gladding-Hearn in Somerset, Massachusetts, and should be ready by September.

The new boat will replace the Huron Belle in Port Huron, which was built in 1979. The Huron Belle will be moved to Detroit and replace the Huron Maid, which was not built for heavy seas, Haynes said.

The new boat will be called the Huron Mist. Haynes said the pilots association asked the Jim Acheson foundation to name the boat in honor of Acheson’s contributions to the community.

Haynes said the increase in pilots and investment in infrastructure are a relief for Great Lakes pilots.

“We’ll look back on this year as the Great Expansion,” Haynes said. “We’ve never hired this many people in one year and our last boat was built in 1979.”

Port Huron Time Herald



Huron/Georgian Bay at 1998 levels and rising

4/7 - Owen Sound, Ont. – If the lakes look higher, they are. Georgian Bay and Lake Huron are 32 centimetres about the long-term average for this time of year and 13 cm higher than this time last year, lake level expert Frank Seglenieks said Wednesday.

Levels are the highest for this time of year in those connected bodies of water since 1998, the year which roughly marked the tail end of a period of high lake levels. A slow decline in levels followed over the next 15 years, when lake levels were trending below the average.

All the Great Lakes have risen over the past two years and are “definitely above average,” Seglenieks said. Longterm averages stretch back to measurements taken since 1918.

“So we've kind of gone back to the levels . . . at the end of the high water periods back in the '90s,” Seglenieks said.

What stands out for Seglenieks, a water resources engineer with the boundary water issues unit of Environment and Climate Change Canada, is the level rose 14 centimetres in February and March in Huron and Georgian Bay, when on average it rises 4 cm in that period.

That's mostly because March's spring-like temperatures sped up the snowmelt and there was lots of rain too – it was almost twice as wet as the longterm average in the basin, which includes Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, Seglenieks said.

That may mean less of a rise in the weeks ahead due to spring rain and melting but Seglenieks said even if there were average conditions, the lakes' seasonal rise will add 25 cm more by the middle of summer.

And even if spring and summer are dry, local lake levels “will still more than likely be above average.”

Seglenieks attributes the rising lake levels to weather pattern changes that brought more precipitation. And it's not all attributable to the El Nino effect, which is often cited for extreme weather changes, he said.

That effect refers to the influence of warmer waters in the Pacific Ocean off South America on the jet stream and on weather patterns.

“Because it's been going on for a couple of years now, the higher water levels have started before the El Nino started. And El Nino peaked last November and it affects more the temperature,” as reflected in the mild winter we just experienced, he said.

But El Nino's influence on precipitation is less one-sided; sometimes it's higher and sometimes it's lower, Seglenieks said.

“So it's a general pattern also for the last couple of years of higher precipitation. And that's just something that has happened and maybe in 10, 15 years they might be able to look back and relate it to something else. But right now, that's just the way it is.”

Owen Sound Sun Times




On April 7, 1997, LEE A. TREGURTHA suffered an 18-foot hull fracture in her port bow near the bowthruster tunnel while downbound in the upper St. Marys River due to heavy ice. She proceeded to the De Tour Coal Dock, where repairs were made overnight and she continued on her trip on April 8, 1997.

On 07 April 1906, the Goodrich Transportation Company, which was incorporated under the laws of the State of Wisconsin in 1868, was dissolved and a new company, the Goodrich Transit Company, was incorporated under the laws of the state of Maine. This was just for financial reasons, and other than the name and the port of registry of the vessels, everything else remained the same. The vessels in the company at the time were CHICAGO, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, CITY OF RACINE, GEORGIA, INDIANA, IOWA, SHEBOYGAN, VIRGINIA, and tug ARCTIC.

Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.'s new CANADIAN TRANSPORT was christened April 7, 1979.

The tanker ROBERT W. STEWART, b.) AMOCO MICHIGAN was delivered to Standard Oil Co. on April 7, 1928, as the second largest tanker in service at the time of her launch.

JAMES LAUGHLIN (Hull#16) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works was launched April 7, 1906, for the Interstate Steamship Co., Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. Later renamed b.) HELEN EVANS, she was scrapped at Cartagena, Columbia, in 1983.

The EMORY L. FORD was sold on April 7, 1965, to the Reiss Steamship Co., and renamed b) RAYMOND H. REISS, the last vessel purchased by Reiss.

TEXACO BRAVE of 1929 arrived at Ramey's Bend from Toronto on April 7, 1975, in tow of tugs G. W. ROGERS and BAGOTVILLE for scrapping.

In 1974, the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s steamer THOMAS W. LAMONT loaded the initial shipment of ore for the season at the D.M. & I.R. ore docks in Duluth.

On 7 April 1871, the tug S.V.R. WATSON was towing the schooner S.G. SIMMONS out of Chicago harbor at noon when the WATSON stalled. The schooner plowed into her broadside, causing the tug to tip on her beam ends, take on water and sink. Four men were trapped below decks and drowned; two survived. The WATSON was later raised and returned to service.

On 7 April 1873, the contract for the building of a new carferry, MICHIGAN, for the Great Western Railway was awarded to the Jenkins Brothers of Windsor, Ontario. The new vessel was planned for service on the Detroit River. Her engines were built at Montreal by Canada Engine Works for a cost of $100,000. The hull alone cost $600,000.

Although the locks are not scheduled to open until Thursday, 12 April 1962, the Canadian Sault harbor was officially opened Saturday, 7 April 1962, when the tanker IMPERIAL LONDON pulled into the Imperial dock between the two hospitals. Captain Russell Knight accepted the traditional silk top hat. The IMPERIAL LONDON, carrying almost 1,000,000 gallons of gasoline, led the IMPERIAL SIMCOE, loaded with 19,000 barrels of fuel oil for household heating, up the St. Marys River to the Sault.

1941: The PORTADOC had been requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport and was en route from Saint John, NB, to Sierra Leone with a cargo of coal when it was torpedoed by U-124 off the coast of Africa. The crew spent six days on the open sea before landing at French Guinea. They were taken prisoner by the Vichy French forces and the Chief Engineer died before there was a prisoner of war exchange. The vessel, part of the Paterson fleet, had also sailed on the Great Lakes as a) EUGENE C. ROBERTS and b) JAMES B. FOOTE.

1968: CAPTAIN LEONIDIS ran aground in the Messier Channel, Chile, while travelling from Santos, Brazil, to Valparaiso, Chile. The vessel stranded April 7, 1968, and became a total loss. It had first come to the Great Lakes as the Norwegian freighter d) FANA in 1964 and returned as e) CAPTAIN LEONIDIS in 1966. The hull remains aground and appears to have been used by the Chilean Navy for target practice.

1979: GEHEIMRAT SARTORI dated from 1951 and had been a pre-Seaway caller to the Great Lakes. It returned through the new waterway for three trips in 1959 and was sailing as c) SEA ROVER when it was lost on this date in 1979. The cargo shifted in heavy weather on the Mediterranean while the ship was en route from Civitavecchia, Italy, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It sank about eight miles off Punta Cornacchia.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/8 - Ogdensburg, N.Y. – Water watchers are casting a wary eye toward Lake Ontario, where the level is nearly a foot above normal and two feet higher than a year ago.

“It’s getting to be the spring period and that’s when we get the storms out of the northeast that push the lake another foot higher,” said Dan Barletta, a dentist who lives along the shore on Edgemere Drive. “And then we get the storm surge and waves on top of it.”

The water levels in Lake Ontario and the four other Great Lakes are all well above normal this spring due to unusually moist conditions this winter throughout the Great Lakes basin. As of Friday, Lake Erie was about 14 inches above the long-term normal for that date; lakes Huron and Michigan were about 13 inches above the daily norm, Lake Ontario was about 10 inches above and Superior was eight inches above.

Alone among the five lakes, Ontario’s level can be adjusted somewhat by manipulation of the amount of water that’s allowed through a gigantic hydroelectric dam on the St. Lawrence River, into which the lake flows.

But there are limits to what the regulatory effort can accomplish. Eighty percent of the water in Lake Ontario comes via the uncontrolled flow from the four other Great Lakes. When water in those lakes is high, it will inevitably be high here as well.

Two words help explain the high water: Moisture and warmth.

The western part of the Great Lakes basin — Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota — had very heavy precipitation in December. The eastern portion, including Ohio and upstate New York, had heavy precipitation in February. Nearly everyone experienced heavy precipitation in March. That pushed levels upward in all five Great Lakes.

Moreover, it pushed them up more quickly than would normally be the case because so much of the precipitation fell as rain, not snow. That’s because the entire basin experienced a very mild winter, due largely to the influence of the powerful El Niño in the Pacific Ocean.

Normally, much of the basin is draped in snow as spring begins. The snow melts slowly, meaning its moisture is fed into the lakes over a period of many weeks.

But this year, the snow that did fall melted quickly and much more of the precipitation came in the form of rain, which went unchecked into waterways.

“It was getting into the lakes quicker. It’s more of a change of timing,” said Lauren Fry, a hydraulic engineer and lead water-level forecaster for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit.

Democrat Chronicle





Volunteers needed to repair warship museum in Muskegon

4/8 - Muskegon, Mich. – Volunteers are needed to help spruce up the LST 393 Veterans Museum in Muskegon County.

In December, strong winds pushed the ship from its dock, snapping mooring cables and dragging the anchor of the 330-foot ship. Most of the damage from storm has been repaired but there are projects that still need to be taken care of, "We have a lot of projects we need help with," said museum board President Scott Grant. "If you're handy with tools or even if you've never had one in your hands, we could use your help."

The storm caused damage to the ship's new "D-Day Gray" paint job. Grant says there are other projects as well and include landscaping and building. All of the tools for the work will be provided.

The clean-up weekend is scheduled for the weekend of April 15- 17. Anyone interested in helping for any part of the weekend or with questions can call Grant at [phone].

WZZM





Great Lakes ports open their docks for cruise lines

4/8 - Lansing, Mich. - A cruise on the Great Lakes is comparable to, if not better than, a tour of the Galapagos Islands. That’s the assessment of one seasoned cruise couple arriving in Duluth, Minnesota, after an excursion through the Great Lakes.

“They said the quality of the lectures, to the amount of time at each stop and the fact that every coastline was completely different made it better than any cruise they had been on,” said Adele Yorde, public relations director at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

More cruise-savvy travelers may have that Great Lakes option this summer.

Cindy Larsen, president of the Muskegon (Michigan) Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce, is planning for a boost in cruise line tourism in her city. The Pearl Mist cruise ship will stop in Muskegon 10 times this summer. The Pearl Mist is a small ship for 210 passengers operated by Pearl Seas Cruises. Its seven-night Great Lakes cruise stops in Chicago, Muskegon, Mackinac Island, Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario), Little Current (Ontario), Parry Sound (Ontario), and Midland (Ontario).

“Simultaneously, we saw the cruise industry starting to grow while our downtown was experiencing a lot of development,” she said. “We thought it was the perfect time to start reaching out to cruise lines.”

Great Lakes cruise lines have been around since the 1800s. Prior to highway systems and cheap airline travel, they offered luxurious trips close to home. In the spring of 1907, more than 16 million people travelled as passengers on Great Lakes vessels, according to a report by the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education.

The industry declined in the 1930s but saw an upswing starting in the 1990s, the report said. Only 9/11 security restrictions have limited industry growth since then.

Yorde said, “There was a time when everyone wasn’t on the same page. It was very strict.”

Because of the Great Lakes’ proximity to Canada, federal security requirements meant each port needed proper screening facilities for international travelers, according to the report. That often required pricey investments that weren’t cost effective. It also deterred passengers.

“The best thing about a cruise is that you only have to unpack once,” Yorde said.

Today the Department of Homeland Security, the St. Lawrence Seaway Corp. and the U. S. Coast Guard have smoothed out the process. “They’ve had really good luck,” Yorde said. “They can clear passengers on board now.”

The cruise line industry in the Great Lakes provides the opportunity to engage in “soft footprint tourism and a cooperative exchange between visitors and the port cities,” said Stephen Burnett, the executive director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition based in Ontario.

“We encourage ports to build modest facilities, and many times existing buildings are perfect for welcoming visitors,” he said.

Muskegon, historically a port city, will start making room for cruise ships rather than freighters. “We’ve always had the infrastructure that supported the shipping industry,” Larsen said.

The coalition ran a study in 2004 that followed nine vessels over five months. It found that the industry generated $36.8 million in the Great Lakes region, according to its website.

According to Yorde, one of the main deterrents for cruise tourism in Duluth is that few cruise ships are small enough to fit through the St. Lawrence Seaway locks – the route between the lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.

Many cruise ships used in the Great Lakes also sail internationally. The high demand for the smaller cruise ships, coupled with the large number of potential destinations, means many Great Lakes ports wait for years before they see another cruise.

Burnett often takes cruise company directors on a tour of Great Lakes port cities to give them a taste of what their passengers will see. Selecting cruise ship destination is a matter of timing and where the potential customers are, Yorde said.

“There’s so many beautiful coastlines here,” said Yorde, whose port authority is a member of the coalition. “It’s like being a kid in a candy store for cruise lines. There’s a huge market for the Great Lakes.”

Bennett said that ports that can provide a rich cultural history, including the opportunity for eco-tourism, are perfect for cruise tourism.

Both Muskegon and Duluth are good examples. Muskegon has traditionally seen bus tourism and will rework some of its existing WWII-themed tours for cruise passengers, Larsen said. Many of the tours visit the USS LST 393, a decommissioned warship that sits in Muskegon’s harbor. The ship is open to the public and has been converted into a museum.

And in Duluth, “people can get off their cruise ship and kayak right next to these huge, magnificent ships, and then catch a bite at the eateries and shops that line the harbor,” Yorde said.

Great Lakes Echo

08 April 1871, NAVARINO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 184 foot, 761 tons, built in 1871, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) entered service for the Goodrich Transportation Company. She only lasted until 09 October 1871, since she burned in the Great Chicago Fire.

BAY CITY (wooden propeller stem barge, 152 foot, 262 gross tons, built in 1867, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan) had just been rebuilt at Bay City and then refitted at Fitzgerald & Leighton’s yard in Port Huron, Michigan. On 08 April 1871, (some sources give the date as 10 April 1871), on her first trip out from the shipyard, she caught fire and burned to the water line. She was rebuilt again and lasted until 1891, when she burned again.

The sea trials for AMERICAN REPUBLIC were conducted in Green Bay on April 8 thru 10, May 4 thru 11 and 18, 1981.

Interlake Steamship Co.’s steamer J. A. CAMPBELL of 1913, was the first bulk carrier to load taconite pellets that were shipped from Reserve Mining’s Davis Works at Silver Bay, Minn., on April 8, 1956.

In 1957, Great Lakes Steamship stockholders voted to sell the entire 16-ship fleet to four fleets.

In 1977 at Toledo, G.A. TOMLINSON required an estimated $235,000 to outfit her machinery for the upcoming season.

On April 8, 1905, Pittsburgh Steamship Co.’s steamer a.) ELBERT H. GARY (Hull#66) was launched by the Chicago Ship Building Co. Renamed b.) R.E. WEBSTER in 1963, she was scrapped in 1973 at Santander, Spain.

In 1969, LEON FALK JR. entered Duluth harbor to become the first vessel to arrive from the lower lake region opening the 1969, shipping season at the head of the lakes. She loaded almost 20,700 tons of iron ore bound for Great Lakes Steel’s Zug Island in Detroit.

April 8, 1998 - An unidentified worker was injured in a fall aboard the CITY OF MIDLAND 41, while it was being converted to a barge in Muskegon.

April 8, 1871, was a bad day on the St. Clair River. The schooner A MOSHER had favorable winds, so the captain decided to save the cost of a tow and sail up the St. Clair River without assistance from a tug. In the strong current at Port Huron, the vessel hit some old dock timbers, went out of control and collided with the down bound 3-masted schooner H.C. POST. The POST's main and fore masts were carried away in the collision. After some vehement arguing, the MOSHER sailed on while the POST anchored in mid-river while her skipper went ashore. The schooner JESSE ANDERSON then sailed out of the Black River and rammed right into the side of the POST. This finished the wrecking of the POST's aft mast. The ANDERSON went out of control and went aground on the riverbank. The tug GEORGE H. PARKER tried to assist the ANDERSON, but she also got stuck on the mud bank. It was several hours before everything got cleaned up and river traffic was back to normal.

The steam ferry JULIA, owned by C. Mc Elroy of St. Clair, Michigan, started running between St. Clair and Courtright, Ontario on 8 April 1878. She was formerly named U S SURVEYOR. Before JULIA took over this service, the ferries R.F. CHILDS and MARY MILLS served in this capacity.

The steamer f.) MANCOX (steel propeller crane freighter, 255 foot, 1,614 gross tons, built in 1903, at Superior, Wisconsin, as a.) H.G. DALTON) of Yankcanuck Steamship Lines was first through the Soo Locks for the 1958, season at 7:05 a.m. on 8 April 1958. In locking through the Canadian lock, the MANCOX became the first ship to come through the new lock gates, which were installed during the winter months. The American Soo Locks had been ready for traffic since March 26, but the Canadian lock had the first ship.

1941: The newly-built PRINS WILLEM II first came to the Great Lakes in May 1939. There was a mutiny on board at Sandusky, Ohio, in June 1940, as the crew did not want to return to their now-occupied homeland. The ship was torpedoed off Cape Farewell, Greenland, on April 8, 1941, while travelling from Halifax to London. An estimated 10-12 members of the crew perished.

1942: The first NOVADOC was sailing as g) ARA when it hit a mine and sank off Borkum, Germany, while en route from Gothenburg, Sweden, to Rotterdam, Holland in 1942. The ship had been built as CANADIAN PATHFINDER and was listed as Hull 69 of the Collingwood shipyard. It had also sailed the Great Lakes as b) NORMAN M. PATERSON and c) NOVADOC (i) before being sold to British interests in 1927.

1982: The Canadian-owned QUEBEC came through the Seaway in 1969. It had been built in 1959 as ALICE BOWATER but never came inland under that name. It was sailing as d) BLUE SEA when there was an engine room explosion and fire on April 8, 1982, in the Mediterranean near the Kerkennah Islands in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia. The gutted hull was towed to Sfax, Tunisia, on April 12. It was sold for scrap and arrived at Bizerta, Tunisia, for dismantling on July 7, 1984.

2001: The CHERYL C., the fifth name for the ship, was carrying a cargo of steel when it sank on April 8, 2001. The vessel ran aground near Peniche, Portugal, north of Lisbon, due to a navigational error. The 1597 gross ton ship had been built in 1983 and came through the Seaway, under Barbados registry, for the first time on April 22, 1998, with clay for Ashtabula. It made its last inland voyage in November 1999.

[yachtsmanwilly]

09 April 1890 - W.H. SAWYER (wooden propeller freighter, 201 foot, 746 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #66) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1928, when she sank off Harbor Beach, Michigan.

On 09 April 1868, SEABIRD (wooden side-wheel steamer, 638 tons, built in 1859, at Newport (Marine City), Michigan, was sailing on her first trip of the season from Manitowoc to Chicago. At 6 a.m. off Waukegan, Illinois, the porter cleaned out the ashes in the cabin stove and threw the hot coals overboard into the wind. The coals were blown back aboard and a blaze quickly engulfed the vessel. Only two survived. They were picked up by the schooner CORNELIA. 102 were lost. The vessel was uninsured and this was a severe financial blow to the new Goodrich Transportation Company.

On April 9, 1960, Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.'s a.) MURRAY BAY (Hull#164), of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., entered service as the first Canadian 730-footer. Renamed b.) COMEAUDOC in 1963, she was scrapped at Port Colborne in 2003.

LAWRENDOC (Hull#174) was christened jointly with her Collingwood-built sister ship MONDOC (Hull#173) on April 9, 1962.

The Wilson Marine Transit Co., Cleveland purchased the b.) FINLAND, a.) HARRY COULBY (Hull#163) of the Detroit Ship Building Co., on April 9, 1957, and resold her the same day to the Republic Steel Corp., Cleveland with Wilson Marine acting as manager. Renamed c.) PETER ROBERTSON in 1969 and d.) MARINSAL in 1975.

On April 9, 1930, the CITY OF FLINT 32 entered service under the command of Estan Bayle.

On 9 April 1871, the wooden "rabbit" BAY CITY (152 foot, 372 gross tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan) had just loaded 270,000 feet of lumber in Bay City for Tonawanda, New York, when a fire broke out ashore. The ship was set adrift at 11 a.m. to get away from the lumberyard blaze. However, as the crew watched the shore fire, sparks smoldered in the ship's cargo. At 2 p.m., she burst into flame. Four tugs and a steam-powered fire engine brought alongside on a lighter fought the blaze to no avail. The vessel was scuttled to put out the fire. A few days later she was raised and repaired at a cost of $4,000.

On 9 April 1885, the laid-up vessels BURLINGTON and CHURCH were hit by the barge ALLEN and forced into the Military Street bridge at Port Huron, Michigan, crashing into the structure and completely blocking the Black River and disabling the bridge. The blame was placed on the spring thaw.

1913: Ice sliced through the wooden hull of the steamer UGANDA in the Straits of Mackinac and the vessel sank near White Shoal. The crew was rescued by the JOHN A. DONALDSON, and there was no loss of life.

1962: On November 28, 1961, fire had broken out aboard the IQUITOS off the coast of Mexico while the ship was en route from Callao, Peru, to Manzanillo, Mexico, with a cargo of fishmeal. The vessel had been a pre-Seaway trader as RUTENFJELL beginning in 1936 and as POLYRIVER beginning in 1951. The blazing freighter was abandoned by the crew. The ship did not sink and drifted for weeks before being spotted February 2, 1962. The hull was considered a hazard to navigation and was sunk on this date, southeast of the Christmas Islands by a U.S. destroyer, in 1962.

1968: MENIHEK LAKE was in a minor collision with the anchored PETITE HERMINE in the Lake St. Francis section of the St. Lawrence, and the latter's anchor chain damaged the propeller of MENIHEK LAKE.


10 April 1868 The ALPENA (wooden side-wheel passenger-package freight steamer, 653 tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan) was purchased by Capt. A. E. Goodrich from Gardner, Ward & Gardner for $80,000.

On 10 April 1861, UNION (wooden propeller, 170 foot, 465 tons) was launched and christened at the Bates yard in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for the Goodrich Line. She cost $19,000. The engines, machinery and many of the fittings were from the OGONTZ of 1858. This was the first steamer built by the Bates yard.

The tanker TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193), was christened April 10, 1969. She was renamed b.) A G FARQUHARSON in 1986 and c.) ALGONOVA in 1998. She was sold Panamanian in 2007 and renamed PACIFICO TRADER.

The d.) GODERICH of 1908 was sold April 10, 1963, to the Algoma Central & Hudson Bay Railway Co. and renamed e.) AGAWA. Renamed f.) LIONEL PARSONS in 1968, and served as a storage barge at Goderich, Ontario until 1983, when she was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The keel was laid April 10, 1952, for the steamer WILLIAM CLAY FORD (Hull#300) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works.

The SINCLAIR GREAT LAKES (Hull#1577) of the Ingalls Iron Works, Decatur, Alabama, was christened on April 10, 1963.

On April 10, 1973, the ARTHUR B. HOMER departed the shipyard at Lorain, Ohio, with a new pilothouse. She had suffered extensive damage on October 5, 1972, in a head on collision with the saltie NAVISHIPPER on the Detroit River.

April 10, 1912 - ANN ARBOR NO 5 struck her stern against the channel in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, bending her rudder, and damaging her port shaft.

On 10 April 1875, the propeller EMMA E. THOMPSON was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was built for Capt. D.F. Edwards of Toledo and cost $20,000. Her dimensions were 125 feet x 26 feet x 10 feet. In 1880, she was rebuilt as a schooner and then returned to a propeller in 1881, when she was given the engine from the propeller AKRON.

On 10 April 1882, ESPINDOLA (wooden schooner, 54 tons, built in 1869, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was carrying railroad ties when she was overwhelmed by a storm and went to pieces one mile north of the Chicago waterfront. No lives were lost, but four crewmen were rescued by a tug after having been in the water for some time.

MANZZUTTI (steel crane ship, 246 foot, 1558 gross tons, built in 1903, at Buffalo, New York as a.) J S KEEFE) of the Yankcanuck Steamship Ltd., was the first vessel through the Canadian locks at the Soo for the 1954 navigation season. She entered the Canadian canal on 10 April about 8:15 a.m. The locking of the MANZZUTTI was not considered the official opening of the season at the Soo since she wintered in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and the first vessel must come up the St. Marys River from Lake Huron or Michigan. President Dave Bows of the Kiwanis Club, pointed out the club’s $1,000 marine contest is based on the first such vessel though the Michigan Sault locks only. The U.S. Coast Guard reported six-inch ice in the lower St. Marys River.

1905: The 400-foot steel-hulled bulk carrier GEORGE B. LEONARD arrived in Cleveland with ice damage and leaking bow seams.

1941: The first CEDARBRANCH ran aground at the mouth of the Etobicoke Creek, west of Toronto and had to be lightered to float free.

1949: The former J.H. PLUMMER, once part of Canada Steamship Lines, was reported wrecked, due to stranding in fog, while six miles southwest of Shaweishan on this date in 1949. The vessel was sailing as f) TUNG AN, and was en route from Tsingtao to Shanghai, with scrap steel.

1953: The Finnish freighter ANGELA came to the Great Lakes in 1952 and was wrecked on April 10, 1953, at Frisland, Isle of Coll, due to heavy weather. The vessel was travelling in ballast from Larne, Northern Ireland, to Goole, UK, and was a total loss.

1965: A collision in the Lake St. Peter section of the St. Lawrence involved the TRANSATLANTIC and HERMES. The former, a West German freighter, caught fire and capsized with the loss of three lives. The vessel was salvaged in August and eventually scrapped at Sorel. It had been coming to the Great Lakes for the Poseidon Line since 1961. The latter, a Dutch carrier, never came through the Seaway and was scrapped at Calcutta, India, as NIKI R. in 1985-1986.

1977: HILDA MARJANNE ran aground on a sandbar at Sarnia after leaving the Government Dock with a cargo of corn. It was released the next day with the help of the tug DARYL C. HANNAH.

1989: The canal-sized bulk carrier IROQUOIS, b) TROISDOC (ii), was built in 1955 but left the Seaway as c) KOBA in 1983. That vessel foundered in the Gulf of Mexico, near Isla de Lobos, on this date in 1989 while en route from Tampico to Progresso, Mexico.


In 2015, 18 vessels that had been stuck in 35 square miles of crushed ice up to eight feet thick on Eastern Lake Superior were moving again with the Wednesday arrival of the heavy Canadian icebreaker Pierre Radisson.

11 April 1890 - CHENANGO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 176 foot, 696 gross tons, built in 1887, at Detroit, Michigan) was carrying 40,000 bushels of wheat from Toledo, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, when she caught fire off Erie, Pennsylvania. She was partially consumed by the fire and sank in four fathoms of water with no loss of life. She was later raised at great expense and rebuilt as the steamer LIZZIE MADDEN.

On 11 April 1882, GALATEA (3-mast wooden schooner, 180 foot, 606 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#13) at W. Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until she stranded and broke up at Grand Marais, Michigan, in the "Big Storm" of 1905.

The tanker IMPERIAL ST. CLAIR (Hull#57) of the Port Weller Drydocks Ltd., entered service on April 11, 1974, running light for Montreal, Quebec.

Canada Steamship Lines’ J.W. MC GIFFIN (Hull#197) was christened at Collingwood on April 11, 1972. Port Weller Drydocks attached a new forebody in 1999, and she was renamed b.) CSL NIAGARA.

Pioneer Steamship's steamer PHILIP D. BLOCK sailed on her maiden voyage April 11, 1925, with coal from Huron, Ohio, bound for delivery at Indiana Harbor, Indiana.

Wilkinson Transportation Co.'s steamer A.E. NETTLETON (Hull#176) of the Detroit Ship Building Co., was launched April 11, 1908. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1973.

On April 11, 1970, in Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay, CSL's steamer STADACONA of 1952 encountered thick ice and suffered bow damage. She developed a hairline crack in her bow and to alleviate the leakage her cargo was shifted from her forward hold to her after compartments using her self-unloading equipment. This maneuver raised her bow enough to keep her from sinking before she reached safety.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s steamer ENDERS M. VOORHEES (Hull#288), of the Great Lakes Engineering Works, was launched on April 11, 1942. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 1989.

On April 11, 1964, while upbound on Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, a boiler burst on board the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s WILLIAM A. IRVIN, killing one of the crew and injuring two others.

April 11, 1948 - ANN ARBOR NO 7 ran aground just south of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

On 11 April 1874, the new tug E.H. MILLER burned at her dock at Willow Island in the Saginaw River. Her loss was valued at $9,000 and there was no insurance. Although considered to be a total loss, she was rebuilt and lasted another 46 years.

On 11 April 1878, ALASKA, a wooden bulk freighter, was launched at J. P. Clark's yard in Detroit, Michigan. Her dimensions were 180 feet overall, 28 foot beam, and 10 foot depth.

The navigation season at the Canadian Sault Canal was unofficially opened on 11 April 1955, at 7:15 a.m., when the MANZZUTTI (steel crane ship, 246 foot, 1,558 gross tons, built in 1903, at Buffalo, New York as J.S. KEEFE) locked up bound for the Algoma Steel dock. Because the MANZZUTTI wintered over at the Soo, its captain, John B. Perry, was not eligible for the traditional top hat and silk gloves presented to the first captain through the locks. So this was not the official opening of navigation at the Soo. The first boat through the American locks was expected the following day.

1964: NORCO had been used to carry pulpwood from Michipicoten to Green Bay from about 1938 to 1957. The vessel had been built at Ecorse, Michigan, for deep-sea service as INCA in 1915, and returned inland in the 1920s. It went back to the sea in 1959 and stranded at Little Corn Island, Nicaragua, on this date in 1964 while en route from Tampa to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, with a cargo of phosphate.

1994: AMERICAN MARINER was downbound in the St. Marys River when it struck a rock above the Soo Locks and had to go to the shipyard in Erie to repair the damage.


4/9 - Harbor Beach, Mich. – Following plans for seasonal closings at U.S. Coast Guard stations in Frankfort, Ludington and Muskegon, the Coast Guard has scheduled a meeting in Harbor Beach to “discuss how we can optimize response to the region,” a public affairs officer says.

“There are no plans to close any Coast Guard stations. That’s off the table,” said Lauren Jorgensen, a public affairs officer for the Coast Guard’s 9th District in Cleveland.

However, Jorgensen says an April 14 meeting in Harbor Beach with city officials and station commands will be similar to the Tuesday meeting in Frankfort, on the west side of the state. Coast Guard Capt. Amy Cocanour said crews in Frankfort “would be here every day, definitely Memorial Day through Labor Day.” She says the station also would have staffing during some other periods, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Some area officials want the station to stay staffed year-round, since local rescuers get Coast Guard help. The Coast Guard says staffing would increase in Manistee, according to the Associated Press.

The meeting in Harbor Beach, which Jorgensen says won’t be open to the public, will include discussion about how the Coast Guard allocates resources in the region.

“We prefer to have those discussions with them first before we talk about them publicly or with the media,” she said.

UpNorthLive.com reported Wednesday one major concern of local first responders is what happens during the off-season, when local fire departments count on help from the Coast Guard during ice rescues.

Since 2005, Coast Guard search and rescue cases have decreased 47 percent nationwide and 63 percent across the Great Lakes, Jorgensen said.

Huron Daily Tribune


4/9 - Washington, D.C. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has designated three new Marine Highway Projects.

The Mississippi River, previously designated as the M-55, will serve as the primary route for the Baton Rouge-New Orleans Shuttle project. Sponsored by the Port of New Orleans in partnership with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and SEACOR AMH, LLC, the proposed container-on-barge service will operate between the Ports of Greater Baton Rouge and New Orleans, reducing congestion and bridge traffic on Louisiana’s Interstate 10.

Also operating along the M-55 from Chicago, IL to New Orleans, La., the proposed Illinois Intrastate Shuttle project is structured to shift about 5,500 containers in its first year of operation from congested north-south Interstate 55 to the Mississippi River. Sponsored by America’s Central Port located in Granite City, Ill., the container on barge service will provide soybean and grain shippers a new routing option.

The third service, the Lake Erie Shuttle, is a proposed route that will carry cargo for shippers between the ports of Monroe, Mich., Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Mich. The service is sponsored by the Port of Monroe.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Essar Steel Algoma reviews bids for strapped operation

4/12 – Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – Essar Steel Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie is beginning a chapter that will ultimately determine whether the company is re-structured or sold. The company, which employs 2,700 people, has been under protection from creditors since Nov 2015, in part due to slumping steel prices.

Spokesperson Brenda Stenta said several bids for the operation have been received, although she wouldn't say how many. Stenta said the next few weeks will be spent reviewing the offers.

"At the close of phase two [in this process], the objective would be to have a successful bidder who will then enter into final negotiations with various stakeholder groups." Those stakeholders include the unions representing the workers.

As for how long it will take to pick an offer, Stenta said, "we're working through this process in an expedited and constructive manner so [are] certainly cognizant of all those stakeholder concerns."

Stenta said the hope is to have the entire process wrapped up by Sept. 1. The final deal will have to be court approved.

CBC





Essar Steel comments about Nashwauk project's future

4/12 – Essar Steel Minnesota issued a statement on Monday about its financial situation. It said that the company has appointed Guggenheim Securities, LLC, a global investment bank, as its financial advisor. The goal is to raise the capital required for completing the iron ore project in Nashwauk, Minn. The project estimate, according to past reports from Essar, is $1.9 billion.

While working on a creating a framework for the capital, the company has received a proposal from its parent company for interim financing. That money, according to the statement, would be made available over time to meet some of the company's critical requirements for the coming months.

CEO and President of Essar Steel Minnesota Madhu Vuppuluri said, "All stakeholders associated with the project support the expeditious completion of the project and, in this regard, we are optimistic that, in the near term, we will identify potential new equity partners and raise the funding necessary to move forward with completing the project. The strong project fundamentals put the company in a favorable position to access the required capital."

Financial media have reported that Essar was restructuring its debt.

Minnesota Governor Dayton told the Pioneer Press last week that he's concerned because Essar still owes tens of millions to contractors. Also, Essar has not made a loan payment to the state of Minnesota yet, which is owed $66 million for infrastructure the county put in for the project.

WDIO



Two temporary exhibits opening at Door County Maritime Museum

4/12 – Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay will open a pair of new exhibits on Friday, April 22.

“From Inside the Collections,” is a unique offering in that it will be a recurring exhibit, with museum curator Adam Gronke promising to periodically launch different versions of the series at future dates. This first offering will concentrate on shipwreck items within the museum’s collection.

“Have you ever visited a museum and wondered what amazing artifacts they have in their collections but weren’t on display for you to see?” asked Gronke. “This exhibit gives the visitor a rare opportunity to explore these treasures. We have decided they are just too fascinating to keep hidden!”

With the close of the well-received Edmund Fitzgerald tribute exhibit on April 17, “An Architect and His Art” moves into the museum’s Reddin Bridge Room.

“Ben Shenkelberg is the architect who designed the Sturgeon Bay museum and is currently the architect for the proposed Maritime Tower project,” said Gronke. “Besides being a talented and successful architect, he is a gifted artist. He creates amazing works in his free time and some of his maritime-related art will be displayed at the museum. What makes this temporary art exhibition more special is that Ben is selling the mounted prints to the public with proceeds from the sales going to be donated to the museum.”

The new exhibits compliment the wide assortment of exhibits at the museum, ranging from the family-oriented “Sea Dogs” exhibit to the galleries dedicated to shipbuilding, lighthouses, maritime innovation as well as the nuclear submarine periscope and the Elba (old freighter) pilothouse.

For more information contact the museum at [phone] or visit www.dcmm.org.

Door County Maritime Museum



On 12 April 1896, PETER DALTON (propeller tug, 63 foot 49 gross tons, built in 1880, at Grand Haven, Michigan) caught fire off Grosse Pointe, Illinois, while returning to Chicago with the salvaged schooner A.J. DEWEY in tow and the boiler of the JOHNSON. The fire burned her in two before she finally sank. The DALTON's crew and the DEWEY were rescued by the tug WELCOME.

On 12 April 1874, the tug D.N. RUNNELS was launched Runnel's yard at the north end of the 7th Street Bridge in Port Huron, Michigan. As the tug splashed into the Black River, the flag at her bow was unfurled with her name on it. Commodore Runnels distributed oranges to the crowd of onlookers.

The tanker a.) LANA (Hull#151) was launched April 12, 1967, by Aktiebolaget Lodose Varv A/B at Lodose, Sweden. Renamed b.) NEW ORLEANS in 1988 and c.) NANCY ORR GAUCHER in 1989, she departed the Lakes in 1994. Renamed d.) PETRAWAK in 1996 and e.) TONGA in 2000.

Tanker LAKESHELL (Hull#389) of Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel, Quebec, was launched April 12, 1969, for Shell Canada Ltd.

Pioneer Steamship's steamer a.) A.A. AUGUSTUS (Hull#374) of American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio, departed Cleveland on her maiden voyage April 12, 1910, bound for Green Bay, Wisconsin, with a load of coal. She was sold to Canadian registry in 1961, and renamed b.) HOWARD HINDMAN. She was scrapped at Bilbao, Spain, in 1969.

Hall Corp. of Canada's tanker HUDSON TRANSPORT (Hull#629) of the Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec, was launched April 12, 1962.

On April 12, 1955, while upbound from Monroe, Michigan to load iron ore at Duluth, the ENDERS M. VOORHEES had the honor of opening the second century of navigation through the St. Marys Falls Ship Canal, celebrated with great pomp and ceremony.

On 12 April 1880, the wooden 2-mast schooner-barge JUPITER was launched at Marysville, Michigan, after being rebuilt under the supervision of James Bowers. She was originally built in 1857, at Irving, New York, and after this rebuild, she lasted another 21 years.

On 12 April 1892, UGANDA (wooden propeller, 291 foot, 2,053 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan, at F.W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #88).

1949: The corvette H.M.C.S. BATTLEFORD was Hull 95 from the Collingwood Shipyard and it was commissioned at Montreal on July 31, 1941. The ship was sold to the Venezuelan Navy becoming b) LIBERTAD in 1946 and was wrecked on this date in 1949.

1991: CHANDA hailed from India and first came to the Great Lakes in 1978. The ship was laid up Bombay, India, on May 5, 1988, after 20 years of service. It was moved to the scrapyard on April 11, 1991, but a major fire erupted in the engine room April 12 during dismantling operations.

1993: MELISSA DESGAGNES ran aground in the St. Lawrence, two miles east of the Eisenhower Lock, at 2352 hours. The ship was en route from Windsor to Newfoundland with wheat and floated free, after being lightered, on April 15.

2009: SCARAB was 16 years old when it first came through the Seaway in 1999. The ship was sold and renamed JASPER in 2002 and never returned to our shores. It was anchored off Fatsa, Turkey, when it got blown aground on this date in 2009. Some 2000 tons of fertilizer had to be removed for the ship to float free and it went to Tuzla, Turkey, for repairs.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today In Great Lakes History – April 13

13 April 1872 - The schooners MARY TAYLOR and ANTELOPE wooden were racing to Oswego, New York, trying to beat a large block of drifting ice. The ice won and blocked the harbor entrance. The ANTELOPE became icebound about a quarter of a mile from the piers and remained there for one day. The MARY TAYLOR got within 500 feet of the pier and remained there for five days until the tug MAJOR DANA broke through the ice.



RICHARD REISS lost her boom April 13, 1994 when it collapsed at Fairport, Ohio.



On 13 April 1872, the wooden schooner-barge JOSEPH PAIGE was launched at the Wolf & Davidson yard in Milwaukee. Her dimensions were 190 feet x 32 feet x 12 feet, 626 gross tons.



The passenger/package freight vessel OCEAN was launched at Andrews & Sons shipyard in Port Dalhousie, Ontario, on 13 April 1872. She was placed in service on 27 April 1872, loading iron at Kingston for Chicago.



1917: The steel canaller STRATHCONA was built at Dundee, Scotland, in 1900 and came to the Great Lakes that summer. The ship had several owners before being requisitioned for war service in 1915. It was stopped by U-78 near Ronaldshay, England, while traveling from Tyne, England, to Marseilles, France, with a cargo of coal on this date in 1917. Enemy bombers attacked sinking the ship. Nine crew members were lost while another 3 were taken prisoner.



1937: The Norwegian freighter REIN was a frequent pre-Seaway caller to the Great Lakes. It had been built in 1900 and was inland as early as 1908. The ship was carrying wood pulp when it was wrecked off Helman Island, 2 miles south of Wick, Scotland, while traveling from Lyngor, Norway, to Preston, UK on this date in 1937. REIN was a total loss.



1956 Winds and ice pushed the ore laden GEORGE M. HUMPHREY on a shoal in Whitefish Bay en route from Superior to Zug Island. The vessel was salvaged and taken to Lorain for repairs.



1959: GLENEAGLES was proceeding through ice in Lake Erie when it abruptly stopped. The trailing WESTMOUNT could not stop as quickly and rammed the stern of its CSL fleetmate. GLENEAGLES had to be towed to Lorain for repairs that included a new rudder.



2010: The rebuilt ALGOBAY went aground while upbound in the St. Marys River on its first trip to the upper lakes. The vessel had to go to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.







Some steamed over St. Joseph lighthouse smokestack

4/13 - St. Joseph, Mich. – Observers of the restoration project on the St. Joseph lighthouses have noticed that a feature has been added to the red-roofed inner light that hasn’t been seen for almost 70 years – a smokestack that was removed in 1949.

The reviews, according to comments on the Herald-Palladium’s Facebook page, are mixed.

“I think the smokestack is ugly and detracts from the beautiful lines of the Lighthouse!” Evelyn Marbut wrote. “Very disappointing. Local citizens & contributors should have been able to have a voice in whether the smokestack was to be added or not.”

“I love it. We can be so proud of this restoration. Hats off to St. Joseph and its beautiful lighthouse!” Sharon Gillespie offered.

“It’s not like it’s ever going to be used ... what’s the point of it?” Lauren Gast asked.

St. Joseph City Manager John Hodgson, who has guided the project from the time the lighthouses were made available from the federal government in 2007, explained that there are legal and historic, as well as practical reasons, why the smokestack was re-introduced.

The original smokestack served as the exhaust for the coal-fired boilers that powered the steam fog signal, Hodgson said. It was present from 1907 until 1949, when a fog signal powered by air compressors was installed, and the original smokestack was replaced with a different smokestack.

As a federally designated historic structure, St. Joseph has to follow certain guidelines in its restoration. Hodgson said.

“The restoration work has to satisfy federal standards for the treatment of historic properties,” Hodgson said. “The project isn’t only repairing rust and painting, it’s about being authentic to the historic structure. Our historic architect (Michelle Smay) performed a tremendous amount of research to document the construction of the lights and catwalk and the changes over time, using original blueprints, keeper’s logs and photographs. This research was needed to demonstrate to both the state and federal review agencies that each element of the project was documented and correct for the time, and to receive approval for the work.”

The lighthouses are being restored to their appearance circa 1932.

“There was an overhaul of the pier in 1931, which resulted in significant changes to the pier, lights and catwalk that would be impractical or unwise to reverse,” Hodgson said. “Most significant, the outer lighthouse was set on a concrete pedestal instead of directly on the pier, and the catwalk supports were protected by concrete-filled pipes. Reversing those alterations would be expensive and make the outer light and the catwalk more vulnerable to damage from waves and ice.”

Hodgson added that the exterior changes to the inner light include revealing and replacing windows and doors that had been covered up or removed; repairing openings cut in the structure in more recent times; and installing a replica fog whistle and replica smokestack.

“All this work is a single package to return the lighthouse to its historic appearance,” he said.

The smokestack also will serve a practical purpose.

“Although the lighthouse no longer has coal-fired boilers, the smokestack will still serve an important purpose. A ventilation system is being installed to improve air circulation, which will help prevent rust inside the structure and reduce future maintenance, and the smokestack is being used as part of that system,” Hodgson said.

Hodgson admitted to some initial ambivalence to the changes to the appearance of the lighthouse, but has come to realize it was the right decision.

“I was born here and grew up here and in my memory the lighthouse has always looked the same. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about seeing changes to something that had seemed constant throughout my life,” Hodgson said. “Over the course of the project I was surprised to learn how much the inner light had been altered over the years, with the smokestack and fog signal changing and finally vanishing completely, and closing up doors and windows. The shell of the structure was still there but so much of the detail had been lost. I’d never realized that. The lighthouse I grew up seeing was only part of the lighthouse that had been built.”

Herald Palladium


Green Bay sees cargo increase in 2015 despite declining coal shipments

4/13 - Green Bay, Wis. – More than 2 million metric tons of freight moved through the Port of Green Bay in 2015, up slightly over the previous year, according to the port's director. Delivering a report to stakeholders at a symposium Monday, Director Dean Haen said the increase was mostly due to a mild winter and extended season.

"We actually were able to run our 2015 season well into January, and then we started the 2016 season in March, which if you look at last year we didn't start until the middle of April," he said. Haen said 2015 was the third-longest season in the port's history.

Coal, cement and a dozen other commodities regularly come through Green Bay. It's Wisconsin's third-largest port behind Duluth-Superior and Milwaukee. Despite the favorable conditions and heavy freight levels, however, less coal is being shipped overall through Green Bay and other Great Lakes ports than in previous years.

According to St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation administrator Betty Sutton, some of that decline in coal shipments can be replaced by a growing amount of cargo related to green energy: "Things like windmill turbines and blades moving on the system."

Sutton said lake shipments will change along with the energy grid, "so it's important that as we look at changing times, that we look for other ways to make sure that the port and the activity on the Great Lakes seaways system remain very relevant. That is something this port does very, very well."

Sutton was in Green Bay to give the port a "pacesetter" award that goes to ports that increase international shipping.

Wisconsin Public Radio’





Coast Guard icebreaking scheduled for northern Lake Huron (North Channel)

4/13 - Sarnia, Ont. – The Canadian Coast Guard is advising the public of potentially unsafe ice conditions in the vicinity of icebreaking operations and shipping routes in the Great Lakes. Milder temperatures this winter significantly reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes. However, icebreaking operations to assist commercial shipping will take place soon in certain areas of the Great Lakes.

The following area will see icebreaking activity this week: The North Channel of Lake Huron including all shipping routes to and from the Serpent River area on Tuesday April 12, and Fisher Harbour on Wednesday April 13. The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley will be icebreaking to ensure scheduled vessel traffic can move into and out of these harbors safely and efficiently.

Dates and routes are subject to change with little or no notice, due to weather, ice conditions, shipping schedules or other unexpected situations.

Broken and fragmented icy tracks left behind by icebreaking operations and other ship traffic may not freeze over immediately. In addition, newly fallen snow may obscure icebreaker and ship tracks and changes in weather contribute to unsafe ice conditions that may remain long after the ships have left the area. All ice on or near the planned shipping routes and icebreaking operations should be considered unsafe during and after ship transits through these routes. The Canadian Coast Guard and the Ontario Provincial Police are advising everyone to stay clear of these areas.

Manitoulin Expositor





Coast Guard, City of Lorain discuss changes to local Coast Guard operations

4/13 - Lorain, Ohio – Representatives with the U.S. Coast Guard, City of Lorain, and Lorain area response agencies met in Lorain Tuesday morning to discuss a Coast Guard proposal to optimize its response capabilities by adjusting how it operates Coast Guard Station Lorain in the future.

Under the proposed plan, Station Lorain will remain staffed with response crews Friday through Sunday during the summer months, and will operate and respond from its parent unit in Cleveland on other days. Built into the plan is flexibility for the seasonal station to begin operating on weekends in early spring or into late fall when necessary, and to resume operations if needed during special events.

These changes allow the Coast Guard to better staff, train and equip the boats and crews continuing to serve the Lorain area.

Station Lorain’s search and rescue operations will be fully staffed during the summer of 2016, and if no new information arises that wasn’t previously considered, the proposed changes will be phased in over the next several years as personnel transfer from the region. There are no plans to permanently close Station Lorain.

“It is important for people to remember that even with these changes our boat crews will still on the water in Lorain ready to respond to emergencies and enforce federal laws and regulations,” said Chief Petty Officer Tim Crochet, officer in charge of Station Lorain. “Response crews will continue to serve the boating community in Lorain even though they will not be operating from Lorain year round. We’re also deeply appreciative of the relationships we have with our partners here, who we will continue to work alongside to ensure the public’s safety and security.”

“These operational improvements are long overdue and will help us better serve the community by reducing redundancies that have arisen as technology has evolved during the past century,” said Capt. Brian Roche, commander of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo. “This is not a cost-saving initiative; we are just moving our resources and people to the locations that make the most sense with the technology we have today.”

USCG





Little has been done with Milwaukee light since nonprofit acquired it

4/13 - Milwaukee, Wis. – When a Brookfield-based nonprofit acquired the Milwaukee breakwater light for free in 2013, it pledged to open the white lighthouse that graces the city's lakefront by 2015.

Optima Enrichment announced plans to raise $2.5 million for the major restoration and cleanup of the Art Deco keeper's quarters and turn the facility into a museum. But since the government awarded Optima the lighthouse — with the provision that it be maintained as a public space and used for recreation and education — almost nothing has been done.

The group, founded in 2003 by Brookfield optometrist Randall Melchert, has raised less than $20,000 since it received the deed, and more than half of that sum has been spent on insurance — $2,500 per year. Another $1,000 was spent for a 39-foot boat to take people out to the breakwater light.

"We're a little bit behind schedule I guess. We were a little optimistic," Melchert said in a phone interview. "We're not disappointed. We're just anxious for it to go faster."

The group has held fundraisers and is planning an event this summer, probably a dinner with speakers, and an auction of donated items. But Melchert said details haven't been finalized. He also said the group has sought a professional fundraiser who "we think will help us to be a little more aggressive in soliciting donations."

A bronze-colored plaque was affixed to the building, and the Milwaukee Breakwater Light restoration group has gotten estimates from an environmental organization for some of the work, said Dick Melzer, the group's secretary. The restoration group of eight or nine people meets monthly, he said.

When it was awarded the breakwater light, Optima Enrichment's past philanthropy included paying for low-income students to visit college campuses and sending needy children to camp. Historic lighthouse preservation was something the group had never done, nor had it been affiliated with any historic building preservation.

Restoring a lighthouse is not cheap or easy. And Milwaukee's breakwater light is accessible only by water, and there's no pier or jetty for a boat to dock at the site.

"It takes a lot of work to do this and coordinate volunteers and contractors," said Terry Pepper, a lighthouse historian and executive director of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association.

Pepper was part of a group that renovated the lighthouse on St. Helena Island on Lake Michigan near the Mackinac Bridge. That project took 25 years and $1.5 million. Like Milwaukee's breakwater light, St. Helena's lighthouse is accessible only by water.

The North Point Lighthouse in Milwaukee took about 10 years and $1.6 million to restore. And that's on land. The North Point Lighthouse Friends continue to raise money by renting the building for special events and selling tickets for tours to pay for the annual budget of just under $100,000.

The difficult part is creating a vision for restoring a historic lighthouse that will interest enough people to commit their money. If there's little progress, then it becomes a more difficult task to raise funds, said John Scripp, North Point Lighthouse Friends board president. "I respect that this will be a difficult project, but I don't discount anybody's ability to carry it out. It's a challenge. If they're competent, I think they can do it," Scripp said.

One of the last lighthouses constructed on the Great Lakes, the Milwaukee breakwater light is known as a crib light because it was built away from land on a timber crib to make it easy to see by passing ships. It was built in 1926 and features a two-story keeper's quarters that has been empty since the Coast Guard stopped sending crews to it in 1966. The fourth order Fresnel lens that once graced the lighthouse is on loan to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.

Optima Enrichment was one of three entities that expressed interest in acquiring the breakwater light when the Coast Guard no longer wanted it in 2011. The Coast Guard has been shedding lighthouses for several years, first opening the process to local governments and nonprofits and if none step forward or qualify, then auctioning them to the highest bidder.

In addition to seeking large donors and stepping up fundraising efforts, the Milwaukee Breakwater Light restoration group plans to build a removable pier so boats carrying volunteers and contractors can access the site more easily.

"We're still very excited about it because we want to restore this community treasure so people can visit it safely and see a working lighthouse where a beacon shines every night and a foghorn sounds for vessels in distress," Melchert said.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel





6 Great Lakes ports win Pacesetter Award for 2015 navigation season

4/13 - Washington D.C. – The U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) has announced that six U.S. ports in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System received its Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award for registering increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through their ports during the 2015 navigation season compared to the previous year.

“Maritime transportation is often the most fuel-efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly way to move goods,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “The impressive performance of these ports highlights the importance of marine transportation to their local economies, the Great Lakes region, and the nation.”

The six winners of the Pacesetter Award for 2015 are: the Port of Green Bay (Wis.), the Port of Oswego Authority (N.Y.), the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority (Ohio), the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority (Mich.), the Port of Monroe (Mich.), and the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority (N.Y.).

“The Great Lakes region, North America’s ‘Opportunity Belt,’ is a thriving and influential destination, and the Seaway System connects this region to the world,” said SLSDC’s Administrator Betty Sutton.

“Businesses are choosing to move their cargo through the Seaway System because of the economic benefits, safety, and reliability of our waterway, and its direct access to the heartland of North America.”

In 2015, U.S. ports in the Great Lakes Seaway System recorded increased international shipments of high-value cargoes including windmill components, refinery equipment, generators, machinery, and containerized goods.

U.S. Department of Transportation





Rep. David Joyce named 2016 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year

4/13 - Toledo, Ohio – Ohio Congressman David Joyce (R) has been named a 2016 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year by the largest labor/management coalition representing shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) annually presents the award to legislators who have promoted shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Rep. Joyce received his award at a ceremony in Washington on April 12.

“Rep. Joyce’s deep appreciation for Great Lakes shipping stems from having two major ports in his district, Ashtabula and Conneaut,” said Thomas Curelli, President of GLMTF in 2016. “Countless family sustaining jobs are created by the cargo that moves across the docks in Ashtabula and Conneaut.’

“Rep. Joyce has also been a tireless advocate for adequate icebreaking resources,” added Brian D. Krus, 1st Vice President of GLMTF and Senior National Assistance Vice President of American Maritime Officers.

“Back in February 2015 a U.S.-flag laker bound for Conneaut became icebound for 5 days and the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker dispatched to free it was unable to get the vessel moving. Its last cargo of the season had to be cancelled. Rep. Joyce knows jobs hang in the balance when cargo can’t move during the ice season.”

The dredging crisis has also had Congressman Joyce’s full attention.

“The largest vessels calling on Ashtabula and Conneaut forfeit about 270 tons of cargo for each inch of loaded draft lost to inadequate dredging,” said James H.I. Weakley, 2nd Vice President of GLMTF and President of Lake Carriers’ Association. “The efficiencies of Great Lakes shipping are the foundation of the Midwest economy and Congressman Joyce has been laser-focused on bringing more dredging dollars back to the lakes.”

The award also recognizes Rep. Joyce’s commitment to international shipping via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Lake Carriers’ Association

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lake Huron water levels rise steadily to 1998 mark

4/14 – There’s good news for Lake Huron this spring, with numbers that continue to buck the trend.

According to this month’s installment of Environment Canada’s Level News, all of the Great Lakes received “relatively high” water supplies during the month of February, keeping levels above average or higher than the same time last year.

In February, Lake Michigan-Huron’s mean level was 29 centimetres above the 100-year average and six centimetres higher than that of February 2015. The lake also rose two centimetres during February.

As of the beginning of March, Lake Michigan-Huron’s level was 29 centimetres above the 100-year average and seven centimetres higher than the same time last year. This is also the highest the lake has been since 1998 for this time of year.

“Relative to their beginning-of-March levels, and assuming average water supply conditions, all of the Great Lakes are expected to continue their seasonal rises during March, except for Lake Superior, which is expected to continue its seasonal decline,” writes editor Derrick Beach “All lakes are forecasted to remain above average through the spring.”

Manitoulin Expositor





Coast Guard to shift Lorain operations to Cleveland

4/14 – Lorain, Ohio – Marine safety in and around Lorain will evolve in coming years as the U.S. Coast Guard shifts weekday operations from the Black River to Cleveland harbor. Meanwhile, the marine patrol units of Lorain and Vermilion also scored grant money to pay for on-water duties in spring, summer and fall 2016.

The developments were announced this week as U.S. Coast Guard commanders from Cleveland and Buffalo visited Lorain on April 12 to meet with city officials and staff from Lorain’s congressional senators and representatives. There are no changes planned for Coast Guard operations in Lorain for 2016.

Starting about 2018, in the summer months, the Coast Guard plans to keep Station Lorain staffed with response crews Friday through Sunday. The other days of the week, Coast Guard crews will respond from Cleveland, according to plans.

The Coast Guard also will be in Lorain for special events.

“It is important for people to remember that even with these changes, our boat crews will still be on the water in Lorain ready to respond to emergencies and enforce federal laws and regulations,” said Chief Petty Officer Tim Crochet, officer in charge of Station Lorain. “Response crews will continue to serve the boating community in Lorain even though they will not be operating from Lorain year round.

“We’re also deeply appreciative of the relationships we have with our partners here, who we will continue to work alongside to ensure the public’s safety and security.”

These changes allow the Coast Guard to better staff, train and equip the boats and crews continuing to serve the Lorain area, according to a statement from the agency.

“These operational improvements are long overdue and will help us better serve the community by reducing redundancies that have arisen as technology has evolved during the past century,” said Capt. Brian Roche, commander of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo. “This is not a cost-saving initiative; we are just moving our resources and people to the locations that make the most sense with the technology we have today.”

The news was better than city officials expected, said Lorain police Chief Cel Rivera and fire Chief Tom Brown. The safety forces and administration were prepared for an announcement that Coast Guard Station Lorain was closing in June, they said.

Instead, the changes will take place starting in 2018, so the local safety forces have two years to plan for it, Rivera said.

The plans are based largely on calls for service received by the Coast Guard; if Lorain boat traffic increases, the Coast Guard presence could grow again in the city as needed, Brown said.

The changes may require Lorain to devote more officers or resources to weekday rescue calls, but it is not clear yet exactly how that will happen. It could mean more training and supplies for current marine patrol officers, or possibly another boat devoted to on-water law enforcement, Rivera said.

For years, the Lorain Marine Patrol has been a partnership with the Lorain Police Department and Lorain Port Authority.

On April 11, the Ohio Division of Watercraft announced Lorain will receive $32,000 to pay for officers for waterway patrols and emergency response. The city of Vermilion also will receive $29,571.99 for that city’s marine patrol this summer.

In 2015, Ohio had a record 474,601 registered recreational watercraft, a growth of almost 40,000 boats in three years, according to state figures. The watercraft include an increase of 138 percent in kayak and canoe registrations.

However, boating-related deaths have declined by 12 percent, from 179 during the period from 1996 to 2005, to 159 during the time from 2006 to 2015, according to state figures.

Lorain and Vermilion were among 24 agencies to get a total of $576,152 in marine patrol grants from the state. The money comes from the state’s Waterways Safety Fund, which is comprised of the state motor fuel tax, watercraft registration and titling fees, as well as funds provided by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Morning Journal


14 April 1965 The GEORGE A. SLOAN (steel propeller bulk freighter, 603 foot, 9057 gross tons, built in 1943, at River Rouge, Michigan) was the first commercial vessel through the Soo Locks. The SLOAN (now MISSISSAGI) received Sault Ste. Marie's official tri-centennial flag to fly all season. The Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce in turn received the Pittsburgh Fleet flag, and it flew below the United States flag on the flagpole on top of the Ojibway Motor Hotel all season.

On 14 April 1872, the MESSENGER (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 150 foot, 444 gross tons, built in 1866, at Cleveland, Ohio) left Manistee, Michigan in a storm for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After battling ice flows near shore, she made it to open water but the heavy seas snapped her rudder post. She was unmanageable and four members of the crew left in the yawl to try to get help. Although they were only a few miles from port, the men struggled for hours against the wind, waves and ice before they finally made it back to Manistee, Michigan, where they got a tug to go out and tow the MESSENGER in for repairs.

On April 14, 1961, FORT CHAMBLY departed Toronto, Ontario, on her maiden voyage bound for the Canadian Lake head.

Interlake Steamship's COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS (Hull#791) sailed on her maiden voyage April 14, 1926, clearing Lorain for Toledo, Ohio, to load coal.

CSL's steamer GLENEAGLES lost her self-unloading boom April 14, 1977, while unloading at the CSL stone dock at Humberstone, Ontario. Renamed b.) SILVERDALE in 1978, she was scrapped at Windsor, Ontario, in 1984.

On April 14, 1984, vessels around the Great Lakes were battling one of the worst season openers for ice in recent memory. The ERNEST R. BREECH (now OJIBWAY) and HERBERT C. JACKSON spent the entire day battling ice off the Duluth entry, while the St. Clair River was choked with ice.

On 14 April 1873, The Port Huron Daily Times gave the following report of shipbuilding work going on in Port Huron: "Mr. Fitzgerald is up to his eyes in business with a large barge in process of construction and a good sized schooner still on the stocks. Mr. Thomas Dunford has in hand the repairs of the large scow T S SKINNER and she is being rapidly healed of the damage done to her in the collision with the INTERNATIONAL last fall. At Muir's yard the [schooner] canaller on the stocks is rapidly approaching completion. At the [Port Huron] Dry Dock Company's yard, they are busy as bees docking and repairing vessels and work upon the new tug for Moffat & Sons is [being] pushed ahead very rapidly." Unfortunately, later that year the "Panic of 1873" struck and all shipyard work was stopped while the country tried to recover from that economic depression.

1965: Fire broke out in the #2 hold of the CAPETAN VASSILIS en route from Madras, India, to Rotterdam with a cargo of sunflower seeds while 60 miles off the Mediterranean island of Crete. The crew abandoned the vessel and it sank on April 16. The ship had been built at Superior, Wisconsin, as TULLY CROSBY in 1944 and returned to the lakes as c) SPIND in 1952-1953, as d) HEILO in 1953 and e) CAPETAN VASSILIS in 1956.

1977: CANADIAN OLYMPIC ran aground in the St. Lawrence off Heather Point near Brockville. The ship was loaded with ore and en route from Sept Iles to Ashtabula. The navigation channel was blocked. The vessel was lightered to MAPLEHEATH and released at 1057 hours on April 16. The ULS self-unloader spent three weeks at Port Weller Dry Docks undergoing repairs to the damage.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/15 – Duluth, Minn. – Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton says Essar Steel could lose its mineral leases if the company doesn't fulfill its commitment to the state and vendors in the next two months.

Dayton's office says state mineral leases are subject to termination on July 1. If Essar wants them extended, Dayton says the company needs to pay its debts and demonstrate that it has all of the necessary financing.

"I remain determined that the stalled Essar project be constructed, begin operations, and create new jobs on the Iron Range. My administration and I are currently working closely with the members of the Range legislative delegation to assess all possible options to achieve those objectives," Dayton said in a statement Thursday.

Essar responded by saying it remains committed to completing the project.

"The company is progressing in its efforts to bring a new equity partner and substantial new capital into the project. Essar Steel Minnesota is confident that, in the near term, the necessary funding will be in place to resume construction and complete the project," said Mitch Brunfelt, Essar Steel Minnesota's Assistant General Counsel and Director for Government and Public Relations, said in a statement.

Essar said earlier this week that it has hired a global investment bank to raise capital for the project. The project estimate, according to past reports from Essar, is $1.9 billion dollars.

WDIO





Canada’s shipwrecks must be better protected, says archaeologist

4/15 - A leading marine archaeologist says Canada needs a national strategy to protect underwater wrecks, reports Canadian Press. Rob Rondeau told CP shipwrecks are “kind of the poor cousin to on-land archaeological sites.”

As an example, he says the wreck of the Empress of Ireland is easily accessible to divers in the St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada. The ship collided with a Norway-flagged coal ship near Quebec City on May 19, 1914.

Rondeau has studied the wreck and says it sits 40 metres and that makes it a prime target for amateur treasure seekers.

CP reports that this site was declared an underwater heritage site by the province of Quebec, where it is situated. But, unlike the U.S., Canada does not have national legislation protecting all archaeological sites in the three seas that border it—the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic.

And where there are rules, Rondeau says there needs to be better enforcement.

Radio Canada International





Cleveland port accepts $1 million in funds to support expansion of sediment facility

4/15 – Cleveland, Ohio – The Board of Directors of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority has approved acceptance of a $1 million Ohio Healthy Lake Erie Fund (OHLEF) grant. The Board also approved use of those funds for capital improvements at the Confined Disposal Facility (“CDF”) 12 that will increase Port efforts to maximize its useful lifespan and provide a viable alternative to open lake dumping of Cuyahoga River dredge sediment.

In 2015, the Port began implementing its “Plan B” for extending the useful life of CDF 12. The plan consists of using water flow to sort and then vertically stacking sediment onsite, enabling “harvest” of the useful and non-harmful material. These efforts and other Port innovations will result in decades of additional space at the CDF to store sediment that can’t be safely used, while keeping it out of the open waters of Lake Erie.

During initial operation in 2015, Plan B processed 62,000 cubic yards of sediment that will be put to use in construction projects. The goal this year is to raise that figure threefold to 205,000 cubic yards. To pay for additional infrastructure to meet this goal, the Port sought and was awarded the OHLEF funds, which promote innovative initiatives to reduce sediments and nutrients from entering Lake Erie.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) administers the grant. The board also awarded a contract to Mark Hayes Construction, Inc. to make the necessary capital improvements to the sediment management facility.

Port of Cleveland



15 April 1907 - The Rutland Line’s OGDENSBURG (steel propeller package freighter, 242-foot, 2329 gross tons, built in 1906, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying 50,000 bushels of corn, a big consignment of flour and general merchandise from Chicago to Ogdensburg when she stranded on Point aux Barques on Lake Huron in a storm. Although she was leaking in her forward compartment, she was freed after some cargo was jettisoned.

15 April 1907 - The Welland Canal opened for the season with the first vessel being the SAMUEL MATHER (steel propeller bulk freighter, 530 foot, 6,751 gross tons, built in 1906, at Wyandotte, Michigan) carrying coal from Cleveland, Ohio to Prescott, Ontario.

On 15 April 1881, the Market Street Bridge in Mount Clemens, Michigan, was taken down to allow the newly built VIRGINIUS to pass down the Clinton River to Lake St. Clair, where she was taken in tow by the CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE. The VIRGINIUS was towed to Port Huron where her engine was installed and she was fitted out for service.

Misener's CANADA MARQUIS (Hull#257) of Govan Shipyards Ltd, Govan, Scotland, was launched April 15, 1983. Renamed b.) FEDERAL RICHELIEU in 1991, c.) FEDERAL MACKENZIE in 1991, d.) MACKENZIE in 2001 and CSL's e.) BIRCHGLEN in 2002.

American Steamship Co.'s SAM LAUD was christened April 15, 1975.

On April 15, 1977, the CONALLISON's, a.) FRANK C. BALL of 1906, self-unloading boom collapsed while unloading coal at the Detroit Edison Trenton, Michigan, power plant in the Trenton Channel on the lower Detroit River.

W. W. HOLLOWAY suffered a fire in the fantail while in dry dock following her re-powering at AmShip on April 15, 1963, causing $15,000 damage.

Pittsburgh Steamship's steamer J. P. MORGAN JR left Lorain in ballast April 15, 1910, on her maiden voyage to load iron ore at Duluth, Minnesota.

Masaba Steamship's steamer JOE S. MORROW entered service April 15, 1907.

The steamer JOHN P. REISS left Lorain, Ohio on her maiden voyage on April 15, 1910 with coal for Escanaba, Michigan. She was the first of three bulkers built in 1910 for Reiss interests. The other two were the steamers A. M. BYERS and the PETER REISS.

The tanker IMPERIAL COLLINGWOOD began service April 15, 1948.

On April 15, 1955, American Steamship's steamer DETROIT EDISON entered service, departing Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for Port Inland, Michigan, on her maiden trip.

On April 15, 1985, the e.) WILLIAM CLAY FORD, formerly d.) WALTER A. STERLING and presently f.) LEE A. TREGURTHA) departed Fraser Shipyards for the D. M. & I. R. ore docks in West Duluth for her first load in Ford Motor Company colors.

April 15, 1930 - While going up the Manitowoc River to dry dock, the WABASH rubbed the parked steamer THEODORE ROOSEVELT and damaged her upper works forward.

On 15 April 1862, ELISHA C. BLISH (wooden propeller tug, 81 foot, 107 tons, built in 1857, at Black River, Ohio) sank near shore at Algonac, Michigan, when a steam pump was accidentally left in an open position and she flooded. She was raised and lasted another two years when she "went missing" on Lake Huron.

On 15 April 1872, The Port Huron Daily Times announced that the HURON was chartered by a circus company for the season. They intended to perform at many lakes ports throughout the summer.

1967: MAPLE HILL began visiting the Great Lakes in 1959. The British-flag freighter had been built at Montreal in 1943 as a) FORT VERCHERES and was renamed c) DIOPSIDE in 1966. It collided with and sank the Swedish freighter IREVIK in the Baltic Sea on this day in 1967. MAPLE HILL was renamed d) ENTAN in 1969 and arrived at Hirao, Japan, for scrapping on June 30, 1970.

1987: An attempt to steal navigation equipment using a cutting torch resulted in a fire that caused major damage to the upper deck of the GRAND RAPIDS. The retired Lake Michigan carferry had been idle at Muskegon since 1971. It was eventually sold for scrap in 1989 and broken up at Port Maitland, ON in 1994.


Today is also TITANIC DAY... ws

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic

[yachtsmanwilly]

Layoff notices are being sent to employees at an iron ore mine in the Upper Peninsula before it shuts down for good later this year. More than 300 workers are affected at the Empire Mine in Marquette County.

Fifty will be laid off in May, close to another 50 in July and the rest by August.

The Tilden Mine, which is also in Marquette County, is expected to stay open and continue producing iron ore pellets.

9 & 10 News


18 April 1907 - At least 20 freighters were anchored at De Tour, Michigan, waiting for the frozen St. Marys River to break up. The vessels found their provisions running low after waiting for about a week and they bought everything edible in De Tour.

The U.S. Lighthouse Service Tender ASPEN (steel propeller tender, 117 foot, 277 gross tons, built in 1906, at Toledo, Ohio) was sent to Cheboygan, Michigan to get more provisions. De Tour did not have railroad facilities at this time and therefore was compelled to stretch the provisions from the last boat in the fall through winter until a boatload of supplies was delivered in the Spring.

On 18 April 1889, the CITY OF RACINE (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 220 foot, 1,041 tons) was launched by Burger & Burger at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for the Goodrich Transportation Company. The vessel was ready for service three months later. Her total cost was $125,000.

On her maiden voyage April 18, 1980, the AMERICAN MARINER left Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in ballast for Escanaba, Michigan to load 31,322 gross tons of taconite pellets for Ashtabula, Ohio and arrived there on April 26th.

Hall Corp. of Canada’s b.) MONTCLIFFE HALL began trading on the Great Lakes on April 18, 1978. Renamed c.) CARTIERDOC in 1988 and d.) CEDARGLEN in 2002. Built in 1959 in Germany as the a.) EMS ORE, she was purchased by Hall Corp. in 1977. Converted to a bulk carrier with the addition of a forward cargo section at Davie Shipbuilding in Lauzon, Quebec.

PATERSON (Hull#231) was launched April 18, 1985, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. She was the last straight deck bulk freighter built on the Lakes and was built to the maximum size permitted to lock through the Seaway. Renamed b.) PINEGLEN in 2002.

Johnstown Steamship's a) MIDVALE (Hull#167) of Great Lakes Engineering Works was launched April 18, 1917. Renamed b.) BETHLEHEM in 1925 and scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1974.

Problems occurred on the ALASTAIR GUTHRIE's first trip of the year on April 18, 1979, when she began taking on water in the engine room while loading grain at the International Multifoods elevator at Duluth, Minnesota. Her stern settled to the bottom of the slip with 12 feet of water in the engine room.

Upper Lakes Shipping's RED WING was sold for scrap on April 18, 1986.

On April 18, 1960, the ROBERT C. STANLEY struck Vidal Shoal in St. Marys River about 1.5 miles above the Soo Locks, and tore a hole in her bottom.

Superior Steamship Co.'s a.) SINALOA (Hull#609) of the West Bay City Shipbuilding Co., was launched April 18, 1903, as a straight deck bulk freighter. Renamed b.) WILLIAM F. RAPPRICH in 1924, c.) SINALOA in 1927. Converted to a self unloader in 1931. Renamed d.) STONEFAX in 1960. Scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1971.

April 18, 1936 - Albert W. Ackerman, chief engineer of the Pere Marquette car ferries for 35 years, died (Friday afternoon) at the Paulina Stearns hospital.

On 18 April 1848, the wooden schooner TRIBUNE went missing in lower Lake Michigan. Her fate was unknown until native fishermen discovered her masts standing upright off Cathead Point in November 1849. All 10 of her crew were lost.

On 18 April 1885, the schooner-barge ELEANOR was launched at Mount Clemens, Michigan. Her dimensions were 185 foot overall, 32 foot beam and 11 foot 3 inch depth. She had three spars and was the consort of the steam barge A WESTON. She was built for the Tonawanda Barge Line and was named after Capt. William Du Lac's wife.

1945 The steel barge GEORGE T. DAVIE, en route from Oswego to Kingston with 1,100 tons of coal and under tow of the SALVAGE PRINCE, began leaking and sank off Nine Mile Point, Lake Ontario, in 85 feet of water. The hull was located by divers in 1999. The ship had once been part of Canada Steamship Lines.

1989 ENERCHEM AVANCE spent 7 hours aground in the St. Marys River below the Soo Locks on this day in 1989. At last report the ship was under Nigerian registry as e) ERINGA.


17 April 1871 - The wooden brig ST. JOSEPH was carrying lumber from Ludington, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois. Her hold was filled and lumber was stacked on deck so she was indeed overloaded. A gale developed and the deck load shifted, then was lost. ST. JOSEPH became waterlogged in mid-lake. Her crew remained with her until 19 April when the propeller ST. LEWIS found them 35 miles southwest of Pentwater, Michigan, and took them there. The tug ALDRICH towed the waterlogged brig in for repairs.

The first vessels through the Straits of Mackinac for the 1870 season were the CITY OF BOSTON and the CITY OF NEW YORK, both owned by the Northern Transportation Company. They passed through the Straits on 17 April 1870. The following day they passed Port Huron but could only go as far as Algonac, Michigan, since the St. Clair River had an ice jam which raised the water level by two feet and was causing flooding.

The Collingwood-built, 610-foot aft section of the JOHN B. AIRD passed up bound through the St. Marys Falls Canal on April 17, 1983, in tow of the tugs WILFRED M. COHEN and JOHN MC LEAN heading for Thunder Bay, Ontario, where it was assembled with the 120-foot bow section.

Canada Steamship Lines a.) STADACONA (Hull#24) was launched April 17, 1929, by Midland Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. She was renamed b.) NORDALE in 1969 and was scrapped at Port Colborne, Ontario, in 1983. She was the first vessel scrapped at the old Algoma Steel Dock in Port Colborne.

April 17, 1970 - CITY OF FLINT 32 was sold to the Norfolk & Western Railway for $100,000.

On 17 April 1840, the wooden side-wheeler CATARAQUI was burned to a total loss during a great fire, which destroyed much of the waterfront area of Kingston, Ontario.

On 17 April 1874, CHARLES J. KERSHAW (wooden propeller, 223 foot, 1,324 gross tons) was launched at the Ballentine shipyard at Bangor, Michigan.

1961: FREEMAN HATCH was built at Sturgeon Bay and completed in December 1942. It left the Great Lakes the following spring for service for the British Ministry of War Transport. It was sold and renamed b) CHARLES M. in 1950 and became c) HOUSTON in 1953. The vessel was sunk on this date in 1962 during the attempted, anti-Castro, Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

1982: CHEMICAL TRANSPORT ran aground in the St. Lawrence near Dark Island as channel markers were out of position due to the wind and ice conditions. The vessel lightered some cargo to fleetmate JAMES TRANSPORT and then went to Sorel for repairs. In 2009, the ship was reported as lying burned out and derelict near Lagos, Nigeria, after an explosion and fire as c) REAL PROGRESS on June 1, 2001.

1990: RESERVE ran aground in the St. Marys River while downbound with a load of iron ore for Toledo on this date in 1990. The ship stranded in a snowstorm and had to be lightered to the WILLIAM R. ROESCH before going to Fraser Shipyard for repairs.

1997: ALGOLAKE got stuck on Vidal Shoal, St. Marys River while bound for Algoma Steel with a cargo of iron ore. The ship was lightered and released. After unloading, the vessel went to Thunder Bay for repairs.

16 April 1907 - In a blinding snowstorm, the LOUIS PAHLOW (wooden propeller package freighter, 155 foot, 366 gross tons, built in 1882, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was towing the DELTA (wooden schooner, 134 foot, 269 gross tons, built in 1890, at Algonac, Michigan) on Lake Michigan. She went off course and ran onto the rocks at the Clay Banks, six miles south of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The DELTA made it to anchorage before she also grounded. The Lifesaving Service rescued both crews. Both vessels were eventually freed, repaired and put back in service.

On 16 April 1872, the THOMAS W. FERRY (wooden schooner, 180 feet) was launched at the J. Jones yard at Detroit, Michigan. She cost $40,000 and was owned by P. J. Ralph & Son and A. C. Burt.

ALGOWOOD departed on her maiden voyage April 16, 1981, from Owen Sound, Ontario, in ballast for Stoneport, Michigan, taking on limestone there for Sarnia, Ontario.

ALGOLAKE's sea trials were held April 16, 1977.

BURNS HARBOR's keel was laid at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, as (Hull#720) for Wilmington Trust Co., Bethlehem Steel Co., manager, on April 16, 1979.

CEMENTKARRIER (Hull#175) of the Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd at Haverton Hill-on-Tees, England, was launched April 16, 1930, for Canada Cement Transport Ltd.

Reiss Steamship Co.'s a.) W.K. BIXBY entered service on April 16, 1906. Renamed b.) J. L. REISS in 1920 and c.) SIDNEY E. SMITH JR in 1971. She sank in a collision with the Hindman steamer PARKER EVANS under the Blue Water Bridge on June 5, 1972.

On April 16, 1986, U.S. Steel's steamer WILLIAM A. IRVIN was sold for $110,000 to the Duluth Convention Center Board.

On 16 April 1870, the fore-and-aft schooner L.W. PERRY was launched at the Fitzgerald & Leighton yard in Port Huron, Michigan. She was owned by J. L. Woods of Lexington, Michigan and commanded by Capt. M. Hyde. Her dimensions were 128 foot keel, 133 foot overall, 26 foot beam and 9 foot depth. She cost $29,000 and was built for the lumber trade.

On 16 April 1873, DAVID BALLENTINE (wooden propeller, 221 foot, 972 gross tons) was launched at Bangor, Michigan. She was built by Thomas Boston.

1897: The wooden schooner INGEBORG FORREST was a total loss in a spring gale near the entrance to Pentwater, Michigan, on this date in 1897.

1906: EUGENE ZIMMERMAN was upbound with coal on its maiden voyage when it collided with the SAXONA in the Mud Lake section of the St. Marys River on this day in 1906. The new bulk carrier was hit on the port bow and sank. The hull was raised on May 20, repaired and returned to service. It was renamed b) GRAND ISLAND in 1916 and last operated in 1960. After work as a grain storage hull named c) POWEREAUX CHRIS, the vessel was towed to Hamburg, West Germany, for scrapping in 1964.

1959: T.R. McLAGAN of Canada Steamship Lines ran aground on a shoal off Amherst Island, Lake Ontario, and was released on April 18.


Republican Convention causes Tall Ships event to move from Cleveland to Fairport

4/16 – Fairport, Ohio – The Tall Ships Challenge, a popular summertime event in Cleveland since 2001, will move east this year to Fairport Harbor, because of scheduling conflicts with the Republican National Convention in July.

The event, hosted every three years in the Great Lakes, typically brings up to a dozen or so gorgeous schooners into harbor for visitors to tour and sail. The festival in Cleveland in 2013 drew an estimated 100,000 people downtown during the three-day event.

"We do have a long history in Cleveland," said Erin Short, manager of the Tall Ships Challenge, based in Newport, Rhode Island. "It's a real bummer."

On the other hand, she said, she's excited that Fairport Harbor, 30 miles east of Cleveland in Lake County, gets a chance to showcase its waterfront during the popular event.

Fairport Harbor's first Tall Ships Challenge will run Thursday, July 7, through Sunday, July 10.

The four-day Republican National Convention, meanwhile, gets under way in downtown Cleveland on Monday, July 18. Daniel Ball, a spokesman for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, said hosting both events so close together would present too many security challenges.

Last summer, after Fairport Harbor hosted the schooner Madeline at its annual Harbor Fest event, village leaders decided they'd like to try something a little more ambitious, according to Mayor Tim Manross. When they found out that Cleveland had opted out of the Tall Ships Festival, they got their wish.

"We're all very excited about it," said Pam Morse, a local business owner who is helping to organize the event. They are also a little intimidated.

Fairport Harbor, population 3,000, will be by far the smallest U.S. town hosting this international event in 2016. Bay City, Michigan, a long-time host of the festival, is next smallest – with a population of 34,000.

Other festival hosts this year include Toronto, Chicago, Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Great Lakes challenge alternates with events along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. (And new in 2018: the first Tall Ships Festival on the Gulf Coast, said Short.) As many as 20 ships will participate this year, but not every ship comes to every port.

Fairport Harbor is expected to host about six ships – invitees include El Galeon Andalucia, the U.S. Brig Niagara, the Mist of Avalon and the Pride of Baltimore II.

This year's event launches on July 1 in Toronto and ends in mid-September in Brockville, Ontario. In between: port calls in at least seven additional communities, plus races on all five Great Lakes. The Lake Erie race is scheduled for July 11, from Fairport Harbor to Pelee Passage.

Morse anticipates as many as 70,000 to 100,000 visitors will attend the festival, which will stretch along downtown's Water Street. The ships will be docked along the Grand River.

Signature activities include a Parade of Sail, ship tours, day sails and other activities. Fairport Harbor also is planning live music, entertainment, food vendors and other activities during the event. The town typically hosts as many as 50,000 for its annual one-day Mardi Gras event in July, so Manross said he's sure the streets can handle the crowds.

The cost of hosting the event is another challenge. Short said the cost varies from about $200,000 to $1 million per community, depending on how many ships are involved, security needs and other factors.

Fairport Harbor's event carries a price tag of about $200,000, according to Manross. The Lake County Visitors Bureau has contributed $50,000, and Manross is confident that through corporate sponsors, ticket sales and other revenue sources, the money can be raised.

Tickets went on sale in February, and already about half of the day-sail spots are reserved, said Morse. (For ticket information: tallshipsfairportharbor.com.)

This should be a wonderful event," said Manross. "It's all about showcasing Lake County, and making this area a destination."

Cleveland.com

[yachtsmanwilly]

Higher Lake Michigan water level means less beach

3/19 - Ottawa County, Mich. – Lake Michigan’s water level is nearly an inch above where it was this time last year. For boats and those in the shipping industry, higher levels mean easier access for all.

But for beachgoers and residents with homes along the shoreline, the beach is disappearing.

"The last time I saw the lake levels as high as this was 1997-1998," said Bob Reichel, the Ottawa County parks operations manager. "Since then, the lake levels have receded quite a bit, but just in the past year and a half to two years they’ve started to come back up again. And now they’re at the highest that I’ve seen them since 1997."

The current water level is about 579.94 feet, with an average level at 578.67 feet, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Reichel adds that with less dry space to use, the beaches and parks will not be able to accommodate as many visitors. To guarantee maximum Michigan enjoyment, he says you should call ahead.

WZZM


Lake Michigan beaches are getting more sand, thanks to dredging

3/19 - West Michigan – Beaches south of the channels in Holland and St. Joseph will get some extra sand this spring. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will dredge more than 110,000 cubic yards from those two Lake Michigan harbors.

Dredging also is planned this year in Lake Michigan harbors in Grand Haven, Ludington, Manistee and Muskegon, said Melissa Bosman, a project manager in the Corps' Detroit District.

MCM Marine, Inc. in Sault Ste. Marie has been contracted to do the dredging in Holland and St. Joseph for $621,000. Plans call for 65,000 cubic yards to be dredged out of the Holland harbor this month and deposited along a 2,000-foot stretch south of the breakwater. Next month, the contractor will dredge 52,000 cubic yards out of the St. Joseph harbor and deposit it along a 1,400-foot stretch south of the breakwater there.

Contracts for dredging of the harbors to the north are expected later this year.

MLive


19 April 1884 - The KASOTA (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 246 foot, 1660 gross tons, built in 1884 at Cleveland, Ohio) was launched by Thomas Quayles & Sons at Cleveland, Ohio for Capt. Thomas Wilson of Cleveland, Ohio. The hull was painted green with white bulwarks and upper works.

On 19 April 1956, the newly-converted cement carrier E.M. FORD had her steering equipment break when she was abeam of Harsens Island on the St. Clair River. She plowed head-on into the down bound freighter A.M. BYERS which was loaded with dolomite for Buffalo, New York. The BYERS sank in just 17 minutes and the FORD anchored. No lives were lost.

Sea trials were completed for Upper Lakes Shipping's CANADIAN TRANSPORT on April 19, 1979, and she departed Port Weller Dry Docks Ltd., on her maiden voyage the next morning.

The GEORGE A. STINSON's self-unloading boom collapsed onto her deck due to a mechanical failure on the night of April 19, 1983, at Detroit, Michigan. No injuries were reported. She continued hauling cargoes without a boom most of the year until it was replaced on September 20. She sails today as b.) AMERICAN SPIRIT.

On April 19, 1951, the CLIFFS VICTORY began her much publicized 1,000 mile journey up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers through the Illinois Waterway pushed by a towboat to Lockport, Illinois where two Great Lakes Towing Co., tugs took up the tow through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Hall Corp. of Canada's a.) HUTCHCLIFFE HALL (Hull#261) by Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, was launched April 19, 1954.

Pittsburgh Steamship's steamer RICHARD TRIMBLE (Hull#707) of the American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio, was launched April 19, 1913. She was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota between 1978 and 1981.

On April 19, 1950, the WILFRED SYKES entered service, departing Lorain, Ohio for Toledo to load coal on her maiden voyage. The SYKES also became the largest vessel on the Great Lakes, taking the honor from Pittsburgh Steamship Company's LEON FRASER class (the "Supers"), which had held it since June 21, 1942.

April 19, 1917 - ANN ARBOR NO 5 broke off her starboard shaft and bent the rudder stock on the rocky corner of the old Goodrich dock in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

On 19 April 1880, the Port Huron Times reported the results of a severe gale: "The schooner CHRIS GROVER, ashore near Oscoda, Michigan, is reported going to pieces. The crew is aboard. The schooner ATHENIAN, lumber laden, is reported to have gone ashore off Au Sable and to be a complete wreck. The schooner HATTIE JOHNSON is abandoned on Goose Island shoal. The cabin and part of her deck are gone. The stern is gone from her mizzen and the gale probably broke her up completely and her outfit and cargo may prove a total loss." The GROVE and the JOHNSON were later recovered and put back in service.

On 19 April 1884, EUROPE (wooden propeller, passenger/package freight vessel, 136 foot, 628 gross tons, built in 1870 at St. Catharines, Ontario) was almost totally destroyed by fire at St. Catharines. The remains of her hull were later rebuilt as the barge REGINA.

1915: PALIKI of the Algoma Central Railway fleet was carrying steel rails to Chicago when it ran aground on Simmons Reef near the Straits of Mackinac.

1922: LAMBTON, a steel lighthouse tender, was last seen on the date by the MIDLAND PRINCE. It was lost with all hands on Lake Superior somewhere south of Michipicoten Island while delivering lighthouse keepers to their stations. Wreckage was later located but no bodies were ever found.

1927: DAVID S. TROXEL was damaged in a storm on Lake Superior. Plates and rivets worked loose and there were problems with the rudder. The ship was renamed c) SONOMA later in 1927 and was scrapped by Stelco in Hamilton as d) FRED L. HEWITT in 1962.

1938: REDRIVER had loaded coal at Charlotte, NY and was crossing Lake Ontario when it ran aground, due to fog, near Point Petre.

1939: VALLEY CAMP ran aground on Cole's Shoal, near Brockville, due to fog and part of the cargo of coal had to be lightered before the ship was refloated with the help of the tug SALVAGE PRINCE on April 24.

1940: SANDLAND battled through heavy ice to open the port of Port Colborne on this date in 1940. The ship had a cargo of scrap steel from Detroit for the Algoma Steel mill.

1956: A.M. BYERS was loaded with limestone and bound from Drummond Island to Buffalo when it sank in the St. Clair River following a collision with the E.M. FORD on this date in 1956. The ship was hit on the port side abreast of the pilothouse but all on board were rescued. The ship was later salvaged and repaired becoming b) CLEMENS A. REISS (ii) in 1959 and c) JACK WIRT in 1970.