Today in Great Lakes History

[Avenger]

Looks like another case of Save the Planet First! Too bad. If they'd concentrated on saving the boat they could have saved both.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Theres a sucker born every minute... Ive cut up several old Chris's and Owens's to name a few and youll find rot in the most peculiar (and structural) places you could imagine. After 10 years the wood boats are just junk. Like they say, walk don't run. Even my Gramps Nova Scotia built 53 foot SUNCHASER (built in 1948) ended up in a scene on Miami Vice going to the bottom of Biscayne Bay. That boat was TRIPLE PLANKED from the waterline down... ws

Owner of yacht littering miles of Lake Michigan beach may face legal action

4/25 - Ludington, Mich. – The owner of a now-destroyed yacht that has created an environmental nightmare along miles of protected Lake Michigan beach could be taken to court after declining to take care of the disabled vessel, according to a state official.

The 76-foot-long boat was grounded on April 15 after taking on water, and the owner was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Subsequent efforts to get the owner to take care of the disabled vessel were unsuccessful and the boat has since been destroyed and wreckage has littered miles of coastline, said Tim Schreiner, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources parks and recreation supervisor for the Cadillac district.

He estimated 70 percent of the wreckage remains in the water, including the boat's diesel engines, and said efforts are underway to contract with an underwater salvage operator to clean it up.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2017/04/legal_action_possible_against.html


Third phase of Interlake’s exhaust gas scrubber installations complete

4/25 - Middleburg Heights, Ohio – The Mesabi Miner sailed Monday from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., becoming Interlake Steamship Co.’s fourth self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers.

Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test freshwater scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its motor vessel Hon. James L. Oberstar. In 2016, the company outfitted its first 1,000-foot vessel, the motor vessel James R. Barker, and its 826-foot motor vessel Lee A. Tregurtha in its second phase of exhaust gas scrubber implementation.

“We are executing on our long-term vision to be the most efficient and environmentally responsible fleet on the Great Lakes,” says Interlake President Mark W. Barker. “Being able to successfully reduce our emissions and lead the way with this technology has been a major undertaking for us over the last four years. It demonstrates our Company’s proud commitment to continuously improve and invest in our ships.”

With the 1,004-foot Mesabi Miner back in service, Interlake has equipped nearly half of its nine-vessel fleet with scrubber systems implemented specifically to net emission reductions to a level that meets or exceeds North American Emissions Control Area requirements.

Mesabi Miner has been undergoing the retrofit at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding since December 2016. The Sturgeon Bay shipyard handled the successful installation on Interlake’s four vessels which are equipped with the same single-inlet, closed-loop DuPont™ Marine Scrubbers from Belco Technologies Corp. (BELCO), a DuPont company. The scrubber units, which are attached to the exhaust system of each of the ship’s two engines, effectively strip the majority of sulfur from its stack emissions.

Here’s how the systems work: Exhaust gas from the engine is sent through a series of absorption sprays that “wash” and remove impurities, specifically sulfur and particulate matter. That washed exhaust gas then travels through a droplet separator before a signature clean plume of white steam is discharged into the atmosphere.

As the first U.S.-flag fleet to implement the scrubber technology, the company was not only tasked with proving its emission-reduction capability but also taking the lead in developing a sustainable supply-and-delivery infrastructure to support its widespread use on the Great Lakes.

Specifically, the scrubber system relies on an injection of sodium hydroxide -- to neutralize and remove sulfur from the exhaust gas -- and that chemical has to be delivered to the vessel about twice a month.

Working with partners, Hawkins Inc., PVS Chemicals Inc., Garrow Oil & Propane and OSI Environmental, the company has established waterfront supply capability at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and Detroit, Mich. Calumet Specialties LLC has become a vital partner and stakeholder in the development of a new supply capability within the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis. A supply-and-delivery infrastructure is expected to be built at ports located near East Chicago, Ill., and Burns Harbor, Ind.

A total of five Interlake vessels – including the longest ship on the Great Lakes, the motor vessel Paul R. Tregurtha - will be outfitted with these types of scrubbers by 2018.

Interlake Steamship Co.


4/25 - Detroit, Mich. – In its 143rd year on the Detroit River, the J.W. Westcott Co. once again went beyond its normal mail-delivery duties and helped save lives. This time, Senior Capt. Ryan Gazdecki helped rescue a pregnant woman, two Detroit police officers and a medic who had jumped into the water to help the woman on April 17.

It’s the third time Gazdecki has been part of life-saving efforts in his 13 seasons at the marine-based mail delivery ship — the only mail ship remaining with its own floating ZIP code.

Founded in 1874, the J.W. Westcott Co. has been contracted by the U.S. Postal Service to make deliveries since 1948, said owner Jim Hogan, and headquartered at Riverside Park since 1955. Mostly, during its 24-hour days, the mail ship is just a mail ship, handing off mail to passing freighters on the river, said Hogan, whose family has owned the company since its founding. Counting his son, Jimmy, 32, the company is in its fifth generation in family hands, with fewer than 20 employees.

Per the terms of its contract with the Postal Service, the J.W. Westcott II operates 252 days a year, starting in the spring and ending when the ice on the Detroit River gets too thick. The first rescue was in spring 2007, when Gazdecki was making a delivery alongside a freighter. A fisherman was in a boat and “got himself into some trouble, and didn’t realize a ship was sneaking up on him.”

Read more and view photos, video at this link: www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/04/24/westcott-rescue/100828406/


4/25 - Syracuse, N.Y. – Residents who live along the shoreline of Lake Ontario have been trying to stay ahead of rising water levels that are threatening their properties.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, water levels in Lake Ontario are up 15 inches in the last month, and are expected to rise another six inches in the next month. A state of emergency has been declared in Wayne County because of the rising water. But what is causing the increase in water levels?

Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich met this week with representatives of some of the towns along the Lake Ontario shoreline to talk about the impact of Plan 2014, which is the plan formulated by the International Joint Commission, involving representatives of the U.S. and Canada. That plan allows for wider swings in lake levels.

Environmental advocates have argued that the previous plan impacted wetlands and did other damage to the environment. Reilich says he and some of the other officials of communities along the southern shore of Lake Ontario plan to go to Washington soon to lobby against the plan.

“This plan would not be in the best interest of our residents in so much as it elongates the period of time that the water levels are higher and every week that you remain with higher water levels is the likelihood that a windstorm or something could cause a lot of erosion and damage and flooding,” Reilich said.

Frank Bevacqua, a spokesman for the IJC, says that the lake level plan that was implemented earlier this year really had a negligible impact on the current high water situation.

“Plan 2014 took effect on January 7 and it has contributed a very small amount to the situation we’re seeing now,” said Bevacqua. Things would only be marginally better if the old plan were being followed, it’s just a couple of inches difference.”

Bevacqua says the main issue has been a very rainy April, as well dramatic swings in temperature over the last few months.

Reilich says he is concerned about homeowners in his town who may be impacted soon if the water keeps rising.

“We supply the homeowners upon their request,” Reilich said.” Sandbags, we have thousands and thousands of sandbags that we’re prepared to distribute along with the sand that’s necessary. So we’re going to assist them with that effort and hopefully it won’t be required, but we’re prepared if it does.”

Residents have been putting down sandbags in other communities as well including in Sodus, in Wayne County. In Oswego and Jefferson counties, officials have been monitoring water levels. The biggest area of concern in Oswego County is in Sandy Pond.

WRVO/WXXI


4/25 - Bay City, Mich. – USS Edson, DD-946, a Vietnam-era, Forrest-Sherman-class destroyer, is the primary focus of the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum in Bangor Township next to Bay City, Mich. The group will host an all-day fundraiser on May 20 featuring live music, food and beverages, vendors, and a large banner that can be signed by visitors to be sent to the men of one of the nation's aircraft carriers.

The Edson is the only surface warship in the Midwest, and she can be seen daily from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., seven days a week. The most active ship in Vietnam is located next to Independence Bridge, her permanent location, and has been designated a National Historical Landmark by Congress.

For information about tours and the calendar of events, call 989-684-3946.


Lake Michigan wave and weather buoy is back in business

4/25 - Cook Nuclear Plant has again launched its high-tech weather buoy in Lake Michigan. The extensive weather and water data can be accessed online at www.greatlakesbuoys.org (select the Cook Nuclear Plant buoy 45026).

The buoy is equipped with a range of instruments that can transmit air temperature, wind speed and direction, water current speed and direction, wave height and water temperatures at several depths below the surface. Still images and video clips are taken once each hour and can also be accessed online to see the exact conditions out on the lake at www.limnotechdata.com/stations/CookBuoy/.

Cook deployed the weather buoy in 2011 to study Lake Michigan water conditions. Since the data was made available to the public for free, more than 2 million requests for buoy observations have been made from boaters, fishermen and others.


25 April 1890 - The Collins Bay Rafting Company’s tug ALANSON SUMNER (wooden propeller tug, 127 foot, 300 gross tons, built in 1872, at Oswego, New York) burned at Kingston, Ontario. She had $25,000 worth of wrecking machinery onboard. The SUMNER was repaired and put back in service.

On 25 April 1888, JESSIE MAGGIE (wooden schooner, 63 foot, 49 gross tons) was re-registered as a 2-masted schooner. She was built on a farm in Kilmanagh, Michigan, in 1887, as a 3-masted schooner and she was launched near Sebewaing, Michigan. It took 16 spans of oxen to haul her over frozen ground to the launch site. She lasted until 1904.

Interlake Steamship’s WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY (Hull#909) of American Ship Building Co., was christened April 25, 1981. Renamed b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA in 1990.

On April 25, 1973, the self-unloading boom on Canada Steamship Lines a.) TADOUSSAC of 1969, collapsed while she was at Sandusky, Ohio. She sails today as b.) CSL TADOUSSAC.

In 1925, the ANN ARBOR 4 was back in service after running aground on February 13th off Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

In 1973, it was announced that the CITY OF SAGINAW 31, would be scrapped, after a fire which destroyed her cabin deck in 1971.

Hall Corp. of Canada's bulk canaller a.) ROCKCLIFFE HALL (Hull#615) by Davie Shipbuilding & Repair Ltd., was launched April 25, 1958. Converted to a tanker in 1972, renamed b.) ISLAND TRANSPORT, and c.) ENERCHEM LAKER in 1987.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS (Hull#824) by American Ship Building Co., was launched April 25, 1942.

Mutual Steamship Co.'s WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE (Hull#41) by Great Lakes Engineering Works, was launched April 25, 1908. Renamed b.) S B WAY in 1936 and c.) CRISPIN OGLEBAY in 1948. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1974.

The PERCIVAL ROBERTS JR sailed light on her maiden voyage April 25, 1913, from Lorain to load ore at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

On April 25, 1954, CSL's, T.R. MC LAGAN entered service. At 714 feet 6 inches, she took the title for longest vessel on the Great Lakes from the JOSEPH H. THOMPSON, beating the THOMPSON by three inches. The THOMPSON had held the honor since November 4, 1952. MC LAGAN was renamed b.) OAKGLEN in 1990, and was scrapped at Alang, India in 2004.

Whaleback a.) FRANK ROCKEFELLER (Hull#136) by the American Steel Barge Co., was launched in 1896, for the American Steel barge Co., Pickands, Mather & Co., mgr. Converted to a sand dredge and renamed b.) SOUTH PARK in 1927, and converted to a tanker and renamed c.) METEOR in 1945.

On April 25, 1949, CSL's, GRAINMOTOR collided with the abutment of the railroad bridge above Lock 2 of the Lachine Canal.

The wooden schooner OTTAWA was launched on 25 April 1874, at Grand Haven, Michigan. She was owned by Capt. William R. Loutill and could carry 180,000 feet of lumber.

T S CHRISTIE (wooden propeller, 160 foot, 533 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #22) in W. Bay City, Michigan, on 25 April 1885. She was built for the Bay City & Cleveland Transportation Company at a cost of $45,000. Originally built as a double-deck vessel, she was cut down to a single decker at Chicago in 1902.

1941 The CANADIAN SIGNALLER was built at Collingwood as Hull 63 in 1919. It was torpedoed and sunk as d) POLYANA by U-103 en route from from Sunderland, UK to Freetown, Sierre Leone, with a cargo of coal. It was attacked just before midnight April 24 and sank in the early hours on this date with all 25 on board being lost.

1968 The Misener steamer EVERETTON ran aground in the St. Lawrence on this date in 1968. Although the damage was considered minor, the ship was sold to Marine Salvage for scrap, resold to Spanish shipbrakers and arrived under tow at Bilbao, on September 23, 1968, for dismantling.

1998 The wooden goelettes MONT NOTRE DAME and MONT ROYAL were destroyed by a fire at St. Joseph-de-la-Rive, Quebec, where they were being preserved ashore as museum ships. MONT NOTRE DAME was one of the first units in the Transport Desgagnes fleet while MONT ROYAL was known to have been a Great Lakes visitor.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/26 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, along with Keystone Shipping Co. and Canadian National, celebrated the re-commissioning of the vessel John G. Munson last Thursday.

The ceremony was to celebrate the repowering of the Munson from steam to diesel propulsion. The Munson is managed by Key Lakes, Inc. out of Duluth, Minn., which is a subsidiary of Keystone Shipping Co. Keystone Shipping Company is part of Canadian National, and the Munson is one of nine vessels of the CN Great Lakes Fleet.

During the event, officials representing the companies thanked all of the men and women at Bay Ship who worked on the Munson for their quality and dedication. Officials at the event included Don Kurz, president of Keystone Shipping; Josh Juel, manager of Great Lakes Fleet-Canadian National; Mitch Koslow, vice president of engineering and purchasing at Keystone Shipping; Don Lindquist, Keystone Shipping; Scott McPherson, chief engineer of the John G. Munson; and Ron Buczkowski, captain of the John G. Munson. In attendance from FBS was Stu Fett, production manager; Cheryl Arnott, project manager; and Todd Thayse, vice president and general manager, as well as the FBS production crews.

Kurz and Juel both spoke about the history of the Munson, and Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding's successful and lengthy business relationship with Keystone, Key Lakes and CN. Kurz said it was the hard work and quality of work at Bay Shipbuilding that has extended the life of the Munson by decades.

Juel also said the Munson has provided thousands of jobs since it was first commissioned in 1952 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding; jobs for the ship's captain and crew, jobs for the cities where they make and distribute its cargo, and jobs at Bay Ship. Since the Munson has been repowered, it will continue to provide thousands of jobs for decades, Juel said.

The ceremony ended with the presentation of the recommissioning plaque to McPherson and Buczkowski by Thayse and Arnott.

Green Bay Press Gazette


26 April 1891 NORWALK (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 209 foot, 1007 gross tons) was launched by William DuLac at Mount Clemens, Michigan. At first, she was not able to get down the Clinton River to Lake St. Clair due to low water. She lasted until 1916, when she was sold to Nicaraguan buyers and was lost in the Caribbean Sea that autumn.

On 26 April 1859, the wooden schooner A. SCOTT was carrying limestone blocks for a large Presbyterian church being built at Vermilion, Ohio. The vessel was driven ashore near Vermilion by a gale and was quickly pounded to pieces. Her insurance had expired about ten days earlier. No lives were lost.

Algoma's new straight deck bulk freighter ALGOWEST (Hull#226) of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was launched April 26, 1982. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1998, and renamed b.) PETER R. CRESSWELL in 2001.

Sea trials were conducted April 26, 1984, on Lake Ontario for the CANADIAN RANGER.

An unfortunate incident happened on the SEWELL AVERY as four crew members were injured, one critically, when a lifeboat winch housing exploded shortly after a lifeboat drill in 1978.

Paterson's CANADOC (Hull#627) by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., was launched April 26, 1961.

BENSON FORD (Hull#245) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works was launched in 1924.

In 1982, carferry service from Frankfort, Michigan ended forever when railroad service to that port was discontinued and the remaining boats (ARTHUR K. ATKINSON, VIKING, and CITY OF MILWAUKEE) were laid up. CITY OF MILWAUKEE is preserved as a museum ship by the Society for the Preservation of the CITY OF MILWAUKEE.

On 26 April 1902, M. P. BARKLOW (wooden schooner, 104 foot, 122 gross tons, built in 1871, at Perry, Ohio), loaded with salt, was anchored off South Bass Island in Lake Erie to ride out a gale. Nevertheless she foundered and four lives were lost, the skipper, his wife, their son and one crewman.

On 26 April 1926, THOMAS GAWN (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 171 foot, 550 gross tons, built in 1872, at Lorain, Ohio as a 3-mast schooner) sprang a leak and sank at River Rouge, Michigan in the Detroit River. The wreck was removed the following month and abandoned. She had a 54-year career.

1902 The wooden schooner barge GRACE B. GRIBBLE was holed by ice and sank in Lake Erie off Point Pelee after the hull was punctured by an ice flow. Three sailors were lost.

1958 CIANDRA, a Great Lakes visitor from West Germany as early as 1953, ran aground in the St. Clair River at the south end of Stag Island on this date in 1958. Due to a dispute, there was no pilot on board at the time. The ship was stuck for about 3 hours. It later burned and capsized at Singapore as e) MESONGO on September 9, 1977, and was refloated and then scrapped in 1979.

1981 The Norwegian freighter ASKOT visited the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1962 and returned under the flag of Greece as DIAKAN MASCOT in 1972. It was observed lying off Aden, as c) TYHI with the engine room flooded on this date in 1981. The hull was later refloated and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakstan, for scrapping on April 28, 1982.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/27 - The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board said they are looking to increase outflows from Lake Ontario, as the threat of high water levels is expected to continue into May or June. The board said Lake Ontario has risen 15.4 inches since the beginning of April, and the St. Lawrence River at Lake St. Louis has reached its flood level at 73.3 feet.

The board said it can increase outflows as Ottawa River flows peak and floods near Montreal subside. However, it said Lake Ontario levels may increase due to Lake Erie inflows and new wet conditions.

“As water levels on Lake Ontario rise, its outflows will increase and high levels downstream at Lake St. Louis will continue,” the board said, in a news release. “Coastal jurisdictions should prepare for the possibility of major coastal flooding as storms frequently occur at this time of year.”

The board said lake and river levels this year with the new Plan 2014 regulations would have been nearly identical to previous regulation plans.

Watertown Daily Times




4/27 - Batavia, NY – With Lake Ontario already 19 inches above average with another foot coming on the way, all the towns on the south shore of the lake need is one big storm to be devastated.

The towns of Yates, Carlton and Kendall have issued local states of emergencies, which last 30 days and allow local chief executives to issue emergency orders deemed necessary in order to preserve life and property, such as road closures or evacuation orders.

“I’m sure the water levels need to be brought down because this is a situation, it’s not good for the residents in our town. I’m sure Carlton and Yates are having the same effects we are as well as Monroe and Niagara County,” said Kendall Supervisor Tony Cammarata.

Damage to the break wall have been reported, and while there have been no reports of the rising lake waters harming houses, yards have been flooded and trees planted near the shoreline have eroded away.

“A couple of the fire lanes are really low right now — they got maybe 18 inches to two feet clearance before the calm waters would be rising above the shoreline and start to threaten the cottages and homes,” said Yates Supervisor Jim Simon. “With the forecast with the waters continuing the rise and any type of storm, especially a northeastern, we would have some significant damage.”

As of about noon on Tuesday, Warren Kruger, Kendall Highway Department superintendent, said the Kendall highway department delivered sandbags to 24 households, with more deliveries on the way, amounting to several thousand sandbags being delivered. While the towns are doing what they can to minimize some of the damage, Kruger said there isn’t a lot they can do to stop the lake itself.

“These are emergency measures so to speak, but we really need to happen is to get the lake level down,” he said. Yates said it is lifting the boats restriction for the moment, initially instating it due to worries about waves from the boats. The town will wait for a couple of days before seeing if it needs to be reinstated.

“Plan 2014 has been an utter disaster for Lake Ontario taxpayers and communities since it was approved in the final minutes of the hateful muslim traitor Administration,” said Congressman Chris Collins in a press release after inspecting property damage at two homes along Lake Ontario’s southern shoreline Tuesday morning. “Both the property damage and overflow of debris into Lake Ontario that I inspected today could have been avoided. I came here today to assure local officials and Lake Ontario homeowners that I am working with the Trump Administration to reform the IJC and repeal Plan 2014 as soon as possible.”

However, International Joint Commission, the American-Canadian organization that developed Plan 2014, said in a statement that “extreme wet weather” in April has resulted in high water levels across the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River system — not Plan 2014.

The Daily News


27 April 1889 - ROMEO (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 70 foot, 61 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #51) at West Bay City, Michigan, for service on the Òinland route (Oden, Michigan to Cheboygan, Michigan & Bois Blanc Island) along with her sister JULIET (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 70 foot, 61 gross tons), launched the following day. The vessels had twin screws for maneuverability along the northern rivers. ROMEO lasted until 1911, when she was abandoned at Port Arthur, Texas. JULIET was converted to a steam yacht and registered at Chicago. She was abandoned in 1912.

The H.A. HAWGOOD (4-mast wooden schooner, 233 feet) was launched at 2:00 p.m. on 27 April 1886, at F.W. Wheeler's shipyard in W. Bay City, Michigan.

On April 27, 1993, the WOLVERINE ran aground on Surveyors Reef near Port Dolomite near Cedarville, Michigan, and damaged her hull.

The ASHCROFT, up bound on Lake Erie in fog, collided with Interlake's steamer JAMES H. REED on April 27, 1944. The REED, fully loaded with ore, quickly sank off Port Burwell, Ontario, with a loss of twelve lives. The ASHCROFT suffered extensive bow damage below the water line and was taken to Ashtabula, Ohio, for repairs. Later that morning on Lake Erie fog still prevailed and the PHILIP MINCH of the Kinsman fleet collided with and sank the crane ship FRANK E. VIGOR. This collision occurred at 0850 hours and the ship, loaded with sulphur, sank in the Pelee Passage in 75 feet of water. All on board were saved.

On April 27, 1973, the bow section of the SIDNEY E. SMITH JR was towed to Sarnia by the Malcolm tugs TABOGA and BARBARA ANN. The two sections of the hull were scuttled and landfilled to form a dock facing.

Shenango Furnace's straight deck steamer WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR left Ecorse, Michigan, in ballast on her maiden voyage April 27, 1912, for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore.

On April 27, 1978, the TROISDOC was down bound with corn for Cardinal, Ontario, when she hit the upper end of the tie-up wall above Lock 2, in the Welland Ship Canal.

On April 27, 1980, after loading pellets in Duluth, the ENDERS M. VOORHEES stopped at the Seaway Dock to load a large wooden stairway (three sections) on deck which, was taken to the AmShip yard at Lorain. It was used for an open house on the newly built EDWIN H. GOTT in 1979.

On April 27, 1953, the steamer RESERVE entered service.

On April 27, 1984, the CHARLES M. BEEGHLY struck the breakwall while departing Superior, Wisconsin on her first trip since the 1981 season. The vessel returned to Fraser Shipyards in Superior for repairs.

On 27 April 1876, the Port Huron Times reported, "The steam barge MARY MILLS arrived up this morning and looks 'flaming'. Her owner said he did not care what color she was painted so long as it was bright red, and she has therefore come out in that color."

On 27 April 1877, the 40-foot 2-mast wooden schooner VELOCIPEDE left Racine, Wisconsin, for Muskegon, Michigan, in fair weather, but a severe squall blew in and it developed into a big storm. The little schooner was found capsized and broken in two off Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her crew of 2 or 3 lost.

1914 - The BENJAMIN NOBLE disappeared with all hands in Lake Superior. The wreck was finally located in 2004 and it lies 10 miles off Two Harbors, MN. The discovery was confirmed in July 2005.

1915 The COLLINGWOOD stranded near Corsica Shoal while downbound in Lake Huron with a load of grain.

1965 After being forced to spend the winter at Toronto when an early build up of ice prevented it from leaving the Great Lakes, the Greek freighter ORIENT MERCHANT ran aground near Port Colborne and required repairs at Port Weller Dry Docks. The ship had begun Seaway trading in 1960 and was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, arriving on November 17, 1967, as ZAMBEZI.

1970 The Israeli freighter ESHKOL began Great Lakes trading right after being built in 1964. The ship was in a collision with the fishing boat MELISSA JEAN II in the Cabot Strait on this date in 1970. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as ESKAT on September 29, 1982.

[yachtsmanwilly]

BIGG STRETCHHHHH

4/28 - Great Lakes steel production rose to 664,000 tons last week, a 2.86 percent increase. It was the second straight weekly increase after a four-week slide.

Steel mills in the Great Lakes region cranked out 645,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 27.7 million tons of steel, about 3.6 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.3 percent so far this year, up from 71.6 percent through the same time last year.

Domestic steelmakers used about 73.6 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended April 22, down from 74.6 percent the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Capacity utilization was, however, up from 72.6 percent during the same time period in 2016.

NW Indiana Times


4/28 - Detroit, Mich. – In another sign that spring has returned in Michigan, the Great Lakes are now ice-free — having cleared out enough to rank among the top 20 earliest thaws in the last 45 years, researchers said Wednesday.

The findings were reviewed by the Ann Arbor-based Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, which is tied to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists there have been studying ice cover and related phenomena for decades.

According to the group’s Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis, “the Great Lakes were officially ice-free as of Sunday, 11th earliest ice-out in the last 45 years,” researchers tweeted. Data that scientists compiled going back to the early 1970s show the Great Lakes typically have averaged measurable ice cover through late April or early May.

For the 2015-16 winter season, ice cover was last measured on May 5, when 0.09 percent of the basin sported it, according to the data.

Ice cover has been reported as late as May 31 (in 2003) but gone — at 0 percent — as early as April 6 (in 1987), the figures show. As recently as 2012, the lakes cleared by April 11.

The Detroit News



28 April 1856 - TONAWANDA (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 202 foot, 882 gross tons) was launched by Buell B. Jones at Buffalo, New York.

On 28 April 1891, the whaleback barge 110 (steel barge, 265 foot, 1,296 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. in W. Superior, Wisconsin. In 1907, she went to the Atlantic Coast and lasted until she suffered an explosion, then sank after burning, near the dock of Cities Service Export Oil Co., at St. Rose, Louisiana, on March 3, 1932.

The 660-foot-long forward section of Bethlehem Steel's a.) LEWIS WILSON FOY (Hull#717) was launched April 28,1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991 and c.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

Nipigon Transport Ltd.'s straight deck motorship a.) LAKE WABUSH (Hull#223) by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was christened and launched April 28, 1981. Renamed b.) CAPT HENRY JACKMAN in 1987, and converted to a self-unloader in 1996.

On April 28, 1971, while up bound from Sorel, Quebec, for Muskegon, Michigan, with a load of pig iron, LACHINEDOC struck Rock Shoal off Little Round Island in the St. Lawrence River and was beached.

On April 28, 1906, Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s J. PIERPONT MORGAN (Hull#68) by Chicago Ship Building Co., was launched. Renamed b.) HERON BAY in 1966.

April 28, 1897 - The F&PM (Flint & Pere Marquette) Steamer NO 1, bound from Milwaukee for Chicago, ran ashore just north of Evanston. She released herself after a few hours.

The barge LITTLE JAKE was launched on 28 April 1875, at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was owned by William R. Burt & Co. Her dimensions were 132 feet x 29 feet x 9 feet.

On 28 April 1877, the steam barge C S BALDWIN went ashore on the reef at North Point on Lake Huron during a blinding snow storm. The barge was heavily loaded with iron ore and sank in a short time. The crew was saved by the Lifesaving Service from Thunder Bay Station and by the efforts of the small tug FARRAR.

1971 ZENAVA, the former REDFERN, ran aground, caught fire and sank off Burin, NF while under tow from Rose Blanche, NF to Marystown, NF. The former bulk canaller was being used to transport, freeze and store fish.

1976 The first ALGOSEA was inbound on its first trip to the Great Lakes when it hit the wall below Lock 1 of the Welland Canal and then, below Lock 2, the ship was blown sideways across the canal after problems with the cables. The ship was enroute to Port Colborne for conversion to a self-unloader; it was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2011 as SAUNIERE.

[yachtsmanwilly]

EDMUND FITZGERALD collided with the Canadian steamer HOCHELAGA at the mouth of the Detroit River, May 1, 1970, suffering slight damage at hatches 18 and 19.

STEWART J. CORT departed Erie on her maiden voyage at 0400 May 1, 1972. She was delayed by fog in Western Lake Erie.

The steel-hulled bulk carrier SHENANGO (Hull#62) was launched on May 1, 1909, by Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan.

Scrapping began on the CHICAGO TRADER at Ashtabula, Ohio, on May 1, 1978.

The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON (Hull#1010) was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. on May 1, 1943.

The IRVING S. OLDS sustained an eight-foot long crack across her spar deck and eight inches down one side in a storm on Lake Huron May 1, 1963.

LIGHTSHIP 103 (HURON) was launched at Morris Heights, New York by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. on May 1, 1920, for the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The SOO RIVER TRADER brought the first shipment of bulk cement to open the $18 million St. Lawrence Cement distribution dock at Duluth, Minnesota on May 1, 1982.

May 1, 1903 - The ANN ARBOR NO 1 sighted a burning vessel about 15 miles out of the Sturgeon Bay Ship canal, the steamer JOHN EMERY OWEN. The crew had already been picked off after the fire started, so the ANN ARBOR NO 1 put out the fire with her fire hoses. The NO 1 then towed the abandoned steamer to Sturgeon Bay and tied her up at the west end of the canal.

On 1 May 1875, CONSUELLO (wooden schooner, 103 foot, 142 gross tons, built in 1851, at Cleveland, Ohio) left Cleveland with a load of black stone for Toledo. Near Kelley's Island, a storm caused the cargo to shift and the ship capsized and sank. When she hit bottom, she jerked upright so the tops of her masts were above the water. Two of the crew, Fred Donahue and James King, were able to cling to the masts and they were rescued after about an hour and a half. Five others, including the captain and his wife, were drowned.

On 1 May 1876, the little steamer W.D. MORTON, which for two years had run as a ferry between Port Huron's Black River and Sarnia, left her dock for the Delaware River where she ran on a centennial excursion route for the exposition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania She left the Lakes via the Erie Canal.

On 01 May 1858, OGONTZ (wooden propeller steamer, 343 tons, built in 1848, at Ohio City, Ohio) was purchased by Capt. A. E. Goodrich and George C. Drew for $5,600. This was the second vessel in the Goodrich Line. Just two years later, Capt. Goodrich had her machinery removed and she was sold to W. Crostin for $500. He converted her to a sailing vessel and she operated for two more years before she foundered in a storm.

1892: CELTIC, enroute from Fort William to Kingston with wheat and general cargo, sank in Lake Erie east of Rondeau after a collision with the steamer RUSSIA. The accident occurred in fog and one life was lost.

1909: ADELLA SHORES foundered with the loss of 14 lives in a Lake Superior storm while enroute from Ludington to Duluth with barreled salt.

1917: CASE began leaking on Lake Erie and was beached at East Sister Island, near Point Pelee and the ship caught fire when a lantern was knocked over. Some cargo was salvaged in August but the hull was left to break up in place and today the remains are scattered on the bottom.

1933: WILLIAM SCHUPP stranded on a shoal off Cockburn Island, Lake Huron, while enroute to Fort William in ballast. Once released, the vessel was repaired at Collingwood. It became MONDOC (ii) in 1945 and was scrapped at Deseronto, ON in 1961.

1940: ARLINGTON foundered in a Lake Superior storm on the second trip of the 1940 season. The wheat laden steamer was bound for Owen Sound went down stern first, taking Capt. Burke to his death. The rest of the crew survived and were picked up by the COLLINGWOOD.

1963: CAPE TRANSPORT was mauled overnight in a wild storm on Lake Huron off Harbor Beach. The steering gear was damaged, the radio knocked out and pilothouse windows were smashed. The HOLMSIDE, and later the RALPH S. MISENER, stood by. The ship reached a safe anchorage on May 2. Fleetmate OREFAX sustained damage to the forward cabins while upbound on Lake Huron in the same storm.

30 April 1894 - The TRUANT (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 28 gross tons, built in 1889 at Toronto, Ontario) burned to a total loss near Burnt Island in Georgian Bay. The fire started under her ash pan.

On 30 April 1890, the wooden dredge MUNSON and two scow barges were being towed from Kingston, Ontario, by the tug EMMA MUNSON to work on the new Bay of Quinte bridge at Rossmore, Ontario, six miles west of Kingston when the dredge started listing then suddenly tipped over and sank. No lives were lost.

IRVIN L. CLYMER returned to service April 30, 1988, after a two-season lay-up.

HOWARD HINDMAN of 1910, grounded heavily when her steering cable parted at Little Rapids Cut in the St. Marys River, April 30, 1969. Due to the extensive damage, she was sold in May of that year to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne, Ontario, for scrap and was scrapped at Bilbao, Spain in 1969.

The RED WING tow arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on April 30, 1987, for dismantling.

On 30 April 1842, the side-wheeler COMMODORE BARRIE collided with the schooner CANADA about 10 miles off Long Point in Lake Ontario. The COMMODORE BARRIE became disabled and then sank about an hour and a half later. Her passengers and crew were rescued by the CANADA.

On 30 April 1878, ST. LAWRENCE (2-mast wooden schooner, 93 foot, 111 tons, built in 1842, at Clayton, New York) was carrying timber when she caught fire from the boiling over of a pot of pitch which was being melted on the galley stove. The vessel was well out on Lake Michigan off Milwaukee. The fire spread so rapidly that the crew had no time to haul in canvas, so when they abandoned her, she was sailing at full speed. The lifeboat capsized as soon as it hit the water, drowning the captain and a passenger. The ST. LAWRENCE sailed off ablaze and was seen no more. The rest of the crew was later rescued by the schooner GRANADA.

1909: RUSSIA foundered in heavy weather in Lake Huron not far from Detour, MI. The ship was en route from Duluth to Alpena and ran into a heavy gale. Sources vary on the loss to life.

1929: D.M. PHILBIN ran aground in a high winds and snow 6 miles west of Conneaut after mistaking the airport beacon for the Conneaut Light and stranding on a sandbar off Whitman's Creek. The hold was flooded to keep the hull safe and it was released with the aid of tugs on May 7. The vessel was renamed c) SYLVANIA prior to returning to service

1984: The fish tug STANLEY CLIPPER sank in a storm on Lake Erie southeast of Port Dover, near Ryerson Island and all three men on board were lost. The hull was located, refloated and rebuilt as the tug NADRO CLIPPER. It currently operates as c) A.I.S. CLIPPER and is often moored below Lock 1 of the Welland Canal when not in service.

1991: The hull of BEECHGLEN buckled while unloading corn at Cardinal, ON, with the bow and stern settling on the bottom. The ship was strapped together, refloated and towed to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs arriving at the shipyard on May 26.

1999: GLORY MAKOTOH, a Panamanian general cargo carrier, sank in the South China Sea off Hainan Island as d) FELIZ TRADER on this date in 1999. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1983 under the original name. Eight crewmembers were rescued from the lifeboats but 13 sailors were lost.

2000: The small passenger ship WORLD DISCOVERER visited the Great Lakes in 1975. It hit a reef or large rock off the Solomon Islands on April 30, 2000, and had to be beached on the island of Ngella. The 127 passengers and 80 crew were saved, but the ship was a total loss and potential salvors were driven off by a hostile local population.

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/47/57/a1/4757a1542b7436e02379d7038d71018b.jpg

29 April 1896 - W. LE BARON JENNEY (steel tow barge, 366 foot, 3422 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler & Company (Hull #120) at West Bay City, Michigan for the Bessemer Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She went through eight owners during her career, ending with the Goderich Elevator and Transit Company, Ltd. who used her as a grain storage barge under the name K.A. Powell. She was scrapped in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1974.

On 29 April 1875, the wooden schooner CLARA BELL of Sandusky was wrecked in a gale off Leamington, Ontario. Captain William Robinson was drowned.

On April 29, 1975, American Steamship’s SAM LAUD entered service.

Launched this date in 1976, was the a.) SOODOC (Hull#210) by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. Renamed b.) AMELIA DESGAGNES in 1990.

On April 29, 1977, while inbound at Lorain, the IRVING S. OLDS hit a bridge on the Black River, which extensively damaged her bow, tying up traffic for several hours .

A fender boom fell on the pilothouse of the steamer GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Poe Lock at the Soo in 1971.

On 29 April 1865, L.D. COWAN (wooden schooner, 165 tons, built in 1848, at Erie, Pennsylvania) was driven ashore near Pointe aux Barques, Michigan, in a storm and wrecked.

1909: AURANIA was the only steel hulled ship sunk by ice on the Great Lakes. The vessel was lost in Whitefish Bay after being holed and then squeezed by the pressure of the ice pack near Parisienne Island. The crew escaped onto the ice and pulled a yawl boat to the J.H. BARTOW.

1952: W.E. FITZGERALD hit the Burlington Lift Bridge at the entrance to Hamilton Bay after a mechanical problem resulted in the structure not being raised. The north span of the bridge was knocked into the water, resulting in traffic chaos on land and on the water.

1959: PRESCOTT went aground near Valleyfield, Quebec, while downbound in the Seaway only four days after the waterway had been opened. It got stuck trying to avoid a bridge that had failed to open and navigation was blocked until the CSL bulk carrier was refloated the next day.

1969: HOWARD HINDMAN ran aground at the Little Rapids Cut in the St. Marys River after the steering cables parted. The ship was released and temporarily returned to service but the vessel was badly damaged and soon sold for scrap. It came down the Welland Canal with a cargo of road salt on June 6, 1969, and was towed to Bilbao, Spain, with the HUMBERDOC, arriving on September 6, 1969.

1976: The British freighter GLENPARK was three years old when it first came through the Seaway in 1959. It was sailing as c) GOLDEN LEADER when it ran aground off Goto Island, southwest Japan while on a long voyage from Chungjin, China, to Constanza, Romania. The hull broke in two and was a total loss.

1998: The Panamanian freighter DENEBOLA first visited the Seaway in 1973. The ship was sailing as d) TAE CHON, under the flag of North Korea, when it was in a collision with the YANG LIN in thick fog on the Yellow Sea and sank. The vessel was enroute from Yantai, China, to Chittagong, Bangladesh, when the accident occurred and one life was lost.


4/29 - Chicago, Ill. – The Coast Guard responded to two kayakers in distress in Lake Michigan near Jacksonport, Wis., Friday.

At approximately 11:30 a.m., CDT, Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay was notified by the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department of two men who had fallen from their kayaks into the water near Cave Point County Park, about one-half mile offshore The Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan Command Center in Milwaukee issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of Station Sturgeon Bay boat crews to locate the kayakers.

At about noon, a Coast Guard crew arrived on scene aboard a 25-foot response boat and transferred the two individuals, who had been recovered by the Sturgeon Bay Fire boat crew. The two victims were unresponsive and CPR was administered by the Coast Guard crew as they transited towards shore. To affect the quickest rescue, the Coast Guard boat maneuvered onto the beach at Cave Point and transferred the victims to awaiting emergency responders. Both men were later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

USCG


4/29 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Cana Island Lighthouse opens for the Door County summer season on May 1. One of Door County’s premier tourist attractions, it will be open until October 29.

Visitors can travel back in time and explore one of Door County Wisconsin’s most popular lighthouses standing for just short of 150 years. They can investigate the entire 8.7-acre island that includes the 89-foot-tall light tower, the original home of the lighthouse keeper and his family, one of the only working 3rd Order Fresnel Lens in the country and the oil house where fuel for the light was stored. The highlight of any Cana Island visit is climbing the 97 steps of the tower’s spiral staircase to reach the gallery deck. The outside deck delivers a sweeping view of Lake Michigan and the Door County peninsula.

Cana Island has been undergoing an extensive restoration project. Phase I of the project is complete and involved restoration of the lighthouse’s exterior and tower. It followed the construction of the mainland parking lot and new restroom facilities. Phases to follow include the restoration of the outbuildings, including what is believed to be the only five-sided oil house in the country. Future plans also call for an interpretive center and interior restoration of the keeper’s.

The museum buildings are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily with the last tower climb at 4:30 pm and a minimal admission charge.

Door County Maritime Museum


Coast Guard, local partners to combat illegal charter operations around Chicago

4/30 - Chicago, Ill. – Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago and the Chicago Harbor Safety Committee hosted an Uninspected Passenger Vessel and Bareboat Charter Workshop to help deter the growing number of illegal charter operations on the southern tip of Lake Michigan and Chicago Area Waterway System Saturday.

The workshop was held at the Chicago Yacht Club and was attended by a standing-room only crowd of more than 120 commercial and recreational vessel operators. Representatives from the Coast Guard, Chicago Harbor Safety Committee, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Chicago Police Department Marine Unit, Chicago Fire Department, City of Chicago and Westrec Marinas participated in the workshop to educate boaters on federal, state and local safety and licensing requirements for taking paying passengers and the dangers of operating illegally.

"The safe and legal operation of passenger vessels on Lake Michigan and Chicago Area Waterways System is one of my top priorities," said Cmdr. Zeita Merchant, commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Chicago. "Educating boaters is the Coast Guard’s primary tool for compelling compliance. Forums such as this workshop and the unity of effort from our partnering agencies are critical to preserving the safety of passengers, promoting safe and legal boating practices and facilitating commerce."

In addition to education and outreach, Coast Guard stations conduct routine law enforcement boardings to verify vessels are legally carrying paying passengers and have the required safety equipment on board. Upon discovering an illegal passenger vessel operation, the station notifies Marine Safety Unit Chicago to convene an investigation.

Marine Safety Unit Chicago is responsible for executing the Coast Guard’s port safety and security, and commercial vessel safety missions on Lake Michigan and the Chicago Area Waterway System. In that role, the unit investigates credible reports of illegal passenger vessel operations. Within the last year, Marine Safety Unit Chicago has investigated 22 reports of illegal passenger vessel operations and the number of reports is expected to significantly increase due to extensive outreach efforts.

Vessels proven to be operating illegally can be subjected to fines of up to $42,750 or more per day. Repeated violations or an accident leading to injury or death on non-compliant vessels can lead to felony criminal charges.

Legitimate commercial passenger vessels are required to be operated by a Coast Guard licensed captain.

The Coast Guard strongly urges potential customers to be mindful of the dangers of using unauthorized boat operators. For your safety and the safety of others, please ensure that your boat operators are licensed by the Coast Guard and are operating vessels with the required safety equipment on board.

Anyone aware of an illegal passenger vessel operation should reach out to the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago’s Investigations Division at [e-mail] or call [phone].

USCG

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/2 - Ludington, Mich. – The fate of the 76-foot pleasure boat couldn’t have been worse, first running aground after taking on water, then succumbing in a storm, its structure breaking like kindling.

Since the storm ravaged the boat, wreckage has washed up on the shores of Ludington State Park, with hundreds of hours of cleanup by state employees and volunteers, and a tab that’s still running weeks later and may continue for months in an unusual spectacle of piles of wood and other debris on the public beach.

“It’s a disaster along the shoreline,” says Jim Gallie, manager of the park for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

About 9 a.m. April 15, the boat, Tica, took on water and its owner ran it aground onto a sandbar north of Big Sable Point lighthouse, officials say. The Coast Guard, with a crew patrolling in the area, arrived about 20 minutes later and rescued its operator, who was traveling from Pentwater to Traverse City. The boat was listing about 15 degrees by the time the operator was rescued.

“A commercial salvage company is planning to place boom around the vessel Sunday and position a barge with a vacuum pump to remove all of the fuel and oil from the vessel,” read a Coast Guard statement published the day of the crash.

Less than a week later, on April 21, a major storm hit. Its wind and waves outmatched the Tica, forcing its superstructure to break, scattering debris along the shoreline, with more washing up onto the beach at Ludington State Park each hour.

Since then, debris has washed up; visitors at one point would find a huge part of the stern, with the words “Traverse City” peeking like pieces from some long-lost shipwreck from its burial in the sand.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/04/30/disaster-shipwreck-massive-beach-cleanup/101136488/


The STEWART J. CORT created a sensation as she passed Detroit/Windsor on mid-day on May 2, 1972, amid throngs of people lining both sides of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, whistling acknowledging salutes on her up bound maiden run.

ADAM E. CORNELIUS (Hull#53) was launched at St. Clair, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works on May 2, 1908. Renamed b.) DETROIT EDISON in 1948, c.) GEORGE F. RAND in 1954. Sold Canadian in 1962, renamed d.) AVONDALE. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain, in 1979.

On 2 May 1874, the steamer 8TH OHIO was chartered by Magner & Company to carry their circus to various Great Lake ports throughout that season.

The 3-mast schooner EDWARD KELLEY was launched at Dunford & Leighton's yard in Port Huron on 2 May 1874. She was built for the Lake Superior Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. A. O. Miller's coronet band played at the launching.

On 02 May 1903, ACADIA (wooden schooner-barge, 102 foot, 188 tons, built in 1873, at Smith's Falls, Ontario) was carrying coal from Oswego, New York to Kingston, Ontario, when she went aground in a storm near the Duck Islands on Lake Ontario. She was later recovered, but foundered again in July 1908. Again she was recovered and this time rebuilt as a barge.

1895 N.K. FAIRBANK was traveling from Chicago to Ogdensburg, NY with 50,000 bushels of corn when it stranded, due to fog and smoke, off Morgan's Point 6 miles west of Port Colborne. The wooden steamer caught fire and burned to the waterline. The hull was later refloated and, in 1899, rebuilt as the ELIZA H. STRONG only to burn again in October 1904.

1967 SHELTER BAY went aground in the Brockville Narrows when a bolt in the steering gear sheared off and the vessel veered off course, was holed by rocks and had to be beached off Royal Island. This member of the Q. & O. fleet was bound for Chicago with iron ore, but had to be lightered and then sailed to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/3 - Steelmaker ArcelorMittal is calling for more federal investment in the Great Lakes to ensure it has clear shipping channels for iron ore and other raw materials it brings by lake freighter to Northwest Indiana's steel mills.

The Luxembourg-based steelmaker is hoping any infrastructure plans will include port and river dredging, lock maintenance and a new icebreaker. ArcelorMittal is calling for specific projects like a new lock to replace the 47-year-old one at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan that gives ore boats safe passage to the steel mills that ring Lake Michigan's southern shore in the Region.

"These projects are critical to navigation routes for water commerce and the movement of goods," ArcelorMittal Americas Senior Director for Government Relations Tom Dower said in a statement. "Waterborne transportation is safe, efficient and the most environmentally friendly method of transport."

The Cleveland-based Lake Carriers Association estimates Great Lakes freighters moved 83.3 million tons of cargo last year. That figure included 44.1 million tons of iron ore for steel production.

"It's clear that to remain globally competitive, our nation needs greater infrastructure investment — on the highways, byways, waterways and all things in between," Dower said.

He also called for another U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker to help move ore from the mines in Minnesota's Iron Range to Northwest Indiana steel mills.

"While recent winters have been relatively mild, we still lose material due to frozen waterways. In 2013-2014, one of the worst winters in recent history, cancelled cargo totaled 7 million tons, costing the U.S. economy 4,000 jobs and $700 million in economic activity," Dower said. "Only the Coast Guard’s Mackinaw is capable of navigating Lake Superior’s severe ice conditions. This underscores the need for Congress to provide crucial funding for maintaining the Mackinaw and securing an additional ice breaker."

NW Indiana Times


On May 3, 1959, the first large saltwater vessel to transit the new St. Lawrence Seaway arrived at Duluth. The RAMON DE LARINAGA of 1954, took the honors as the first salty, passing under Duluth's Aerial Bridge at 1:16 p.m., followed by a salty named the HERALD of 1943, sixteen minutes later.

In 1922, the PERE MARQUETTE 16, as the barge HARRIET B, collided with the steamer QUINCY A. SHAW, and sank off Two Harbors, Minnesota.

On 3 May 1840, CHAMPLAIN (wooden side-wheeler, 225 tons, built in 1832, at Chippewa, Ontario) was carrying general merchandise when a storm drove her ashore four miles south of St. Joseph, Michigan. Although abandoned, she was later recovered and rebuilt.

On 03 May 1883, lightning struck and set fire to the barge C F. ALLEN while she was loading at North Muskegon, Michigan. She burned to the water's edge. Her loss was valued at $6,000, but she was not insured.

1905: HESPER was blown aground in 60 mph winds near Silver Bay, MN. The vessel was carried over a reef by a giant wave and broken to pieces. All on board were rescued.

1909: The EDWIN F. HOLMES hit a dredge in the Detroit River. The 108-year-old vessel still survives as the J.B. FORD.

1941: TRAJAN had been built at Ecorse, MI as a) YAQUE in 1915. It returned to the Great Lakes as b) DORIS in 1928 taking out the head gates at Lock 13 of the Welland Canal on September 23 and was back for several trips after becoming c) TRAJAN in 1932. The vessel was bombed and sunk by German aircraft in the North Sea on this date while enroute from Blyth to London with a cargo of coal.

1961: The tug BERT VERGE was towing the retired laker FORESTDALE across Hamilton Bay to the scrapyard at Stelco when it got caught by the wind, pulled over on its beam ends and sank with the loss of 2 lives. The tug was later salvaged and survives today as a pleasure craft out of Port Dover.

1982: A fire in the officer's quarters aboard the rail car barge SCOTIA II broke out at Sarnia. The damage was repaired and the ship resumed cross-river service until making its last run in April 1995.

1987: The Polish freighter ZIEMIA BIALOSTOCKA began Great Lakes service in 1980 after 8 years of deep sea trading. The ship hit the Sidney Lanier Bridge at Brunswick, GA, on this date in 1987 with major damage to the vessel and structure. The ship last visited the Great Lakes in 1996 and arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on September 20, 1998

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/4 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 1,630,081 tons in April, a decrease of 16.3 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings also trailed the month’s 5-year average by 22.4 percent.

Loadings at U.S. quarries totaled 1,332,839 tons, a decrease of 14 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments from Canadian docks totaled 297,242 tons, a decrease of 24.7 percent.

Year-to-date the lakes limestone trade stands at 1.7 million tons, a decrease of 24.3 percent compared to the same point in 2016. Shipments from U.S. quarries are down 23.3 percent. Loadings out of Canadian quarries are off by 24.7 percent.

The year-to-date total includes 78,489 tons shipped from U.S. quarries in March.

Lake Carriers’ Association


5/4 - Duluth, Minn. – Lake Superior is back on the rise, up six inches in April, a month the big lake usually rises only three inches. The International Lake Superior Board of Control said Monday that the lake is now nine inches above normal for this time of year and nearly an inch above the May 1, 2016 level.

Water supply was up in April thanks to ample rain and some snowmelt.

The levels of Lakes Michigan-Huron went up seven inches in April, more than the usual four inches. The lakes now sit 13 inches above normal for May 1 but two inches below the May 1, 2016 level.

- The forecast for Great Lakes water levels through the summer has been updated. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecast shows all of the Great Lakes except one are expected to rise to summer high water levels higher than last summer. One Great Lake is forecast to wind up almost a foot and a half higher than last summer.

Read more, and view graphs/photos at this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2017/05/new_great_lakes_water_forecast.html


Duluth News Tribune


5/4 - Toronto, Ont. – Lake Ontario’s rising water levels are threatening to plunge some areas of Toronto into soggy disarray as they approach a decades-old record. The lake’s levels are at the highest they’ve been at the start of May since 1993, according to Jacob Bruxer, a senior water resources engineer at Environment Canada.

Bruxer says Lake Ontario’s level rose 44 centimetres in April, the third-largest jump recorded in April since 1918. By the start of May, that level was at 75.52 metres, which is 55 centimetres above average for this time of year.

As for why the water levels are so high, Bruxer says a main cause is the amount of precipitation. “Starting at the beginning of April, we’ve had an exceptionally wet month across much of the province,” he explains.

Toronto alone saw 106.7 millimetres of precipitation during the month of April, according to Environment Canada. The high water levels caused flooding on Lakeshore Avenue in Toronto Island Park, which forced the Toronto Island Park Ferry Service to stop making trips to the dock at Hanlan’s Point from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday.

“The roads between the Hanlan Islands dock and the rest of the island were significantly flooded and impassable, so we weren’t able to deliver people to Hanlan’s dock because from there they wouldn’t be able to get further,” says Matthew Cutler, a spokesperson for the city’s parks department.

Nancy Gaffney, head of Watershed Programs at the Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA), says erosion of the Toronto Islands isn’t new, however, the high water levels have been making the issue worse. She says high levels lift powerful waves above the concrete seawalls meant to prevent erosion. The high levels aren’t just affecting Toronto. Across Lake Ontario in Youngstown, N.Y., Bob Emerson, executive director of Old Fort Niagara, said the rising water level is threatening to swamp a seawall that protects a historic structure known as the French Castle.

Globe & Mail


On May 4, 1958, JOHN SHERWIN entered service. The SHERWIN has been in lay-up for over half of her life on the Great Lakes. She last sailed on November 16, 1981.

On her maiden voyage May 4, 1976, ST. CLAIR departed Sturgeon Bay for Escanaba, Michigan, to load 39,803 gross tons of iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor, Indiana arriving there on May 5th.

OREFAX ran aground on May 4, 1963, way off course near Manistique, Michigan. She was lightered and pulled off by the Roen Salvage Co. and made her way to Toronto, Ontario, where she discharged her cargo and left for repairs.

The tanker VENUS, a.) MARTHA E. ALLEN of 1928 suffered an explosion on May 4, 1972, when the crew was cleaning tanks while at anchor waiting for the fog to lift about seven miles west of the Eisenhower Lock in the Seaway. Two explosions rocked the ship, killing her skipper, Captain Stanley, and injuring three crewmen.

On 04 May 1839, ATLAS (wooden schooner, built in 1836, at Dexter, New York) was carrying building stone from Chaumont Bay to Oswego, New York, when she foundered 6 miles from Oswego. The steamer TELEGRAPH rushed out of Oswego to assist her but only found a little flotsam. All five on board were lost: Capt. Asahel Wescott, Ortha Little, William Ackerman, John Lee and Asa Davis (a passenger).

1889: The new Canadian Pacific steamer MANITOBA was launched at Owen Sound.

1911: The STEPHEN M. CLEMENT sank the ERWIN L. FISHER in a collision on the Detroit River. The former last sailed as PEAVEY PIONEER and was scrapped in 1968-1969.

1968: The Swedish freighter BRORIVER made 9 trips to the Great Lakes in 1965-1966. It was sold and renamed d) THALIA later in 1966 and caught fire on the Atlantic on this date in 1968. The blaze originated in the engine room but gutted the ship. It was abandoned the next day and was eventually towed to Dakar, Senegal, where it was forced to anchor 8 miles out, as officials did not want it in the port. The vessel later sank at the anchorage.

[skycheney]

May 4, 2017 5:19:44 GMT -5 yachtsmanwilly said:

5/4 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 1,630,081 tons in April, a decrease of 16.3 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings also trailed the month’s 5-year average by 22.4 percent.

Loadings at U.S. quarries totaled 1,332,839 tons, a decrease of 14 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments from Canadian docks totaled 297,242 tons, a decrease of 24.7 percent.

Year-to-date the lakes limestone trade stands at 1.7 million tons, a decrease of 24.3 percent compared to the same point in 2016. Shipments from U.S. quarries are down 23.3 percent. Loadings out of Canadian quarries are off by 24.7 percent.

The year-to-date total includes 78,489 tons shipped from U.S. quarries in March.

Lake Carriers’ Association


5/4 - Duluth, Minn. – Lake Superior is back on the rise, up six inches in April, a month the big lake usually rises only three inches. The International Lake Superior Board of Control said Monday that the lake is now nine inches above normal for this time of year and nearly an inch above the May 1, 2016 level.

Water supply was up in April thanks to ample rain and some snowmelt.

The levels of Lakes Michigan-Huron went up seven inches in April, more than the usual four inches. The lakes now sit 13 inches above normal for May 1 but two inches below the May 1, 2016 level.

- The forecast for Great Lakes water levels through the summer has been updated. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecast shows all of the Great Lakes except one are expected to rise to summer high water levels higher than last summer. One Great Lake is forecast to wind up almost a foot and a half higher than last summer.

Read more, and view graphs/photos at this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2017/05/new_great_lakes_water_forecast.html


Duluth News Tribune


5/4 - Toronto, Ont. – Lake Ontario’s rising water levels are threatening to plunge some areas of Toronto into soggy disarray as they approach a decades-old record. The lake’s levels are at the highest they’ve been at the start of May since 1993, according to Jacob Bruxer, a senior water resources engineer at Environment Canada.

Bruxer says Lake Ontario’s level rose 44 centimetres in April, the third-largest jump recorded in April since 1918. By the start of May, that level was at 75.52 metres, which is 55 centimetres above average for this time of year.

As for why the water levels are so high, Bruxer says a main cause is the amount of precipitation. “Starting at the beginning of April, we’ve had an exceptionally wet month across much of the province,” he explains.

Toronto alone saw 106.7 millimetres of precipitation during the month of April, according to Environment Canada. The high water levels caused flooding on Lakeshore Avenue in Toronto Island Park, which forced the Toronto Island Park Ferry Service to stop making trips to the dock at Hanlan’s Point from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday.

“The roads between the Hanlan Islands dock and the rest of the island were significantly flooded and impassable, so we weren’t able to deliver people to Hanlan’s dock because from there they wouldn’t be able to get further,” says Matthew Cutler, a spokesperson for the city’s parks department.

Nancy Gaffney, head of Watershed Programs at the Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA), says erosion of the Toronto Islands isn’t new, however, the high water levels have been making the issue worse. She says high levels lift powerful waves above the concrete seawalls meant to prevent erosion. The high levels aren’t just affecting Toronto. Across Lake Ontario in Youngstown, N.Y., Bob Emerson, executive director of Old Fort Niagara, said the rising water level is threatening to swamp a seawall that protects a historic structure known as the French Castle.

Globe & Mail


On May 4, 1958, JOHN SHERWIN entered service. The SHERWIN has been in lay-up for over half of her life on the Great Lakes. She last sailed on November 16, 1981.

On her maiden voyage May 4, 1976, ST. CLAIR departed Sturgeon Bay for Escanaba, Michigan, to load 39,803 gross tons of iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor, Indiana arriving there on May 5th.

OREFAX ran aground on May 4, 1963, way off course near Manistique, Michigan. She was lightered and pulled off by the Roen Salvage Co. and made her way to Toronto, Ontario, where she discharged her cargo and left for repairs.

The tanker VENUS, a.) MARTHA E. ALLEN of 1928 suffered an explosion on May 4, 1972, when the crew was cleaning tanks while at anchor waiting for the fog to lift about seven miles west of the Eisenhower Lock in the Seaway. Two explosions rocked the ship, killing her skipper, Captain Stanley, and injuring three crewmen.

On 04 May 1839, ATLAS (wooden schooner, built in 1836, at Dexter, New York) was carrying building stone from Chaumont Bay to Oswego, New York, when she foundered 6 miles from Oswego. The steamer TELEGRAPH rushed out of Oswego to assist her but only found a little flotsam. All five on board were lost: Capt. Asahel Wescott, Ortha Little, William Ackerman, John Lee and Asa Davis (a passenger).

1889: The new Canadian Pacific steamer MANITOBA was launched at Owen Sound.

1911: The STEPHEN M. CLEMENT sank the ERWIN L. FISHER in a collision on the Detroit River. The former last sailed as PEAVEY PIONEER and was scrapped in 1968-1969.

1968: The Swedish freighter BRORIVER made 9 trips to the Great Lakes in 1965-1966. It was sold and renamed d) THALIA later in 1966 and caught fire on the Atlantic on this date in 1968. The blaze originated in the engine room but gutted the ship. It was abandoned the next day and was eventually towed to Dakar, Senegal, where it was forced to anchor 8 miles out, as officials did not want it in the port. The vessel later sank at the anchorage.

looks like we'll have plenty of water this summer.