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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 31, 2018 5:08:20 GMT -5
7/31 - Important weather conditions and water conditions are available from a large network of buoys on the Great Lakes. You can get the info with just a quick text. Unlike some of your kids, if you text a buoy it will always text you right back. There are 57 buoys across all of the Great Lakes. The network of buoys is deployed and maintained by the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), NOAA, universities and LimnoTech. Find out more at this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2018/07/crucial_weather_and_water_info.html 7/31 - Cleveland, Ohio – Coast Guard Ninth District crews responded to a total of nine search and rescue cases and seven law enforcement cases throughout the Great Lakes Region over the weekend. Highlights from weekend search and rescue cases include: A 46-year-old male became overwhelmed by weather conditions while transiting from Peche Island to Belle Isle, Michigan, via kayak, Friday. He contacted his father who, in turn, contacted the Coast Guard. Coast Guard Sector Detroit launched a Response Boat-small crew from Station Belle Isle. The crew located the kayaker clinging to a dock, recovered and transferred him and the kayak to shore. A Coast Guard Air Station Detroit MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew hoisted and medically evacuated a cargo ship crewmember experiencing severe abdominal pain. The helicopter crew transported mariner from approximately 29 miles north of Cleveland to Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland, Friday. An off-duty Coast Guard reservist chief boatswains mate responded to a vessel fire near Catawba Island, Ohio, Friday. He embarked two of the four people onto his vessel and passed his extinguisher to the other two, who were able to extinguish the electrical fire and transit to Put-In Bay. A Coast Guard Station Cleveland Harbor Response Boat-medium crew responded to a notification of a 25-foot vessel that was disabled and against the rocks with eight people onboard near East 55th Street Marina, Saturday. The Coast Guard crew embarked all eight passengers and towed the vessel back to its marina. Six out of the seven law enforcement cases involved boaters being under the influence of alcohol while operating a vessel. The Coast Guard reminds the boating community that operating a vessel while under the influence of drugs or alcohol is dangerous and illegal. Alcohol is a leading contributing factor for boating fatalities. USCG 7/31 - Manistee, Mich. – The museum ship SS City of Milwaukee will be having its second Marine Enthusiast Weekend on Saturday, Aug 4. The public is invited to bring and show their maritime collections, be it ship artifacts, pictures or other collectibles. A drone demonstration will take place at 10 a.m., and a special engine room tour will be conducted at 2 p.m. by a former engineer who worked on the boat. Videos will be shown throughout the day, wrapped up with a slide show in the evening. The public is welcome to bring slides to show. A Silent Auction will also be held, items include a pass for 2 on the SS Badger, a pass for 2 to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, various ship models, and more. The City of Milwaukee is located in Manistee on US31. More info at www.carferry.com 7/31 - Grand Haven, Mich. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ south pier repair project wasn’t completed in time for this week’s Coast Guard Festival, but the finish line is in sight. According to Corps of Engineers Area Engineer Tom O’Bryan, the pier project could be wrapped up as soon as September. “So far this year, we’ve had very few of those bad days,” O’Bryan said. “It has been really helpful in getting this project accomplished.” Work on the project began in the fall of 2016 when the catwalk was removed from the pier and marine contractors began work on the first segment, from the shore to the inner lighthouse. The first segment of work was finished in 2017 and the pier was temporarily reopened. The second segment of work from the inner to outer lighthouse began this past spring. Once the pier repair project is finished, the catwalk can be put back on the structure. “We are on somewhat of a tandem bike with the Army Corps,” said Erin Turrell, who led the Save the Catwalk campaign. “The catwalk can’t get put back up until that project is finished.” Turrell noted that progress is being made in the fabrication process for new “bents” — the arched structures that make up the catwalk. The bents are being manufactured at a facility in Greenville. Turrell noted that the new bents should be completed by the fall so that they can be reinstalled on the pier in spring 2019. “This is a work in motion,” she said. “Unfortunately, you can’t snap your fingers and have it all done. I would like that, but that’s not going to happen.” By the time of the 2019 Coast Guard Festival, the pier and catwalk will be back to normal, noted Turrell. “Everything will be back the way it is supposed to be,” she said. “It’s been a long three years’ worth of work, and the payoff is going to be wonderful when we finally cut that ribbon. Even though people are getting used to it not being on there, I think everybody is excited to have the entrance to our harbor have the iconic structure on it that we need, and want.” Although the campaign has long since reached its fundraising goal, Turrell noted that work is still ongoing to build an endowment fund to help pay for the catwalk’s maintenance and repairs. “The community would not have to go through this large effort to raise money to fix it again,” Turrell said of the endowment. Grand Haven Tribune On this day in 1948, in a total elapsed time of 19 hours, the JAMES DAVIDSON of the Tomlinson fleet unloaded 13,545 tons of coal at the Berwind Dock in Duluth and loaded 14,826 tons of ore at the Allouez Dock in Superior. On this day in 1955, Al A. Wolf, the first Chief Engineer of a Great Lakes freighter powered by a 7,000 hp engine, retired as Chief Engineer of the WILFRED SYKES. Chief Wolf started as an oiler on the POLYNESIA in 1911, became Chief Engineer in 1921, and brought out the SYKES in 1948. Sea trials took place for the JAMES R. BARKER this day in 1976. She was to become Interlake's first 1000 footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third thousand-footer to sail on the Lakes and the first built entirely on the Lakes. On July 31, 1974, the Liberian vessel ARTADI approached the dock at Trois Rivires, Que. where she damaged the docked GORDON C. LEITCH's stern. The CEDARBRANCH was damaged and sunk by an explosion on July 31, 1965, several miles below Montreal, Quebec resulting in a loss of one life. Repaired and lengthened in 1965, she was renamed b.) SECOLA in 1978, and c.) KITO MARU in 1979, and scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 1985. On 31 July 1849, ACORN (wooden schooner, 84 foot, 125 tons, built in 1842, at Black River, Ohio) was struck amidships by the propeller TROY near West Sister Island in Lake Erie. She sank quickly, but no lives were lost since all hands made it to the TROY. On 31 July 1850, AMERICA (wooden side-wheeler, 240 foot, 1,083 tons, built in 1847, at Port Huron, Michigan) suffered a boiler or steam pipe explosion while sailing on Lake Erie. The explosion immediately killed nine persons and scalded others who died later. The vessel was repaired and sailed for three more seasons. |
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Aug 1, 2018 6:20:17 GMT -5
8/1 - Grand Haven, Mich. – The 94th Coast Guard Festival is also serving as a special homecoming for the USCGC cutter Escanaba, which was commissioned in Grand Haven on Aug. 29, 1987. The Escanaba is a medium-endurance vessel that's 270 feet long and has a 38 foot beam. A total of 105 men and women make up its crew. "We are the third Coast Guard vessel to bear the name Escanaba," said Michael Turdo, who is the ship's commanding officer. "We displace 1,800 tons." 2018 marks the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the first Escanaba Coast Guard cutter, which went down in the North Atlantic Ocean after a German U-boat hit it with a torpedo. 101 of the 103 sailors on board lost their lives. "It's really an honor to be on this ship and have it at Escanaba Park in Grand Haven and have this crew here," said Turdo. "This ship hasn't been back to Grand Haven since 1999." "For this crew to be able to be a part of this celebration and be a small part of representing the original crew from 75 years ago, and all the Escanaba crews since then, is really special." The Escanaba's transit to Grand Haven began in Boston, which is the ship's home port. It traveled past Quebec City, then Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Montreal before entering the Great Lakes, where it stopped in Cleveland, Ohio, and then Milwaukee, Wis., before ending up in Grand Haven on Monday. The USCGC Escanaba will be docked at Escanaba Park in Grand Haven throughout the Coast Guard Festival. Tours of the ship will happen Monday-Saturday, and the hours each day will vary. View photos and video at this link: www.wzzm13.com/article/news/coast-guard/on-board-the-uscgc-escanaba-as-it-sails-into-grand-haven/69-578758111 In 1862, UNION (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 163 foot, 434 ton, built in 1861, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was sold by the Goodrich Line to James H. Mead and J. F. Kirkland for $28,000. This was $9,000 more than Goodrich had paid to have the vessel built just the previous year. On August 1, 1982, the Canadian tanker L’ERABLE NO 1 entered service. Renamed b.) HUBERT GAUCHER in 1982. Sold foreign in 1996, renamed c.) RODIN and d.) OLYMPIC PRIDE in 2000. August 1957 - The PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1911 was sold to Luria Brothers, Chicago scrap merchants, along with the PERE MARQUETTE 14. On 1 August 1871, the construction of the canal through the St. Clair Flats was finished at a cost of $365,000. It was the first real channel built to help ships through the shallow waters where the St. Clair River empties into Lake St. Clair and where there are seven mouths or passes. It took the Canadian contractor John Brown three years to dig the channel that measures 300 feet wide and 8,421 feet long. The water was 18 feet deep. It was protected on most of its sides by piers and dikes. The new channel was considered too small even as it was being dug. At only 300 feet wide, tows of log rafts were encouraged to sue the old shallower channels. Within 20 years, plans were made to deepen the channel to 20 feet. On 1 August 1849, CHICAGO (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 95 foot, 151 tons, built in 1842, at Oswego, New York) burned in Buffalo harbor. No lives were lost. 1911 – Seven lives were lost when the wooden passenger ship SIRIUS capsized and sank in the St. Lawrence 8 miles from Massena, N.Y. There were 75 passengers on board headed for a picnic when the accident occurred. Apparently, many passengers had rushed to one side of the ship to see a woodchuck as the ship was turning in the current and this led to the ship going over. 1951 – The first SAGUENAY to sail for Canada Steamship Lines was built at Govan, Scotland, in 1913 for service between Quebec City and Saguenay River ports. It left Canada for the Far East as b) KIANG YONG in 1946 and became c) YANGTSE PHOENIX in 1949. The vessel dragged her anchors while riding out a typhoon near Tai Po, Hong Kong, on this date in 1951, went aground and was wrecked. 1969 – The British freighter HOPERIDGE made two trips to the Great Lakes in 1959. It sank on this date in 1969 as b) BETHLEHEM due to a collision with the SHOWA MARU while about 30 miles from Singapore. The ship was enroute from Tokyo to Aden and 7 of the crew were lost. 8/1 - International shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes are down 2 percent so far this year after a sluggish start to the shipping season. A total of 12.1 million tons of cargo passed through the Seaway between March 29 and June 30 to Great Lakes ports such as the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and the Port of Chicago. The Chamber of Marine Commerce attributes the decline to a slight drop-off in salt shipments, and a later and slower start to the shipping season. “Summer is the season for construction projects, and ships have been delivering materials for major building projects across the region,” Chamber of Marine Commerce President Bruce Burrows said. “U.S. grain exports are also up this season and illustrate the importance of marine transportation to so many of America’s economic sectors. This was underlined by a new study released last week showing Great Lakes-St. Lawrence shipping supports 147,500 jobs and $25.6 billion in economic activity in United States.” So far this year, shipments of asphalt through the St. Lawrence Seaway are up by 38 percent and shipment of grain by 32.1 percent, as compared to the same period in 2017, according to the Chamber of Marine Commerce. Liquid bulk shipments have risen by 28 percent and stone shipments by 27 percent. A recent study commission by the Chamber of Marine Commerce found Great Lakes shipping supports 19,518 jobs in Indiana, $1.2 billion in personal income and $13.7 billion in economic activity. NW Indiana Times |
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Post by skycheney on Aug 1, 2018 19:23:01 GMT -5
GLERL is the best site for wave forecasts on the Great Lakes. The graphical goes out 5 days and is updated twice daily at 9:30am and 9:30pm. Go here: www.glerl.noaa.gov//res/glcfs/ |
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Aug 2, 2018 5:09:47 GMT -5
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Aug 2, 2018 5:21:00 GMT -5
8/2 - Lower Lakes Towing’s small straight-deck bulk carrier Manitoba, which has been laid up in the Port of Montreal since arriving under its own power on April 17, 2016, had its Canadian registry closed July 31.
On Friday, the vessel is expected to be towed to Section 56 from Section 27 at the Port of Montreal to be prepared for a tow overseas. Her name has been shortened to Nito re-registered in Panama, which indicates that the vessel will eventually be towed for scrap, likely to an overseas destination.
Manitoba was originally laid up in Hamilton, Ont., at Pier 12 East from Dec. 21-30, 2015 awaiting a dock to unload. Once that became available, the ship shifted over to Pier 25 South and the JRI/James Richardson Grain Elevator and Terminal to unload and lay up, arriving there on Dec. 30, 2015. It remained in lay up there before departing on April 16, 2016 for Montreal, where it arrived under its own power for lay up on April 17, 2016 at Section 27.
Manitoba’s last full season of operation on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway was 2015/16.
The vessel has a long and interesting history. She was built in 1967 at the Collingwood Shipyards in Collingwood, Ont., for the N.M. Paterson & Sons fleet as Mantadoc, a named it carried from 1967 until 2002. At that point, N.M. Paterson & Sons left the shipping business and sold three of its vessels to Canada Steamship Lines, one of which was Mantadoc. In 2002 the ship was renamed Teakglen, although it did not operate until the fall of 2002 when it made only one trip under that name with a storage load of grain for Goderich, Ont., arriving there in the fall of 2002 for lay-up. The ship was used as a grain storage hull from 2002 until 2005 when it left Goderich and arrived in Hamilton.
From there, the ship was then sold to a newly-created company, Voyageur Marine Transport Ltd., which repainted the ship blue and renamed her Maritime Trader, a name it carried from 2005 until 2011. In 2011 the ship was purchased by Lower Lakes Towing Ltd. of Port Dover, Ont., which repainted the vessel gray and renamed her Manitoba.
With the pending scrapping of the Manitoba, this leaves only the Cedarglen of the Canada Steamship Lines fleet, formerly the Cartierdoc, as the last remaining member of the Paterson fleet.
8/2 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – Two more shipwrecks in the waters of Lake Superior near Thunder Bay now have heritage buoys to help divers find them, and to provide a spot to moor dive vessels.
The Superior chapter of Save Ontario Shipwrecks has been setting up the buoys for about four years now to help promote dive tourism in the region. Divers marked the Gray Oak for the first time this year, and set up a new buoy near the Puckasaw, after the previous one vanished two years ago.
In addition to helping divers, the buoys protect the wrecks by alerting fishers and crews of commercial vessels to steer clear of them. It's a benefit that was highlighted in late July when volunteers were setting up the buoy on the Gray Oak, said Richard Harvey, the chapter chair.
"We noticed some large drag marks from anchors right around the ship," Harvey said. "It looks like something was anchored near there. It shouldn't have been. But there wasn't a mooring on this one. ... We have seen some significant damage that has been done probably having a chain dragged, one of the large chains from one of the big ships dragged across it."
A total of five wrecks in the area, including the Howard, the Green River and the Robert Fryer, are now rigged with the buoys, which are funded in part by the government.
CBC
On August 2, 1991, Paterson's 1961-built lake bulk carrier CANADOC, which had been in lay-up in Montreal since April 6, 1990, and sold for scrapping, cleared the port in tow of the Netherlands Antilles tug DALMAR SPIRIT, bound for Mamonal, Columbia, arriving there on August 26, 1991.
On this day in 1880, the new Goodrich propeller CITY OF LUDINGTON was launched at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The CITY OF LUDINGTON was 170 feet loa x 35 feet x 11 feet, had 44 staterooms and a salon. She was built at a cost of $90,000. The CITY OF LUDINGTON was partially dismantled at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1930-1931, and the hull was towed to Big Summer Island, Lake Michigan in 1933, for use as a breakwall.
On the morning of 02 August 1869, Deputy U. S. Marshall Insley sold at auction the scow AGNES HEAD to pay for debts incurred when she was repaired that spring by Mr. Muir and Mr. Stewart. Bidding started at $500 and ran very lively. Mr. John Stewart of Detroit purchased the vessel for $1,050. The AMERICAN MARINER (Hull#723) was launched on August 2, 1979, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Co. for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., (American Steamship Co., Buffalo, New York, mgr.). She was to be named CHICAGO, but that name was removed before launch.
The U.S. Coast Guard's report on the sinking of the EDMUND FITZGERALD was released on August 2, 1977. It cited faulty hatch covers, lack of watertight cargo hold bulkheads and damage caused from an undetermined source as the cause of her loss.
The BENSON FORD's maiden voyage was on August 2, 1924, with coal from Toledo, Ohio to Duluth, Minnesota and returned with iron ore to the Ford Rouge Plant at Dearborn.
On August 2, 1990, the Lightship HURON was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark. LIGHTSHIP 103 had been almost completely restored and was opened to the public in 1974, for tours and remains so at this time.
August 2, 1862 - John C. Ackerman was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At the time of his death in 1916, he was commodore of the Pere Marquette carferry fleet based in Ludington.
On 2 August 1877, GRACE A CHANNON (wooden schooner, 141 foot, 266 gross tons, built in 1873, at East Saginaw, Michigan) was bound from Chicago for Buffalo when she collided with the propeller tug FAVORITE and sank 12 miles south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The young son of the owner of the CHANNON lost his life in this accident.
In 1858, the wooden side-wheeler TELEGRAPH collided with the schooner MARQUETTE and sank 40 miles north of Cleveland.
1909 – GLENELLAH of Inland Navigation struck the east breakwall at Port Colborne, damaging both the ship and the structure. The vessel joined Canada Steamship Lines in 1913 becoming b) CALGARIAN (ii) in 1926. It was broken up at Hamilton in 1960.
1915 – KENORA went aground off Flat Point, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, enroute from Montreal to Sydney. The C.S.L. canal ship was operating on saltwater due to the demands of World War One and was soon refloated.
1931 – The RAPIDS KING took out the gates of Lock 2 of the St. Lawrence Canal at Montreal and SASKATOON was one of 7 ships left on the bottom of the channel.
1967 – The West German freighter JOHANN SCHULTE and the new Canadian self-unloader CANADIAN CENTURY brushed each other in the Welland Canal near Thorold. The former hit the bank and was holed but made it to the tie-up wall before settling on the bottom. The ship was travelling from Duluth-Superior to Poland with wheat. The 4-year old vessel was refloated August 5 and went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs. It was scrapped in China as d) SINGAPORE CAR in 1984-1985.
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Post by Avenger on Aug 3, 2018 8:07:36 GMT -5
Today in Great Lakes History - August 3
On this day in 1960, EDWARD L. RYERSON, new flagship of the Inland Steel fleet, successfully completed her sea trials.
Under tow, the AVONDALE, a.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS of 1908, in tandem with former fleet mate FERNDALE. a.) LOUIS R. DAVIDSON of 1912, arrived at Castellon, Spain for scrapping in 1979.
CANADOC left the St. Lawrence River on August 3, 1991, in tow bound for Mamonal, Colombia, for scrapping.
August 3, 1946 - The third officer of the ANN ARBOR NO 6, drowned while painting her draft marks. He had apparently leaned too far and fell out of the rowboat.
On 3 August 1900, FONTANA (wooden 2-mast schooner-barge, 231 foot, 1,164 gross tons, built in 1888, at St Clair, Michigan as a 4-mast schooner-barge) was carrying iron ore in tow of the steamer KALIYUGA. The FONTANA sheared off and collided with the big schooner-barge SANTIAGO and settled in the mouth of St. Clair River in the St. Clair Flats, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. After salvage was given up months later, she was dynamited several times to flatten and reduce her wreckage. Although officially no loss of life was reported, local newspaper reported that one crewman was drowned. The FONTANA was owned by Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.
On 3 Aug 1857, R.H. RAE (3-mast wooden bark, 136 foot, 344 tons, built in 1857, at St. Catharines, Ontario) capsized and sank in a "white squall" off Duck's Creek on Lake Ontario. She went down slowly enough for her people to abandon in her small boat. They were later picked up by the propeller COLONIST. There was a big effort to salvage her the next summer, but to no avail. She was a total loss of $20,000. She was reportedly built for the trans-Atlantic trade and looked more like a seagoing schooner. Some sources give the date of the loss as 4 August 1857. The wreck is in very good condition. The Cousteau organization lost a diver on her in 1980.
On 3 August 1915, ALEXANDRIA (wooden sidewheel passenger/package freight, 174 foot 863 gross tons, built in 1866, at Hull, Quebec, formerly a.) CONSORT, was carrying foodstuffs in Lake Ontario when she was blown on a bar in a storm and fog. She broke up by wave action under the Scarborough Bluffs, east of Toronto. Lifesavers worked for hours and rescued the entire crew. GARDEN CITY was caught in the same storm as ALEXANDRIA. This ship sustained smashed windows and a hole in the hull but was able to reach safety.
1920 – The wooden steamer MAPLEGROVE sank in the Welland Canal. The vessel was salvaged and sold for further service as JED. It had been built at Marine City in 1889 as CHEROKEE.
1927 – The bulk canaller CASCO of the Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. went aground at Pipe Island in the lower St. Marys River and required lightering before floating free and proceeding for repairs.
1962 – MEDINA PRINCESS, a former “Empire ship,” first came to the Great Lakes under British registry in 1959. It made 5 trips through the Seaway but went aground on a reef near Djibouti while enroute from Bremen, Germany, to China. The hull was refloated August 31 but was laid up at Djibouti. It remained idle until breaking loose and going aground on September 4, 1964. The hull was a total loss and, at last report, the wreck was partially submerged.
1978 – The French freighter JEAN L.D. made 37 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1967. It was sailing as c) CAVO STARAS when the engine room become flooded during a voyage from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the overnight hours of August 3-4, 1978. The vessel was towed to Dakar, Sierra Leone, on August 14 and sold to Spanish shipbreakers, via auction, on May 8, 1979. It arrived at Barcelona, under tow, on June 18, 1978, and scrapping began July 5 of that year.
2010 – SIDSEL KNUTSEN lost power due to a fire in the engine room and went aground off St. Clair, Mich. It remained stuck until August 9 and was then refloated and cleared to proceed to Montreal. It was operating in Canadian service at the time under a special waiver.
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Post by Avenger on Aug 6, 2018 8:54:55 GMT -5
New buoys recording water conditions are 'smartest, smallest' in Lake Michigan 8/6 - Scientists last month deployed two new buoys in Lake Michigan that have begun recording and publishing lake conditions in real-time — for the first time — near a north suburban harbor and marina. The buoys, placed about a mile offshore Waukegan Harbor and Winthrop Harbor’s North Point Marina, are taking a variety of measurements, including wind speed, surface current, wave height and water temperatures, giving scientists and the public the first look at conditions at either location. Equipped with webcams, the buoys will also transmit a photo and a short video clip each hour during the day. Researchers hope the data from the nearshore buoys, which are curated by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Great Lakes Observing System, will help them better understand coastal erosion along the northern Illinois lakefront. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state scientists have also been intensively studying how sand moves along the shoreline, a process that is correlated with winds and the current. Historically, sand has drifted south along the Lake Michigan shoreline and accumulated in the present-day Indiana Dunes. However, coastal development, namely harbors and marinas, have disrupted this natural process and caused unprecedented erosion in some areas. “Nearshore waves and currents are a primary driver of shoreline erosion and accretion, thus it is critical that we have high-resolution measurements of these processes that we can compare to the other data we are collecting along the shoreline and in the nearshore,” state coastal geologist Ethan Theuerkauf said in an email. While the buoys were funded by a grant to research this issue, they will also provide observations that will be helpful to boaters, beachgoers and fishermen who head to North Point Marina — the largest marina in the Great Lakes — and Waukegan Harbor, the only commercial harbor between Milwaukee and Chicago. Before these buoys were positioned, there were no real-time observations in these locations. Boaters could use estimates of lake conditions in areas based on a computer model provided by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. There were some land-based webcams and weather stations. Some ships share reports of lake conditions in real-time on their routes across Lake Michigan, providing perhaps the most reliable measurements, albeit only during a brief window. Read more at this link: www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-lake-michigan-new-buoys-20180727-story.html Today in Great Lakes History - August 6 On this day in 1953, a record 176 vessels passed through the Soo Locks. Early in the morning of 06 August 1899, the WILLIAM B. MORLEY (steel propeller freighter, 277 foot, 1,846 gross tons, built in 1888, at Marine City, Michigan) and the LANSDOWNE (iron side-wheel carferry, 294 foot, 1,571 gross tons, built in 1884, at Wyandotte, Michigan) collided head on in the Detroit River. Both vessels sank. The LANSDOWNE settled on the bottom in her slip at Windsor, Ontario and was raised four days later and repaired. The MORLEY was also repaired and lasted until 1918, when she stranded on Lake Superior. The BELLE RIVER’s bottom was damaged at the fit-out dock and required dry docking on August 6, 1977, for repairs prior to her maiden voyage. Renamed b.) WALTER J MC CARTHY JR in 1990. On 6 August 1871, the 3-mast wooden schooner GOLDEN FLEECE was down bound on Lake Huron laden with iron ore. The crew mistook the light at Port Austin for the light at Pointe Aux Barques and steered directly for the Port Austin Reef where the vessel grounded. After 200 tons of ore were removed, GOLDEN FLEECE was pulled off the reef then towed to Detroit by the tug GEORGE B MC CLELLAN and repaired. On 6 August 1900, the Mc Morran Wrecking Company secured the contract for raising the 203-foot 3-mast wooden schooner H W SAGE, which sank at Harsen's Island on 29 July 1900. The SAGE had been rammed by the steel steamer CHICAGO. Two lives had been lost; they were crushed in her forecastle. August 6, 1929 - The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 (Hull#246) was launched at Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway. She was christened by Miss Ann Bur Townsend, daughter of the mayor of Saginaw. On 6 August 1870, the wooden propeller tug TORNADO had her boiler explode without warning four miles northwest of Oswego, New York. The tug sank quickly in deep water. Three of the six onboard lost their lives. Apparently the tug had a new boiler and it had been allowed to run almost dry. When cold water was let in to replenish the supply, the boiler exploded. 1907 – A building fire at the Toronto Island ferry terminal spread to the ferry SHAMROCK and it was badly burned and sank. Running mate MAYFLOWER also caught fire but was pulled from the dock by TURBINIA and this blaze was extinguished. SHAMROCK, however, was a total loss and was towed to Hanlan's Point. The latter ship was replaced by the still-active TRILLIUM in 1910. 1924 – The Lake Ontario rail car ferry ONTARIO NO. 2 went aground in fog on the beach at Cobourg, Ont., but was refloated the next day. 1928 – HURONIC went aground at Lucille Island and needed hull repairs after being released. 1985 – VANDOC, enroute from Quebec to Burns Harbor, went aground in the St. Lawrence outside the channel near St. Zotique, but was released the following day. 1994 – CATHERINE DESGAGNES, outbound at Lorain, struck about 30 pleasure boats when a bridge failed to open. 2000 – ANANGEL ENDEAVOUR was in a collision with the IVAN SUSANIN in the South-West Pass and was holed in the #2 cargo hold and began listing. The ship was anchored for examination, then docked at Violet, La., and declared a total loss. It was subsequently repaired as b) BOLMAR I and was operating as c) DORSET when it arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on April 24, 2009. The ship first came through the Seaway in 1983. |
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Post by Avenger on Aug 7, 2018 8:25:17 GMT -5
The 'Greyhound bus' at the bottom of Lake Superior 8/7 - Duluth, Minn. – It was built in 1861, sank in 1897 and is now memorialized on the historic register. One of the latest shipwrecks to be added to National Register of Historic Places comes from Ashland County, about seven and a half miles off the coast of Michigan Island, part of the Apostle Island archipelago. "It would run immigrants to come to work the factories as they were blossoming in Milwaukee and Chicago and then it would supply general supplies to the cities," said Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society. "Then people returning east then would go back aboard the ship. So, it was sort of like the Greyhound bus of the 1860s." Known as the Antelope, it was originally built as a steamship that moved people and cargo from Buffalo, N.Y. to western Great Lakes cities during the second half of the 19th century. Eventually it was converted into a barge that would be towed, before three masts were erected on the hull, turning it into a schooner — a transition Thomsen said was very unusual. Coming in at 186 feet long, 31 feet wide and housing a capacity of 600 tons, it wasn't a rogue wave or some deep sea monster that took down the Antelope. Rather anti-climatically, it sank when it was being towed too fast. "Seams tend to open up in rough seas," said Thomsen. "but, when the Antelope was being towed, the seams opened up, it took on too much water and the pumps couldn't keep it out. So they abandoned it." While some ships rest at the bottom of the lake with gaping holes in the hull and broken planks hanging off the sides, the Antelope is still very much intact. The cabin snapped off when it sank, but the masts and rigging are still standing — even the paint with the name of the ship is still emblazoned on the side. "Everything on the ship was basically a time capsule," Thomsen said. "When it went down, it went down with everything. That gives us a snapshot in time." Read more and see a photo at this link: duluthnewstribune.com/news/4481730-greyhound-bus-bottom-lake-superior Today in Great Lakes History - August 7 August 7, 1789 - President George Washington signed the ninth act of the first United States Congress placing management of the lighthouses under the Department of the Treasury. August 7 in now "National Lighthouse Day". On 07 August 1890, the schooner CHARGER (wooden schooner, 136 foot, 277 gross tons, built in 1868, at Sodus, New York) was struck by the CITY OF CLEVELAND (wooden propeller freighter, 255 foot, 1,528 gross tons, built in 1882, at Cleveland, Ohio) near Bar Point near the mouth of the Detroit River on Lake Erie. The schooner sank, but her crew was saved. The JAMES R. BARKER was christened August 7, 1976. She was to become Interlake's first 1,000 footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third 1,000-footer to sail on the Lakes and the first built entirely on the Lakes. On 7 August 1844, DANIEL WHITNEY, a wooden schooner, was found floating upside-down, with her crew of 4 missing and presumed dead. She was six miles off mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Lake Michigan. August 7, 1948 - Edward L. Ryerson, chairman of Inland Steel Company announced that the new ore boat under construction for Inland will be named the WILFRED SYKES in honor of the president of the company. Mr. Sykes had been associated with Inland since 1923, when he was employed to take charge of engineering and construction work. From 1927, to 1930, he served as assistant general superintendent and from 1930, to 1941, as assistant to the president in charge of operations. He became president of Inland in May, 1941. He had been a director of the company since 1935. The new ship was to be the largest and fastest on the Great Lakes, having a carrying capacity in intermediate depth of 20,000 gross tons. The ship will be 678 feet long, 70 feet wide and 37 feet deep, and will run at 16 miles per hour when loaded. While lying at the dock at the C & L. H. Railroad Yard in Port Huron on 7 August 1879, the scow MORNING LARK sank after the scow MAGRUDER ran into her at 4:00 a.m., MORNING LARK was raised and repaired at the Wolverine dry dock and was back in service on 20 September 1879. 1912 – A collision in heavy fog with the RENSSELAER sank the JAMES GAYLEY 43 miles east of Manitou Light, Lake Superior. The upbound coal-laden vessel was hit on the starboard side, about 65 feet from the bow, and went down in about 16 minutes. The two ships were held together long enough for the crew to cross over to RENSSELAER. 1921 – RUSSELL SAGE caught fire and burned on Lake Ontario while downbound with a load of wire. The ship sank off South Bay Point, about 30 miles west of Kingston. The crew took to the lifeboat and were saved. About 600 tons of wire were later salvaged. The hull has been found and is upright in 43 feet of water and numerous coils of wire remain on the bottom. 1958 – HURLBUT W. SMITH hit bottom off Picnic Island, near Little Current, Manitoulin Island, while outbound. The ship was inspected at Silver Bay and condemned. It was sold to Knudsen SB & DD of Superior and scrapped in 1958-1959. 1958 – The T-3 tanker GULFOIL caught fire following a collision with the S.E. GRAHAM off Newport, Rhode Island while carrying about 5 million gallons of gasoline. Both ships were a total loss and 17 lives were lost with another 36 sailors injured. The GULFOIL was rebuilt with a new mid-body and came to the Great Lakes as c) PIONEER CHALLENGER in 1961 and was renamed MIDDLETOWN in 1962 and e) AMERICAN VICTORY in 2006. 1964 – CARL LEVERS, a pre-Seaway visitor as a) HARPEFJELL and b) PRINS MAURITS, had come to the Great Lakes in 1957-1958. It had been an early Great Lakes trader for both the Fjell Line from Norway and the Dutch flag Oranje Lijn. The ship was cast adrift in a cyclone at Bombay, India, going aground on a pylon carrying electric wires off Mahul Creek and caught fire on August 24, 1964. The vessel was released and scrapped at Bombay later in the year. 1970 – ORIENT TRANSPORTER first came through the Seaway in 1966. It arrived at Beaumont, Texas, on this day in 1970, following an engine breakdown. The 1949 vintage ship was not considered worth repairing and was broken up at Darica, Turkey, in 1971. 1972 – The small Canadian tanker barge TRANSBAY, loaded with liquid asphalt and under tow of the JAMES WHALEN for Sept Iles, sank in a storm on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There were no casualties. 1989 – CLARENVILLE, a former East Coast wooden passenger and freight carrier, came to the Great Lakes in 1981 for conversion to a floating restaurant at Owen Sound. The restaurant declared bankruptcy in May 1989 and a fire, of suspicious origin, broke out on this date. It was a long and difficult blaze to control and the ship sank. It broke apart during salvage in September 1989. The bow was clammed out in December 1989 and the stern removed in April 1990 and taken to the city dump. 1991 – FINNPOLARIS first came through the Seaway in 1985. It struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic off Greenland and sank in deep water the next day. All 17 on board were saved. 1994 – GUNDULIC came inland under Yugoslavian registry for the first time in 1971. The ship caught fire as c) PAVLINA ONE while loading at Mongla, Bangladesh, on this date and was abandoned by the crew on August 8. The blaze was extinguished August 9 but the gutted and listing freighter was beached and settled in shallow water. The hull was auctioned to a local demolition contractor in 1996 but was still listed as a hazard to navigation in 1999. |
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Post by Avenger on Aug 8, 2018 8:21:04 GMT -5
'Tidal wave' warning system to be installed on Great Lakes 8/8 - An experimental warning system is being installed around some of the Great Lakes. This warning system will try to predict Great Lakes 'tidal waves', also called meteotsunamis. A meteotsunami is a wave generated by the wind force of a severe thunderstorm. As a severe wind gust pushes out from a thunderstorm over the Great Lakes, it can get force behind a wave. The wave builds in size, and can be significantly higher than other waves at the time. Some of these large waves have even come onshore and killed people along the Great Lakes shoreline. There have been killer meteotsunamis at Chicago, Holland, and Grand Haven. Now an experimental network of weather sensors will attempt to predict meteotsunamis before they strike the shoreline. By this fall there will be 29 specialized air pressure sensors around Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. These air pressure sensors will provide rapid, near real-time measurements. Read more and view a map at this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2018/08/tidal_wave_warning_system_for.htmlSurvey: The Future of BoatNerd
8/8 - BoatNerd turned 22 last year and is in dire need of a makeover the extent and expense of which has us questioning if the site is still relevant in today’s world. It has grown so large that it is very difficult to remake into a new site, and our outdated technology mkes it almost impossible for us to take on volunteer help.
The site is costly to maintain, and our main source of funding, freighter trip raffles, are no longer easy to come by.
The rise of social media has made many parts of the site obsolete; our volunteers put a great number of hours into compiling news and photos, much of which has already been posted across social media. The immediacy and ease of use of social media make the use of those platforms attractive. One big drawback of social media is a lack of archiving. Once you see something, it is difficult to locate again. BoatNerd is archived, and posts and photos can be easily revisited at any time.
The tentative plan is to continue the site and adjust which features continue based on user feedback. You will still be able to view the information on the site, such as photos and vessel histories, the features that require extensive volunteer hours like the News Page and AIS system will be discontinued unless demand is there.
Based on what our users say, and the potential for self-supporting revenue (such as selling ads, or an annual donation drive), we will move forward with the appropriate action by either modernizing or discontinuing the website.
While we still have strong viewership, we would like to ask our users if you think BoatNerd is still relevant.
Please help us plan for the future by taking this 60 second survey: www.questionpro.com/t/AN1MLZcemM Today in Great Lakes History - August 8 August 8, 1991 - The excursion ferry AMERICANA has been sold and passed down the Welland Canal bound for the Caribbean with registry in Panama. She was the former East Coast ferry BLOCK ISLAND that arrived in Buffalo just three years ago. On 08 August 1878, the Buffalo (wooden propeller package freighter, 258 foot, 1,762 gross tons) was launched at the yard of Thomas Quayle & Sons in Cleveland, Ohio for the Western Transportation Company. Her engine was a double Berry & Laig compound engine constructed by the Globe Iron Works in Buffalo, New York. She lasted until 1911, when she was abandoned at Marine City, Michigan. The JAMES R. BARKER became the longest vessel on the Great Lakes when it entered service on August 8, 1976. It held at least a tie for this honor until the WILLIAM J. DELANCEY entered service on May 10, 1981. The BARKER's deckhouse had been built at AmShip's Chicago yard and was transported in sections to Lorain on the deck of the steamer GEORGE D. GOBLE. The BUFFALO was christened August 8, 1978, for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. (American Steamship Co., mgr.) The E.B. BARBER along with the motor vessel SAGINAW BAY, a.) FRANK H. GOODYEAR of 1917, arrived August 8, 1985, under tow in Vigo, Spain. Demolition began on August 9, 1985, by Miguel Martins Periera at Guixar-Vigo. The Soo River Company was forced into receivership on August 8, 1982. On 8 August 1887, CITY OF ASHLAND (wooden sidewheel tug, 90 feet long 85 gross tons, built in 1883, at Ashland, Wisconsin) was towing a log raft near Washburn, Wisconsin in Lake Superior. Fire broke out near the boilers and quickly cut off the crew from the lifeboat. They jumped overboard and all but 1 or 2 were picked up by local tugs. The burned hull sank soon afterward. The wooden tug J E EAGLE was destroyed by fire at about 4:00 p.m. on 8 August 1869, while towing a raft of logs on Saginaw Bay to Bay City. Her loss was valued at $10,000, but she was insured for only $7,000. August 8, 1981 - The Ann Arbor carferry VIKING took part in a ceremony christening a body of water between Manitowoc and Two Rivers as "Maritime Bay". August 8, 1999 - The KAYE E. BARKER delivered the last shipment of limestone for Dow Chemical, Ludington. The plant later closed its lime plant and began lime deliveries by rail. On 8 August 1813, the U. S. Navy schooner HAMILTON (wooden 10-gun schooner, 112 foot, 76 tons, built in 1809, at Oswego, New York as a.) DIANA, was lying at anchor off the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario with her armed fleet-mate SCOURGE awaiting dawn when they planned to attack the British fleet. However, a quick rising storm swamped and sank both vessels. Since they were both built as commercial vessels, it has been suggested that their cannons may have made them top-heavy. The HAMILTON was found by sonar in 1975, sitting upright almost completely intact at the bottom of Lake Ontario. The Cousteau organization has dived to her and she was the subject of a live television dive by Robert Ballard in 1990. August 8, 1882 - An August snowstorm was reported by a ship on Lake Michigan, dumping 6 inches of snow and slush on the deck. Snow showers were reported at shore points that day. In 1942, the seven shipyards at Duluth-Superior were in full production and announced three launchings in two days. The submarine chaser SC-671 was launched on August 8, at Inland Waterways, Inc. on Park Point. 1941 An explosion aboard the Canadian tanker TRANSITER at River Rouge resulted in the loss of 2 lives. The ship was towed to Port Dalhousie for repairs and returned to work as b) TRANSTREAM in 1942. It was sold for off-lakes service as c) WITSUPPLY in 1969 and sank in heavy weather off Cabo de la Vela, Colombia, while apparently enroute to Cartagena, Colombia, for scrap, on February 23, 1981. 1964 ELLEN KLAUTSCHE suffered an engine failure while berthing at Toronto and rammed the docked NORDIA after just missing the tugs TERRY S. and WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE. The West German freighter was towed to Port Weller for repairs by the GRAEME STEWART. Later, as b) VARUNA YAN, it was detained in the Shatt-Al-Arab waterway and then, on April 3, 1984, was shelled becoming a CTL. |
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Post by skycheney on Aug 8, 2018 9:32:25 GMT -5
NOoooooooo!!!! Boatnerd can't go away. That's a great site.
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