Almost end of the season (Great Lakes Shipping)

[imwjl]

I saw news that the last ship left Thunder Bay Ontario Saturday. Lake Superior is looking rather lonely. The Sam Laud destination says "somewhere warm". Wind turbine haters can relax for a few months because it doesn't appear there are any salties on the way to Duluth.

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Some other news covered the likelihood of year round shipping to start. That might be feasible if same levels of ore and minerals shipping remain high.

Any tone chasers in Duluth should be happy with the James R Barker on layup there.

 

[Mjark]

I didn't realize it stopped.

 

[imwjl]

I didn't realize it stopped.

This is the biggest laker ending it in Duluth Saturday. 3:08 for the horns. The ice is discussed. My understanding for keeping the season longer is a need for ice breaking not done traditionally.

I'm hoping to visit Marquette soon with bike and skis but this video from last year might mean take skates too.

 

[Mjark]

It's hard to imagine piloting a ship that size.

 

[Mjark]

Getting a forty foot boat to the dock is hard enough.

 

[drf64]

I'm expecting an Edmund Fitzgerald link in 5...4....3....

 

[getbent]

cool thread. did not know this!

 

[imwjl]

cool thread. did not know this!

Earlier in the season you see mostly European "salties" bring in wind turbine blades on their decks to the rail yards and trucking firms that take the to the plains and then they go to the grain elevators and fill up before they head to the Atlantic.

All the time it seems like the ships leaving are more loaded than ocean coastal harbors. The lakers usually trade road and construction minerals for ore.

Duluth and Marquette, MI are just plain neat little cities. They are college towns, and they have modern tech and finance jobs in buildings that once housed all the earlier lumber and mineral Barron days. Even surfing within the outdoor sports that are a draw for permanent residents and tourists. I've done a fair amount of travel and always love those two visits.

Sagacious Minnesotans have legislated funding recovery and cleanup from mining and industry way beyond average with most of it making great rec space and corridors in cities. That's been amazing making places good employers and employees both want to move to. We have tuition reciprocity so I'm not going to suffer if one or both of my twins go to college in MN next year.

 

[tery]

I'm expecting an Edmund Fitzgerald link in 5...4....3....

Master salute to the Edmund Fitzgerald.

 

[stephent2]

I was born in Duluth, grew up on the Northshore (Grand Marais) and now spend three+ months 30 miles outside of Duluth in the summer, I love the city. Notice in the clip of the Tregurtha how the townsfolk come out in freezing weather for the occasion.

I recall talking w/ a close friend about driving up the shore last summer doing "tourist stuff". She looked at me quite seriously and said "We're all tourists on Lake Superior". She meant if you're stupid on the lake, she'll take you in a split second.

Grand Marais harbor.

 

[Stubee]

Cool stuff. I drive through Duluth a couple times each year heading back & forth to my hunt camp up past Ft Frances. It’s nice to see some of the action up close!

I remember my first trip up there in 2002. I had no real knowledge of what Duluth really was and it was quite a sight to see it from up on the highway. It’s impressive even from way up there.

 

[Mjark]

I'm MN native but haven't been back there in quite some time. I've been to Duluth as a kid but never since. I see lots of shipping here on the Chesapeake coming from and going to Baltimore or up to the canal to the Delaware Bay. I used to drive right through the harbor in the Harbor Tunnel every day right where the RORO's docked.

 

[DLReed]

I drive along the St. Lawrence River from where it meets Lake Ontario to Massena a couple times a week and seeing the ships navigate the 1000 Islands is quite amazing!

 

[Dan Miller]

We're a little ahead of you all down here on the Seaway. It closed down around Xmas, and will reopen end of March, early April, depending on the ice. The ships are a little bit smaller, as determined by the locks.

The fun thing is that I live 7 miles outside Cape Vincent, New York, where the River Pilot station is located. Imagine the stories told while have a freshly brewed beer at our local brewery with pilots that either transit salties from Cape Vincent to Massena/Montreal or across Ontario from Cape to Hamilton and back.

 

[RodeoTex]

I love this thread. Don't recognize a lot of these names but that doesn't matter.
There's always Google maps.

 

[Engine Swap]

Master salute to the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Spotted the Arthur M Anderson in Lake Michigan last November.

 

[imwjl]

I love this thread. Don't recognize a lot of these names but that doesn't matter.
There's always Google maps.

If you're a "tone chaser" the James R. Barker stands out.

The "1000 footers" are limited to the big lakes. They're too big for the locks to the east. Another fun fact on the "salties" is they can't carry as much in fresh water.

If you're a gear head a few still have steam turbines. Just like in other places new ones and re-powered "boats" have 4 stroke instead of the 2 stroke diesel engines.

The ports still active are mostly where minerals and grain ship. The railroads' consolidation over time means fewer docks and same for some of them that were built of wood.

The www.marinetraffic.com live map is a great place to be entertained and fascinated. Winter won't show how much traffic the Great Lakes and major US rivers have but overall it will show how much marine traffic is. Zoom out and you can better understand why the re-powering and fuel is a big deal.

Another interesting fact is more women in merchant marine but I'm not sure in the numbers like there are more women driving trucks and operating heavy machinery. That is interesting to me because of the data showing they're in fewer bad accidents.

The Duluth transformation includes a bike/ped pathway the entire length near the water and a trail network on the ridge above. It's very entertaining to see the types of craft stand out above the city and even if you don't see it recognize the James R. Barker horn.

The Michigan UP is interesting. Western states have the reputation but it has sparsely populated areas and ghost towns too. I've travelled, skied, dived, sailed, and fished in some of the world's truly great places and always enjoy heading to these "up north" places.

Someone doing a cross country road trip should know you can cross Lake Michigan by two different car ferries. One is thoroughly modern and fast, and one is steam powered.

 

[douellette]

I grew up watching the freighters pretty close up. Close enough that we could feel the land vibrate when they passed, and we could call out to the sailors. My dad's dad used to sail the lakes in the 1940s. Lots of ocean sailors report that Great Lakes sailing is often more challenging than ocean sailing, and they'll often hire pilots to get them through.

Anyway, here's the view from my hometown. That's Sombra, Ontario, Canada across the river.

 

[billy logan]

I guess all the ships that aren't too long to go through the locks go out to salt water before the freeze so they can make voyages during the Great Lakes off-season?

Where do the 1,000 footers hibernate?

Topic #C - There's a John Hartford song that talks about the Great Lakes, or maybe A Great Lake. He sings, and picks lines on his banjo, no chording all, iirc. Does that ring a bell, or blow a basso profundo horn w/anybody? - anyone know the title of that one?

 

[Engine Swap]

Marvelous!