Sun. August 11, 2007, Boatnerd Excursion on Detroit River

(many of the ships and boats mentioned in this narrative can be seen on www.shipspotting.com although the photo nazis have deleted a bunch of them)


There is a group of Great Lakes shipping enthusiasts known as the "boatnerds". It is an organized and active group and has an outstanding and excellent (except for messages being censored-they do not believe in free speech!) website, www.boatnerd.com. If that address does not work just Google "boatnerd" and it will come right up.

The following paragraph is a rant about the idiots in boatnerd - skip it if you wish
(I am not a "boatnerd" and do not care to be -- I prefer my ships in solitary comfort and have never been big on group participation in my hobbies - just me and maybe a few close friends. Besides some of the boatnerds range from being complete idiots to flaming assholes, alot of people trying to prove to each other how much they know about ships -usually very little-- and trying to outcool everyone and show that they are in the "in-crowd". The boatnerds have an image problem! Like the know-it-all wannabe that just about ruined the trip for me by parking himself near me, drinking beer all day, and constantly talking with no one talking to him or listening to him. He just stood in one place and started talking not caring if anyone listened to him or not. The more beer he drank, the more he talked. Not only an idiot but a total loser. Zug Island _________ was the name he went by. Next year I will be on the other side of the excursion boat. For some reason these kind of people seem to be attracted to me like moths to a candle. Nuff said. I am a loner!

Ok, back to the trip narrative!
At any rate, the boatnerd group is sponsoring an excursion on the Detroit River from Wyandotte, Michigan, which is south of the large city of Detroit, downriver on the Detroit River to Lake Erie and then back up again, taking a different channel for part of the way. In other words, its a no brainer so we are up very early and on the road, about a 3 hour drive north from our home in Delaware, Ohio. (Wyandotte is a Native American word which appears a few times in both Ohio and Michigan -- its spelling varies but the city of Wyandotte, Michigan has 2 T's and an E!).

Toledo
A stop at Toledo is mandatory to see what ships might be docked along the Maumee River, especially since it is a beautiful sunney day. Bingo right off the bat. The Canfornav bulker Eider, imo 9285938, is sitting broadside to a perfect low angle early morning sun at the Anderson's older grain elevator. We saw this ship a week ago unloading steel pipe at the Port of Toledo under dark gray and very scuzzy skies. It has moved a few miles up the Maumee River and is now loading grain. In a perfect photo location.

The Eider at the Anderson's on Maumee River in Toledo

We do not see any other large ships that are accessible so move on. If one is going north it is very easy to get off I-75 at the turning basin by the 3 large grain elevators and drive parallel to the river to the port. A large new bridge makes it easy to get on Interstate 280, cross the river on a huge new bridge and glide right back onto Interstate 75 going north to Detroit.

Finally the excursion!
The excursion boat we are taking seems to have its operations tied to a dockside restaurant, Portofino's, and we find that in downtown Wyandotte with no problems and get there in good time. While standing in line to check in we see our friend Steve and his grandson who are also from Delaware, Ohio --- I had met them a year ago way up in northern Michigan when we both were on an excursion. He was sitting in his red pickup truck and Ohio license plates have the names of the counties on them so I knew right away he was from Delaware, Ohio. It is indeed a small world. His grandson is Zack and is quite a character, junior high age. He always manages to get himself invited into the wheelhouse and soon is steering the boat.

Sam Laud upbound on Detroit River

While waiting to get on the excursion boat we see the Great Lakes self unloading bulker Sam Laud, go by out in the river, some distance away due to an island, upbound. I will defer details on the Sam Laud). Grosse Ile is home to some of the wealthiest people in the Detroit area and the houses, nay mansions/estates are amazing.

A decorative lighthouse, built to go with the house!

A variety of archetectural styes are seen and some of the houses are just plain huge and ornate with large lots. One has its own "private" lighthouse built just for the effect and many have large boats and yachts docked along the river. A truly splendiferous display of wealth. I cannot help but think of all those in the world who are starving to death. Not much else to see, especially after we leave Grosse Ile. Soon we are photographing navigation buoys since there is nothing else!

A "typical" house on Grosse Ile

We see another excursion vessel, the Clinton. It works out of one of the state or regional parks and offers naturalist type tours dealing with the quality and ecology of the water and wetlands adjacent to the mouth of the Detroit River.

Soon we are entering Lake Erie and leaving the Detroit River. We don't go very far out into the lake due to Coast Guard regulations on vessels such as the Friendship being on the open lake. Unfortunately we don't get out far enough to get really close to a very nice lighthouse and soon turn around and head towards the upbound channel of the Detroit River.

While on the lake we could see a Great Lakes bulker in the distance. In 30 minutes or so it overtakes us -- really in a hurry to get somewhere. It is the upbound American Courage, imo 7634226 built in 1979 and until last year the Fred R. White Jr. Owned by American Steamship Co., of Williamsville, New York, the American Courage is 636 feet long and equipped with a self unloading boom and conveyors.

American Courage upbound

Unfortunately the American Courage would prove to be the only ship, laker or saltie, that we would see during the boat cruise. Major bummer on that.

The American Courage, Stern View

After the American Courage began to disappear upbound we approach Boblo Island and Amherstburg, Ontario opposite it. Boblo Island is famous as the location of a large amusement park which attracted tens of thousands Detroiters and others each summer, all arriving by steamboat. The amusement park is long gone and now the island is a refuge for those lucky enough to have houses there.

Amherstburg has several small work boats that make it quite an interesting place.

Amherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg is a small town on the east side of the Detroit River across from the locally famous Boblo Island. From the boat it appears to be a very pleasant small Ontario village worth a trip by auto and some foot time wandering around. An old fort was located there once and there seems to be some remains and a museum but am not sure of that.

Boblo Island, as mentioned above, was for many decades the home of an amusement park which had a fleet of steamboats to take patrons to and from Detroit/Windsor. Today it has disappeared except for one or two things still standing. There are several homes on the island and it is served by a ferry from Amherstburg. What I found interesting was that the dock on the island was an old "canaler" filled in, the Queenstown. It had grass and trees growing out of it and on the hull painted in large letters were "Bois Blanc Island Resort Community". That would translate, I think to "white woods". An old sign also existed that said "Welcome to Boblo Island." The ferry The Ste. Claire crosses in front of us and with the American Courage in the near distance upriver from the ferry it makes a great photo but the flag gets in the way!.
The Ste. Claire was built in 1997 and is 86 feet, 6 inches long and is owned by Amherstburg Ferry Co., obviously of Amherstburg. Their other ferry is at the dock in Amhertburg not being used, the The Columbia V, a much older vessel built in 1946 and 65 feet long.

The old canaler Queenstown now a dock at Boblo Island

An older tug-like ship is docked in Amherstburg, the Kayvee. I suspect it is privately owned as it does not show up in "Know Your Ships".

Kayvee with older ferry behind it

There is a small Canadian Coast Guard boat, a SAR vessel that is operated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the "Mounties" of fame and legend "the Mounties always get their man". In the 1950's before television we always listened to the radio show, "Sargeant Preston of the Yukon", a classic if there ever was one. Cannot get is number. And completing the maritime protection of Amherstburg is an Ontario Provincial Police vessel with no name but with a registration number, C04906ON.

Right behind it is the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Limnos in the CCG bright red and white livery. The Limnos, imo 6804903, is classified as a research vessel --its name kind of hints at that. It was built in 1968 and is 147 feet long.

Canadian Coast Guard Research Vessel Limnos

An old canaler that has been converted into a barge, a tanker, is quite interesting even though it has no superstructure in its present configuration. No name either. I posted a photo of it on shipspotting.com and received an email stating that it was the former Cape Transport which fell victum to a gale in Lake Huron. This barge is far more interesting than most barges and was one of the better sights on this trip.

The former canaler Cape Transport, now a barge

Back to the excursion
Back out on the river we meet the downbound tug Salvor pushing its orange barge Lambert Spirit. Both are owned by McKeil Work Boats Ltd of Hamilton, Ontario a large firm with a few dozen tugs and other work boats. The Salvor was built in 1963 and is 120 feet long and has been outfitted with the tall bridge or whatever it is called so the captain can see over the barge. The Salvor was built as the Esther Moran in 1963 and retained that name until 2000. This is the Moran of east coast tugboat fame, especially in the New York City harbor where just about every old photo of a classic ocean liner has alongside it at least one tug with a bright white M on its stack.

The tug Salvor pushing the barge Lambert Spirit

We continue upriver with only recreational boats and navigation buoys to take pictures of. I enjoy photographing the recreational boats and some of the photos come out pretty good. I also enjoy seeing the sometimes scantily clad young women in the boat. Zack, my friend Steve's grandson, has talked his way into the wheelhouse and is now the helmsman of the Friendship. Zack has done this on just about every excursion boat he has ridden.

Captain Zack

Ecorse
I am surprised but pleased that the Friendship does not turn to return to Wyandotte but continues upriver past the large steel complex at Ecorse, formerly owned by U.S. Steel. We pass close enough to a diesel switcher with 3 hot metal cars to get good photos of it. Steel mills and all the associated infrastruture all the way back up to the iron ore mines fascinate me. The locomotive, DC 65 is painted a nice blue and is not all beat up the way many steel mill locos are. It is stenciled as being remote controlled (i.e., it has no engineer in it but is controlled by a man on the ground).

Remote controlled locomotive and hot metal cars

We turn into an inlet at the Nicholson Docks, a favorite place of mine on the waterfront due to the very old rail mounted cranes at the dock. I do not think they are used any more but the dock is still used to unload imported steel from salt water vessels. Unofrtunately there are none docked her today. The reason for our visit seems to be the old and laid up in poor condition steamboat Columbia which was one of the steamboats that transported people to the park at Boblo Island. Old boats of this type do not interest me for whatever reason. The Columbia is quite literally wrapped up tight in plastic to protect it from the elelments. It supposedly is being restored but seeing is believing - it last operated on Sept. 2. 1991. It was built in 1902 by the Detroit Dry Dock Co., and is 216 feet long with a capacity of 968 passengers.

Two of the old cranes at the Nicholson Dock

A real surprise is the City of Detriot Fire Department fireboat the Curtis Randolph in a drydock no less. It had come in for some repairs and while they were at it gave it a new paint job-- it was looking pretty spiffy in the drydock. Built in 1979, the Curtis Randolph is 77 feet, 10 inches long.

Detroit Fireboat Curtis Randolph

In front of the drydock was Malcolm Marine's tug the Manitou. Supposedly it was there for a Coast Guard inspection. We usually see it docked in Sarnia, Ontario. The Manitou was built in 1943 for the Coast Guard as the USCG Manitou, WYT-60, and stayed with the Coast Guard until 1984. It is 110 feet long. Sadly its owner and the founder of Malcolm Marine passed away a week after we saw this tug.

Manitou

Also tucked in between barges and the drydock was the Helene, a rather stately yacht like vessel from the good ol' days. Built in 1927and 96 feet, 9 inches long, the Helene is listed as an excursion vessel and is obviously undergoing some kind of repairs which are probably pretty extensive. It is a beautiful, long wood boat.

Helene

We photo a few barges. One is the C-1802; another is the LSC 236 of Grosse. It seems to be a fuel barge and is probably used for bunkers for the ships that come in to the various steel mills -- there are three of them in this area.
Lots of coil steel lying around the dock indicating that a saltie has unloaded imported steel in the recent past.

Back to Wyandotte
Tucked into this industrial landscape is a small marina that I believe is for the employees of the steel mill. Next to it is a dock for three "G" tugs , from the Great Lakes Towing Co., of Cleveland, by far the largest tugboat operation on the lakes. Almost all of their tugs are named after states and we can id the Vermont and the larger Superior. These are real oldies, and very traditional, with the Superior being built in 1912 and the Vermont in 1914. Cannot id the third tug. They are used mostly for assistance to salties that need help docking or negotiating locks; the lakers are usually pretty self sufficient when docking, etc.

"G" tugs at Ecorse

Also present is the rather unusual looking bun-boat Marine Trader which I beleive is retired and up for sale. A bun-boat is one that takes supplies to include groceries, newspapers, mail, etc. out to passing salties and lakers so they do not have to stop for resupply. The Marine Trader was built in 1939 and is 65 feet long and rather odd looking, somewhat like a Great Lakes fish tug. It is owned by Luhta Chandlery of Detroit.

Bun-boat Marine Trader

The next vessel we see is one of our favorites, the excursion vessel Diamond Jack outbound on an excursion from Wayandotte. We have logged in many an hour on this vessel, one of three excursion vessels owned by Diamond Jack's River Tours of Detroit. The Diamond Jack was built in 1955 and is 72 feet long and has a capacity of 82 passengers. Its owners are good people and we recommend their excursions, especially the special and infrequent all day affairs. Do a google on Diamond Jack and you can probably find their website.

We swing into a narrow channel separating an island from Ecorse, Michigan. Part of the shoreline is a nice park with several people fishing (we will return here by car in an hour or so) and then a long stretch of mostly marinas with hundred and hundreds of recreational boats. Love to take pictures of the masses of boats. Lots of people out today and we take alot of photos of them as we are quite close to shore.

Garish but strangely attractive and doing a lot of business!

We are always on the lookout for old Chris Crafts and see one or two of those. We then go along a residential area with houses on the waterfront and most have boathouses or docks. These are always fun to look at for a variety of reasons. The most interesting house started out as an old passenger steamer. Quite a house! Then more marinas and a group of 12-15 inflatibles with outboard motors that some group is taking out into the waters.

House made from old steamboat

A real treat is going by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tug Demolen and its crane ship the Veler, complete with crane. Belonging to the Detroit District of the USACE, they seemed to be docked for the weekend. The Demolen was built in 1974 for the U.S. Navy as the USS Metacom, YTB-829. It was decommissioned in 2001 and was purchased and named the Metacom and in 2002 assumed its present name. The nice looking tug is 109 feet long.
The crane ship Veler was built in 1991 and is 150 feet long. We pass these two close in and get some excellent photos although the sun angle is against us and the tug pretty much blocks the crane ship.

USACE Tug Demolen & Crane Ship Veler

As we head for the dock at Portofino's restaurant in Wyandotte we pass a few more marinas, condos on the water and finally comes the end of our excursion. After disembarking I sit with my friend Steve and his grandson at a table on the dock and we catch up on a few things. As we talk the Greenwing, imo 9230921, chartered by Canfornav and owned by Navarone SA Marine Enterprises of Limassol, Cyprus passes by going downriver. It is an attractive green-hulled bulker built in 2002 and 611 feet long. Like most Canfornav charters it is named after a duck, the green-winged teal.

Canfornav's Greenwing downbound at Wyandotte

The Greenwing is attractive enough that it is my idea of what a modern bulker should look like --it also is very similar to Fednav's bulkers except for the color. A nice stately ship.

The Friendship, our excursion vessel backs away from the dock for a private cruise.

The Friendship, our excursion vessel

Ship watching from a park in Ecorse:
The afternoon is still young so I bid adieu to Steve and Zach and go in pursuit of a place to sit and watch ships on the river. I do not want to go too far north as not only is it further from home but there is the large steel mill at Ecorse which means I will have to make a huge detour away from the river and go several miles north into Detroit which I do not want to do. I head out along the river zigzagging when necessary in search of a park I saw from the boat. About the time I get there I see one of the new Fednav charters heading downstream. Have to turn left, then left again through a residential area with stop signs at every block then head south to get ahead of it as it is now ahead of me. It is rather hectic driving and looking for a photo location in an area you have never been before but finally we are able to get photos of the downbound Federal Pride, imo 9190107. It is a 469 foot, 2 inch general cargo ship, much smaller than the other Fednav vessels, built in 2000 and owned by Athena Marine Co., Ltd of Limassol, Cyprus. In November, 2006 Fednav announced a longterm charter, to begin in 2007, of several Chinese built ships, the Federal Patriot, Federal Patroller, Federal Pioneer, Federal Power, and Federal Pride. This is the first sighting of any of those new charters so I am quite pleased about it.

Fednav charter Federal Pride off Ecorse, Michigan

I head back to the park, find a parking place, get the folding captain's chair out and set it up in the shade of a tree and get my cameras, scanner, a bottle of water, etc. and settle in to await whatever fate will send our way. I don't have long to wait because two vessels are upbound: one is a traditional laker and the other is a tug/barge combo. The laker is the Canadian Miner, imo 6601674, not only a very traditional laker built in 1966 but it is one of the few "straightdeckers" (i.e., no self unloading boom) left on the lakes. As the name implies (Canadian) it is one of the Upper Lakes Shipping boats

Canadian Miner off Ecorse, Michigan

The tug is the Bayshore Service out of Covington, Louisiana, north of New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain. It has been working the Great Lakes with its tanker barge Energy 6505 for a year or two.

Bayshore Service and Energy 6505 off Ecorse, Michigan

We are able to get some interesting meet photos of either the two ships or all three vessels, albeit from a considerable distance.

Canadian Miner overtaking the Bayridge Service off Ecorse, Michigan

Bayridge Service, Federal Pride, and Canadian Miner

As mentioned previously I am in a narrow park along a narrow channel of the Detroit River in Ecorse, Michigan. There is a wooded island just off the shore then a large open area with a view of the main river and navigational channel. Ecorse is a multi-ethnic community and there are all sorts of people in the park. Most of them are fishing. There are blacks, rednecks, Hispanics and so on. Everyone gets along and fishing seems to be the common thread. There are two young women, one white, one black, who must work for the state who are going among the people fishing and asking them to complete a questionaire about their perceptions of water quality and how much fish they eat from the river. They hand out information sheets about the polluted river and possible contamination of the fish. Note to Europeans: Don't believe everything you read or hear about race problems in the United States. Most of us just want to get along and do our own thing, live our lives in peace and quiet, etc. The park in Ecorse is a good example of this and is quite common- this is not the first time I have photographed ships from a park with various minorities in the majority -- I have never had any problem - people are always very friendly once they know what you are doing. Fishing is a tremendous equalizer and provides common ground.

Showing off her catch: in this photo are blacks, a white, and a Hispanic --everyone is getting along. Don't believe everything you hear about the horrors of living in the United States

Before long another salty appears downbound. Because of the island downbound ships appear with no notice other than hearing Sarnia Control on the scanner mention the presence of a ship. You just have to be constantly looking for them and not falling asleep which is starting to be a problem on this warm afternoon! The Barbro, imo 8307686, is a very nice looking salty with a dark blue hull lined with red, white superstructure and 3 cream colored cranes. Built in 1985 which is getting old for a saltie, the Barbro is flagged in Malta and owned by Blue Bird Shipmanagement Co. I have been pretty lucky in seeing salties this afternoon but it really would have been nice to see them close up from the ship this morning.

The saltie Barbro downbound off Ecorse, Michigan
That is Canada on the other side of the ship

To be continued -- not finished with this trip yet!

Sunday, August 5, 2007, Salties in Toledo

(all of my posts are in chronological order with the most recent posted at the top -- to see posts of earlier expeditions as well as the introduction scroll down)

(you may want to read the Introduction posted at the bottom of all the posts)

Road Trip!
AIS and boatnerd.com indicate two salties are docked in Toledo, Ohio, about 120 miles north of where I live so on a cloudy, very dark and cloudy, Sunday I head north as one of the salties I have not seen before and it is from one of my favorite fleets -- Canfornav, Canadian Forest Navigation.

It is hard not to notice the railroads when ship watching in Toledo. This is a SD-70 MAC built for the Burlington Northern and now owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) running on Norfolk Southern tracks

Arriving at Toledo and getting off Interstate 75 at the Maumee River where there is a large grain elevator complex and a turning basin, we get a surprise, the tanker Crystal Topaz, imo 9327047.

Crystal Topaz at Anderson's on the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio

Tankers are not listed on any of the websites such as the St. Lawrence Seaway, etc. for security reasons so it was a real surprise to see this ship. This is the first tanker we have seen in Toledo and it is docked at Anderson's and we suspect it is unloading ethanol as Anderson's is pretty heavily involved in that. Built in 2006, flagged in Luxemborg, and with a nice red hull with the words "Crystal Pool" written in large white letters on the side of the hull towards the stern. White superstructure, white funnel with a three dimensional diamond or crystal, I suppose, on the stack in blue. Owned by Crystal Pool, Ltd. of Helsinki, Finland. This ship is a first sighting for us and we are quite happy about it.

Crystal Topaz funnel; Crystal Pool Ltd of Helsinki, Finland

Docked at the Toledo Port Authority unloading steel pipe is the ship we came to see, the Canfornav charter Eider, imo9285938. The bulker was built in 2004 and is 665 feet, 10 inches long - a very nice bulker. It is actually not unloading since it is Sunday. The area is fenced but very decent photos can be had by shooting through the chain link fence from a dead end road that goes through a part of the port. The photos have various cranes in them and lots of pipe sections so are fairly nice although dark and cloudy.

The Eider unloading pipe at Toledo, Ohio

The stack is a light yellowish color with the Canfornav symbol which are three stylized coniferous trees with three dark blue wavy lines underneath.

Canadian Forest Navigation Ltd. or Canfornav

I do not know where the Forest comes from in the name Canadian Forest Navigation as I have never seen their ships carrying wood products. The Eider, like Canfornav's other ships is a charter. Parakou Shipping Ltd of Hong Kong is the owner and the vessel is Chinese flagged. This is our first sighting of the Eider.

Further back in the Port of Toledo docks is another saltie but we cannot begin to get close to it. We then head for the west side of the Maumee River (which empties into Lake Erie), stopping to photograph a CSX Railroad freight crossing the Maumee River.

CSX train with empty autoracks headed to Detroit, Michigan. It will soon be crossing the Maumee River on a large swing bridge.

There is very little access on the west side of the Maumee River across from the port complex and none across from the CSX coal docks. This is unfortunate as the afternoon sun angles from the west side of the river are unparalled although today there is no sun and no afternoon sun angle!

CSX train approaching swing bridge across the Maumee River in Toledo

After much exploring over the past two years the only really accessible spot is a small marina next to the sewerage treatment plant. We have stopped there for photos several times an no one has bothered us.

Eider at the Port of Toledo

So we head for that location to get an unobscurred photo of the Eider and also the Spar Ruby which is further back but a somewhat decent photo - at least better than nothing -- can be had with a strong telephoto.

Spar Ruby at the Port of Toledo on a scuzzy day

Unfortunately by this time it is much darker and scuzzier and with a haze coming in an a light mist off and on. The Spar Ruby, imo 8406913, is owned by Spar Shipping of Bergen, Norway and is chartered by the large Canadian line, Fednav Ltd.

Another view of the Spar Ruby

The Spar vessels are frequent visitors to the Great Lakes. The superstructu
re is a cream color and the stack is white with the symbol of the ace of spades in blue with a large white S on it. 584 feet, 8 inches long, the Spar Ruby was built in 1985, which means it is pretty old for a salt water bulk carrier. It has sailed under several names: Astral Neptune, Liberty Sky, Manila Bellona and Solveig, becoming the Spar Ruby in 2000. The Spar Ruby has three other sister ships in its fleet, all chartered to Fednav: Spar Garnet, Spar Jade, and Spar Opal. If memory serves me correct (it often does not!) I have photos of all four vessels.

Closeup of the Eider's superstructure

We try a new photo location for these two bulkers, hiking out along the CSX railroad tracks for a few hundred yards where there is a clear view down the river. Would be a much better location on a clear day and a telephoto is a necessity. But it is a thrill to see two salt water bulkers here at one location hundreds and hundreds of miles from the ocean.

Last view of the Eider

It now being fairly late in the afternoon and terribly dark and scuzzy with light mist, etc we head back but stop again to look at the Crystal Topaz.

Detail view of the Crystal Topaz's superstructure

It is strange to see a tanker at the grain elevator complex but I will not complain.

We then get back on Interstate 75 and head south towards home. A strange sight on the interstate is a helicopter on a small trailer being hauled by a pickup truck. It belongs to a firm from North Carolina and is probably headed back there after a job in Ohio or Michigan. Even though I am driving I snap off a few photos of it as I pass it.

A southbound helicopter on Interstate 75 south of Toledo!

End of trip.

Gas is expensive, at least by U.S. standards and even a short trip to Toledo costs about $30. At least the gas is delivered in an attractive tanker truck!

First time I have seen 3 salties in Toledo and even though it was dark and cloudy it was well worth the 2 hours plus up and back and the expenditure of $$$$$$ for gas.

July 15, 2007, Last day at the Welland Canal

(Please note: These blogs are mostly narratives of my ship photography trips and are posted chronologically. The most recent post is at the top and the previous posts can be found scrolling down. This post is the 3rd of 3 days at the Welland Canal. You may also want to read the introduction as well).

The day, my last of 3 days at the Welland Canal, dawns sunny with large patches of clouds here and there. Nothing happening at Port Colborne so head towards St. Catherines.

CSL Niagara, imo 7128423, built 1972. Catch up with it at Lock 5 going to Lock 4. At the same time a tug is locking up and the lock is so tall can barely see the top of the tug's mast. Ahead of the tug in Lock 6 is the Peter R. Creswell, imo 8016641, built 1982, a self unloading Great Lakes bulker, one of Algoma Central's few boats not named with the prefix Algo.

CSL Niagara leaves Lock 4 & John D. Leitch in Lock 6

Downbound is the John D. Leitch, imo 6714586, built in 1967, downbound in Lock 7 to 6 to 5 to 4; i.e. I follow it down all of the stairstep locks. The Leitch is a one of a kind Great Lakes bulker. Built specifically to haul coal rather than iron ore it was built completely different that the usual lakers as coal is not nearly as dense as iron ore. The most notable thing about the Leitch from a spotting perspective is that the bridge and accommodation section is fairly narrow and is moved as close to the bow as possible. Later in its life the Leitch was rebuilt and both lengthened an widened further enhancing its unique look. Thus it was a lot of fun to photo it in the various locks as it descended the Niagara Escarpment.

CSL Niagara leaves Lock 4 downbound

Photographed for a while from the bridge below the locks which provides both a good stair step perspective of the locks as well as closeups of the ships leaving and arriving at Lock 4. Get the CSL Niagara downbound as well as the tug Reliance and its barge the PML 9000 which wait for the Niagara to clear.

CSL Niagara passes the upbound tug Reliance and its barge

The Purvis Marine tug Reliance

Photo the John D. Leitch going through Lock 3 from the visitor's gallery which looks down on the ships and also as it goes past a drawbridge further down. Then catch the CSL Niagara at Lock 2 with both wide open and closeup photos.

Reliance approaches Lock 4; John D. Leitch in Lock 5

That pretty much exhausted the action in the lower part of the canal so I drive back to Port Colborne. There I find the Peter R. Cresswell docked below Lock 8 across from the large grain elevator. It supposedly is being inspected by the Canadian Coast Guard. I can drive right up to it and touch it.

Back in Port Colborne all hell is breaking loose. A large Great Lakes passenger ship in art deco archetecture, which has been laid up unused for over 20 years, has arrived in Port Colborne under tow. It is on its way to Turkey to be scrapped but the owner says it is going to Greece to be converted into a casino --- that is one way to deflect criticism for scrapping the unique vessel.
The ship is the Aquarama which has a very unique art deco look to it and it was rebuilt from a World War II cargo vessel. It had been docked in Buffalo for many years.

The vessel was towed by the Radium Yellowknife with the Commodore Straits manning the rear cable. Helping dock the ship was the small tug M.R. Kane. The M.R. Kane is noteworthy in itself as it is a very nice traditional looking tug that is considerably smaller than the two tugs which towed the Aquarama to Port Colborne. It had come up the Canal two days earlier to help the Aquarama in the tight confines of the canal and locks. What immediately caught many shipwatcher's attention was that one of the M.R. Kane's deckhands was a rather attractive and shapely young woman. Most of us immediately fell in love with her and named her "Tugboat Annie."

Nothing can move in or out of the Welland Canal until the Aquarama is docked. Once docked it will be inspected by the Canal authorities as to its suitability for towing through the canal.

Waiting to leave the Welland Canal is the tug Petite Forte, imo 6826119 with the barge St. Marys Cement.

We spend several hours at Port Colborne waiting for the sun angle to move around to where it is almost broadside on the ship. There are a lot of work boats docked in the area as well as several recreational boats coming and going. Two guys in an Ohio registered boat stop and are promptly thoroughly inspected by the police. They do not seem to find anything.

The Hon. Paul J. Martin, imo 7324405, built in 1973, a self unloading bulker owned by the Canadian Steamship Company, arrives from Lake Erie and meets the tug Reliance and its barge.

Next is the Pineglen, 8409331, another bulker owned by Canadian Steamship Lines and one that can do salt water as well. It stops for provisions and groceries. I move to a park where I have to walk in that provides an excellent angle to photograph the Peter R. Creswell which is still being inspected. I wait for the Pineglen to go by and get both ships in the photos with some beautiful building white clouds in the background. This was the last large ship I photographed on this trip.

At Port Colborne on both Sat and Sunday were a variety of work vessels docked. Most of these are along the street that faces the water that features a variety of shops and trendy places to eat. There is a nice sidewalk area and a little green space right along the docks were these ships are - great place to look at the closeup detail, talk with people, etc. Photos of most of these are posted on www.shipspotters.com under the name "Magogman".

Cape Hurd, CG 2821, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel 70 feet, 10 inches long built in 1982. It seems to be operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It has a small boat, # C123450N (how about that for a number) on its stern powered by two Evenrudes.

Salvage Monarch, 5308275, homeported in Montreal, a tug built in 1959, 95 feet, 9 inches long, owned by Norlake Transportation Co. of Port Colborne, Ontario. A nice, larger tug.

Mrs. C, a new, 2006 built pilot boat operated by the Norlake Transportation Co., Port Colborne. 50 feet long. All ships have to have pilots - the captains and mates of the Great Lakes bulkers normally all qualified; the salties have to have pilots. Not sure if every vessel transiting the Welland Canal needs a pilot just for the canal.

Charlie E, tug, 63 feet long, built in 1943 and thus two years older than Magogman. Owned by International Marine Salvage Co., of Port Colborne, Ontario.

Derrick No. 3, a construction barge with a crane on it.

At a marine sales store, or rather in front of it were two lifeboats from the Great Lakes bulker Kinsman Independent which now sails under the name of Voyageur Independent and has a bright blue hull.

Lac Como, tug, built 1944, 65 feet long, owned by McKeil Work Boats, Ltd. of Hamilton, Ontario.

Sandra Mary, tug, built 1962, 80 feet long, owned by McNally Construction Co., Inc of Hamilton, Ontario.

Lac Manitoba, tug, built 1944, 65 feet long. Owned by Nadro Marine Services Ltd, of Port Dover, Ontario.

Jaguar II, an excursion boat based in Toronto, hidden back in the woods east of Lock 7 in a slackwater. Built in 1968, 95 feet, 3 inches long, owned by Club Canamac Cruises, Toronto.

At the International Marine Salvage yard in Port Colborne were the following:

L.E. Block, beautiful Great Lakes bulker being broken up
Windoc, Great Lakes bulker being broken up
D.C. Everest, a "canaler" (Great Lakes bulker, much smaller, built before the Welland Canal was enlarged and the St. Lawrence Seaway was built. The canalers were the largest ships that could navigate the earlier and more narrow and shorter locks).
I do not know if the Block and Windoc are being made into barges or being completely scrapped. Nothing seemed to happening with the D.C. Everest.

At about 8 pm with still beautiful sunshine it was time to leave and head for home in Ohio. The Aquarama did not seem any closer to departing down the canal and I had a long drive home. Thus I hit the drive thru at McDonalds for a few sandwiches and drove to Fort Erie where there was a massive traffic jam of cars and trucks inching across the international bridge to U.S. customs. I figured I would be stuck there for at least a few hours but traffic moved a lot faster than I thought due to about 15-17 gates being open at the U.S. Customs. Had no trouble getting back into the good ol' U.S. of A but it took a bit to negotiate the roads of downtown Buffalo before I got on the interstate and out to Interstate 90 headed west. Also had to get gas as well since it is much more expensive in Canada. It is a good 5 hour drive from Buffalo to my home in Ohio so it was after 2 am when I pulled in the driveway after about 2 weeks on the road, most of it at my summer cottage in Vermont, but including 3 marvelous days of shipspotting at the Welland Canal.