Great lake boats, a good video

   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#23  
Today we happen to catch the US CG BRISTOL BAY pass through town. This is a Coast Guard Ice breaking tug who was out on buoy tending duty. That means there putting them in for the summer. Here is more info on the tug. Bay-class icebreaking tug - Wikipedia

In the first photo, the background is a ski area. In the last one you ca see some red buoys in the barge. The photos are taken while looking north into Ripley or Hancock MI.
 

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   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#24  
   / Great lake boats, a good video #25  
You think you could "keep" some of your water "home".Lake Ontario/St.Lawrence River are over-flowing!Just kidding of course;Mother Nature at her best.Record high water is causing's some grief here for sure,lots of debris in the water right now.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #27  
I should add that we normally see the CG cutter Alder based in Duluth MN doing the buoy tending here. On it you see its open deck with a crane which is used to move buoys in and out of the lake. Here is the Alder at work breaking ice in Duluth harbor.

The Coast Guard cutter Alder goes out to break ice in Lake Superior and the Duluth harbor - YouTube

Here is good photos of it.

Frozen photos of Coast Guard clearing ice-encased Cutter Alder | MLive.com

I believe that is considered to be a "buoy tender"...... not a "cutter".
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #28  
Well gee, I guess a few people do like this baloney. I'm a machine buff and these are just big ones. Here is a video I like because it clearly shows the captain using his front thruster, to hold his 1000ft boat against the dock in a stiff breeze to allow another laker by. He must have been using the stern thruster as well, but we can't see his in the video. You can see the flags being held pretty straight by the wind, as he passes by them.

Thousand Footers at the Soo Locks in 2 - YouTube

These boats are designed to be used in rivers, harbors and open water without tugs. Plus most can unloaded themselves of 60,000 tons of cargo in just a few hours.

I have always been impressed by what a tight fit those ships have going into the locks up there. We were up there about 10 years ago and saw several go through that day. After the third one entered, my kids and wife wanted to hurt me if I made them stay and watch again.... :laughing: I could watch that stuff all day.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #29  
I believe that is considered to be a "buoy tender"...... not a "cutter".
From here...
USCGC Alder - History

ALDER History
The USCGC ALDER (WLB-216) is the last 225' Juniper Class Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB) built by Marinette Marine Corp. Launched in Marinette, Wisconsin on February 7, 2004, the Coast Guard Cutter ALDER replaced the 180-foot SUNDEW, a Balsam Class Seagoing Buoy Tender built in 1944. After a lengthy pre-commissioning process, the Coast Guard accepted ALDER from the shipyard on September 2, 2004, and she sailed on her maiden voyage September 12th. ALDER officially attained "Great Lakes Cutter" status on October 12th after sailing through all five Great Lakes. Finally, on October 16th, she sailed for the first time into her homeport of Duluth, Minnesota. ALDER was finally commissioned on June 10, 2005.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #30  
Great Lakes... No salt and shark free!

We live pretty close to Lake Michigan. I love taking people there who have never experienced the great lakes. They typically have no concept that you can't see across these little inland lakes!

I have fond memories of sitting on the beach at Rocky Gap in Benton Harbor, MI as a kid and watching many large ore boats heading to and from Burn's Harbor, IN. Now it's a rarity.

Back on April 17, my wife and I were up at St. Joe taking a walk towards evening. There was a very weird looking band (about half a finger-width at full arm extension) on the horizon from full left to full right view... New Buffalo to somewhere north of Milwaukee.... We've seen this before, its some sort of temperature inversion. Anyhow, you could very clearly see the skylines of Michigan City, Chicago and Milwaukee in this band. However, they were UPSIDE DOWN! :eek: It's called a Superior Mirage. Sadly, I only had my old Iphone and took a few pictures. They are lousy, but you can see grey pillars on the horizon, and that's Chicago.... 60 miles away as the crow flies. This was from the sidewalk to the southern end of Silver Beach in St. Joe, MI, looking WSW.

Chicago from St Joe1.jpg St Joe 2 Chicago.PNG

Here's a youtube video someone made back in 2015. Very weird to see.

 
 
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