Great lake boats, a good video

[5030]

I enjoy watching the You Tube video of the Russian nuclear powered ice breaker going to the pole. It only reversed one time (if I remember correctly) and it's a big ship but typically Russian ugly. They use bubblers under the water line on each side to keep the ice off the hull. Much larger and way more power than any lakes ice breakers. Very noisy breaking ice too. Quite a long video but worth watching.

So is the 'Smarter Everyday' video series about being in a nuclear sub under the ice pack Lots of classified stuff they could not document but very interesting anyway, especially about life aboard a sub and being submerged for a long period of time in a tube with no windows.

 

[5030]

Didn't the Mackinaw have continuing issues with the intake water chest getting plugged with broken ice? I seem to remember hearing that somewhere?

 

[RobS]

So is the 'Smarter Everyday' video series about being in a nuclear sub under the ice pack Lots of classified stuff they could not document but very interesting anyway, especially about life aboard a sub and being submerged for a long period of time in a tube with no windows.

I watched that series as well. Fascinating. And in spite of the classified stuff, I was surprised at how much they did show. Very well done series.

 

[5030]

I will always remember a late summer storm The front was so big it changed the weather around lake Michigan for a week or more. I remember looking toward the WI shoreline and a half dozen lake freighters were hugging the lee shore of WI. Waves kept increasing along with gusts over 50knots, the minutes literally turned to hours, I had a small corner of my Jib out to try and keep the bow straight which still shredded the uv cover on it, I was still making 15+ knots surfing down waves in a 30' boat trying my hardest to prevent the stern from kicking over, when I got over to MI I kissed the ground in Pentwater. Originally I was trying to get to Frankfort MI from SE WI lol Shortly after I tied up I observed another sailboat coming into harbor that had been demasted. Ive followed weather religiously and have the utmost respect for the Great Lakes since.

So do I actually. When I lived in Cleveland I had a 17 foot Deep Vee keeled ski boat with a 180 IO Mercrusier and we used to motor out to the 3 mile water intake (crib) to fish and a few times still water turned into whitecaps quick like with approaching storms. Many times I had the throttle firewalled trying to get back inside the breakwall without getting swamped. Eris is a very unforgiving lake with small craft. Never had a wind boat, always a power boat.

 

[MossRoad]

I will always remember a late summer storm The front was so big it changed the weather around lake Michigan for a week or more. I remember looking toward the WI shoreline and a half dozen lake freighters were hugging the lee shore of WI. Waves kept increasing along with gusts over 50knots, the minutes literally turned to hours, I had a small corner of my Jib out to try and keep the bow straight which still shredded the uv cover on it, I was still making 15+ knots surfing down waves in a 30' boat trying my hardest to prevent the stern from kicking over, when I got over to MI I kissed the ground in Pentwater. Originally I was trying to get to Frankfort MI from SE WI lol Shortly after I tied up I observed another sailboat coming into harbor that had been demasted. Ive followed weather religiously and have the utmost respect for the Great Lakes since.

Yikes!

 

[5030]

I watched that series as well. Fascinating. And in spite of the classified stuff, I was surprised at how much they did show. Very well done series.

All his stuff is interesting and educational. I never knew how they produced fresh air while submerged until I saw it on the series and him getting inside a torpedo tube. Not for me. How they handle waste was interesting as well. Some very complex systems on a sub for sure. No access to the propulsion system though, all classified.

When I was much, much younger I worked as a fitter on the lakes boats including the Fitz. Spent many an hour on them and believe me, when it's cold outside (winter layup), it's even colder inside. Used to drink our lunch breaks to warm up. Never sailed on one (thought about it but never did) but plenty of winter layup work on the Cuyahoga River at Collision Bend and some in Toledo on the Maumee next to Front Street. Being a fitter is not an old man's job.

I snitched a huge open end wrench and a huge Rigid Stillson forged steel pipe wrench and I still have both in the shop. Dang stillson is so heavy I can hardly pick it up now and I don't have any hex nuts the open end wrench will fit, The jaw opening is 10" but with a short handle made to fit a cheater bar.

Got to work on bow thrusters mostly. Rebuilding the diesel engines was always an adventure because space was extremely limited so you had to hoist everything up and down through a forward hatch with a jib crane and doing the work on shore. Of course it was dirty, oily and cold.

 

[ArlyA]

Here is the cutter Katmai Bay breaking ice for the stuck Paul R Tregurtha. I believe all the CG Cutters in the lakes have bubbliers.

 

[Rob41]

Cool video. Many years ago I sailed on the Clarke, Callaway, Anderson, Speer, Gott and Blough. Been working on Navy ships for the last 20+ years now.

 

[ArlyA]

Ha! We got a west, switching to NW wind blowing today and just one boat in the open portion of the lake, all lake boats went to safe anchor or hugging the shore. The lone brave fellow is a saltie. Live map is here.

 

[5030]

Never sailed on any, worked on plenty though.