Great lake boats, a good video

   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#41  
Has everyone lost interest in lake shipping?? :-(

Our BIG lake continues to raise and I read in shipping news that the St. Lawrence Seaway locks may need to revert to limited shipping days because of high water flows. Seems the St. Lawrence is dangerous for boats to navigate when flowage is so high. Sorry to say our lake is still going up guys!
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #42  
As the water temperatures drop, the lake levels in Superior, Michigan and Huron rise because the water isn't evaporating much. If we have a mild winter, the waters will warm faster, and evaporate faster, and levels will start dropping again. It all hinges on how cold the lakes stay for how long each year.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #43  
I hitched a ride on a Fed Nav ship some years ago while in the great lakes. The MV Federal Vigra. Not a very glamorous existence. All these unknown, unimpressive ports and docks. I felt sorry for the friendly, very hard working filipino crew. What a life. I had full run of the ship and it was interesting, but after a few days, I couldn't have gotten off that thing fast enough.

The food was outstanding and I will never forget what they called the water on board. Engine Room Champagne.
 
Last edited:
   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#44  
Yes that should all be true. Problem is this past winter, our little lake (Superior) never froze much and of course the little lower ponds didn't as well (we call all the lower lakes;-). Yet they all came up this past winter. I expect the warm temps, didn't compensate for the large volume going into them. We had a banner year of snow fall here which is lake snow....

Nonetheless, lake boats are hauling big loads this summer since they can run with a deep draft now. Steel product shipping is up and mines are hiring. When I say "products" that means all the materials used to make steel.

As the water temperatures drop, the lake levels in Superior, Michigan and Huron rise because the water isn't evaporating much. If we have a mild winter, the waters will warm faster, and evaporate faster, and levels will start dropping again. It all hinges on how cold the lakes stay for how long each year.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#45  
Looks like our little lake continues to come up. Are you guys in the lower lake still getting rain?

--------from Great lakes & Seaway Shipping - File not found

Lake Superior on verge of record high July water level

8/2 - The Lake Superior water level continues its fourth year of rising. As the water level rises on Lake Superior, it comes closer to the monthly record water level. In July 2017, Lake Superior fell just short of its July record high water level.

In July 2017 the Lake Superior average was 602.85 feet. This number doesn't represent a water depth. It is a height measurement that is used to compare to water levels in other months and other years. It would be similar to if you put some markings on the side of your bathtub.

Read more, and view a water level chart at this link
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#46  
Posted today on Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping - BoatNerd.Com This can happen because of the high lake levels. Its raining here today!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edgar B. Speer breaks Soo Locks tonnage record

8/9 - Edgar B. Speer broke all previous vessel records for tonnage at the Soo Locks on July 25, 2017 when she locked through with 73,875 tons of iron ore bound for Gary, Ind. It would take more than 2,900 trucks to haul this single load.

The Speer, operated by the Great Lakes Fleet of Duluth, Minn., is 1004 feet in length. She was christened in 1980.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video #47  
We actually just took a trip up to the UP and took the Soo Locks Boat Tour. It was really cool, our little boat took a trip thru the locks.

1502283264395.jpg1502283391758.jpg1502283459272.jpg1502283500671.jpg1502283543973.jpg1502283594374.jpg
1502283668329.jpg

That was my first time going thru the locks and it was really impressive. We went thru the smaller, older US lock going-up, and thru the Canadian locks going back down.

What was most surprising to me, was that any operator with a motor boat (pleasure boat, fishing boat, etc) could motor up, get in line, and use the locks, free of charge. I would have thought there would be a big surcharge to use the locks, considering how much water goes thru them. But, i was interested to learn that the usage of the locks actually moves less water thru the pass than the original full-length rapids that were there in the first place. Amazing engineering.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#48  
TSO,, thanks for posting some very nice photos. We've not been through the SOO locks like you have. For anyone who likes industrial history, those locks were the bases for the design of the Panama canal locks.
 
   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#49  
The Calumet ran around in St Mary river

The Calumet ran around this week just below the Soo. The Locks and the St Mary river shipping is now shut down. Oops!!

On this map, if you move it over the Soo, you can see the Calumet and boats anchored everywhere!

MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic


From Boatnerd....

Calumet remains aground while salvage plan considered

8/11 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The U.S. Coast Guard continues to monitor a 629-foot U.S. cargo ship that ran aground on the north side of Sugar Island in the St. Marys River, Wednesday, at about 11:40 p.m.

Meanwhile, vessel traffic is starting to back up (see St. Marys River report below). At 6 p.m. Thursday, Soo Traffic told the captain of waiting vessels that no effort to move the Calumet would be made before Friday morning. A salvage plan is being evaluated.

The merchant vessel Calumet departed Essar Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and was transiting downbound on the St. Marys River to its next port of call in Brevort, Mich., when it ran aground. The vessel was not carrying any cargo.

The Army Corp of Engineers conducted an assessment of the river bottom around the vessel. Contracted divers conducted an initial assessment of the vessel's stern and determined that it is structurally sound. Divers were expected to survey the rest of the vessel later this afternoon.

Grand River Navigation, the owners of the ship, has hired an Oil Spill Removal Organization to place boom on the surface of the water near the front of the vessel to protect the environment as a precaution.

The Coast Guard conducted two aerial flights Thursday, one with an MH-60 helicopter from Air Station Traverse City, and one later in the day by a Coast Guard Auxiliary Air Patrol. A Coast Guard pollution aerial observer was aboard both flights and saw no pollution.

An investigating officer and safety officer from the Coast Guard are on board the Calumet. In addition, a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Sault Ste. Marie remains on scene to monitor the safety of the vessel and any possible environmental impact. The Coast Guard Cutter Biscayne Bay is scheduled to arrive on scene Friday afternoon to provide support.

The St. Marys River will remain closed to commercial vessels from the Soo Locks to 6 Mile Point. Grand River Navigation is finalizing a salvage plan and will present it to the U.S. Coast Guard for review and approval later Thursday. The cause of the grounding is under investigation.

USCG
 

Attachments

  • Calumet+in+St+Marys+River+2.jpg
    Calumet+in+St+Marys+River+2.jpg
    167.5 KB · Views: 106
  • Calumet+in+St+Marys+River+3.jpg
    Calumet+in+St+Marys+River+3.jpg
    352.7 KB · Views: 112
   / Great lake boats, a good video
  • Thread Starter
#50  
Taken from Boatnerd.com We are still receiving rain here below the BIG lake.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What’s going on with Lake Michigan’s water levels?

8/18 - Grand Rapids, Mich. – Lake Michigan’s water levels have been having a bit of an identity crisis in the past few years. In 2013, the lake’s water level hit it’s lowest in recorded history. But now, just four years later, they’re the highest they’ve been since 1997 – rising four feet in just that time. It has scientists taking notice.

“The amount of recovery of water we’ve had in four years is tremendous,” said Brandon Hoving, with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. “Trillions and trillions and trillions of gallons of water.”

Literally. In order to raise the water level of Lake Michigan by just one inch, 390-billion gallons of water need to be added to it. If you’ve noticed this spring and summer were particularly dry in West Michigan, you’re right. But it isn’t our side of the lake that’s contributing to the rises. This year, parts of Wisconsin and Illinois as well as parts of the Upper Peninsula have seen significant rainfall that’s adding height to the lake.

“Wherever it’s been wetter than normal, that plays a role in how high the lakes are getting,” said Hoving. “Kind of the moral of the story is this year’s been quite wet for Michigan, in some cases 200 percent of normal precipitation.”

Recent snow melt and seasonal rains – not just this year but over the past four – have contributed as well. Heavy rain in the UP and Illinois/Wisconsin areas have contributed to rising Lake Michigan water levels.

For beach goers and those who own property near the water, it could be cause for concern, depending on what this winter brings.

“For folks that are venturing out onto the piers and breakwaters, they’re fishing off those piers, those water levels – the waves themselves – are lapping over the pier. And so that over-wash has force to it and it can knock you off the pier,” said Hoving.

“The beach is going to be churned up and chewed up a lot easier now because the lake is higher. So we’re seeing some of that erosion with some of the coastal properties on Lake Michigan.”

Fox 17
 
 
Top